AI prompt: missed-call text-back for home services
A copy-and-paste AI prompt that writes the automatic text a plumber, HVAC company, electrician, painter or other home services business sends when a call goes unanswered during business hours: a short sorry, your real callback sentence, what to text you, your urgent line only if you have one, and your opt-out line, with no invented reasons, callback times, prices or promises.
When to use it
You miss calls while you are on a job or the office line is busy, and you want every missed caller to get one honest text right away that says when you will call back, asks for the details you need, and points real emergencies to the right number, so the caller has a reason to wait for you instead of calling the next company.
- Copy the prompt below.
- Replace every
{{VARIABLE}}with your own details (see the list under the prompt). - Paste it into the AI chat tool you already use.
- Read the result against the checklist before you use it.
The prompt
You are helping a home services business write the automatic text message (SMS) it sends when a customer calls during business hours and nobody answers. The same text goes to every missed caller, so it must be true for every customer, whatever they called about.
BUSINESS
- Business name: {{BUSINESS_NAME}}
- Type of business: {{BUSINESS_TYPE}}
- Tone: {{TONE}}
- When we call or text back (copy word for word): {{CALLBACK}}
- Urgent problems: who to call and the number (copy word for word), or "none": {{URGENT_LINE}}
- What we would like the customer to text us so we can help faster: {{INFO_TO_ASK}}
- Opt-out line (copy word for word), or "none": {{OPT_OUT_LINE}}
LAYOUT
Write the text in exactly this layout, with each part on its own line and no blank lines. Parts in square brackets are instructions, not words to copy.
Hi, this is {{BUSINESS_NAME}}. Sorry we missed your call.
[Line 2: the callback sentence above, word for word.]
[Line 3: one short sentence, under 25 words, asking the customer to reply by text with the information above.]
[Line 4: the urgent line above, word for word. If it says "none", skip this line completely.]
[Last line: the opt-out line above, word for word. If it says "none", skip this line completely.]
RULES FOR THE TEXT
1. Do not give a reason for the missed call (such as being busy, on a job or with another customer).
2. Do not promise any callback time, speed or same-day service other than the callback sentence above.
3. If the urgent line says "none", do not mention emergencies, urgent problems or any phone number.
4. Do not mention prices, fees, discounts, quotes, arrival times, how long a job takes, or what might be wrong. Do not invent facts, numbers, phone numbers, links, policies or promises.
5. Include every part of the layout that is not "none", and nothing else. Never write the word "none" in the text. Say each thing once and do not repeat any sentence.
6. Plain words, short sentences, no emojis, no hashtags, no exclamation marks.
Return only the finished text message and nothing else.What to fill in
- {{BUSINESS_NAME}}
- Your business name, as customers know it.
- {{BUSINESS_TYPE}}
- What you do and where, in a few words.
- {{TONE}}
- Two or three words for how you sound, e.g. friendly, plain.
- {{CALLBACK}}
- One true sentence about when you call or text back, e.g. We call back every missed call the same business day. The AI copies it word for word.
- {{URGENT_LINE}}
- One sentence telling callers with an urgent problem what to do and which number to call, exactly as they should see it, or "none". The AI copies it word for word.
- {{INFO_TO_ASK}}
- What you want callers to text you, e.g. your name, the address and what you need help with.
- {{OPT_OUT_LINE}}
- The opt-out line your texts use, e.g. Reply STOP to opt out, or "none" if your texting service adds its own.
Real example output
Fictional sample business. Cedar Line Plumbing and its phone number are fictional. They were made up to test this prompt; any resemblance to a real business is unintended.
Show the inputs used for Cedar Line Plumbing (fictional)
- BUSINESS_NAME
- Cedar Line Plumbing
- BUSINESS_TYPE
- plumbing company in Lowell, MA
- TONE
- friendly, plain
- CALLBACK
- We return missed calls in the order they came in, during office hours (Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm).
- URGENT_LINE
- For a burst pipe or no water, call our office line again at (978) 555-0163 and choose option 1.
- INFO_TO_ASK
- your name, the address, and what you need help with
- OPT_OUT_LINE
- Reply STOP to opt out.
What the model returned
Hi, this is Cedar Line Plumbing. Sorry we missed your call. We return missed calls in the order they came in, during office hours (Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm). Please text us with your name, the address, and what you need help with. For a burst pipe or no water, call our office line again at (978) 555-0163 and choose option 1. Reply STOP to opt out.
Model: Qwen3-4B-Instruct-2507 (Q4_K_M GGUF), llama.cpp server b11853, run locally, temperature 0.4. Tested on . Edits: None. The words are exactly as the model returned them, apart from removing spaces at the ends of lines. All 8 runs with this prompt and these inputs passed the automatic checks (the opening line, the callback sentence and the urgent line copied exactly, the phone number copied exactly, each part on its own line, no other numbers, no reason given for the missed call, no prices, quotes, arrival times, speed promises or guesses about the problem, the opt-out line alone on the last line, no repeated sentences) and a manual read. We ran the same prompt for 8 runs each on three other fictional businesses: a painter with no urgent line and no opt-out line, an HVAC company with a callback cut-off time and its own opt-out wording, and an electrician with a call-911-first urgent line and no opt-out line. All 24 passed both checks; when a line was "none", the model left it out and did not add one of its own. The runs were almost word for word the same, because the model mostly reuses your own lines, so the text is only as good and as true as what you put in. Earlier drafts of the prompt failed: the opt-out line ran on at the end of the paragraph, one draft dropped the urgent line and the opt-out line, one went over the word limit, and one wrote the word "none" on its own line. AI output varies between runs and models, so always review it before posting.
Check before you post
- The callback sentence is true for every caller, every day the text goes out, including busy days, Fridays and holidays. If you cannot keep it, change the sentence, not the customer's expectations.
- The text does not give a reason for the missed call. Do not say you are on a job or with another customer unless that is always true.
- If you list an urgent number, someone answers it whenever this text can go out, and the number is copied exactly. If you have no urgent line, the text does not hint at one.
- If you use a safety line, such as calling 911 first, it is in your own words or your utility's, and the AI copied it exactly. Do not rely on the AI to write safety advice.
- No prices, quotes, arrival times, how long a job takes or guesses about what is wrong.
- Only text people who have agreed to get texts from you, and honor every opt-out. Check what your phone or texting service already adds, such as its own opt-out wording, so the caller does not get it twice.
- Before you switch it on, call your business number from your own phone, let it ring out, and read exactly what arrives.
Get the full set of local business prompts.
The pack has 40 prompts for Google review replies and review requests, Google Business Profile posts, ads, emails and social posts, plus a fill-in business context block. One-time purchase, $24.
Related tools
Zernio in the Digidle directory is one API for SMS, WhatsApp and social posts if you want to send texts like this from your own software. Retell AI builds AI phone agents, if you would rather have calls answered than texted back. This example ran on a small open model on an ordinary computer: llmspeed previews local model speed.