Texting for roofing
After a storm, the phone rings all day. You are on a roof for all of it.
Homeowners with a leak call three roofers and go with the one who answers. A text from your number within seconds means you are the one who answered.
Roofing: after a storm the phone rings all day and you are on a roof for all of it.
- 3:40 PMMissed call, the day after the storm
- 3:40 PMYour number texts them back, automatically
- 3:45 PM“Shingles all over the yard. Can you come look?”
- 4:02 PMInspection and repair booked$1,174
One caller, start to finish. An example, except the green figure: that one comes from the published averages in 02, with their sources.
No trap here
- No contract
- Prices on the site
- Set up for you by a real person
- Texts from your own number
Where the money goes
Four leaks in a roofing company.
Storm-day calls that ring out
Hail and wind bring a flood of calls in a single afternoon. You cannot answer them from a ladder, but a text can.
Estimates that go quiet
Roof replacements are big decisions. Homeowners collect three bids, then stall. A follow-up a week later keeps you in the running.
Repairs that could be inspections
Customers you patched last year should hear from you before the next season. An annual inspection text keeps the relationship.
Reviews that never happen
A new roof is a big deal to a homeowner. Ask for the review the day you clean up the yard, and they will write it.
What a job is worth
The most expensive missed call in the trades.
A repair is over a thousand dollars. A replacement is nearly ten. On the day after a storm every call is one or the other, and the homeowner is calling down the list until somebody answers.
- $1,174
average roof repair, in a range of $395 to $1,967
- $9,609
average full roof replacement, in a range of $5,902 to $13,377, from over 30,000 customers
What one caller adds up to
- One repair, at the average$1,174
- If one call in eight becomes a replacement, each call carries an eighth of $9,609 on top$1,201
Each line states its own assumption. The averages are the ones above.
A month of missed calls, at the average
$12,718
10 missed calls a week, one in 4 of them ready to book, at $1,174 each. Those are the calculator’s defaults, not your company’s numbers.
A week in a roofing company
Five days, one phone
nobody could answer.
Every rust line is a call you could not take. Every teal line is your number answering for you. Every green line is the job it became, priced near the averages above.
One week, one company
ExampleMonday
- 7:25 AMMissed call, the crew is loading the trailer
- 7:25 AMText-back goes out from your number
- 7:41 AM“Water stain on the bedroom ceiling.” Inspection booked for Wednesday$1,174
Tuesday
- 9:00 AMReplacement estimate from eight days ago gets its follow-up
- 2:26 PM“Insurance approved it yesterday.” Replacement moving forward$9,609
- 5:10 PMYesterday’s repair customer gets the review request
Wednesday
- 3:40 PMMissed call, the day after the hail, you are on a roof
- 3:40 PMText-back goes out
- 3:43 PM“Shingles all over the yard.” Address collected, inspection booked$1,174
- 3:52 PMSecond missed call while you are still up there. Text-back goes out
Thursday
- 8:00 AMNine customers you repaired last fall get the annual inspection text
- 10:44 AM“Yes, thanks for remembering.” Three inspections booked
- 4:15 PMOne of them has lifted flashing. Repair booked$1,174
Friday
- 11:30 AMMissed call while you walk an adjuster across a roof
- 11:30 AMText-back goes out
- 11:48 AM“Selling the house, need a roof inspection for the buyer.” Booked Monday$1,174
Booked that week, from texts
$14,305
Made up, like every ledger on this site, and priced at the published averages in 02 so it is a week you would recognise. Your dashboard shows the real one.
What your customer sees
In your words, from your own number.
We write every message with you during setup, in roofing language. You approve all of them before a single one goes out.
Missed call after a hail storm
ExampleReassure, collect an address, and book the inspection.
New caller- Missed call, 3:40 PM
- This is Luis at Ridgeline Roofing. Sorry I missed you, I’m on a roof. If you’ve got storm damage, text me your address and I’ll get you on the inspection list for tomorrow.3:40 PM
- 88 Birch Ln. Shingles all over the yard and a wet spot on the ceiling3:43 PM
- I’ll be there at 8am. Put a bucket under the spot tonight if it’s dripping.4:05 PM
- Inspection booked
Open estimate follow-up
ExampleEight days after the bid, no pressure.
The Kims- Hi, Luis from Ridgeline Roofing. Following up on the roof replacement estimate. Happy to answer anything, go over the shingle options, or talk about the insurance paperwork. Our crew has openings the second week of the month if you’d like one.9:00 AM
- Insurance approved it yesterday. Let’s talk about the darker shingle.2:26 PM
- Replacement moving forward
Annual inspection reminder
ExampleFor past repair and replacement customers.
Frank O.- Frank, Ridgeline Roofing here. It’s been a year since we repaired the flashing on your chimney. Want a free look before winter to make sure everything is tight?8:00 AM
- Yes, thanks for remembering10:44 AM
- Inspection booked
Every text, explained
Seven messages. Here is each one,
and why it is written that way.
When it goes, what it says, why it works in roofing, and the one thing it will never do. You approve every word of every one before it goes live.
01
Missed-call text-back
When. Within seconds of a call you did not answer, during your working hours.
The day after a storm a homeowner is calling three roofers in a row and the out-of-town crew is already knocking on the door. A text from your number in the same minute, asking for the address, is the one answer they get from a company with a local name. The address is the whole point: with it, you have an inspection. Without it, you have a voicemail nobody left.
Never. It never goes out when you answered, and it never goes out at night. A 10 PM “my ceiling is dripping” call gets its text at 8 AM, worded for a call that came in overnight, and the after-hours add-on can take the message in between.
What they read
ExampleThis is Luis at Ridgeline Roofing. Sorry I missed you, I’m on a roof. If you’ve got a leak or storm damage, text me your address and what you’re seeing and I’ll get you on the inspection list. Reply STOP to opt out.
215 characters · 2 segments02
Open estimate follow-up
When. Eight days after a replacement estimate, then once more two weeks later. Two texts, never a third.
A replacement is the biggest cheque most homeowners write after the house itself. They collect three bids, wait on the adjuster, talk to a spouse and stall. Most roofers never follow up at all, so the one who does, calmly, with a real opening on the calendar, is the one still in the conversation when the claim comes through.
Never. It never pressures. No “sign today”, no deal that expires at midnight. That is the storm chaser’s line, and the homeowner has been warned about it by every news station in the county.
What they read
ExampleHi, Luis from Ridgeline Roofing. Following up on the roof replacement estimate. Happy to go over the shingle options, the warranty, or the insurance paperwork. Our crew has openings the second week of the month if you’d like one. Reply STOP to opt out.
252 characters · 2 segments03
Annual inspection reminder
When. Each fall, to every customer you repaired or replaced, once a year.
A repair customer is a replacement customer in five to ten years, if they remember your name. A free look every fall keeps the name, finds the lifted flashing before it is a ceiling stain, and fills the slow weeks with the easiest job in the trade: a ladder, twenty minutes and a conversation.
Never. It never goes to a customer who had you out in the last ten months, and never to a job that ended in a dispute.
What they read
ExampleFrank, Ridgeline Roofing here. It’s been a year since we repaired the flashing on your chimney. Want a free look before winter to make sure everything is tight? Reply with a day that works. Reply STOP to opt out.
212 characters · 2 segments04
Post-storm check-in
When. The morning after a hail or wind event in your area, to past customers in the affected zip codes. You trigger it with one text to us; it never fires on its own.
The company that reaches its own customers first after a storm keeps them. The ones who do not hear from you are the ones who sign with the magnetic-sign truck in the driveway the next afternoon.
Never. It never goes to anyone outside the storm’s path, and never to a stranger. It is for people who already know you.
What they read
ExampleRidgeline Roofing here. Last night’s hail hit your side of town. If you see shingles in the yard or anything off, text us and we’ll put you on the inspection list before the out-of-town crews start knocking. Reply STOP to opt out.
230 characters · 2 segments05
Gutter and winter prep offer
When. Late October, once, to customers who have not had you out since spring.
November is the lull. A gutter route fills it with small jobs for customers you already have, and every roof you are standing on in November is a roof you are inspecting for free.
Never. One text per year. It is a gentle offer, not a sale.
What they read
ExampleFrank, it’s Ridgeline Roofing. We’re doing gutter cleanings and winter checks through November. Reply here if you’d like us to add you to the route. Reply STOP to opt out.
171 characters · 2 segments06
Google review request
When. The day the job wraps up, once the yard is clean and the invoice is paid.
A homeowner about to spend ten thousand dollars with a stranger reads the reviews first, and the storm chasers do not have any. A new roof is a big enough day that people will write one, if you ask the day the magnets come off the lawn.
Never. It never goes to a job with an open punch list, a callback or a payment still outstanding. We ask once.
What they read
ExampleThanks for having Ridgeline out, Frank. If the job went well, a quick Google review helps a local company more than you’d think: g.page/r/ridgeline-roofing. Reply STOP to opt out.
179 characters · 2 segments07
Win-back
When. Two years after a customer’s last visit, once.
People move, forget, or try the other guy once. A plain text with a free inspection in it brings back the ones who simply lost the card.
Never. One text, ever. Nobody is nudged twice.
What they read
ExampleFrank, it’s Luis at Ridgeline Roofing. It’s been a couple of years since we were up on your roof. If you’d like a free look before the next storm season, reply here and we’ll find a day. Reply STOP to opt out.
209 characters · 2 segments
The year, already written
Twelve months in roofing,
and what goes out in each.
Set once during setup around your seasons, not ours. Change any month by texting us. The quiet months stay quiet on purpose.
January
Text-backs on every missed call, delivered at 8 AM for night calls. Ice dam and leak calls.
Winter leaks come in at night, when the snow melts off the attic. The text-back with the address request is how a 7 AM phone call becomes a 9 AM tarp.
February
Replacement follow-ups on every winter repair that was a patch, not a fix.
A roof that leaked twice this winter is a spring replacement, if somebody asks before the first spring storm does.
March
Post-storm check-ins as the first spring storms land. Text-backs.
The first hail of the year brings the first out-of-town crews. Your customers should hear from you the morning after, before the knock on the door.
April
Text-backs on the spring surge. Estimate follow-ups on everything quoted in March.
Spring is a top season. The follow-ups keep March’s bids alive while April’s calls fill the calendar.
May
Review requests after each spring job. Estimate follow-ups.
Spring customers are relieved customers. Their reviews are what summer’s insurance claimants read before choosing you over the crew in the driveway.
June
Text-backs. Nothing promotional.
You do not need more work in June. You need to not lose the one call that rang while you were on a ridge.
July
Text-backs. Post-storm check-ins after each summer storm.
Late-summer hail and wind are the biggest demand spike of the year. The customers who hear from you first stay yours.
August
Estimate follow-ups on the storm bids waiting on adjusters.
Insurance scopes can take three to six weeks after a big storm. A calm follow-up every couple of weeks is the difference between the claim coming to you and going to whoever called last.
September
Text-backs on the fall surge. Follow-ups continue.
Fall is the second peak: homeowners want the roof done before winter. The follow-ups close the summer’s open estimates.
October
Annual inspection reminders to every past customer. Gutter and winter prep offers.
Books November with people who already know you, and every roof you stand on is an inspection.
November
Inspection and gutter bookings, review requests after each. Win-backs to anyone quiet for two years.
The lull fills from the list. The win-back goes now because people think about the roof before the snow.
December
Text-backs only. Holiday closed dates set so wording and timing respect them.
Nobody wants a gutter offer on the 24th, and the text-back should say you are closed when you are closed.
The standing reminders
The rules behind the calendar, each one a date the customer would otherwise have to remember.
- Open estimate follow-up
- 7 to 10 days after the bid
- Annual roof inspection
- Every fall
- Gutter cleaning offer
- Late fall
- Post-storm check-in
- After major weather events
- Review request
- The day the job wraps up
An example month
What a month of this looks like.
Every line is a booked job that started with a text, priced near the averages above. Your dashboard shows yours, not this one.
Roofing
Example- 4 jobsMissed-call text-backs$4,700
- 1 jobEstimate follow-ups$9,600
- 3 jobsStorm-day overflow$3,520
Recovered this month
$17,820
Made up figures for a roofing company of average size. Not a promise, and not another shop’s results.
The first week
Set up for a roofing company, by a person.
About an hour of your time, once. We do the carrier paperwork, the number, the list and the writing. Here is what that week looks like for your trade.
Day 0
Kickoff call, 30 minutes
We ask what you do (residential, commercial, storm restoration, gutters), how many crews, whether you handle insurance claims and how long your estimates usually sit, what an inspection and a typical repair cost, and which months are the surge and which are the lull. We ask for your customer list in whatever shape it is in, and whether your CRM can export it.
Days 1 to 3
Your number, made text-capable
We register your business number with the carriers under your company’s legal name. Calls do not change. If your yard signs and truck wraps carry a different number from the office line, we talk about which one homeowners actually dial after a storm.
Days 2 to 4
Your texts, in your words
We draft the seven messages above with your company name, your first name, your real crew openings and your review link. You read every one on your phone, change what you want, and approve. The estimate follow-up gets the most edits, because every roofer has an opinion about how to talk about insurance; that is normal.
Days 4 to 7
Go live, and the inbox on your phone
We turn on the text-back first and watch a day of it with you. The annual inspection reminders start the following week so you can see what a reply looks like before thirty of them land. A 20-minute call shows you and whoever runs the office the inbox, and how to fire the post-storm check-in with one text to us.
Every month after
The dashboard, together
Before each season we look at what went out and what came back, move the reminder windows if your calendar moved, and set the storm check-in up for your zip codes. If the number is not comfortably above what you pay us, we say so.
What it costs
Three plans. Which one
is yours, by the size of the company.
Every price is on this site and there is no contract. Here is how the three plans map onto the way this trade is usually run.
Starter
$249 /month
One crew, you run sales and the phone from the truck
The text-back alone pays for itself the first storm day. Add the rest when you have a list of past customers worth an inspection text.
Pro
$449 /month
Most roofing companies
Two or three crews, an estimator, a pile of open bids waiting on adjusters
The estimate follow-ups are where a roofing company’s money is, and the annual inspection reminders turn repair customers into replacement customers. This is the plan most roofers run.
Full
$649 /month
Running AccuLynx or JobNimbus, storm restoration, financing on the big jobs
Estimates and claim stages are read from your software, so a follow-up never goes out on a job that is still with the adjuster, and the financing offer goes out on the big quotes automatically.
Software we commonly connect
On the Full plan. Names only; what we can read depends on what your software allows, and we confirm yours on the call.
- AccuLynx
- Contacts, jobs, estimates and their status, and the insurance claim stage, so a follow-up never goes out on a job waiting on an adjuster.
- JobNimbus
- Contacts, jobs and estimates. Follow-ups key off the estimate date.
- Roofr
- Proposals and their status. A sent proposal with no answer is what the follow-up watches.
- Jobber
- Clients, jobs and quotes.
- Housecall Pro
- Customers, jobs and estimates. Reminders key off the last completed job.
Why not just…
The other ways a roofing company handles a missed call.
Each one is a real option, and some are the right one at a certain size. Here is what each costs and where it falls down, as plainly as we can put it.
Keep letting it go to voicemail
Nothing on paper.
The day after a hail storm the homeowner is calling three roofers and nobody leaves a message. The out-of-town crew knocks on their door that afternoon. That call never shows up on any report, so it never gets added up.
An answering service
Roughly $200 to $500 a month for the hours you miss, more in storm season.
A stranger with a script who cannot see your inspection list, does not know what a ridge vent is, and takes a message. On a storm day they take eighty messages. The messages do not book the inspections.
An office manager
A salary.
The right answer once you have two crews, and the texts still help them: the text-back covers the three calls that ring at once on a storm afternoon, and the inspection reminders are a week of calls they do not have to make.
A big texting and reviews platform
Typically $300 to $600 a month, on an annual contract, from a number that is not yours.
You set it up yourself, the account manager goes quiet after the sale, and cancelling takes ninety days’ notice. The texts come from a number your customers have never seen, which after a storm looks exactly like the crews they have been warned about.
Do it yourself from your cell phone
Your evenings.
It works until the first storm. Then you have forty calls, a crew on a roof, an adjuster at 2 PM, and the text that mattered is the one you did not send.
Questions roofing owners ask
The ones specific to your trade.
The contract, the number and the cancel-by-text answers are on the FAQ page. These are the ones that only come up on a call with a roofing company.
Yes. Every missed call gets its text within seconds, whether it is the first of the day or the eightieth. The replies land in one inbox, each with the address the text asked for, so by the evening you have an inspection list instead of a voicemail box. You can change the wording from your phone in a minute to say how far out you are booking.
No. The follow-up pair is spaced for exactly that wait: eight days, then two weeks later, and it says you are happy to talk about the paperwork rather than asking for a decision. On the Full plan we read the claim stage from AccuLynx or JobNimbus, so a job still with the adjuster gets no follow-up at all until the scope comes back.
The storm chaser texts from a number nobody knows, the same afternoon, with a deal that expires tonight. Yours comes from the number on your trucks and your yard signs, to a person who called you or already used you, and it asks for an address instead of a signature. That difference is the whole reason the text comes from your own number.
The truth: “we’re booking about three weeks out, text your address and we’ll put you in line, and if it’s dripping tonight tell us and we’ll get a tarp on it”. Being honest about the wait keeps the customer who would otherwise sign with whoever shows up first, and the tarp line is what makes them wait for you.
Yes. The inbox is on as many phones as you want, and every reply shows who answered it. The estimator sees the address and the photos the homeowner texted before they pull up.
Whichever one the customer dialed. If the truck number forwards to the office, we turn on texting for the number the homeowner actually sees, so the reply thread is with the number they will dial again next year.
They get the text-back and the estimate follow-ups, which property managers like because they are judged on response time. They do not get the annual inspection or gutter texts unless you want them to: a commercial account is usually on a maintenance schedule already.
The homeowner can text photos to your number and they land in the inbox with the thread, which is often enough to tell a tarp from a replacement before anyone climbs a ladder. The automated texts themselves are words only; a photo of your work is something you send from your phone when it fits.
Never. A text cannot see the roof and cannot read the policy. The follow-ups say “happy to go over the options and the paperwork”, and anything a customer asks about money or coverage lands in your inbox for a person to answer.
Lines we do not cross
Six rules, written for roofing.
They are not settings. They are how it is built, and no plan or request turns them off.
Nothing goes out between 8 PM and 8 AM, the customer’s time.
A roofer who texts at 11 PM after a storm sounds like the one in the magnetic-sign truck.
One follow-up pair per estimate. One inspection reminder per year. One win-back, ever.
The point is to be the roofer who stayed in touch, not the roofer who kept calling.
The post-storm check-in goes only to your own past customers in the storm’s path, and only when you say go.
Texting strangers after a disaster is what the crews you compete against do. We will not do it from your number.
STOP means stop, in English or Spanish, instantly, on every message type.
It is the law, and it is also just what you would do if someone said it to your face.
No price, no coverage opinion and no deadline ever appears in an automated text.
A text cannot see the roof or read the policy, and a deadline is the storm chaser’s line.
Review requests go only to jobs that closed clean and paid, once.
Asking a customer with an open punch list for a review is how a roofer earns the one-star that outlives the roof.
Book a demo
Fifteen minutes, about
your company.
A phone call with the person who would set it up. We look at how many calls you miss, what roofing jobs are worth to you, and whether this fits. If it does not, we will say so.
- No contract
- Prices on the site
- Set up for you by a real person
- Texts from your own number