Key takeaways
- Start with three automations: quote follow-up for planned tows, a review request after each job, and a pre-season note to commercial accounts.
- Trigger each one from a status your dispatchers already set, so nobody learns a new routine.
- Time the review ask by call type: fast for a jump start, gentler and later for an accident tow, and ask every customer, not just the happy ones.
- Send seasonal messages before the storm, never when your trucks are already booked out.
Marketing automation for a towing company should start with three automations, not thirty: quote follow-up for long-distance and heavy-duty work, a review request after each tow call, and a pre-season check-in with commercial accounts. Each runs from a job status your dispatchers already set, so nobody has to learn a complicated new system.
The first three automations
- Quote follow-up for planned tows. Emergency calls book on the spot. Long-distance moves, dealer transports, equipment and heavy-duty jobs get shopped, and they are often your highest-value work. Trigger: a quote is sent and no job is booked. Sequence, as an example: a same-day text asking if they have questions, a next-morning text offering a pickup window, then a final note that closes the quote. A dispatcher sees every reply.
- Review request after the job closes. Trigger: the job is marked complete in your dispatch platform, not when the truck is assigned. The message names the driver and links straight to your Google review form. Google suggests asking customers and making it easy to leave a review (Google's tips on reviews), and every week of steady reviews helps you stand apart from the lead-generation listings in this category.
- Pre-season check-in with accounts. Trigger: a date, a few weeks before winter storm season and again before the holiday travel peak. Repair shops, body shops, dealerships and property managers get a short note from the owner with your after-hours number, any new equipment, and how to reach dispatch directly when everyone else is backed up.
If missed calls are still going to voicemail, fix that before any of these. The missed-call text-back guide covers it.
The first three automations
- Missed-call text-back When an inquiry goes unanswered
- Quote follow-up When a quote sits without a reply
- Review request When the work is finished
Keeping it personal
Keep automation personal by matching each message to what actually happened on the call. A dead battery in a driveway and a highway accident are not the same night, and the follow-up should not read the same.
| Call type | When the review ask goes out | How it should read |
|---|---|---|
| Jump start or lockout | Within the hour | Short and light, with the driver's name |
| Breakdown tow to a repair shop | After drop-off, the same day | Thanks, the driver's name, and where the vehicle went |
| Accident tow | A day or two later | Calm and sympathetic, with no cheerful tone |
| Long-distance transport | After delivery is confirmed | Thanks for trusting you with the distance |
Change the timing and tone by call type, but do not change who gets asked. Google's policy bans review gating, meaning asking only the customers you expect to be happy (Maps content policy). Ask everyone in a call type the same way.
Other small touches matter more than clever sequences. Sign messages from a real person. Use the vehicle, not "your service". Let replies reach a human who answers.
Tools
The tools are your dispatch platform for the trigger and HighLevel for the messages. Your dispatch platform, such as Towbook, or your field service CRM already records when a quote goes out and when a job closes. HighLevel sends the texts and emails, tracks replies, and stores consent and opt-outs.
They connect in one of three ways:
- A direct integration where your dispatch platform offers one.
- An automation platform that watches for a status change and passes it across.
- A one-tap step where the dispatcher marks the job in HighLevel at close, if neither of the above exists.
That is the whole stack. Your phone system feeds missed calls in, and your Google profile receives the reviews. Adding more tools adds more places for a trigger to break.
Common mistakes
Most automation mistakes in towing come from the wrong trigger or the wrong moment.
- Firing on the wrong status. A review request sent at dispatch instead of at completion reaches someone still waiting on the shoulder.
- Messaging during the storm. A pre-season note sent while every truck is booked out invites calls you cannot answer.
- Treating every caller as a marketing contact. Promotional texts need consent under the federal TCPA rules (47 CFR 64.1200). A tow customer did not sign up for a newsletter.
- Nobody owns it. Name one person to check weekly that messages sent, replies were answered and reviews came in.
- Building ten automations at once. Get three working, measure them for a season, then add the next.
Once these three run cleanly, the repeat customers guide for towing companies covers what to build next.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We build these three automations in HighLevel, connect them to the job statuses in your dispatch platform, and watch them through your first busy season so nothing fires at the wrong moment. Your CRM and customer list stay in your name, each automation has a go-live date, and we report on quotes won, reviews received and booked tow calls. Book a growth consultation and we will tell you which automation would pay off first for your trucks.
Sources
- Prohibited & restricted content (Maps user-generated content policy), Google Maps Help
- Tips to get more reviews, Google Business Profile Help
- 47 CFR 64.1200: Delivery restrictions (TCPA rules), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations