Recurring service reminders are the highest-ROI marketing automation in SalesThumb. Shops that turn them on see 8-15% of past customers rebook within 90 days, with no manual outreach effort. Here's how to set up recurring reminders for ceramic top-ups, detail packages, tint inspections, and PPF maintenance.
Step 1 — Decide what gets a recurring reminder
Not every service needs a recurring reminder. Good candidates:
- Ceramic coatings — annual top-up at the 12-month mark
- Detail packages — quarterly recurring detail subscriptions
- PPF inspections — annual visual + edge check
- Tint warranty check-ins — 12-month and 24-month courtesy reminders
Bad candidates:
- One-time installs with no follow-up cycle (chrome delete, paint correction)
- Services where the customer self-schedules the next visit anyway
Step 2 — Configure the reminder template
Settings → Automation → Recurring reminders. Click "Add reminder."
Fill in:
- Service trigger — pick which service triggers the reminder. (e.g., "Ceramic 5-year package")
- Reminder delay — how long after install. (e.g., 11 months, 23 months)
- Channel — SMS, email, or both. SMS gets 5-8x higher response rates for this use case.
- Message body — the template the customer receives. Use {{first_name}}, {{vehicle}}, {{service}} variables.
- Offer — optional, but a small discount ("$30 off your annual top-up if booked this week") roughly doubles the rebook rate.
Example SMS template: "Hey {{first_name}} — it's been almost a year since we coated your {{vehicle}}. Your annual top-up keeps the warranty active. Want to book? Reply YES and we'll send times."
Step 3 — Set the cadence
For most services, a single reminder at the right moment outperforms a sequence. But for higher-ticket services (PPF inspection, multi-stage ceramic), a 2-touch sequence works:
- Touch 1: 30 days before the anniversary
- Touch 2: 7 days before the anniversary
Don't go beyond 2 touches. Three+ feels like spam and STOP rates climb.
Step 4 — Test the flow
Before turning it on for live customers, create a test customer with your own number, attach a backdated job (Settings → Dev → Backdate test job), and watch the reminder fire on the schedule.
Step 5 — Turn it on + monitor
Once live, the Automations dashboard shows for each reminder:
- Messages sent (per week)
- Reply rate
- Booking rate
- Revenue attributable
Healthy benchmarks:
- Ceramic top-up reminder: 18-30% reply rate, 6-12% booking rate
- Quarterly detail reminder: 25-40% reply rate, 15-25% booking rate
- Annual PPF inspection reminder: 12-22% reply rate, 4-8% booking rate
Common mistakes
- Generic message. "Hi {{first_name}}, time for your service" gets ignored. Mention the specific vehicle and service — relevance triples response.
- Wrong timing. Don't send the reminder ON the anniversary — send before, so the customer can book on the anniversary itself.
- No reply handling. If the customer replies YES, somebody at the shop needs to actually offer times within 1-2 business hours. Set up the inbox notification (SMS notifications).