ElectricalBossPro Blog — Scheduling & Dispatch

Night-Before Reminders and Customer Alert Choices for Electrical Appointments

A lot of missed electrical appointments are not anybody's fault. The homeowner booked a safety inspection three weeks ago, forgot, and scheduled a dentist appointment for the same morning. The generator customer did not realize the yearly visit was tomorrow. A reminder the night before catches most of those before they turn into a wasted trip.

Three Alerts, One Visit

The last two guides covered the texts that go out during the visit, ending with The Arrived Text: Telling the Homeowner the Electrician Is at the Door. The night-before reminder is the first message in the sequence.

In ElectricalBossPro, customers can choose three alerts:

• Night before — a reminder that the visit is tomorrow.
• When they're next — a heads-up that the tech is headed their way.
• When the tech arrives — a text when the tech gets to the address.

Automated reminders and alerts can go out by text and email.

Why Let the Customer Choose

Some customers want every message. Others find three texts for one visit too many. A retiree who is home all day may only want the arrived text. A homeowner who works from home may want the night-before reminder and the when-they're-next text so they can step away from a meeting. A property manager may want all three for every address on their account.

Letting customers choose keeps the messages welcome instead of annoying. A customer who gets only the alerts they asked for is more likely to read them.

Why the Night Before Matters for Electricians

Electrical work usually needs someone home and the house ready. The night-before reminder gives the customer time to:

• Rearrange their morning if they forgot
• Clear the area in front of the panel
• Move a car out of the garage for an EV charger job
• Leave a key or a lockbox code if they will not be there
• Reply to reschedule if the day no longer works

Every one of those saves time on the day. A reply asking to reschedule, sent the night before, is far better than a skipped visit the next morning. Replies go to the office through two-way texting.

Get Tomorrow Right First

Night-before reminders are only as good as tomorrow's schedule. If a job was moved and nobody updated it, the reminder goes to the wrong customer or says the wrong thing. That is why a late-afternoon check of tomorrow on the dispatch board is a good habit. Look at each van's day for tomorrow, make sure the right jobs are there, and fix anything that is off before reminders go out. Saved views make that check quick. See Saved Views on the Electrical Dispatch Board: One Click to the Board You Check Every Morning.

Reminders on Recurring Visits

Recurring visits are where night-before reminders earn the most. A yearly safety inspection or generator maintenance visit was not something the customer called about this week. They signed up for a plan, and the visit came due on its own from the Waiting List. Without a reminder, the visit may be a surprise. With one, the customer is ready.

Reminders Before Install Days

Install days lean hardest on the night-before reminder. A panel upgrade, an EV charger or a generator install usually means the crew needs clear access to the garage, the panel or the side of the house, and the homeowner may need to plan around the power being off for part of the day. The automatic reminder tells them the crew is coming. A short two-way text from the office the same evening can add anything specific to that job, like “please move the car out of the garage before 8.” Customers who are ready when the van pulls up make the whole day run on time.

Setting Preferences

Customers can set their alert preferences in the customer app. The office can also set them when adding a client or on a phone call. Commercial accounts with many locations can have the right contact set to receive alerts, so the store manager or facilities person hears about the visit to their building.

Keeping an Eye on Text Usage

Texts count against the plan's monthly allowance: 500, 1,000 or 2,000 segments sent and received on Start, Pro and Crew. Alerts are short, but they add up across a busy month, and customer replies count too. Email reminders are another option for customers who prefer them. Texting is available for customers in the US and Canada.

Fewer Surprises, Fewer Wasted Trips

A night-before reminder is a small message that heads off a big waste of time. Combined with the when-they're-next and arrived texts, it gives customers a clear picture of the visit from the evening before to the moment the tech rings the bell. To see how alerts fit with the dispatch board and the tech app, visit the ElectricalBossPro electrician scheduling software page.