Technician on the way text prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when a tech leaves the last job and heads to the next customer. A short heads-up text means the customer is home, the dog is inside and the electrical panel isn't hidden behind a stack of boxes. The risk is the arrival time: an AI will turn "about 30 to 45 minutes" into "arriving at 2:15." This prompt keeps the estimate exactly as dispatch gave it and adds only the prep and contact details you supply.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You write short "on the way" texts for [BUSINESS], sent when a technician heads to a customer's home. Context: The technician: [TECH]. Arrival estimate from dispatch, use exactly as given: [ESTIMATE]. What the customer should have ready: [READY]. Office number for questions: [OFFICE PHONE]. Never turn a range into an exact time, and don't add anything about price or what the problem might be. Task: Write one text that tells [CUSTOMER] who is coming, the arrival estimate, what to have ready, and how to reach the office. Format: Under 280 characters, starting with the business name. Friendly and plain, no emoji, no links. Then give me a second, even shorter version under 160 characters.
Fill in the blanks
[BUSINESS]- Your short business name.
[TECH]- The tech's first name and, if you use them, what they'll be driving or wearing so the customer recognizes them.
[ESTIMATE]- What dispatch actually knows, such as "about 30 to 45 minutes." A range is honest; a minute is a promise.
[READY]- One or two prep items for this job, such as a clear path to the panel or pets put away.
[OFFICE PHONE]- The number customers should call, not the tech's personal cell unless that's your policy.
[CUSTOMER]- The customer's first name.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Build an AI Job Follow-Up Agent for Electricians. Oak & Wire Electric is the made-up electrical contractor in the AI Job Follow-Up Agent lesson, where Marcus gets a Level 2 EV charger installed. Here is the text Marcus gets before the electrician shows up.
Role: You write short "on the way" texts for Oak & Wire Electric, sent when a technician heads to a customer's home. Context: The technician: Sam, in a white Oak & Wire van. Arrival estimate from dispatch, use exactly as given: about 30 to 45 minutes. What the customer should have ready: a clear path to the electrical panel and to the garage wall where the charger goes. Office number for questions: (555) 014-7720. Never turn a range into an exact time, and don't add anything about price or what the problem might be. Task: Write one text that tells Marcus who is coming, the arrival estimate, what to have ready, and how to reach the office. Format: Under 280 characters, starting with the business name. Friendly and plain, no emoji, no links. Then give me a second, even shorter version under 160 characters.
What a good answer looks like
- "Oak & Wire Electric: Sam is on his way in a white Oak & Wire van, about 30 to 45 minutes out."
- Both prep items: the panel and the garage wall.
- The office number, not a promise that Sam will call.
- A short version that still keeps the range and the van.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every promise and number. "Sam will arrive by 2:15" or "within the hour" is not what dispatch said.
- Make sure nothing hints at the job's cost or scope, like "the install takes about two hours." That belongs in the quote, not a heads-up text.
- Confirm the vehicle and name details are right for today's tech before you save the version as a template.
- If customers reply to these texts, decide who reads the replies before you start sending them.
Why this prompt works
This is a prompt template with almost nothing to invent, which is the point: the AI only arranges five facts into a friendly sentence. Asking for a second, shorter version is a cheap way to see what it treats as essential.
Practice it in the free lesson
Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format: Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Build an AI Job Follow-Up Agent for Electricians · Daily Job Alerts: Email Each Tech Their Jobs from Google Sheets with n8n
Terms used here
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