5 Ways to Use Business Texting (That Aren’t Marketing)

Reminders

One popular use for business texting is to send reminders, like for appointments and upcoming payments. If this is applicable to your business, it’s definitely something to consider; customers will appreciate it, and your business will be able to minimize losses because of missed payment due dates and appointments!

One industry where appointment reminders are making a huge impact is the healthcare industry. Missed appointments are actually more detrimental to doctor’s offices than one might think; in fact, they cost the U.S. healthcare industry $150 billion a year!

If you think that number is staggering, we have another one for you: less than 5% of scheduled appointments result in cancellation after sending a reminder via text. And this number is applicable across industries! If you run a hair salon, doctor’s office, or any other business that sees people by appointment, it is time to get set up with a business texting service! Something as simple as sending a reminder or two as the scheduled appointment time approaches could save your business big!

Payment reminders are another great use of your business texting service. For instance, many property management companies are sending reminders via text ahead of rent payment due dates.

In a friendly, non-intrusive way, business texting can be used to send tenants or customers reminders of their payment due dates so they can avoid any penalties associated with late payment. Additionally, you can include a link to the webpage where they can submit their payment, if applicable. People will appreciate the reminder and their perception of your business will become more positive!

Add an Extra Layer of Security.

With so much of our lives moving to a digital format, consumers and businesses alike are more concerned about security than ever. Business texting can be an asset in adding one more layer of security to put your customers at ease.

For instance, some banking institutions are giving customers the ability to protect their online banking account by requiring a security code for entry. After the customer enters their password, their bank will text a one-time security code to the number they have on file. Once the customer has copied that code into their banking app or browser, they can access the account.

This measure makes many people feel a bit safer knowing that, even if someone gains access to their online banking username and password, they still wouldn’t be able to access the account without the corresponding cell phone.

If your business handles financial or other equally sensitive information for customers, adding an extra layer of security with business texting can prevent a lot of issues. Also, it is a system that can be automated with the right business texting service, making it rather simple to implement.

Conduct Customer Feedback Surveys.

Gathering customer feedback is crucial for your business to understand what it is doing right and where there is room for improvement. However, it can be difficult to gather information in a way that is a good representation of your customers.

With business texting, you can start requesting short surveys via text. For best results, set up your texting platform to trigger survey requests after a customer makes a purchase or stops in for a visit. For instance, if you run a hair salon, you can text customers for a survey after their appointment has concluded and while your business is still fresh on their mind.

Offering incentives is another effective way to entice more customers to complete your survey. Ask customers two to five questions to rate their experience, and reward them with a discount off their next visit!

If your business requires a more in-depth survey, you can still text customers with your request and include a link to the webpage where the survey lives. In this case, an incentive might be even more helpful since you are asking customers to give more of their time.

Customer Service

If your chosen business texting service offers a two-way chat feature, you can use that to step up your customer service! Studies have shown that 64% of consumers are more likely to have a positive view of a business after they have been directly communicated to. And over 50% of consumers prefer texting to phone calls.

Now, we’re certainly not suggesting that you do away with voice call communication altogether. However, it could be beneficial to your business to give customers more options for receiving customer support and allow them to decide from there based on their personal preference.

With landline texting, you can easily utilize business texting and voice calls simultaneously! By text-enabling your existing landline number, your business can field customer texts without any interruption to your regular voice service.

Alerts and Notifications

If your business has a need for contacting customers with important alerts or business updates, business texting is the most efficient way to accomplish that. In fact, text messages have an open rate of 98%!

Also, if your customers have the ability to order products online, you could use business texting to send them tracking notifications. Although tracking technology has certainly improved greatly in the past few years, customers usually have to go out of their way to check the status of their package. This can be frustrating, especially if your customers are concerned with their package being stolen prior to receiving a notification of its arrival.

To make your online shopping experience that much more convenient, your business can give customers the chance at checkout to opt-in to receiving text notifications about their package delivery. This way, your customer doesn’t have to check your website several times a day in anticipation of delivery because your business is sending updates straight to their inbox.

Pro tip: this could also be a good opportunity for you to gather phone numbers to build up your subscriber list. If someone has opted in to only receiving tracking notifications, then that’s all your business should send them. However, you could add an extra check box to encourage them to sign up for marketing messages, business updates, etc.

Even if your business is not interested in adopting business texting for marketing purposes, there are still so many ways to take advantage of this amazing tool! We have listed just a few of them here, but feel free to get creative and discover some new ones.

If you are ready to find out how your business can benefit from business texting, start your 14-day free trial with us today!