GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Commercial Doors

Texting Facility Managers and Site Contacts: Two-Way Texts and Automatic Alerts

Commercial work has more people to keep informed. The facility manager wants to know a visit is happening. The dock lead wants to know when the tech will show up so they can clear a door. The property manager wants to know a repair is done. Phone calls between all of them eat up the office's day. Texts are quicker for everyone.

Who Needs to Hear From You

What the tech sees on a commercial job is covered in What the Tech Sees on a Commercial Door Job: Building, Bay and Door on the Card. This guide is about the people on the other end.

A typical commercial account has two kinds of contact:

• The decision maker. The facility manager, property manager or owner who approves work and pays the bill.
• The site contact. The dock lead, shop service writer, station officer or tenant who is actually there when the tech arrives.

Both need different things at different times, and both can be reached by text.

Two-Way Texting From the Office

GarageDoorBossPro includes two-way texting with customers from the office. The office can text a site contact to confirm a time, text a manager about an estimate waiting for approval or answer a question about a bill, and replies come back to the office. Conversations stay in one place, so anyone in the office can pick up where someone else left off.

Examples that work well on commercial accounts:

• “We have your 90-day door maintenance scheduled for Tuesday morning. Is Dock 3 free after 10am?”
• “The estimate for the Bay 2 door replacement is in your email. We can schedule as soon as it's approved.”
• “Tech is finishing up at the Elm Street property now. Photos and report will be on the job.”

Automatic Reminders and Alerts

Automated reminders and alerts go out by text and email without anyone in the office sending them. Customers can choose which alerts they get:

• Night before. A reminder the evening before the visit.
• When they're next. A heads-up when the tech is heading to them.
• When the tech arrives. An “arrived” text when the tech starts the job.

The “on the way” and “arrived” texts are sent from the tech app as the tech works the route. For a warehouse, that means the dock lead knows when to expect the tech and can have the door clear. For a townhome community, it means the resident can move the car out of the garage.

The Live Route Map

The customer app shows today's route on a live map: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the tech is 5 stops away.” For commercial contacts who are waiting on a tech, that saves the “where is he?” call. The customer app also lets them request service, see invoices and pay.

Texting Allowance

Plans include a monthly text allowance: 500 texts on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew, counting texts sent and received, in the US and Canada. Most commercial accounts don't need many texts, since a maintenance visit every 90 days is a handful of messages. A busy repair season with lots of emergency calls uses more. Pick the plan that fits your volume.

Writing Good Commercial Texts

Commercial contacts read texts between other things. A few habits help:

• Name the building and the door. “Dock 3 at the Industrial Drive warehouse” beats “your door.”
• Say what you need. A time, a yes or no, an approval.
• Keep it short. One message, one question.
• Point to the paperwork. Photos, reports and estimates are on the job or in their email.

Store each site contact's name and number in the address access notes, so the office always knows who to text at which building. For the paperwork you'll be pointing to, see Inspection Reports for Facility Managers: Showing What Was Checked on Every Door.

Contacts That Change

Commercial contacts move on. The dock lead gets promoted, the property manager hands the account to someone new, a tenant moves out. When the office hears about a change, update the contact on the client or in the address's access notes right away. Texts sent to someone who left the company don't reach anyone, and a missed alert before a maintenance visit can mean the tech arrives to a dock nobody cleared.

A quick confirmation text before the first visit of each quarter is an easy way to check that you still have the right person.

Fewer Calls, Happier Accounts

Commercial clients like vendors who keep them informed without making them pick up the phone. Automatic alerts plus quick two-way texts from the office do that. For how texting fits with the rest of commercial accounts, return to the commercial garage door software page.