How can I text my customers to confirm visits and remind them?

The problem

• Customers forget or aren't home, and the van has crossed town for nothing.
• Phoning each customer to book or confirm takes hours, and many don't pick up an unknown call.
• Texts from your own number get answered: customers see who is writing and can call you back.

How it works with DroidSender

1. Put your customers in Excel or CSV: name, phone number, and the day and time of the appointment, one row each.
2. Upload the file as a campaign and write the message once. Type @ to add the name, day and time from your file.
3. Schedule it, for example the evening before, and choose the sending hours and days, so texts never go out at night.
4. Replies arrive in one inbox on your computer, from your own number. Confirm, move or cancel the appointment there.
5. If someone replies STOP, they are left out of every future campaign automatically.

Several people can answer the replies at the same time, each from their own computer, signed in to the same account. Answering as a team? See how it compares with the other options

DroidSender does not connect to your calendar or booking software, and it does not send a reminder by itself for each new booking. You upload the list, for example each evening for the next day. If your booking software can call an API, a developer can send each reminder through the DroidSender REST API.

Texts go out from your own SIM at a pace your carrier accepts. Carrier limits

Three messages you can send

• Hi Sarah, this is Mark from Smith Plumbing. I'll be at your address tomorrow between 9 and 11am. Reply YES to confirm or NO to move it.

• Hi Sarah, the yearly boiler service at 8 Carlton Road is due. Which day next week suits you? Reply with a day. Smith Heating

• Hi Sarah, Mark from Smith Plumbing here. I'm on my way and should be with you in about 30 minutes.

Each example is under 160 characters with a typical name and time. In English that is 1 SMS; in languages with letters like ã or ç, use the Remove accents button to keep it to 1 SMS. How SMS length works

Which plan fits

A tradesperson with 5 visits a day who sends a booking text and a reminder for each sends about 220 SMS a month. Try it free: 1,000 SMS in your first 30 days, then 100 a month. No card needed. After that, Starter covers 2,000 SMS a month for $7.99 a month billed yearly ($11.99 monthly). See all plans

The rules in your country

A reminder of an appointment the customer booked is a service message, with lighter rules than marketing, while offers and "time to book again" texts are marketing and need the person's consent and an easy way to say no, like replying STOP (PECR in the UK, the TCPA in the US, the GDPR and ePrivacy rules in the EU). Is it legal to send bulk SMS from my own number?