Recall text and email templates for carpet cleaners

What every recall text and email should include

These templates fit the recall sequence in our guide to repeat customers and recall marketing. That guide covers why recall works, how to set up maintenance plans and how to measure repeat rate. This post gives you the words to send.

Every template below is built from the same parts. Swap in your own details before you send anything, and pull the room names and dates from your job notes.

• The customer's first name. A message that opens with their name reads like it came from a person, not a system.
• What you cleaned and roughly when. "Your living room and hallway last October" works better than "your last service."
• One clear way to book. Use "Reply YES" or a link to your online booking page. Don't make the customer choose between three options.
• Who it's from. Sign with your company name, and add the owner's first name if customers know you personally.
• An opt-out line on texts. End marketing texts with "Reply STOP to opt out." The consent note near the end of this post explains why.

Keep texts to two or three sentences that someone can read in one glance. Save the extra detail, such as current pricing and a seasonal reason to book, for the email. Be careful with discounts, because customers who get a coupon with every recall learn to wait for one.

When to send each recall message

Timing matters as much as wording. Our guide puts most households on a 12–18 month cleaning cycle. Pet owners and families with young kids are on a shorter one, usually 6–12 months. Use this table as your send calendar.

Before every send, remove anyone who already has a job on the schedule. A "we miss you" text that arrives after a customer booked makes your office look disorganized. Space your campaigns apart as well. The guide explains how Housecall Pro credits completed jobs created within 30 days of a campaign send to the most recent campaign, which blurs your numbers when sends overlap.

Standard recall text and email templates

Standard recall text (month 11–12)

Standard recall email (about a week later)

Pick one of these subject lines and test the others over time:

• It's been a year since we cleaned your carpets
• [First name], your carpet cleaning is due
• Your last cleaning with [Company] was in [month]

If you use Housecall Pro Online Booking, the hosted booking page link drops straight into a text. Any software with an online booking page works the same way. The point is to let the customer book without waiting for a callback.

Pet-owner and add-on recall templates

Pet-owner recall (6–12 months)

Pet owners are on a shorter clock, and they usually know why. Lead with the problem they live with and keep it short. If pet jobs are a big part of your work, see our page on pet odor removal.

Use the pet's name in the subject line only if it's in your job notes. Otherwise, keep it simple:

• Is it time to treat [pet name]'s spots again?
• [First name], your pet treatment is due
• Keep pet odor from setting in this season

Upholstery or tile add-on

Put the cross-sell inside the standard recall email instead of sending a separate message. One email with one extra line keeps your send count down. It also reaches the customer at the moment they're already thinking about booking. Our pages on upholstery cleaning and tile and grout cleaning cover those services in more depth.

If the add-on is the main offer, these subject lines work: "Want your sofa cleaned with your carpets this year?" or "Add your tile and grout to this year's cleaning."

January, holiday and move-out recall templates

Seasonal messages give the customer a reason to book now. Our guide notes that January and February are slow. It also notes that spring and the November–December run-up to the holidays are when people think about cleaning on their own.

January recall (late January or early February)

Email subject lines: "Start the year with clean carpets" or "Get the holiday traffic out of your carpets." If you add an offer, make it modest and tied to the month, such as an add-on included for January bookings.

Holiday reminder (before the rush)

Subject lines: "Book your cleaning before holiday guests arrive" or "Hosting this year? Get your carpets done first."

Move-out follow-up

A renter who moves out often won't need you at that address again. Our guide suggests skipping the regular recall for them and asking for a referral instead. Property managers are different, because they book at every turnover.

Lapsed-customer template for 18 months and beyond

Some customers ignore the whole sequence. Our guide recommends one final note around month 18, then moving them to an occasional seasonal list. The lapsed message is that final note, and it's the last direct ask before you scale back.

Be direct and keep the pressure low. Some lapsed customers have moved, some hired someone else, and some just forgot. Make it easy for them to tell you which.

• Still need us, [First name]?
• Checking in from [Company]
• Should we keep you on our list?

Treat a "we moved" reply as useful information. Update the record so people who can't book again don't drag down your repeat rate or keep getting messages.

How to pull your recall list from your CRM

A CRM (customer relationship management software) is the system that holds your customer records and job history. If you use field-service software such as Housecall Pro or Jobber, that's your CRM. Build each recall list in the same order every time.

1. Tag customers by type after each job: pet owner, upholstery, commercial, and move-out or rental.
2. Filter by last service date to match each template's window in the table above.
3. Remove customers who already have a job on the schedule.
4. Remove anyone who hasn't agreed to receive marketing texts, or who has no valid phone number or email.
5. Save the list with the date and template name so you can match bookings to the send later.

In Housecall Pro, the postcard campaign list builder can filter by customer tag. It can also filter by last service date, which is included with the paid version of Campaigns. Housecall Pro's help center lists customers who have not opted in for consent among the default exclusions on campaign customer lists, which vary slightly by campaign type. Our Housecall Pro marketing page explains how we build marketing around Housecall Pro. CarpetCleaningSEO is an affiliate partner of Housecall Pro and NiceJob and may earn a commission when you sign up through our links.

If your software can't filter by last service date, export your completed jobs. Then sort them by date in a spreadsheet to find each customer's most recent cleaning.