Guide
Your leads are already in your CRM. Here's how to get them booked.
Last updated By Ryan Watson, founder of Scout
Who this is for: HVAC owners and office managers with past customers, unsold estimates and old requests sitting in their CRM.
Short answer
Pull one list at a time, text each group a short message, and answer replies fast. A reply counts as a booked job only after the appointment is on the schedule in your CRM.
Why don't the leads in your CRM book on their own?
Every past customer, unsold estimate and old web request in your CRM already knows your shop. Nobody gets back to them because the phones and today's jobs come first, and the list gets older every week. What works is a small routine: one list, one short text, quick replies and a booking at the end.
Which lists should you pull first?
Start with one group you can follow through on, not the whole book. These usually have a reason to book right now:
- No visit in a year or more: customers your techs haven't been out to in a long while.
- Unsold estimates: quotes that never got a yes or a no.
- Maintenance due: customers whose last completed service was long enough ago, with nothing on the schedule.
- Older equipment: systems old enough, by the install date on file, that repair or replacement is on the table.
- Plan members whose visit is due, if your software tracks memberships.
Who should you leave off the list?
A text to the wrong person looks careless and can cost you the customer. Take these out before anything goes out:
- Anyone already booked, or with a visit coming up.
- Customers with an open complaint or a disputed invoice. Call them instead.
- Commercial accounts you handle by phone.
- Anyone without a mobile number on file.
- Anyone who hasn't agreed to hear from your shop by text. Follow the texting consent rules in your area.
What should the texts say?
Keep each one short and from your shop by name, give the reason you're reaching out, and offer two real times or ask one easy question. Write a different text for each list, for example:
- No visit in a year: “Hi [name], it's [your name] at [Shop name]. It's been a while since we were out to see your [system]. Want us to take a look before [the busy season]? I have [day] or [day] open.”
- Unsold estimate: “Hi [name], [your name] at [Shop name]. Any questions on the estimate [tech name] went over for your [system]? Happy to walk through the options again.”
- Maintenance due: “Hi [name], it's [Shop name]. Your [heating / cooling] system is due for maintenance; our last visit was [month]. I have [day] at [time] or [day] at [time]. Want one?”
- Older equipment: “Hi [name], [Shop name] here. Your [system] is getting up there in years. Want a tech to check it over before [the busy season], so you know where it stands?”
How fast should you answer the replies?
While the customer still has the phone in hand. Someone who texts back “yes” and hears nothing until tomorrow may book with whoever answers first. Decide before you send who answers the replies, and send at hours when that person is free.
Have the common answers ready: two open times, the price of a maintenance visit if you quote it, and what to say to “not right now” (offer to check back in a month they pick).
When does a reply count as a booked job?
When the job is on the schedule in your CRM, at a time a tech is free, with the address and the problem in the notes. A booking link or a “sounds good” in a text thread isn't a booked job yet: someone still has to put it on the board, and two customers can pick the same slot. Offer times from your real availability and book the one they choose before the conversation ends.
How do you know it worked?
Track each list on its own: texts sent, replies, jobs booked and what those jobs were worth. Jobs booked is the figure that matters, since replies alone don't pay. If a list books nothing, change the message or the group before you send the next one.
What should a tool that books CRM leads actually do?
If you look at software for this, hold it to a plain test. It should:
- Read the leads already in your CRM, not a spreadsheet you export and upload.
- Start the conversations and handle the replies, not just send one blast.
- Create real appointments in your CRM from your real availability, not hand out a booking link.
- Show you the list and the messages before anything goes out.
Where Scout fits
Scout runs this routine by text for HVAC shops on ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro: you ask for a list in Scout Chat, approve the list and the texts on the campaign page, and Scout answers the replies. With booking turned on for the campaign, Scout offers the open times on your schedule and books the one the customer picks, directly in ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro.
How Scout does it
You ask. In Scout Chat, in plain words: customers you haven't been out to in a year, say, or estimates nobody answered.
Scout builds the list. From your ServiceTitan or Housecall Pro book, with who's in, who's left out and why. Lists of plan members use ServiceTitan memberships.
You approve. One approval on the campaign page covers the list and the texts. Campaigns run by text only; Scout doesn't call or email as part of one.
Scout handles the replies. In the same text thread. Scheduled follow-ups end when someone replies, books or pays, and your office can take over any conversation in Scout's inbox.
You see what booked. Each campaign's report shows texts sent, replies, jobs booked and dollars collected.
What you control
- You choose who Scout reaches, what it says and when.
- Booking is turned on or off for each campaign.
Questions owners ask
How many texts should I send to an old lead?
Two or three short ones, spaced a few days to a week apart, is plenty. If someone hasn't answered by the last one, leave them for next season's list instead of texting again next week.
What time of day should I text past customers?
Pick hours when your office can answer straight away and your customers would expect to hear from a business. A reply that sits until the next morning is one you may lose.
Should I offer a discount to get old customers to book?
Not by default. A specific reason to book, such as a visit that's due, a season coming or an estimate still open, often does more than a coupon, and discounting your whole book teaches customers to wait for the next one. Save offers for slow weeks you need to fill.
Do I need new software to book the leads in my CRM?
No. You can run it by hand with your CRM's customer and job reports, a phone and a simple log of who you texted, who replied and who booked. Software earns its place when the lists get long or nobody has time to answer replies quickly.
