At its core, CRM (customer relationship management) is designed to improve customer communication and engagement. A big part of that is being able to address customers through the communication channels they prefer.
For years that has meant phone calls and emails.
As technology has evolved, however, text messaging and SMS have begun to move to the forefront.
According to research by OpenMarket, millennials prefer to receive text messages from businesses for:
- Surveys and promotions 75%
- Appointment reminders 62%
- Delivery notifications 59%
- Payment requests 48%
This has seen a rise in CRM platforms with texting and SMS functionality.
While having text and SMS feature options is great, getting the most out of these tools requires a strategy that takes advantage of the many benefits that the combination of CRM and these communication channels provide.
What is CRM?
CRM is a software toolset that assists businesses with the day-to-day management of their people (customers and employees), work processes, products, and projects.
Once thought of primarily as a sales tool, CRM has evolved to address the needs of many different business aspects, including marketing, customer service, and HR.
Through the use of advanced automations tools and data centralization, CRM software can help your business improve customer communication, work more efficiently, and track performance.
What is text messaging and SMS?
Text messaging and SMS (short message service) are both forms of communication comprised of written messages sent via mobile devices or other compatible platforms.
- SMS- SMS is a telecommunications channel that enables the exchange of text messages between mobile devices.
These messages are short, typically up to 160 characters, although some modern systems support longer messages.
SMS texting is widely supported across many different mobile networks and is available on almost all mobile phones and devices, making it a widespread and popular form of communication.
- Text messaging- Text messaging is a general term that refers to sending text-based messages across various communication channels, including SMS.
Text messaging encompasses a broader range of text-based communication methods.
Both text messaging and SMS are widely used for personal communication because they offer a quick, direct, and reliable way to reach people. This is also what makes them desirable options for customer engagement.
3 key benefits of using text messaging and SMS for business
The benefits of using text messaging and SMS for business vary based on factors such as customer demographics, product/service offerings, and industry.
That said, 3 key benefits make these communication channels a strong option for any organization.
- Faster, simpler communication- One of the biggest advantages of using text messaging and SMS for business is delivery speed and accessibility.
Messages sent through these channels are delivered instantly, and there is no worrying about your message getting lost in the shuffle or being sent to a junk folder.
This is especially valuable for time-sensitive announcements, promotions, and reminders.
- Better interaction rates- Text messages and SMS have very high interaction rates when compared to a traditional messaging platform like email.
According to statistics compiled by Sender:
- Text message and SMS open rates are around 90-99%
- 90% of text and SMS messages are opened within 3 minutes
Compare that to email open rates which average a little over 21% (MailChimp).
Additionally, text message and SMS communication is a two-way street, enabling you to engage in back-and-forth conversations with your customers.
This customer engagement potential provides businesses with a powerful tool for customer service that can improve customer satisfaction and build customer loyalty.
- Wider reach- Text messages and SMS are accessible through a variety of apps on nearly all mobile devices, making them an ideal communication channel for businesses looking to reach a broad audience.
What’s more, the cellular connectivity of mobile devices means recipients don’t require internet access to receive these messages.
This is advantageous for businesses communicating with customers who are always on the move or for communicating with customers in regions where internet access is limited.
3 ways CRM enhances text messaging and SMS for business
With CRM, text and SMS messaging can be integrated seamlessly into your overall customer engagement strategy. CRM can enhance the potential of these communication channels through:
- Automation- CRM platforms enable businesses to set up automated messaging workflows based on preset triggers (date, action, event). For example, you can create an automation that:
- Sends a follow-up text after a support ticket is resolved
- Sends an SMS message immediately after a purchase
- Sends a text reminder for an upcoming appointment
Automation saves time and effort, ensuring that customers receive timely and consistent messages throughout their journey with the company.
- Centralization- CRM systems are a central repository for all your data (customer information, communication history, campaign performance).
By integrating text and SMS messaging with CRM, businesses can automatically capture and store all communication through these channels, making it readily accessible to sales reps, marketing professionals, and your customer support team
This leads to higher customer satisfaction rates and a more seamless customer experience overall.
- Segmentation- CRM allows customers to be segmented by criteria such as industry, region, or purchase history.
By integrating text messaging and SMS with CRM, businesses can further segment customers by these communication channels, leading to higher engagement and deeper personalization.
5 strategies for using CRM text messaging and SMS for business
There are dozens of ways to incorporate CRM-integrated text messaging and SMS features into your work processes. Some common examples include:
- Reminders- You can send text and SMS message reminders for upcoming events, appointments, webinars, or workshops.
CRM enables you to send these reminders to all participants (including your own team members) automatically, using a date-based trigger such as “24 hours before”.
- Transaction notifications- With CRM automation, you can provide your customers with real-time updates on order confirmations, shipping notifications, and delivery details via text message and SMS.
- Limited-time offers and promotions- You can notify your customers about limited-time offers, promotions, or flash sales quickly with text messaging and SMS.
Through CRM segmentation, you can send these notifications out to specific customers based on region or purchase history.
- Customer feedback- You can send surveys or feedback requests to your customers automatically after a purchase or support interaction via a text or SMS campaign.
The reporting and analytics capabilities of your CRM enable you to transform the responses from these campaigns into data-driven insights that you can use to streamline your processes and refine your messaging.
- Welcome messages- Welcome messages can be sent to new customers or subscribers automatically through text messaging and SMS.
These messages can be personalized to provide essential information specific to the purchase such as set-up details, support resources, and next steps.
FreeAgent CRM can improve your text messaging and SMS business communication
FreeAgent CRM is designed for today’s world of work and our robust toolset is ideally suited to supporting the varied work processes of modern businesses. FreeAgent is:
- Easy to use: FreeAgent works like you expect modern apps to work, providing a user experience that feels fresh and familiar. Teams love working in FreeAgent, leading to high adoption and greater ROI.
- User-configurable: FreeAgent can be configured by you to work the way you do. This means you don’t need outside support to add a form field, adjust a CRM automated workflow, or try out a new process.
- Customizable: With FreeAgent, apps, forms, and configurations are all completely customizable, allowing you to capture and connect your data in any way you like.
To see FreeAgent in action, get a demo, and discover for yourself how FreeAgent can help you have workdays full of impact.
