Customer message templates

How it works

1. 1 Pick a message: a reminder, running late, closed today, an order that's ready, a nudge about an invoice, a thank-you. There are 26, each in English, French or both.
2. 2 Fill in what changes, like the time or the amount, and your business once. The preview shows it as the customer gets it: a text, with how many texts it takes to send, or an email with its subject.
3. 3 Copy it, or open it in Messages or your email. Save the ones you send most as shortcuts, so typing ;late on your phone writes the whole message.

Free, with no account. Nothing is sent from here: you send each message from your own phone or email. Your business details are kept in this browser only if you tick Remember, and customer names never are.

Good to know

Why does one curly apostrophe make a text longer?

A text in the basic phone alphabet holds 160 characters. One character outside it, like a curly ’, a long dash, an emoji or some accents, switches the whole text to Unicode, which holds 70. A longer message goes as several texts joined up: 153 characters each, or 67 in Unicode. Plain punctuation keeps your texts in the basic alphabet, and the preview underlines anything that doesn't fit it.

And French accents?

Some are in the basic alphabet, like é, è and à, and some aren't, like ê, â, ô and ç. So a French text often goes as Unicode, which is fine: it just takes a text or two more to send. Some phones and carriers swap accents for plain letters to save room (verify).

Do I need permission to send these?

Messages about something a customer booked or bought, like a reminder, a delay or a receipt, don't need marketing consent under CASL, Canada's anti-spam law. Asking for a review or inviting someone back is promotional: send it only to people who agreed to hear from you, with your name, a mailing address and a way to stop getting them. Each message is marked with what it is (verify).

What if someone replies STOP?

These go out from your own phone or email, so nothing takes them off your list for you. Do it yourself, and stop sending them promotional messages within 10 business days, as CASL asks (verify).

How do the shortcuts work?

Your phone's keyboard already has text replacement: type a short code and it offers the message it stands for. Download the file for a Mac (it syncs to an iPhone on the same iCloud account), or add each one by hand on an iPhone or in Gboard on Android. A replacement is one line, so paragraph breaks become “ / ”, and what changes with each customer stays as a gap, like [time], to fill in (verify).

Do iMessage and WhatsApp count characters too?

No. iMessage, WhatsApp and RCS chat send over the internet and don't split long messages. The count matters for a plain text message, which is what a customer gets when those aren't on, and what texting services for businesses usually charge by (verify).

Is the French right?

It was written for this tool in plain Canadian French, with times like 14 h 30, but have a French speaker read it before you rely on it. Wording you type, like an item or an offer, has a French box of its own: until you fill it, the French uses your English.

Is this legal advice?

No. The notes on consent are a guide to help you send the right kind of message, not legal advice. When a message matters, like a deposit you'll keep or a policy you'll enforce, check what you promised in writing first.