Instantly Engage with your Customers

Instantly Engage with your Customers

Texting has become one of the most popular ways for a business to reach customers, prospects, and team members. In fact, according to recent studies, 90 percent of consumers want to text with businesses and brands. Some 77 percent of consumers, who opt-in to a text or messaging platform with a business, never opt out. Textmaxx Pro helps businesses realize the benefits of having 99 percent of text messages being opened, 90 percent read within 3 minutes, and 40 percent response rate within 15 minutes.

Connect with Your Team in Real Time

During the pandemic lock downs across the U.S., many businesses had their employees that could work from home. Knowing the benefits of texting, businesses used texting keep them informed about changes in business hours, new sales, cancellations. Owners and managers could confidently know their communications with employees would be received, opened, and, when necessary, responded to within minutes. Even when team members return to their offices, texting will remain a real-time communications tool.

Engaging Consumers Puts them in Purchase Funnel

The speed at which text communication occurs, coupled with its ease of use, is a perfect tool to move a customer through the purchase funnel. Quickly learning about where the consumer is on their personal buyer’s journey, their needs, and conditions, will help businesses better understand their customers and build lasting relationships. You need to learn what their preferences are. Know which customers want information from a drinking fountain, and understanding that some prefer to gather info from a fire hose, will help businesses determine who to contact with which information and offers.

Outbound Marketing Strategies

When you send out an email campaign, print ad, digital ad, or even when making outbound calls, always give consumers a texting option to respond. Some people don’t have the ability or time to engage via phone. Calls take longer, personal calls are usually avoided while consumers are at work, and communications from text result in opens, reads, and responses in near real time.

Customers Want Customer Service Now

Businesses that provide a texting number for customer service issues a really providing great customer service. If a consumer saves the number to text when they have an account issue, a tech question, or any other problem, and can text that number with a question, request a call, or renew their account and not have to wade through a complicated voice recognition telephony system, you’ll have a customer for life.

If you would like to learn more, text “TEXTPROS” to 95000 now or call 1-866-367-6889.  You can also visit https://textmaxxpro.com/contact/.

 

Best Practices for Business Texting

Best Practices for Business Texting

Texting is the preferred means of communication for consumers who wish to interact with a business — any business. Across all demographics more and more people rely on text communication to get a business’ location, hours, product information, pricing, and to  comparatively shop. Therefore, it’s incumbent on the business to communicate effectively with their customers and prospects.

Here are a few best practices businesses should use.

Use the Right Attitude

Keep your texts simple and direct and short. This doesn’t mean using text shorthand like adding an “lol” or an “omg” in the message. Be professional. Use simple sentences, common vocabulary. Remember, if the business is a comedy club, texts may have a different tone than those sent by a car dealership or veterinarian office.

Emojis

These clever pictures communicate many words, attitude, and emotions. They are also prevalent and easy to send. Text messages are and should be short, and emojis communicate a feeling in an instant. Recent surveys show that notifications with emojis generate far more engagement that those without. As with anything, don’t overdo it.

Be Succinct

Text message are by design to be used on the fly. They must be read within seconds. Responses should be able to occur within seconds as well. Most SMS are limited to 160 characters, but you can send longer messages. Resist the temptation. Be short and concise.

Check Your Spelling

Reading news on the Internet or seeing posts on social media today would drive most English teachers and editors crazy. Spellcheck and predictive spelling can lead to misspelled words or wrong words being used to communicate. Poor spelling will reflect on your business and those that prepare the messages. Proof your texts before you hit send.

Use Common Vocabulary

Using “obfuscate” when you can say “hide,” may result in fewer people engaging with your message. You won’t get points from dazzling someone with your vocabulary skills.

Be Timely

If your text thanking someone for a visit comes three days later, it’s likely no longer relevant. If you text someone that the service on their vehicle is complete after they have arrived to pick it up, you’re not adding value to their experience.

Use a Texting Platform

Having employees use their personal mobile phones for business is not a good idea.They can use their phones, but should do it through a texting platform app, like Textmaxx Pro. This helps with proper messaging, allows them to text from desktop computers, and landlines. Most importantly, it makes your business compliant with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Non-compliance can be an expensive headache. To learn more, look at our platform!

If You Do Not Have a Texting Strategy — You Should: 90% of Consumer Prefer Texting Businesses

If You Do Not Have a Texting Strategy — You Should: 90% of Consumer Prefer Texting Businesses

Everyone texts today. If you go out to lunch, you’ve likely texted multiple people before you get back to work. Texting prospects and existing customers is essential for business success. However, there is good news, but there’s also GREAT news.

First, only 14% of business have text message strategy for marketing, advertising, and communicating with customers. So putting a text strategy in place will put you ahead of your competitors. The GREAT news is, Textmaxx Pro has a low-cost, totally compliant platform to assist you in maintaining an advantage in the marketplace. Remember, 99% of text recipients get the message, and 90% read the text within three minutes!

At Textmaxx Pro we can help you think through and adopt the best texting practices and strategies for your business — and we mean any business. Call or text us for a free consultation. We will assist in:

• Text enabling your business landline
• Stopping employees using personal phones for business texts
• Text marketing customers with the right message
• Engaging business prospects and converting them into buyers
• Positioning your SMS texting strategy to deliver results with measurable ROI

We have built SMS/MMS strategies for all types of business across the country. Call 866.367.6889 or text “PROS” to 95000. One of our SMS Strategy Specialists will arrange a free consultation for you.

Text Messaging is Essential to Advertising and Marketing

 

Here’s Why:

  • Deals, Promos, Upcoming Events
    • 99% are Opened
    • 90% Read in 3 minutes
    • 40% Respond within 15 minutes
  • High Conversion Rates
    • 89% Prefer to Text with Businesses
    • 40% higher conversion rate over those not texted
    • 300-800% prefer texting to face-to-face communications (all generations)

To take advantage of text message advertising and marketing, selecting the right SMS Platform, like Textmaxx Pro, is critical. You can use a toll-free number, a simple short code with five numerical characters. You should text-enable your existing landline, VoIP, or toll-free number, so your sales team members can communicate via text from their computers or smart phones.

You’ll want a fully TCPA compliant platform, such as Textmaxx Pro as well. You have the ability to text everyone with smartphone, but you must have permission from them before you may.

Text or call us today at (866) 367-6889.

Make Phone Tag a Thing of the Past…

Make Phone Tag a Thing of the Past…

By Christopher Leedom

CEO, Textmaxx Pro

How many of you reading this article are frustrated by the volume of voice mail—both left and received—during the average workday?  Whether it is for sales, service or collections, your staff leaves dozens—if not hundreds—of voice mails every day.  It has probably become one of the biggest drains of productivity and labor—but nevertheless necessary—until now.  Do I have you scratching your head a bit?

First, let me issue you a challenge.  Identify one employee in your business that interacts with your customer base on a daily basis—for instance, a salesperson, a collector, or a service representative.   Next, identify twenty customers that you need to communicate with that particular day.  If you are a working with a collector, pick twenty accounts that just became delinquent.  If you are in sales, pick twenty customers that need follow up.  Now, take ten of these customers and send them an SMS message initiating communication with them.  Sales, service, or collections – it doesn’t matter.  Then, take the next ten customers and call them, if you do not reach them, leave a voicemail initiating communication.

By the time you get done calling the ten “phone call” customers, chances are 50% of the SMS customers will have already texted you back!  Why?  It is because 93% of SMS messages are read within ten minutes and a return text is usually sent within twenty minutes.  How does that compare to the voicemails—no contest.  You probably will connect with two or maybe three of the outbound phone calls and will likely leave seven or eight voicemails.

I have observed this exercise with countless operations.  Our organization has worked with thousands of companies over the past twenty years.  When we started Textmaxx Pro four years ago, I could not have predicted the impact on productivity.  We see it across virtually every industry vertical we serve.  In today’s world everyone returns an SMS message well before returning a voicemail.  There are countless studies that prove this.

So how do you optimize your SMS messaging strategy?  First, think of it the same as your phone system.  You need a tool that is proprietary and resident to your business that will serve your SMS communication needs, and ensure compliance.  I hear too many dealers say, “My employees are really good at texting, they use their personal phones.”  When I hear this, I cringe.  Think about it, would you utilize your employee’s personal phone number when advertising on the web or in television commercials?  Would you give each employee a copy of their entire customer activity when they leave your company to work elsewhere?  That is precisely what you are doing if you do not have a product that allows you to store, monitor, and control all SMS activity.  It doesn’t matter whether it is sales or collections.  You need to retain and control those conversations for a host of reasons, none the least of which is compliance, but that is a topic for an entire article itself.

So, if you want to eliminate—or at least greatly reduce—the wasted time and effort of phone tag, implement a well-thought-out customer contact strategy where SMS communication is your first form of communication.  You will be amazed at the impact it will have on employee productivity.  It is an incredibly effective way to communicate with your customers.  In my opinion, it is even more effective in collections or service where you already have a relationship with the customer.  Today, studies show SMS messaging to be the preferred method of communication of most customers across virtually every demographic.  It is hands down the most efficient mode for just about every conversation.

If you would like a deeper dive into this topic, sign up for an exclusive demo with one of our sales representatives by visiting www.textmaxxpro.com for more information.

Chris Leedom is the CEO and Founder of the Leedom Group.  The Leedom Group includes Textmaxx Pro, a complete SMS messaging solution for small to medium business with a custom design for sales, service, collections, account management, and client retention communication.  The Leedom Group is based in Sarasota, FL.  You may reach Chris at chris@leedomgroup.com.

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