Key takeaways
- Most towing leads from Facebook are planned moves, so the quote and the pickup date are what you are racing to deliver.
- Treat Messenger and Instagram messages like phone calls; a stranded driver sometimes messages the page instead of calling.
- Automate the first text and the alert to dispatch, but keep the call and the price human.
- Text only people who gave consent on the form, from a registered number, and honor every STOP.
Facebook lead follow up at a towing company is a race. The person who filled in your form usually filled in two others, and most of them want a planned move quoted: a project car going to a shop, a car bought from a seller hours away. Reach them within minutes, send a price with a pickup window, then run a short sequence.
Why speed decides
Speed decides because a Facebook lead is someone comparing quotes, and the first company to send a believable price with a pickup date usually gets the job. Nobody has picked a favorite yet. The form took them thirty seconds, and they will book with whoever makes the next step easy.
Towing adds a twist. Not every Facebook lead is planned. A driver stuck in a parking lot sometimes messages your page because it was the first thing they found. A message like "need a tow, car died at the grocery store" that sits unread in Messenger for an hour is a tow that went to the next listing. Route page messages and Instagram DMs to the same phone that gets lead alerts, and treat them like a ringing line.
The follow-up sequence
- Form submitted
- Instant text and email Confirms you have it
- A call attempt As soon as someone is free
- Follow-up sequence Spaced texts and calls
- Booked or closed out Every lead ends with an outcome
The follow-up sequence
- Minute zero: send the instant text. Name your company, repeat their route ("pickup near your ZIP, drop-off at the address you gave"), and say a person will call in a few minutes. Send it only if the form captured consent to text.
- Within five minutes: call. The dispatcher or whoever quotes confirms the vehicle, whether it runs, rolls and steers, keys, pickup and drop-off, and the date. Leave a short voicemail if they do not answer.
- Within the hour: send the quote. Price, what it includes, flatbed or wheel-lift, the pickup window and how to confirm. A quote that arrives tomorrow competes with one that arrived tonight.
- That evening: one follow-up text. Ask if the date still works, and nothing more.
- Day two: call and text again. Offer a firm pickup slot. People booking a planned tow often respond to a specific date faster than to a price.
- Day four: last text. Say you are holding the slot until a set time, then release it.
- Day seven: close it in the CRM. Mark the outcome and the reason: booked, price, date, went with a motor club or no response. The reasons change your ads and your quotes.
Every text in that sequence needs consent captured on the form, wording that identifies your business, and a working STOP. Business texting from a ten-digit number also needs A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration, or carriers block or filter the messages (The Campaign Registry). The consent and opt-out rules are in the FCC's TCPA rules, and carriers expect the practices in CTIA's messaging principles.
Automating it
Automate the first text, the alert to dispatch and the reminders; keep the call and the price in human hands. The sequence above runs itself once the pieces are connected.
| Event | What happens automatically | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| Form submitted | Lead lands in the CRM, instant text goes out, alert goes to the dispatch phone | Dispatcher calls within minutes |
| No answer after the first call | Missed-call text and reminders scheduled | Nobody until the next reminder |
| Customer replies | The sequence stops and the dispatcher is alerted | Dispatcher quotes or confirms |
| Quote accepted | A job is created in your dispatch platform, or the details go to dispatch ready to enter | Dispatcher assigns a truck |
| After hours | Alert goes to the on-call phone, not the office | On-call driver or answering service |
Two details stop it misfiring. De-duplicate by phone number, so someone who already booked by phone does not keep getting "still interested?" texts. And make sure the job lands in Towbook or your field service CRM with the lead source, so you can later see which ads produced tows. The missed-call text-back guide covers the same plumbing for phone calls.
Improving lead quality
Better questions on the form improve lead quality more than a bigger budget. A form that asks only for a name and number invites curiosity clicks. One that asks for pickup ZIP, drop-off ZIP, vehicle, running condition and date gets fewer, better leads, and hands you the details for the quote.
- Ask whether the vehicle runs and rolls. It sets the truck and the price, and filters out people who have not thought it through.
- Ask for the date needed. "Today" belongs on the phone, not in a sequence.
- Target the area your trucks cover. A long-distance lead is only good if the pickup is somewhere you will send a truck.
- Read the lost reasons monthly. If "went with a motor club" keeps showing up, say plainly in the ad what you do that a club dispatch will not.
The ads themselves are covered in the Facebook and Instagram ads guide for towing.
How VETS Growth Marketing helps
We connect your Facebook lead forms and page messages to a CRM in your name, register your texting number, and build the sequence so dispatch hears about every lead within seconds. The setup is a project with a date, and we report how many Facebook leads became booked tows. Bring a week of your Facebook leads to a growth consultation and we will show you where they are going cold.
Sources
- 47 CFR 64.1200: Delivery restrictions (TCPA rules), Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
- Messaging Principles and Best Practices, CTIA
- The Campaign Registry (A2P 10DLC brand and campaign registration), The Campaign Registry