Two-way SMS
Real threads with the customer — not just a one-way approve link.
Pro can text or email the approval link. The two-way SMS inbox and message templates are Elite. After-hours SMS assistant is Ultra (SMS only).
Pro · Approve link
Pro already closes with a tap.
Your CR-V estimate is ready — $487.
Elite · Inbox thread
CR-V · RO#1047 · Open estimate
Estimate link
Ultra · After-hours SMS assistant (SMS only — never a voice line)
Illustrative story chrome — CR-V, $487, and timestamps are not live shop metrics. Text and estimate links only.
The estimate is not always a tap. Sometimes they ask whether brakes include rotors. Sometimes they want a pickup window. Sometimes “your car is ready” is the twentieth time you have typed it today — from a personal phone that walks out the door at close. Two-way SMS on Elite keeps that conversation in one thread tied to the same customer and repair order: estimate questions, the approve link when they are ready, the ready-text, the invoice nudge.
Pro already closes with a tap. This page does not take that away. It is the conversation product for shops that need a real inbox, not only a one-way approve link. After-hours coverage, if you want it, is Ultra — SMS only, never a voice line — and the shop still owns the RO thread in the morning.
Delight
Keep Pro honest, then open the thread
If you only need them to tap approve, Pro already sends the link. That sentence is live truth and it stays on this page. Email & SMS approvals on Pro are the revenue closer: text or email the estimate, they review, they tap Approve or Sign & approve. You do not buy Elite to collect a yes.
You buy Elite when the closer is not the whole job. Personal-cell chaos is the pain: context dies when the shift ends, customers reply into the void, and the counter rewrites the same sentences every day. Elite opens a two-way thread on the same customer and repair order — estimate, approval, and invoice in one inbox. Message templates keep the counter from rewriting “your car is ready.” The approve path does not disappear. It can live inside the conversation.
This is not a phone system. ShopRally will not name voice products, will not mock a dialer, and will not sell Ultra after-hours as a receptionist line. After-hours is an SMS assistant. Reviews AI drafts (you publish) are a different Ultra product. We will not mix them.
If you have ever hunted a tech’s personal phone to find out what the customer said at 4:50, this page is for you. If approve-by-link is enough, stay on Pro and read Approvals. Packaging that tells the truth is how we keep the gate from becoming bait.
Channel gate
Inbox wins on Elite
Both Delight pages show the same Pro-sends / Elite-converses gate. Approvals mutes Elite. This page mutes Pro — and never erases it. The gate should read as upgrade-when-ready, not as a bait-and-switch.
Pro · Approval link only
Your CR-V estimate is ready — $487.
If you only need them to tap approve, Pro already sends the link.
CR-V · RO#1047 · Open estimate
Estimate link
Template ▾ · Your car is ready · Estimate follow-up
After-hours SMS assistant · Ultra
Covers after-hours SMS so the morning inbox is not a wall of missed texts. The shop still owns the RO thread. SMS only. Never a dialer, never a receptionist voice line.
On the RO
The thread on the RO
Text from the RO you’re already working. That is the live step, expanded into a product proof instead of a three-card spine.
The advisor starts on the repair order. Opening the thread does not dump them into a separate messaging app. Header context stays with the customer, the CR-V, the estimate, the approval state. If they still owe on the ticket, balance due can sit in that strip as RO truth — we will not pivot this page into Elite Stripe or text-to-pay; that story lives on Payments.
RO workspace
Text from the RO
Customer · CR-V · estimate ready · awaiting questions
Open thread
CR-V · RO#1047 · Open estimate
Estimate link
Template ▾ · Your car is ready · Estimate follow-up
- Estimate out. Advisor sends from the RO: the CR-V estimate is ready, $487, and they can ask questions here. An estimate link sits in the message. Still text, not a gallery.
- A real question. “Do brakes include rotors?” lands in the same thread, not in a voicemail, not on a personal cell that walks out at close.
- A real answer. Typed or from a template. Short clarification. Link back to the estimate if they need to see the lines again. They can still tap Approve or Sign & approve — Elite wraps conversation around the Pro closer; it does not replace it.
- Ready-text without a rewrite. When the car is done, the counter sends the sentence they send every day. Template, not a blank composer they fill from memory.
- Invoice nudge, still in-thread. When it is time to close, the invoice link lives here too. Estimate, approval, and invoice in one inbox — that is the live promise, and we will not add photos to it until product confirms MMS.
Context stays with the RO on the shop side. We will not invent a multi-visit history product on this landing. The pain we kill is hunting a tech’s personal phone for what the customer said today.
On their phone
On their phone, it is just a text thread
Customer-first beats, in their SMS app. This journey assumes Elite inbox unless a beat is labeled Ultra. Pro customers still get the approval-link journey — that is documented on Approvals, and we will not rewrite it here as if Pro included the inbox.
1
Shop texts from the RO
2
They reply in the same thread
3
Approve link still lives here
4
Ready-text via template
5
After hours (Ultra, optional)
6
Shop still owns the thread
1. The shop texts from the RO (Elite). They receive a normal SMS from the shop. We do not invent a shared shop number, a local-presence story, or a per-advisor line. On the shop side, the thread is tied to their vehicle and repair order.
2. They reply in the same thread. Pads versus rotors. Pickup time. Hesitation on the total. They do not have to call the shop during lunch. The question stays where the estimate already is.
3. The approve link can still live inside the conversation. Elite does not remove Pro’s approve / e-sign path. Real threads — and they can still tap approve. When they are ready, the closer is in the same place as the question they just asked.
4. Ready and pickup updates via template. The counter sends a saved “your car is ready” without rewriting it. Reminders and online booking are Elite packaging siblings; this page does not become the booking landing. One honest line is enough: templates cover the sentences you already send, including the ready-text.
5. After hours (Ultra, optional). If enabled, the after-hours SMS assistant covers after-hours SMS — never a voice line. Morning advisor still owns the RO thread. We will not claim the assistant books a bay, talks on the phone, or runs the counter overnight.
6. The shop still owns the thread. When the floor opens, the conversation is on the RO, not on whoever had the personal phone last night. That is the handoff. We do not invent a lifetime customer-SMS archive beyond the repair-order thread we can actually show.
Pro customers still get the approval-link journey (see Approvals). This walk is Elite unless a beat says Ultra.
Templates
Templates for the sentences you send every day
Message templates keep the counter from rewriting the same “your car is ready” text. That is the live line, and it is the whole templates story until the product shows more.
The sentences are the job: estimate follow-up, ready for pickup, a nudge with the invoice link. You pick a template from the composer on the RO thread and you send it. We will not print a mail-merge variable list, a token cheatsheet, or a campaign builder on this page. Templates ship with the Elite two-way SMS product. They are not on Pro. They are not a separate Marketing add-on SKU.
If the shop also runs Elite reminders or online booking, those are siblings in packaging — appointment-reminder tone is fair in a template example. Selling the booking calendar belongs on the booking page.
- Your car is ready
- Estimate follow-up
Your CR-V is ready for pickup. Invoice link is in this thread.
Ultra
Ultra after hours: SMS, not a phone tree
After-hours SMS assistant is Ultra. It covers after-hours SMS so the morning inbox is not a wall of missed texts. The shop still owns the RO thread. SMS only. Never a voice line. Never a dialer. Never a receptionist.
What we will not claim, even in a caption:
- Unsupervised spam blasts
- Auto-booking the bay
- Voice
- “AI runs the counter overnight”
- Auto-post without shop visibility
Escalation stays soft or omitted until a product doc exists. “The shop still owns the RO thread” is the line. Distinct from Ultra AI review reply drafts, which you publish on the Reviews product — do not conflate a night SMS assistant with review copy you approve.
Service Memberships are another Ultra story. Mention them only to keep the Ultra column from looking like “SMS nights are the whole plan.” Do not sell memberships here.
Ultra · SMS only
After-hours SMS assistant
Covers after-hours SMS so morning is not a wall of missed texts. The shop still owns the RO thread. Never a voice line. Distinct from Ultra review reply drafts, which you publish.
Honest packaging
What this is / isn’t, by plan
This-feature ladder only. Approve link stays visible on Pro so the gate does not collapse.
| Capability | Pro | Elite | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text or email approval link + e-sign | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Two-way SMS inbox tied to customer/RO | — | Yes | Yes |
| Message templates | — | Yes | Yes |
| After-hours SMS assistant | — | — | Yes (SMS only; never a voice line) |
| AI review reply drafts (you publish) | — | — | Yes (Reviews — not SMS auto-post) |
Pro. Approve link is enough when the job is “tap yes.” Link to Approvals. Reviews inbox is also on Pro — a different inbox, for Google reviews, not for RO texting.
Elite. Inbox + templates for real conversation at the counter. Reminders and online booking ride along in Elite packaging; they get a one-line pair, not a second hero. Stripe text-to-pay is Elite too — it belongs on Payments, not as a promise on this thread.
Ultra. After-hours SMS assistant extends coverage overnight without pretending to be a voice receptionist. Service Memberships and review AI drafts are separate Ultra stories. We name them so Ultra is not a mystery bundle; we do not demo them here.
Two-way SMS inbox + templates are part of Elite packaging. They are not a Marketing add-on SKU you bolt on later. Prospects should not leave this page hunting a fourth plan named “texting.”
Packaging
Questions about this feature
Does Pro include two-way SMS?
If I only need customers to approve estimates, do I need Elite?
Is after-hours a phone product?
Are message templates on Pro?
Does the AI auto-text customers without us?
Is this a Marketing add-on SKU?
Can we send photos in the thread?
Works next to
Pairs with
- On ProEmail & SMS approvalsThe Pro approve link + e-sign when the job is a tap, not a thread. Same gate as this page, inverted. Keep Pro honest.Open
- On ProGoogle Reviews inboxPro Reviews inbox; Elite review campaigns; Ultra AI drafts you publish. Related Delight ladder — a different inbox — so SMS and review AI do not get mixed.Open
Also: Online booking — Elite after-hours acquisition. Keep off the primary pair.
Reserve a founding seat
Founding shops choose Pro, Elite, or Ultra at launch. Start on Pro if approve-by-link is enough. Choose Elite when the inbox is how you run the counter. Add Ultra for after-hours SMS only.
Launching Q4 2026 · no card · we'll invite you at launch
Built by a shop owner · Launching Q4 2026