PressureWashingBossPro Blog — Crew App

Automatic On-the-Way Texts From the Pressure Washing Crew App

A pressure washing customer has more to do before the crew arrives than most service customers. The cars need to come off the driveway. The windows need to be shut. The dog needs to come in. The patio furniture may need to move. An on-the-way text is a short heads-up that gives them a chance to do all that, and it goes out without the washer typing anything.

Texts Come From the Route, Not the Washer

Photos were covered in Shooting Before-and-After Wash Photos That Actually Show the Difference. Texts are the other thing the customer notices most from the crew app, even though the crew barely touches them.

In PressureWashingBossPro, on-the-way and arrived texts are automatic. As the crew works the route, the customer at the next stop gets an on-the-way text. The washer does not open a messaging app, find the customer's number or type a message with wet hands. They just work the list in order.

What the Customer Chooses

Customers pick which alerts they want. The options are:

• The night before. A reminder that the crew is coming tomorrow.
• When they are next. A heads-up that their stop is coming up on the route.
• When the crew arrives. A text that the crew is at the property.

Some customers want all three. Some, often commercial managers, want none and just look for the invoice. Letting the customer choose means nobody gets texts they find annoying, and the people who want to know, do.

In the customer app, they can also watch the route on a live map: “You're stop 12 of 20 — the crew is 5 stops away.” Customers who like to plan around the visit tend to love this.

Why It Matters More for Washers

For a lot of trades, an on-the-way text is a nice touch. For pressure washing it changes how the job goes:

• Cars. A driveway wash needs an empty driveway. A customer who knows the crew is twenty minutes out can move the cars to the street.
• Windows and doors. Soft wash and rinse water go where you point them, but an open window is still an open window. Customers who know the crew is coming close them.
• Pets. The dog comes inside before the gate opens.
• Outdoor items. Cushions, grills, toys and potted plants get moved off the deck or patio.
• Water. If the customer has the outside water shut off for any reason, they have a chance to turn it on.

Every one of those saves the crew time at the curb or prevents a skip. That is worth far more than the text itself.

The night-before reminder does a lot of the same work a day earlier. A customer who reads “Your house wash is tomorrow” at dinner has time to tell the family to park on the street and to put the patio cushions in the garage. By the time the on-the-way text arrives the next morning, most of the prep is already done, and the crew pulls up to a property that is ready to wash.

Working the Route in Order Keeps the Texts Honest

On-the-way texts only make sense if the crew goes where the text says it is going. If the washer jumps to a different job, the customer who was told the crew was on its way waits for a rig that went across town. That is why working the list top to bottom matters, and why any change in order should go through the office so the board and the phone stay in step.

Replies Go to the Office

Customers sometimes reply. “Can you start with the back?” “Running late, car will be moved by 10.” “Can you also do the patio?” Those replies go to the office through two-way texting, not to the washer's personal phone. The office can answer, pass the message to the crew, or add the patio as a line item before the crew taps Complete.

This keeps washers off their phones while they work and keeps every customer conversation in one place where anyone in the office can see it.

Texts, Segments and the Plan Allowance

Plans include a monthly text allowance counted in segments, sent and received: 500 on Start, 1,000 on Pro and 2,000 on Crew. Automatic alerts and two-way texts both count. Keeping the default messages short, and letting customers choose only the alerts they want, keeps a busy season well within the plan. The arrived text comes next, in The Arrived Text: Telling the Homeowner the Wash Crew Is Here.

For everything else the crew app handles, visit the PressureWashingBossPro crew app page.