Email and text invoices, email or text customers when their job moves forward, and ask for a Google review after pickup.
Communication
TechsBox can email or text an invoice to a customer, can email or text customers when their job moves forward, and can ask them for a Google review after pickup.
Email is included on all plans.
Automatic status emails
Turn these on in Settings → Operations, under Customer status emails. Once on, TechsBox emails the customer when their job is:
- Checked in
- Started (In Progress)
- Complete and ready for pickup
Each one has its own switch. The email carries your shop's name, logo and color, and a button that opens the job on your status page. When a customer replies, the reply goes to your shop's email address (set in Settings → General), or to the shop owner if that is blank.
A few things worth knowing:
- Shops that were already using TechsBox before status emails launched start with all three switched off. New shops start with them on.
- Each email is sent once per job. Moving a job back and forth on the board does not send it again.
- Customers with no email address on file are skipped.
- Each email sent is listed in the job's activity log.
Invoices
Send invoices by hand: open the invoice and click Email to send it to the customer, with a link to view and pay it online.
SMS Notifications
SMS is available on Team and Pro plans. It uses your own Twilio account, and Twilio bills you for the messages you send.
Once Twilio is connected, TechsBox texts the customer automatically when a job is:
- Checked in
- Started (In Progress)
- Complete and ready for pickup
Each of these can be switched off in Settings → SMS. Texts and emails are switched separately, so you can use either or both. You can also text an invoice to a customer from the invoice page.
Texts are one-way. Replies go to your Twilio number, not into TechsBox.
Setting Up SMS
See the SMS Setup Guide for step-by-step Twilio configuration.
Google review requests
TechsBox can ask a customer for a Google review once their device is picked up. It is off until you turn it on, for every shop, and it needs your Google review link to do anything.
To turn it on, go to Settings → Operations, under Google review requests:
- Paste your Google review link. In your Google Business Profile, choose "Ask for reviews" and copy the link it gives you. It must start with
https://. - Tick Ask for a Google review when a job is picked up, and save.
When a job is marked Picked Up, the customer gets one message asking for a review, with your link:
- By text if your shop sends texts (Team and Pro, with Twilio connected and SMS switched on) and the customer can receive them.
- By email otherwise. Email works on every plan.
It is one message, never both. You can reword the text in Settings → Templates with the Review Request trigger; use {{reviewLink}} where the link goes (if you leave it out, the link is added at the end). The email carries your shop's name, logo and color, and replies go to your shop's email address.
A few things worth knowing:
- Each job asks at most once. Moving a job out of Picked Up and back does not ask again.
- A customer is asked at most once every 90 days, however many jobs they bring in.
- Jobs you imported from another system never send a review request.
- Customers who opted out of texts are not texted, and addresses on the email opt-out list are not emailed.
- Each request sent is listed in the job's activity log.
Messages
The Messages page in the sidebar is internal chat for your team. It is not a customer inbox.