iMessage for electricians

A customer can see that a wall is painted or a tap has stopped dripping. They cannot see that a consumer unit is now safe. That gap — real work, invisible result — is the specific problem electrical messaging has to solve.

Photograph the before, always

The before photo is not for the customer's benefit. It is for yours, three months later, when someone asks what they actually paid for. Send it in the thread at the time and the record writes itself.

export const documented = {
  before: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: here's how the ${c.item} looked when I arrived — ` +
    `photo attached. ${c.problem}. Quote to put it right: ${c.price}.`,
 
  after: (c: Ctx) =>
    `Done — before and after attached. ${c.summary}. ` +
    `Certificate follows by email within 48 hours.`,
 
  // The certificate itself goes by email; the text is the nudge that
  // stops the customer chasing you for it.
  certificate: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: your ${c.certType} for ${c.address} has just gone to ` +
    `${c.email}. Keep it with the house papers — you'll want it when you sell.`,
};

Power-off windows are the message people actually need

Customers working from home, running freezers or minding babies need to know when the power goes off, not when you arrive. Say it explicitly and you will avoid the mid-job argument.

export const power = {
  dayBefore: (c: Ctx) =>
    `${c.company}: tomorrow ${c.time}. Power will be OFF for roughly ` +
    `${c.duration} while we work on the board. Charge what you need to ` +
    `charge, and move anything from the freezer you'd hate to lose.`,
 
  restored: (c: Ctx) =>
    `Power's back on. Check your oven clock and anything on a timer — ` +
    `the boiler may need its programmer resetting.`,
};

Estimate approvals and variations

Electrical jobs generate variations more than most trades, because nobody knows what is behind a wall. The rule is the same as plumbing: photograph it, price it, get a reply before you continue.

Where electrical differs is that some variations are not optional — you have found something dangerous and it must be made safe. Say that plainly and separate it from the discretionary work, or the customer will read the whole thing as an upsell.

Two prices in one message: what you have to do to leave the house safe, and what you could do while you are here. Never blur them together.

Inspection and testing reminders

Landlord safety checks, periodic inspections and commercial testing all run on fixed cycles, which makes them the most reliable recurring revenue in the trade — and the easiest to lose to whoever remembers first.

• Landlords need reminding roughly two months before expiry, because they need the certificate in hand before a tenancy renews.
• Commercial clients need a diary date and a named contact, not a marketing message.
• Homeowners need it once, gently, at the ten-year mark — anything more reads as scaremongering.

Landlord work overlaps heavily with property management, where the person booking is not the person in the house — which changes the messaging considerably.