Mastering Customer Service:
Example Lawn Care Appointment Communications Timeline

When it comes to communicating with customers, there are hundreds of types of messages you might want to send during a lawn care appointment. But where do you start? And how can Captivated fold in to your other internal processes, such as appointment check-ins, dispatching, payment collection, or follow-up prospecting?

We’ve created this example communication timeline to help: below, you’ll see examples of how you can utilize Captivated to streamline your entire service process, from  initial bookings to long-term follow-up cadences.

When it comes to communicating with customers, there are hundreds of types of messages you might want to send during a lawn care appointment. But where do you start? And how can Captivated fold in to your other internal processes, such as appointment check-ins, dispatching, payment collection, or follow-up prospecting?

We’ve created this example communication timeline to help: below, you’ll see examples of how you can utilize Captivated to streamline your entire service process, from  initial bookings to long-term follow-up cadences. 

Click on the headers to toggle for more information on each timeline interval.

Months/Weeks Out:
Confirmation & Reminders

First, we would be remiss not to mention that customers can book appointments using your calendar availability through Captivated! When a time slot is scheduled, a booking confirmation text can be automatically sent out to the customer via text. 

Once they opt in for text receipt, you can send other texts to them (maybe a month and/or a week out) reminding them of the upcoming service. You can also send any forms or additional information a few days or weeks out from the appointment, to streamline your intake processes as well.

WEEKS BEFORE

Captivated appointment booking confirmation text message
Captivated sms text example: reminding a customer of appointment and sending check-in intake forms to be filled out

Day Before/Day-of:
Introductions & Final Preparations

Just before the appointment, remind the customer of any final things they’ll need to prepare, bring with them, or be aware of for their upcoming appointment. 

If there will be a technician dispatched out to meet them and perform a service, introducing that tech with a photo and name can help customers feel safe and can help establish trust. A window of time of arrival for that tech is a great practice as well.

Remind them of any thing they can do to make the appointment run more smoothly – noting a preferred door of entry in the house, opening a gate for you, signing any e-documents of authorization.

JUST BEFORE

landscaping lawn and garden company using business marketing texting to send an appointment reminder and tech introduction
Captivated example text for day of instructions and preparations for service appointment
landscaping gardening tech informing the customer that they have arrived at the house for the service treatment

Throughout Services:
Communications & Approvals

While performing services during an appointment, Captivated can be used to communicate with customers – for instance, shown to the left in our examples, the advisor is able to send vehicle updates via text.

Rather than sending a video and long text explaining what he is looking at, this technician could have invited the customer to a quick video chat to talk face-to-face, or could have sent a picture instead.

After explaining the additional service he is recommending, he is even able to send an approval form for the customer to authorize the additional work. Had the customer declined the work today, he could have made an internal note within Captivated to follow up with that customer on those services at a later date – in this case, the most urgent work was agreed upon, but later in this timeline, you’ll see an example of how he might follow up on additional recommended services at a later date.

At the end of the appointment, the tech can send an invoice through Captivated, and can allow the customer to pay their final invoice via secure credit card or ACH pay (which he can request directly through Captivated).

Note: customers will follow the link to see the invoice details and payment options – we have shown it here just to give you an idea of what that page will look like for them.

DURING
APPT

lawn care landscaping technician advising customer via SMS text about weeding treatments
lawn care advisor sending a video via SMS MMS to show customer weeding options and review service costs and information
lawn care landscaping tech texting client about approving additional weed bed garden treatment in addition to core aeration service, and sending an authorization form via text
lawn care service landscaping technician texting customer itemized invoice for weed bed treatment and core aeration, allowing them to pay via ACH bank transfer or via credit card

Several Days After the Appointment:
Follow-up & Review

Once the appointment is finished and the customer is satisfied, take advantage of the opportunity to garner a positive review from them! Reach out to invite them to leave a review on your preferred online reputation site and share their positive feedback.

1-2 DAYS AFTER

lawn care landscaping technician reaching out after appointment via text to request a Google review to boost online reputation ratings

In the Weeks Following the Appointment:
Continued Follow-up

Depending on whether you recommended any additional services or products during the appointment, you may want to follow up with the customer. For more urgent items, you might follow up only a few days after the appointment; for less immediate needs, you might wait a few weeks or months.

Either way, within Captivated, you can use internal notes and tags to create workflows for following up on those items with your customers. This can not only increase revenue, but can also improve your customer retention as well.

1-2 WEEKS LATER

lawn care company landscaping tech following up with a customer via text to inquire about additional pest treatment services

First, we would be remiss not to mention that customers can book appointments using your calendar availability through Captivated! When a time slot is scheduled, a booking confirmation text can be automatically sent out to the customer via text. 

Once they opt in for text receipt, you can send other texts to them (maybe a month and/or a week out) reminding them of the upcoming service. You can also send any forms or additional information a few days or weeks out from the appointment, to streamline your intake processes as well.

Captivated appointment booking confirmation text message
Captivated sms text example: reminding a customer of appointment and sending check-in intake forms to be filled out

Just before the appointment, remind the customer of any final things they’ll need to prepare, bring with them, or be aware of for their upcoming appointment. 

If there will be a technician dispatched out to meet them and perform a service, introducing that tech with a photo and name can help customers feel safe and can help establish trust. A window of time of arrival for that tech is a great practice as well.

Remind them of any thing they can do to make the appointment run more smoothly – noting a preferred door of entry in the house, opening a gate for you, signing any e-documents of authorization.

landscaping lawn and garden company using business marketing texting to send an appointment reminder and tech introduction
Captivated example text for day of instructions and preparations for service appointment
landscaping gardening tech informing the customer that they have arrived at the house for the service treatment

While performing services during an appointment, Captivated can be used to communicate with customers – for instance, shown to the left in our examples, the advisor is able to send service updates via text.

Rather than sending a video and long text explaining what he is looking at, this tech could have invited the customer to a quick video chat to talk face-to-face, or could have sent a picture instead.

After explaining the additional service he is recommending, he is even able to send an approval form for the customer to authorize the additional work. Had the customer declined the work today, he could have made an internal note within Captivated to follow up with that customer on those services at a later date – in this case, the most urgent work was agreed upon, but later in this timeline, you’ll see an example of how he might follow up on additional recommended services at a later date.

At the end of the appointment, the technician can send an invoice through Captivated, and can allow the customer to pay their final invoice via secure credit card or ACH pay (which he can request directly through Captivated).

Note: customers will follow the link to see the invoice details and payment options – we have shown it here just to give you an idea of what that page will look like for them.

lawn care landscaping technician advising customer via SMS text about weeding treatments
lawn care advisor sending a video via SMS MMS to show customer weeding options and review service costs and information
lawn care landscaping tech texting client about approving additional weed bed garden treatment in addition to core aeration service, and sending an authorization form via text
lawn care service landscaping technician texting customer itemized invoice for weed bed treatment and core aeration, allowing them to pay via ACH bank transfer or via credit card

Once the appointment is finished and the customer is satisfied, take advantage of the opportunity to garner a positive review from them! Reach out to invite them to leave a review on your preferred online reputation site and share their positive feedback.

lawn care landscaping technician reaching out after appointment via text to request a Google review to boost online reputation ratings

Depending on whether you recommended any additional services or products during the appointment, you may want to follow up with the customer. For more urgent items, you might follow up only a few days after the appointment; for less immediate needs, you might wait a few weeks or months.

Either way, within Captivated, you can use internal notes and tags to create workflows for following up on those items with your customers. This can not only increase revenue, but can also improve your customer retention as well.

lawn care company landscaping tech following up with a customer via text to inquire about additional pest treatment services
Screen Shot 2022-08-31 at 3.39.05 PM

No matter how you follow up or what your workflow processes look like today, our team can help ensure that you’re utilizing Captivated to the fullest extent. Every team and department can utilize the different categories of business communication we offer – from sales prospecting and retention pipelines, to BDC follow-ups, to accounting services and everything in between.

Captivated integrates with SA5 and other CRMs, so there is a multitude of features we can provide to reduce friction in your everyday business. If you are considering Captivated for your business, and would like to learn more, visit our virtual demo page or schedule a live demo today.

If you are a current customer and want to maximize your Captivated usage, chat with us or text our Support team to learn more about our Professional Services and schedule a personal consultation for your specific business case and needs!