Most businesses already have the right words for their texts somewhere. They're in a rep's notes app, a sticky note by the front desk, or a message someone sent once and then forwarded to themselves. The result is that three people send the same confirmation three different ways. One of those versions is 220 characters with two emoji and costs four times what it should.
This post covers five scenarios teams text about every day: confirmations, declines, car sales follow-ups, gym membership and delivery updates. Each template is written to fit in one segment where possible, sound like a person and include what carriers expect to see. After the templates, we cover where they should live so the wording stays consistent when the person who wrote them goes on vacation.
Before you copy anything: three rules every template follows
The wording below assumes three things. If any of them is false for your business, fix that first.
- The recipient asked to hear from you. They booked, bought, inquired or signed up, and agreed to texts when they did. Cold outreach belongs on the phone or in the mail. SMS is for consented or replied contacts.
- The first text identifies you and offers a way out. Use your business name and "Reply STOP to opt out" on the first message in a thread. You don't need it on every reply in a live conversation, but the first touch should have it.
- Each message matches your registered use case. If you registered a customer-care campaign and start sending promos, carriers notice. Our guide on matching your 10DLC use case to what you actually send covers the mismatch that gets campaigns throttled.
The placeholders in curly braces, like {first_name}, stand in for whatever merge fields your platform uses. Swap them for your tool's syntax.
Confirmation templates
Confirmations are the texts people are happiest to get, so they're the easiest place to set a good tone. Keep them short, put the key detail first and give one action.
Appointment confirmation
Hi {first_name}, you're confirmed with {business} on {date} at {time}. Reply C to confirm or R to reschedule. Reply STOP to opt out.
Order confirmation
{business}: Thanks {first_name}! Order #{order_id} is confirmed. We'll text you when it ships. Reply STOP to opt out.
Booking request received (not yet confirmed)
Hi {first_name}, we got your request for {service} on {date}. We'll confirm within 2 business hours. - {business}
Payment received
{business}: Payment of {amount} received for invoice #{invoice_id}. Thank you, {first_name}.
If appointments are most of your volume, we have a longer set in appointment reminder, confirmation and request templates. It covers 24-hour and 2-hour reminders and no-show follow-ups.
Decline templates
Declines are where off-the-cuff texting goes wrong. Someone types a quick "sorry, can't do it" at 10 PM, and the customer reads it as a brush-off. A template keeps a no from costing you the relationship. Every decline below does three things: it says no clearly, it gives a short reason or no reason at all, and it offers a next step if one exists.
Declining a requested time slot
Hi {first_name}, {date} at {time} is booked, sorry. We have {alt_time_1} or {alt_time_2} open. Want one of those? - {business}
Declining a job or service request (outside your area or scope)
Hi {first_name}, thanks for thinking of {business}. {service} isn't something we do, so we'd rather not take it on. {referral_name} is a good option: {referral_phone}.
Declining a price-match or discount request
Hi {first_name}, we can't match that price, but {offer} still applies to your order. Happy to answer any questions. - {business}
Declining a job applicant
Hi {first_name}, thank you for applying for {role} at {business}. We've decided to move forward with other candidates. We'll keep your info on file for future openings.
Don't over-apologize in a decline. One "sorry" is plenty. Three reads as either insincere or as an opening to argue.
Car sales templates
Dealership texting works when it's a follow-up to something the customer started: a web inquiry, a test drive, a trade-in quote. The templates below assume one of those happened. Texting a purchased list of "people who might want a truck" is not in scope here, and it's the fastest way to get your campaign flagged.
Web inquiry response
Hi {first_name}, this is {rep} at {dealership}. The {year} {model} you asked about is still on the lot. Want to see it today or tomorrow? Reply STOP to opt out.
Post-test-drive follow-up
Thanks for coming in, {first_name}. Any questions on the {model}? I can send numbers on the trim you drove. - {rep}, {dealership}
Trade-in value ready
Hi {first_name}, your trade-in estimate for the {trade_vehicle} is ready. Want me to text it or go over it by phone? - {rep}
Vehicle ready for pickup (sale or service)
{dealership}: Your {model} is ready for pickup. We're open until {close_time} today. See you soon, {first_name}.
Service reminder
{dealership}: Hi {first_name}, your {model} is due for {service_type}. Reply with a day that works and we'll book it. Reply STOP to opt out.
Sales reps tend to write their own follow-ups, and this is where tone drifts the most. For more reply-oriented wording, see sales text message examples that get replies.
Gym and fitness templates
Gyms text for three reasons: getting new members through the door, keeping current members showing up and handling billing. Billing texts are transactional. "Come back, we miss you" texts are marketing. Make sure your registration covers both if you send both.
New member welcome
Welcome to {gym}, {first_name}! Your first session with {coach} is {date} at {time}. Bring water and a towel. Reply STOP to opt out.
Class booking confirmed
{gym}: You're in for {class} on {day} at {time}. Need to cancel? Reply NO at least 2 hours before.
Class waitlist spot opened
{gym}: A spot opened in {class} at {time} today. Reply YES in the next 30 minutes to claim it.
Failed payment
Hi {first_name}, your {gym} membership payment didn't go through. Update your card here: {link}. Questions? Just reply.
Lapsed member check-in
Hi {first_name}, we haven't seen you at {gym} in a few weeks. Want us to save you a spot in {class} this week? Reply STOP to opt out.
Keep the lapsed-member text friendly and free of guilt. "We noticed you haven't been in" plus an easy next step works. "Don't give up on your goals!" doesn't.
Delivery and shipping templates
Delivery texts are high-volume and highly predictable, which makes them the best candidates for automation. They're also where a single emoji can double or triple your bill, because the same message goes out thousands of times.
Shipped
{business}: Order #{order_id} has shipped. Track it here: {tracking_link}
Out for delivery
{business}: Your order is out for delivery today between {window_start} and {window_end}.
Delivered
{business}: Order #{order_id} was delivered at {time}. Not there? Reply and we'll help.
Delivery exception
{business}: Hi {first_name}, there's a delay with order #{order_id}. New estimate: {new_date}. Sorry for the wait.
Local delivery driver en route
Hi {first_name}, {driver} from {business} is about 15 minutes away with your order.
What these templates cost to send
Every template above is meant to fit in a single segment once the merge fields are filled in. That depends on your data, so here's how segments work and what they cost on Ready.
| Message type | Character limit per segment | When it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Plain text (GSM-7) | 160, or 153 per part if longer | Letters, numbers, basic punctuation |
| With any emoji or non-GSM character | 70, or 67 per part if longer | One emoji switches the whole message |
Ready swaps curly quotes, long dashes and ellipses for plain ones before sending, so text pasted from a document doesn't quietly turn into unicode. Emoji are a different story. If you add one, the limit drops.
Worked example (assumptions stated): a store sends 4,000 "shipped" texts a month. The plain version fills in to about 130 characters, which is 1 segment. On Ready's Standard rate of $0.0075/segment plus a $0.0045 carrier fee:
- Plain version: 4,000 × 1 segment × $0.0075 = $30 in Standard rate plus 4,000 × $0.0045 in carrier fees.
- Same text with a 📦 added: it's now unicode, and 130 characters at a 67-character multipart limit is 2 segments. The cost is 4,000 × 2 × $0.0075, so $60 plus double the carrier fees.
Ready's all-in prices per segment include the carrier fee but not screening: Scrub lists and Number validation, the two switches in Settings under Compliance, each add $0.003 per segment when switched on, shown as screening on your bill, and both are off by default. Unless you turn the opt-out footer off, the first text to each contact, and one again from time to time, also gets "Reply STOP to opt out" and your business name if the message does not already have them, so a text close to the segment limit can bill one more segment.
The emoji doubles the bill. Replies are billed like sent texts, so a delivered message that prompts 500 "thanks!" replies adds 500 segments. Current rates are on the pricing page.
To be straightforward about price: if per-segment cost is the only thing you care about, raw carrier APIs like Twilio are cheaper per message than Ready. What you get with Ready is the registration, opt-out handling, quiet hours and inbox built in, so you aren't assembling those yourself.
Store templates in a platform, not a phone
A template on a rep's phone has three problems. Nobody else can see it. Nobody can update it for everyone at once. And it gets sent from a personal number that isn't on your registered campaign, so carriers may filter it.
Moving templates into a messaging platform fixes all three.
- One source of truth. Ready has reusable templates in the app. When the return policy changes, you edit one template instead of asking eight people to update their notes.
- Sent from registered numbers. Messages go out from numbers on your 10DLC campaign, not personal cell phones. Registration is done in-app: $25 at submit for the first month, then $25/mo for registration + $2 per number. Most approvals take 2 to 7 days.
- Opt-outs are honored automatically. If someone replies STOP to a gym check-in, the opt-out applies across every campaign, so the next template can't reach them by accident. With phone-based texting, you're relying on a rep remembering.
- Quiet hours are enforced. A delivery-exception text queued at 11 PM is refused rather than held, because the window is more than about 6 hours away; resend it in the morning. That reduces TCPA exposure, though compliance remains your responsibility.
- A spam-filter check before you save. The AI message writer can draft a template and check it for wording carriers tend to filter.
For software teams, templates can also live in your own code and go out through the API. POST /v1/messages sends one text and POST /v1/messages/bulk sends up to 100 recipients per call. Each needs consent_attested: true, and opted-out numbers are refused up front and not charged. The messages API docs cover the request shape. Platforms that text on behalf of their own customers can give each customer a sub-account with its own numbers and registration, so one dealership's templates never mix with another's.
If you use GoHighLevel, Ready connects natively by OAuth and syncs messages two ways. Your GHL snippets keep working, and the texts go out over Ready numbers.
The short version
Write each template once, keep it under 160 plain characters where you can, put your business name and "Reply STOP to opt out" on first contact, and skip emoji on anything high-volume. Then store the templates somewhere shared, so the wording outlasts any one employee's phone.
For more scenarios beyond these five, our copy-and-paste business text templates by use case covers additional ones. If you want to try these on registered numbers, you can sign up. Your first 20 one-to-one texts are free, so use them to test your templates before you register.