The Text Is Part of the Job, Not a Separate Tool
With texting activated for your shop, send the estimate, send the report, get the approval and answer the "is it ready?" text. All from Trail Hits® Hub, all on the customer's record, with nothing for the customer to download. Customers who do use the free Trail Hits® app get the same conversation in the app, with live repair status alongside it.
Trail Hits works with your shop owner on phone setup. Texting requires an active paid shop subscription, number ownership confirmation, provider approval and activation. A trial or subscription does not automatically turn on texting or calls.
Start Free TrialWhat Goes Out, by Text, Email, or In the App
Transactional service messages, tied to the work order they are about. Text is the default; email works for the customer without a mobile number; and a customer on the free Trail Hits® app sees all of it in the app.
The estimate, service by service
The customer opens a link, sees what the tech found, and approves or declines each service. Approved services are what the tech works on.
The inspection report
A branded report with photos and findings, so "your pads are at twenty percent" comes with a picture of the pads.
Repair updates
Waiting on a part, ready for pickup, or a question for the customer, sent from the work order by whoever is standing at it.
One Thread per Customer, on the Customer
A texting tool that lives outside the shop system means the counter is asking "who texted Mike?" Hub keeps the conversation on Mike.
- Replies land in Hub, in the customer's thread, next to their bikes, work orders, and visits
- Anyone can pick it up. The thread is the shop's, not one employee's phone
- Sent and received on the web, from the customer record or the work order
- Text, email, or in the app. A customer without a mobile number still gets the estimate by email; a customer on the free Trail Hits® app approves, replies, and watches repair status there, in the same thread
A thread, as it looks in Hub
Hi Mike, the inspection on your Fuel EX is done. Here is the report and the estimate. Tap to approve what you want us to do.
Sent by text
Approved the brakes and the chain. Skip the bearings for now. Friday ok?
Received
Friday works. We will text when it is ready.
Sent by text
Calls and Photos, on the Same Record
The conversation about a bike is not only text. Hub keeps the rest of it in the same place.
Record the call
For shops with a verified recording workflow, recordings belong on the customer record alongside the conversation. Call and recording availability depends on provider support and supervised activation. Confirm your shop’s setup with Trail Hits before relying on this workflow.
Photos both ways
A customer texts a picture of the noise, the crack, or the part they want matched. You text back a picture of the worn pads or the finished repair. Photos ride in the same thread, in both directions.
Paying for Ikeono or Podium?
Compare the service conversations your shop needs. Confirm Hub’s supported channels and activation with Trail Hits before replacing an existing service.
What Ikeono and Podium do well
Ikeono is business texting built for independent retailers, with a unified inbox, text-to-pay, Google review requests, feedback, webchat, and marketing texts, and it integrates with Lightspeed and Ascend. Podium is a messaging platform for local businesses of every kind, now led by an AI employee that answers leads and books appointments around the clock. If review requests, webchat, or text-to-pay are what you buy them for, Hub does not do those, and we would rather say so.
Where Hub is different
The text is part of the job, not a separate inbox. The estimate the customer approves by text is the one the tech built from the inspection. Supported photos and replies stay on the customer's record, and customers can use the free Trail Hits® app. Phone, photo and recording capabilities are confirmed during supervised setup. Review availability for your shop before changing an existing messaging subscription. And if you run Ascend, whose built-in texting is send-only, Hub is the two-way conversation where the shop and the customer share photos, without a second messaging platform.
Consent Captured at Check-In, Opt-Out Always
When a customer checks in a bike, staff explain the service texts and record the opt-in, or the customer replies to an opt-in text. Messages are service notifications only, never marketing. Replying STOP ends them, and the consent record stays with the customer. The rules are written down in our privacy policy, because your customers' carriers care about them and so do we.
Common Questions
How do we turn on texting for our shop?
Contact Trail Hits to review setup with your shop owner. Texting requires an active paid shop subscription, confirmation of number ownership, provider approval and activation. Starting a Hub trial or paying for a plan does not activate a number. We confirm supported texting, photo and call capabilities with you before use.
Does the customer need an app to approve an estimate by text?
No. The text carries a link to a page where they see the inspection findings and the estimate, and approve or decline each line. Nothing to download. If they do use the free Trail Hits® app, they also get live repair status and their full service history.
How is texting consent handled?
Consent is captured when the customer checks in, either verbally with the terms explained by staff or by replying to an opt-in text, and the record is stored with the customer. Messages are transactional service notifications only, never marketing, and any customer can reply STOP at any time.
Where do replies go?
Into the customer’s conversation thread in Trail Hits® Hub, on the same record that holds their bikes, work orders, and visits. Anyone at the counter can pick up the thread without asking who texted them last.
Can we record calls?
Call features are being verified shop by shop. Trail Hits reviews provider support and recording availability with your shop owner before activation. Do not assume that enabling texting also enables calls or recording; confirm the supported workflow during setup.
Can customers text us photos?
Yes, both directions. A customer texts a picture of the noise or the damage; you text back a picture of the worn pads or the finished repair. Photos ride in the same thread on the customer record.
Does Trail Hits® Hub replace Ikeono or Podium?
For a shop with supported texting activated, Hub brings estimates, inspection reports, repair updates and replies into the customer record. Confirm photo and call capabilities during supervised setup before replacing another service. Ikeono and Podium also do Google review requests, webchat, text-to-pay, and marketing texts, and Podium sells an AI employee that answers leads around the clock. Hub does not do those, so if they are the reason you pay, keep them.
Can we email, or use the app, instead of texting?
Yes. Estimates, reports, and repair updates go by text, by email, or inside the free Trail Hits® app when the customer uses it, and the customer can approve and reply from any of them. Whichever channel they pick, the conversation lands in the same thread on the customer record.
Plan Your Shop’s Texting Setup
Talk with Trail Hits about your shop’s number and supported channels. Paid access, number ownership and provider approval come before activation.
Discuss Your Shop’s Setup
Trail Hits® Hub
iPhone and iPad app for the bench. Hub also runs in any web browser.
