One of the many benefits of business texting is providing cheaper options for salespeople to communicate with leads and customers in the most effective way. A study by Mobile Marketing Watch says that SMS are opened 98% of the time, with conversion rates as high as 45%. This makes it one of the best tools for sales outreach and increasing customer satisfaction.
Getting customers is one, but earning their loyalty is another. Businesses are finding ways and using different channels to get customers engaged. Among all of these channels, SMS is leading the way to higher retention rates and better sales without the need for too much effort.
Business texting etiquettes for sales teams
SMS’s great power, however, entails bigger responsibilities. While business texting can be anybody’s game now, the ones who know how to do it properly will succeed. In business texting, one should not only know the best techniques, but also the proper etiquettes.
Ask consent
Even if your list came from your own database, opt-ins are still necessary to successfully get better engagements and results. Not only does it show politeness, but unprompted messages can sometimes come off as annoying or worse, unprofessional. Remember that text is a personal communication channel. To earn your customers’ trust, you must prove to them that you are worth that.
Find the best time
Imagine waking up to a promotional text in the middle of the night. Never a good experience, right? It’s important for you to consider different time zones and business hours to pin down the right time to send your texts. Studies show that the best days to broadcast business text campaigns are during workdays, particularly Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Click-throughs and open rates are also higher during break times: first thing in the morning, around 12 noon, or in the evening just before going to bed.
Introduce yourself
You’re not the only business sending texts to your customers. Make yourself known to them. The more customers are familiar with you, the more likely they are to read and respond to your messages. The best way to do this is to include a short introduction about yourself and your business. You can also use sender ID or dedicated numbers, so customers can see who you are right away.
Limit sending frequency
Send text broadcasts sparingly if you don’t want to come off as spammy. If you feel like sending more than one message a week, make sure it is done deliberately. According to studies, the sweet spot is less than 10 text messages per month. If you need to go beyond, you should communicate these to your customers, and never send more than one text a day. However, if you’re using SMS for service notifications, it should depend on the customer’s request. Just note that the impact of your messages isn’t always directly proportional to frequency.
Add some visuals
Visuals matter, especially these days. Stand out from the crowd, and run effective SMS marketing campaigns by adding some great visuals like images, gifs, or funny videos in your messages. Find an SMS and MMS solution that can keep up with the changing times and customer demands.
Observe confidentiality
Including confidential information such as account details or personal info in your text messages can only open you or your customer to liabilities. When sharing or verifying information about your customers, always do it on other platforms. You can use SMS by sending a quick notification to immediately inform customers of confidential information they need to know.
Keep conversations simple
Business texting is best for quick, short messages with high levels of urgency. Lengthy and detailed discussions are best moved to other platforms. For sales, use SMS to broadcast promos, deals, and offers. You can opt for a face-to-face meeting, a call, or email to handle complex conversations.
Send auto broadcasts
The great thing about SMS is you can create and automatically send them to a large number of contacts. Find a smart SMS solution that offers tools where you can easily set up SMS broadcasts and send them at scale in a click. Much better if your SMS platform syncs and works with the CRM you’re using so you can leverage its data to personalize your messages.
Provide value
Remember, text messages have higher tendencies to be read. Putting value to your text message is the way to keep your open rates high. Balance your promotional and sales-y messages with product guides, friendly reminders, and other services. The more value you give them, the less likely they are to opt out.
Offer opt-outs
Getting customer details gives you the opportunity to reach them, however, you should also offer them a way out. Once they’ve opted out, be sure to keep them out of your contact list until they find you again. This shows that you have respect for their needs and allows you to purge contacts that are less likely to convert.
There’s more to SMS with Aloware
Customers are getting more demanding, and businesses should find ways to keep up. Engage them through a channel they prefer with Aloware’s SMS plus MMS solutions.
Keep customers in the loop and set up triggers for SMS follow-ups. Start getting more engagements by automating text blasts and SMS campaigns. Turn heads and build lasting impressions with images, gifs, and other media to spice up your texts.
Amazing things are waiting for you in Aloware. To know more, book a demo with us, and let’s help you get started.
