Recipe No. 21 · Customer follow-up
Missed call text-back (beginner, Zapier)
When you can't pick up because you're with a client, text the caller straight away with your booking link so they don't book somewhere else.
- Serves
- Salons & spas
- Made with
- Zapier
- Prep (setup)
- ~20 min est.
- Yield
- 1–2 hrs/week saved, est.
- Level
- Beginner
- Plan needed
- Zapier Free can work for a 2-step Zap (Free = 2-step Zaps, 100 tasks/mo per Axis Consulting); your phone app's own plan may cost extra, so check your plan.
- Est. SMS cost
- If you send through Twilio: ~$0.0083 per US text segment plus carrier fees, and $1.15/mo per local number (Twilio US pricing, Oct 2026). A2P 10DLC registration fees are extra. OpenPhone and similar apps include texts in their plan, so check your plan.
- TriggerIn Zapier, create a Zap and pick your phone…
- Step 2Add one action
- Step 3Message
- Step 4Turn on the Zap, call your number from…
- Step 5Check after a week
Ingredients
- A business phone line that Zapier can see missed calls from (e.g. OpenPhone or Twilio; check your plan)
- Zapier account (a 2-step Zap: missed call → send SMS)
- Your online booking link (Vagaro, Square, Fresha, Booksy, Acuity, Mindbody…)
Steps reviewed against Zapier's published missed-call SMS pattern and phone-app docs by the editor; not yet run end-to-end in a live account. Trigger names differ by phone app. Time saved is an estimate; results vary. Costs from Axis Consulting and Twilio pricing; check current pricing.
SMS rules: only text people who gave you their number for this purpose, identify your business, and include “Reply STOP to opt out”. US business texting needs A2P 10DLC registration.
Method
- In Zapier, create a Zap and pick your phone app as the trigger, using its missed-call event (the name varies by app; e.g. 'New Missed Call' or 'Call Ended' filtered to missed).
- Add one action: your phone app's 'Send SMS/Text' to the caller's number.
- Message: 'Hi, it's [Salon]. Sorry we missed your call, we're with a client. Book here: [booking link], or reply and we'll call you back. Reply STOP to opt out.'
- Turn on the Zap, call your number from another phone and let it ring out to test.
- Check after a week: how many texts went out and how many led to a booking or reply.
Zapier (affiliate placeholder)
Salon owner? See the salon guides, the missed-call hub and the free No-Show Kit.