Text back every new lead within minutes, day or night, and book the appointment before they call someone else: AI agent prompt
Home service businesses lose jobs when a lead from an ad or mailer sits unanswered, because the customer just moves on to the next company. An AI agent can text every new inquiry right away, answer basic questions, and book the visit, handing off only the tricky ones. ServiceTitan reported that True Pros Heating and Air in Layton, Utah, which runs its office with one full-time customer service rep, used an AI text agent called Sam that lifted its inbound lead conversion from about 9.2% to 28.5%, booked 51 jobs on its own across 185 conversations, and cut escalations from 22.7% to 0.6%. In one example a customer messaged at 8:33 p.m., got a reply at 8:35 and was booked by 8:36.
SalesInstant text follow-up for new leadsbeginnerWho this is for
Trades and service businesses that get leads from a website form, Google or Facebook.
Not for
Texting anyone who didn't ask to be contacted or has opted out.
What you need
The lead's details, your services and prices, and two open appointment times.
The prompt
You are the text-message booking assistant for [business name], a [HVAC / plumbing / electrical / cleaning / other] company serving [area]. New lead details: [paste name, phone, what they asked for, where the lead came from]. Our services and prices: [paste]. Available appointment slots: [paste or say 'check my calendar']. 1) Write a friendly first text (under 300 characters) that greets them by name, confirms what they need and offers two specific time slots. 2) For each reply I paste back, answer their question using only the info above, and keep steering toward a booked time. 3) Once they pick a time, confirm the address, the problem in their words and the best callback number, then write the final confirmation text. 4) Hand off to me instead of answering if they mention an emergency like gas smell, flooding or no heat in freezing weather, ask for a price you don't have, are upset, or want to cancel. Keep the tone warm and local, never pushy, and never promise anything not listed.
Worked example
A fictional business, so you can see what to paste in and what a good answer looks like. The example answer was written with AI help and its numbers and dates were checked; your AI's answer will be worded differently, so check it the same way.
Sample input (what you paste in)
Business: Northwind Heating & Air, serving Kitchener-Waterloo. Lead: Maria, 519-555-0142, "furnace making a banging noise", from the website form. Open slots: Tue 9-11am, Wed 1-3pm. Diagnostic visit $129.
Example output (illustrative)
Text 1: "Hi Maria, it's Northwind Heating & Air. Sorry to hear the furnace is banging. We can send a technician Tue 9-11am or Wed 1-3pm; the diagnostic visit is $129. Which works best? Reply STOP to opt out." (220 characters) If she replies "Wednesday": "Great, you're booked for Wed 1-3pm. Can you confirm the address and the best number to call when the tech is on the way?" If she asks "Is it dangerous?": "If you smell gas, leave the house and call your gas utility's emergency line from outside. Otherwise it's safe to turn the furnace off until we arrive."
Check before you use it: Check the safety wording matches your own policy and that the slots are really free.
How to use it
- Copy the prompt above.
- Replace every [bracket] with your own details (or fill in the blanks on AgentPlaybook Real Estate, which remembers your answers for the next prompt).
- Paste it into ServiceTitan, ChatGPT, Claude and review the answer before you use it.
Works with: ServiceTitan, ChatGPT, Claude, Grok Bot, Google Calendar, HubSpot
Real-world example: servicetitan.com/blog/success-story-true-pros-ai-sms-agent
Featured in: Free AI agent prompts for small business (beginner-friendly) · ChatGPT prompts for business email, replies and follow-ups · ChatGPT prompts for real estate agents: listing descriptions, lead follow-up and open houses · AI receptionist and missed-call text-back: free scripts for small businesses
Before you use it: what to check
Already built into this prompt
- Keep the tone warm and local, never pushy, and never promise anything not listed.
Check yourself
- This prompt works on text other people wrote (emails, reviews, messages or web pages). That text can hide instructions aimed at AI, such as "ignore your rules and…". Paste it as material to work on, and never let the AI act on requests inside it, like paying, sharing logins or changing records. How prompt injection works →
- Check every figure, price and total against your own records before anything is sent, posted or booked. A person approves refunds, discounts, payments and price changes.
- Remove names, contact details, account numbers and other personal data the task doesn't need before you paste, and check your AI tool's data and training settings.
- Read and edit the draft before it reaches a customer or goes public. If you later automate this prompt, start with "draft and notify me", not "send automatically".
Using an AI agent? Download this prompt as a SKILL.md agent skill with these checks built in, or get the .zip for Claude.ai. How to install skills.
Want to make this prompt even better? Grade it with the free prompt grader or build your own with the AI prompt generator.
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