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Landscapers answer the phone from a mower, a trailer hitch or a trench. Spring and fall calls stack up all at once, and a homeowner asking for a quote will message the next company on the list if they get silence.
This isn't legal advice: locate laws, licensing (for pesticide, irrigation or contractor work) and consent rules vary by state, so have the owner review every line.
TL;DR: A landscaper's missed-call text should name the company, say the crew is on a job site, and ask one sorting question: "Are you looking for regular lawn care or a one-time project?" Mowing and cleanup calls get a service-area and schedule question; installs that involve digging (trees, fences, irrigation, hardscape) get the 811 line: the contractor is normally responsible for requesting locates, and most states require waiting at least two business days (Pennsylvania three). In HighLevel, use the built-in text-back or a workflow that tags recurring-service and project replies and alerts the estimator. US texts cost under a penny per segment plus carrier fees and A2P registration.
What should a landscaper's missed call text back say?
It should name your company, show you saw the call, and ask one question that sorts it: "Are you looking for regular lawn care or a one-time project?" Keep it to one SMS segment (160 plain-text characters); keep the example texts below short enough to fit with a 23-character company name. Emojis and curly apostrophes switch the text to an encoding with only 70 characters per segment (HighLevel: How to Calculate SMS and MMS Costs). Replace anything in [brackets], and only promise reply times you can keep. To check a message after adding your name, use our free text message generator.
First texts (sent automatically after a missed call)
-
Crew on a job:
Hi, it's [Company]. Sorry we missed you, our crew is on a job. Want regular lawn care or a one-time project? Reply here and we'll help. -
After hours:
[Company] here. We're closed now and open at [7am]. Reply with your address and what you need done, and we'll text you first thing. -
Weekend or holiday:
Thanks for calling [Company]. We're closed today. Reply with your address and what you need done, and we'll text you [Monday] to set up a quote. -
Busy season:
[Company] here. It's our busy season. Reply with your address and what you need, and we'll get you on the list in order.
How do you set up missed call text back for landscaping in HighLevel?
Start with the built-in feature for speed, then move to workflows when you want routing. The steps below follow HighLevel's help docs as of October 2026.
Option 1: built-in text-back (five minutes). In the sub-account, go to Settings → Phone System → Voice → Voicemail & Missed Call Text Back, open Missed Call Text Back, enable it, send your text-back message, send a test, and save. HighLevel says an incoming call timeout of 10 to 20 seconds is typically recommended (HighLevel: Missed Call Text Back). If the number called can't send SMS, HighLevel sends from another eligible number, so tell your team the text may come from a different number.
Option 2: workflows (more control). HighLevel recommends customizing its Missed Call Text Back recipe in Workflows to avoid duplicate texts. Three workflows cover most landscaping and lawn care companies:
- Text-back: trigger on Call Details (incoming; no-answer, busy, or voicemail) → short wait → send your text-back message → tag the contact (Workflow Trigger: Call Details).
- Existing customer vs. new lead: an If/Else step checks for a "regular customer" tag or an open opportunity in your job pipeline (Workflow Action: If/Else). Regular customers get your message; new callers get your message or, in busy season, 4.
- Quote-request alert: trigger on Customer Replied, filter Reply Channel = SMS and the message containing "quote," "mow," "mulch," "install," "fence" or "patio", then send an internal notification to the owner or dispatcher with the message body (Workflow Trigger: Customer Replied). Test it with real spellings and typos.
If your scheduling or route software doesn't sync with HighLevel, keep the tags simple: add "regular customer" when a recurring route starts. Our GoHighLevel vs Jobber comparison covers how a CRM and a field service tool split the work. For the calls you can't text back fast enough, see our AI receptionist vs answering service comparison. To estimate what unanswered calls cost you, try the free missed call calculator.
How much does missed call text back cost a landscaping company in HighLevel?
Under a penny per text segment plus carrier fees, plus your number and A2P registration. From HighLevel's Phone System Pricing & Billing Guide (US, as of October 2026):
| Item | Price (USD) |
|---|---|
| SMS, per segment | $0.00747 outbound and $0.00747 inbound, plus a carrier fee (about $0.0025 to $0.0100) |
| MMS (photos), per message | $0.0220 outbound; $0.0165 inbound on a local number, plus carrier fees |
| Local phone number | $1.15/month |
| A2P 10DLC registration (Low Volume) | $22.50 one-time + $1.50 to $10.50/month per campaign |
Inbound replies are billed too, so a six-text back-and-forth costs roughly 6 to 11 cents, and photos add a few cents each.
Get the full guide
This is a shortened version. Read the full guide with all scripts on Peace Call.
Originally published at getpeacecall.com.
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