Some businesses are still stuck in 1950. Postcards [advertisements via mail in general] are old news. I mean, have you seen the internet?! 80% of people are currently using texting for business. (eWeek) Are you a statistic?
Text Reminders Should Be Taken Seriously
Here are a few scenarios to really get you think about texting in your business.
Tony’s Pizzeria
“I’d like a double order of wings and a large pizza.” It’s Monday – and typically on a Monday your local pizzeria has a pizza and wing special. The worker asks you for your name and number and tells you it will be done in 25 minutes. Perfect. You’ve got to pick your kid up from baseball practice in 35 minutes. So, you’ll pick up the pizza, swing by, pick up you kid, and you’ll be munching on that pizza within 45 minutes.
You wish.
The reality of the situation is: Your pizzeria actually takes 35 minutes to make your pizza, you’re ten minutes late picking up your kid, and you’re driving home hangry because you thought you would be eating in 45 minutes, except now it’s been an hour and it feels like the end of the world.
As a result: You’re pissed at Tony’s Pizzeria, you are putting a stop to your weekly pizza, and will instead get pizza every few months because of one bad experience. Isn’t that how it always goes?
What if it could be prevented.
Here’s the scenario after Tony’s Pizzeria decided to spend a few bucks to get a few bucks.
“I’d like a double order of wings and a large pizza.” It’s Monday – and typically on a Monday your local pizzeria has a pizza and wing special. The worker asks you for your name and number, then asks for permission to send you a text as soon as your order is ready to be picked up. The worker estimates about 25 minutes. Perfect, right? [Déjà vu] 25 minutes goes by, you have yet to receive a text so instead of waiting, you decide that maybe it’s better to pick up your son first so that you are not late. After 35 minutes, you get the text that your pizza is ready, you are able to still pick it up on time [as well as your kid] and happily stuff your face when you get home. Everything worked out because Tony’s Pizzeria decided to sign up to for a text message reminder service. Overall – it definitely improved the customer experience [given the circumstances].
Not enough?
Here’s another scenario.
Sally Scissorhand’s Hair Salon
Katie gets her haircut almost every four months. Her hairdresser, we will call her Sally Scissorhands [could you imagine?!], signed up for a texting service that sends out useful tips and alerts for her clients. Luckily, this service offers different analytics based on individual client trends. To put it bluntly, the service realizes that Katie, one of Sally’s clients, gets her haircut every four months, so two weeks before every fourth month, a text message reminder is sent out to Katie reminding her of Sally Scissorhands and her wonderful hair salon.
Think of a text alert like this: Remember those postcards you used to get from your dentist reminding you of your appointment on April 12, 1932 [because really, you should not be sending out postcards this day and age]. Think of texting as the modern-day postcard. You can send out a reminder of the services your business offers, you can track trends and analytics of customer interactions/engagements and customize your text scheduling and content accordingly.
“Text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate.” (Velocify)
Don’t you think it’s time to start?