DumpsterBossPro Blog — Contractor Accounts

Two-Way Texting With Site Supers and Project Managers

Contractors text. Supers would rather send a two-line text than make a phone call, and many of them will text whatever number they have, including the owner's personal cell. That is fine until the owner is on vacation, or the text came in at night and nobody saw it, or the dispatcher has no idea a promise was made.

The customer app in The Customer App for Contractors: Requesting Swaps and Pickups From the Job Site is one channel. Texting is the one contractors already use.

Texts Belong on the Account

Two-way texting in DumpsterBossPro puts customer replies next to their record. When a super texts that the can at Lot 22 is full, the message lands where the office sees it, attached to the right account. Anyone on shift can read the thread and act on it.

That one change removes the biggest risk of contractor texting: the request that lives on one person's phone. It also gives you a history. When there is a question about what was agreed, the thread is there.

It also protects the owner. An owner who is the only person a super will text cannot take a day off, and the business cannot grow past what one phone can handle. Moving those texts to a shared thread is as much about the owner's sanity as the customer's service.

Moving Contractors Off Personal Phones

Most owners have supers who text them directly. Moving those conversations over takes a gentle push. Reply from the business line, and tell the super that texting the main number gets the whole office instead of just you. Put the number on every notice and invoice.

It will take a few weeks. Keep at it, because every request that goes to the business line is a request that does not depend on the owner checking his phone at the supply house.

Save the super's number on the right job site as soon as the first text comes in. The next time he texts, everyone in the office can see who he is and which site he runs without asking.

What to Text About

Texting is perfect for the small things that make contractor work run: confirming a swap time, asking whether a can is ready for pickup, getting a gate code, asking the super to move a trailer, confirming a debris type, and checking the expected end date of a job.

Keep pricing disputes and collection conversations out of text threads with the super. Those belong with the billing contact. The super's thread should stay about the work.

Texting is also the easiest way to ask for a photo. A super can send a picture of where he wants the next can, or of the gate that changed, faster than he can describe it. Attach what you learn to the site notes so drivers benefit.

Turning Texts Into Jobs

When a super texts a request, the office turns it into a request on the Waiting List with the right job site. Copy any new access or placement information into the site notes so the driver app shows it. The text thread is the conversation; the job and the site notes are the record the driver uses.

Reply to confirm. A super who texts a request and hears nothing assumes it was missed. A two-word reply, got it, Thursday morning, closes the loop.

Set a rule for response time during business hours and stick to it. Contractors who learn that texts to your office get answered within minutes will keep using the channel. Contractors who learn they get answered whenever will go back to calling the owner.

Texting Project Managers and Owners

Larger builders have project managers who want a weekly picture rather than daily texts. A short text on Friday saying what is out and what is scheduled next week is the kind of service that gets mentioned in a builder's meeting. Use judgment about how often; you want to be useful, not noisy.

Messaging rules and consent requirements vary, so check your local requirements and only text contacts who expect to hear from you.

For after-hours texts, decide what happens. Maybe someone checks first thing in the morning; maybe an urgent request gets a call. Tell your key contractors so they know what to expect.

Keeping Texts Professional

Everything in a business text thread may be read later, by the contractor's office or your own. Keep it friendly and plain. No sarcasm about the crew that buried the can in drywall, no guesses about timing you cannot keep. Clear and polite wins every time.

Next, the guide covers automated texts and emails. For how texting fits into contractor accounts, see the DumpsterBossPro contractor dumpster rental software page.