If your business offers equipment or appliance servicing, many of your jobs will have future servicing opportunities. This could include ongoing maintenance, warranty checks, and electrical or gas safety certifications. Sending regular service reminders can ensure consistent work, improve your business reputation, and create a loyal customer base.
Set up service reminders to send automatically with Tradify!
Short on time? Skip ahead!
- What are service reminders?
- Why is a service reminder system important?
- When should you send a service reminder?
- What to write within a service reminder
- Challenges of manual service reminders
- Advantages of automatic service reminders
- Link your service reminders with scheduling software
- Using job management service software
1. What are service reminders?
Service reminders are scheduled messages sent to customers to encourage them to book an inspection, maintenance, or service appointment. This is handy for jobs that need to occur at regular intervals — either to prolong the life of their products or because it is required by law. These reminders can be delivered as emails or more traditional phone calls.
2. Why is a service reminder system important?
Don't leave money sitting on the table or forgotten in a notebook! Automated service reminders benefit your business by boosting the number of returning customers, appointments booked, and overall revenue.
Reminders signal to your customers that you are available, familiar with their needs, and looking out for their best interests. This is key to building a solid customer base and helps prevent future issues in their systems. Failing to send these reminders increases the chance of customers seeking out other service providers, meaning you could lose regular work to a competitor.
Many customers prefer to schedule services with companies they are familiar with and that understand their specific needs. By notifying customers when it’s time for maintenance or inspections, your business demonstrates that it is proactive and professional. Without these reminders, customers might find themselves holding expired safety certificates, without electricity or heating in the middle of winter, or facing even worse problems due to a system failure.
Legal requirements
Some certificates, such as the UK’s Gas Safety certificates or Australia’s Electrical Safety Check (2Y), are legal requirements for homeowners and landlords. This gives them even further incentive to agree to regular maintenance or servicing.
3. When should you send a service reminder?
Service reminders should be sent early enough to give your customers enough time to make a decision and respond, while also giving you enough time to plan your schedule for the work order. On average, a two-week window before a service is due is enough time to organise a visit.
Making a plan for your service reminders helps avoid missed opportunities. They can be scheduled around a particular season or the age of a product. For example, you can extend a product's life by sending annual reminders for inspections, like before winter/summer for HVAC appliances, or reduce emergency calls by sending quarterly reminders for plumbing system checks.
Additionally, if your records show that an installation is nearing the end of its warranty period, you could offer additional coverage or a replacement deal to incentivise them to book in the job. Regardless of when you choose to send your reminder, put a plan in place to ensure your schedule is organised!
4. What to write within a service reminder
People are more likely to open a message if they believe it is for them personally, so including their name in the email subject line is an easy way to show that the message is directed towards them.
Use direct, and clear messages to remind customers that their product is due for service. The key purpose of service reminders is to win your team more return business. So, including concrete examples in your messages can encourage customers to book their appointments.
For instance, you can mention that regular electrical generator inspections can prevent issues like low coolant, clogged lines, or wiring problems, or that you can reduce your fuel costs by up to 10% just by having your boiler running at optimal levels. Finally, be sure to clarify whether customers should call, email, or visit your website to book the service.
5. Challenges of manual service reminders
Be honest, how likely is it that you'll remember when every customer's service is due without some kind of automated reminder? Manually managing service reminders by checking a diary or sending yourself a future memo is a time-consuming process that can lead to several issues, including wasted time, extra expenses, or missed opportunities.
Missing a service reminder may lead customers to choose a different provider, or result in difficulty building a customer base, poor cash flow, or loss of regular work. Tradify allows you to automate your service reminders with ease.
6. Advantages of Tradify's automatic service reminders
Being able to set and forget a professional, templated service reminder as soon as you finish a job has got to be the easiest way to lock in future work. Tradify's automatic service reminders are pre-set emails sent to customers to encourage them to book a service. Our service reminders send out the initial reminder, as well as follow-ups if needed.
7. Link your service reminders with scheduling software
Scheduling software like Tradify can automate all your service reminders. This minimises the risk of missing important service dates and frees up your team to focus on more critical tasks. Additionally, it increases efficiency and organisation in managing service appointments, reduces administrative workload and errors, and enhances overall business operations and cash flow.
8. Using job management service software
Tradify is a comprehensive job management software that can help with all parts of running a trade business, including scheduling, field service management, customer enquiries, online payments, invoicing, and more!
Automating service reminders with Tradify's job management software means that your messages can be integrated with features such as customer notes and details — reducing the need for double entry. Booked services will appear directly within your schedule, along with all the relevant notes and customer details, meaning you'll have more time to grow your business while your service reminders find repeat work for you.
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