All posts by Text My Main Number

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How Law Firms Can Improve Working Relationship with Clients

Now more than ever, you want to focus on client retention and communication. Currently, with so many options available for clients, it’s the law firm with high engagement with clients and thoughtfulness that succeed. As such, if you want to retain and draw in more clientele, consider these following five steps for happy clients and a happy business.

  1. Communication Expectations
    Many clients will have different expectations and want when communicating with your law firm. Some want continual updates and to reach you at any hour, while others give your law firm the space to work at your own pace.
    It might seem like the best case is to make yourself available at all times for clients. But that’s counter-productive to you and your well-being.
    Right from the beginning, set clear outlines on the boundaries for communication. This means setting up time slots for clients to call you or emailing beforehand. Additionally, also mention the use of automated responses. Many companies and firm rely on what is called, business texting.
    During certain hours, when clients text you, setting up an auto-response feature will give clients a heads up on when you’ll be available to contact them. A friendly ‘thank you, I will contact you tomorrow at the earliest convenience,’ is a simple yet effective solution to your communications.
    Text My Main Number features an auto-response option that you can turn on at any set hours. You won’t have to worry about answering 10-20 clients with the same message. Instead, we have selected templates you can use to send to your clients without worrying about crafting your own.
    Better yet, since you’ll be using your business number, Text My Main Number protects your phone number from clients. You can also control communications with clients from any device.
  2. Create Detailed Expectations in the Early Stages
    When you work with a client on any legal case, setting clear expectations from the start can avoid any confusion and misinformation. This includes setting deadlines, roles, likely outcomes and more. It’s important to remain realistic.
    As a law firm, you’re likely juggling several cases at the same time. So before, you sit down with clients to run through the case and legal obligations, spend the time to think of realistic deadlines.
    Letting your clients know this information in advance helps establish trust between both parties and puts everything in order. And if there are any changes in deadlines, make sure to communicate those clearly with your clients. Just make sure to document these expectations down as a reminder for both you and your client.
  3. Clear Communication
    While we emphasized the need to set clear communication boundaries, we also want to emphasize the need for good and clear communication. In any legal process, you never want to keep your clients in the dark. Whether they’re making closing on a home or settling the fees in a will, any updates need to be emailed or texted to the client.
    What’s most important is you keep a track record of all these communications. This is so you have some proof in cases where clients may forget, etc. After each meeting or call, send a summary of the next steps and an overview of the meeting. This ensures everyone is on the same page.
    And always, speak to your clients with kindness. In sometimes complicated and sensitive cases, this is especially the case for your clients to feel the support they need from you. The more empathetic you can be, the more your clients will feel at ease throughout the situation. No matter the outcome, as long as you support and fight for your client as much as you could have, that is all you can do.
  4. Organize and Secure all Files
    Information remains confidential no matter the severity of the case. From parking ticket disputes to fraud allegations, you want to ensure you keep all personal identification and information safe.
    Additionally, as lawyers, you know how much the paperwork can pile and stack on. This in addition to other cases and files can easily disrupt your workflow and cause more damage in the end. Whether you use online software or paper files, store and organize all your files into a safe location. Whenever the time comes to access that file, it’ll be easy to present the necessary information to your clients or in court.
    Furthermore, the organized operations will make your clients feel more confident in your abilities as a lawyer. It’s one trait that every client wants to see when they work with someone.
  5. Improve your Listening Skills
    When you sign up to become a lawyer, everyone tells you that logical reasoning and communication skills will be your most important assets. However, what many people fail to mention is that all successful lawyers need to possess empathy.
    It doesn’t matter how many years of experience you have or how many times you’ve seen the case, it’s crucial to see things from each client’s perspective and experience. When you stay engaged with your clients, you’ll provide the exact results they want. Better yet, they’ll feel heard.
    When clients feel as though you’re listening to their perspective and hearing their side of things, you leave a lasting impression on your clients.

Other Tips to Appeal Clients

  • Invest in technology
    In this day and age, a law firm that implements technology stands out among the rest. Filing software and other office software simplify your operations and give your firm a good image as well. Business texting is one way to keep your business current with the times. Reach out to our representatives at Text My Main Number to get started.
  • Focus on good marketing
    With an increase in law firms, marketing is important now more than ever. Don’t be afraid to use sites like Facebook, Instagram, and more to market your services and your practice. You’ll surely grab much more attention.
  • Highlighting your expertise
    From customer reviews to your credentials on your law degree, show your clients why you’re the best to work with. This will help reel in more clients when they see what you have to offer.
    Client-centred law firms will be here to stay. Once you take the time and reflect on where you can improve your communications with your clients, follow the five tips mentioned above and make an everlasting impression.
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6 Effective Strategies to Build a Strong Team Dynamic

As a team lead, you need to ensure these personalities work with each other, not against one another. That is why establishing strong group dynamics will add harmony and a natural flow to your company. In this guide, we’ll explain the importance of a strong team dynamic, how you can develop one, and six ways to build your team’s dynamic.
Why is a Strong Team Dynamic Important?
Strong team dynamics are vital in a working setting because it corresponds to how well team members interact. Besides each other’s personalities, individual motivations, and work ethic, the work culture also influences the team dynamic.
A strong team dynamic implies that the company can reach its goals more quickly and effectively if everyone can work together. When employees enjoy the process of collaborating with their teammates, they collectively develop strategies and solutions.
While that sounds straightforward to achieve, it certainly isn’t. There is no one-and-done solution to developing strong team dynamics – the key to it is continuous evaluation and the deployment of methods that allow your employees to see benefits and results from these collaborations.
How Managers Play a Role in Team Dynamics
Managers play a significant role in developing a work culture that encourages effective team collaboration. And as managers, it is essential to remember that no two people are the same. This implies that no two of your employees will have the same working strategies and approaches.
When managers develop a work culture that allows employees to exhibit their strengths and diverse experiences, this allows a safe work and group environment.

6 Methods To Develop Good Team Dynamics
Now that you understand the importance of team dynamics, here are six ways you can build strong team dynamics amongst your employees.

  1. Have a Good Resolution Structure
    Conflicts will happen among employees. And oftentimes, it’s not about avoiding conflict, it’s about how the company resolves these differences and issues. Developing and communicating these resolution structures will allow employees to feel safe if they encounter issues with other employees.
    Most importantly, a good resolution method prompts your workers to develop healthy communication with other employees. At the end of the day, it’s not about your employees becoming best friends. It’s about creating a mutual understanding and respect for one another. When that is in place, employees can assure themselves that any issues they bring up will be addressed and will end with a viable solution.
  2. Integrate Team Text Messaging For Event Reminders
    One of the many benefits of today’s digital age starts with the rise in text messaging. And more importantly, your company can deploy employee-wide texting to make special announcements regarding company parties, get-togethers, bonuses and more. Alternatively, you can use it as a medium to connect your employees, remind them of birthdays and big personal events for employees!
    While many companies use emails to communicate with their workers, the chances that they’ll open and read them is far lower than text messaging.
    By creating these SMS company texts, your employees will have friendly reminders of special events that they can use to bond with their co-workers. In the end, this adds a sense of community among your team members. When you connect with Text My Main Number, we help you get the set-up right from the start and begin sending important reminders to your team in just a few minutes.
  3. Use Team-Building Exercises
    From time to time, it’s important to integrate team-building exercises that will develop a sense of community among your employees. While these team-building exercises seem outdated, they’ll allow your employees to collaborate in a more relaxed setting.
    Perhaps some will get to know each other more, maybe others will get to work with those they’ve never interacted with. What you want as a result of these exercises and activities is a sense of trust to build. Once this trust is established, that’s the foundation for great team dynamics.
    Here are a few examples of team dynamics games you can bring to the table at your next team meeting:
    a. Scavenger hunt
  • This will allow your employees to work together as a team and achieve a common goal. Better yet, it’s a fun way to get everyone to participate.
    b. Shark Tank
  • Inspired by the hit reality T.V show, this activity prompts your employees to split up into teams and create a pitch for a product. This stimulates a combination of creative thinking and collaborative work.
    c. Escape room
  • Run out to your local escape room or create one at home – these puzzle-solving activities encourage everyone to put their heads together to solve a problem.
  1. Establish Clear Priorities and Responsibilities
    Creating set responsibilities in your team will help avoid confusion for your employees. Everyone will know what they’re supposed to do and how they’re supposed to do it, eliminating the unnecessary (and often frustrating) back and forth between employees about what each person should be doing.
    Additionally, when you set out clear priorities, this prompts employees to understand the goal of a certain project or assignment.
  2. Know Your Team
    As we mentioned earlier, your team is composed of multiple personalities, backgrounds and strengths. For managers and team leads, it’s important to know those characteristics of your employees like the back of your hand.
    This is so you form an understanding of how they approach their work. You can delegate tasks that allow them to grow or a chance for them to display their strengths. Additionally, if a project is coming up soon, you can pair people up who may have different strengths and experiences to add. These small yet important decisions help team members realize the potential in themselves and their other employees.
  3. Embrace Diversity
    Everyone comes to the team with a diverse set of experiences and input. It’s important to acknowledge and embrace these differences. For example, maybe someone who just recently immigrated from another country or someone who has just graduated from college is on your team.
    No matter what their background is, everyone’s input should be equally heard. When you establish a work culture that values differences and diversity, team members will be more likely to work express their true thoughts and opinions. They’ll feel safer among their co-workers and this will encourage them to work more effectively.
    Conclusion
    A strong team dynamic means better outcomes and results for your company. It is not something to overthink – simply approach developing a strong team dynamic with empathy and kindness towards your employees. In the end, everyone will benefit and have a safe space to work and collaborate amongst each other.
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How to improve customer service with SMS for business

Even communication channels as simple as landline texting can help us in creating an enhanced customer service experience that adds worth to your service.
So, we invite you to soak it all in as we cover the following points:

  1. What is text customer support?
  2. How to use short text messages in customer service?
  3. When to use text messages to “talk” to the customer?
    To get started I want to show you 3 basic methods you can take advantage of SMS for business, to keep your customers connected to you. PAY ATTENTION:
    What is SMS for business?
    Simple text messages (also known as SMS) is being used more and more by business owners throughout the country because they have found that features such as their brevity and easy sending are more than just a convenience.
    In this sense, landline texting is a valid channel to perform fast and simple communication, but adds a lot of “value”, because of the way it instantly connects you to your customers.
    So, SMS for business is nothing more than incorporating an improved communication channel into your customer support approach towards the user, consumer, or customer.
    Is SMS for business really useful?
    With so many options available to communicate synchronously with the client, such as WhatsApp or Telegram, will it be worth considering landline texting?
    The answer is yes; text messages or SMS are an ideal channel of communication in customer service.
    Text messages can be used to deliver valuable information in a fast and short format. As opposed to email that may or may not be read and usually never in time, especially if it’s regarding a requested update or order status.
    Two features to know about:
  4. One, SMS is an asynchronous communication channel. You do not have to be online with the customer to communicate.
  5. Two, you can use landline texting to send and receive messages as needed.

How to use landline texting in customer service?
We have already reviewed the speed and convenience of landline texting which go a long way in customer service.
The use of symbols and emojis can also enhance the experience because you can use symbols and emojis as a form of expression which adds the humane factor. Rather than have customers feel like they’re speaking with a robot, you can personalize messages to reduce the impersonal mechanisms that technology sometimes conveys.
Being that text messaging works in even the simplest mobile phones, you won’t have to worry about the older generations who may not be comfortable using smartphones because it seems complicated to them. That means you can communicate with mostly all customers through SMS for business. You will be able to:
• Have instant two-way communication
• Confirm order or service information
• Provide updates
• Send promotional alerts
• Assist with common questions
• Send forms and surveys
• Provide links to products or services for easy checkout
• Show empathy and build loyal relationships
• And much more
Things to consider when using SMS for business
Something to consider when using SMS for business is the limitation of the size of messages. And it is that, a good practice in the use of landline texting? To send and receive quick and short messages. Yes! Consumers prefer it!
If you need to send long messages and large document attachments, then use email in those instances.
And if the customer needs to respond, their cost is quite low, especially because unlimited text messaging is usually included in their service plan. So to review convenience points:

  1. The customer does not need to have a smartphone.
  2. It has universal coverage (all cell phone antennas support it).
  3. It does not depend on an Internet connection.
  4. In addition, landline texting is an “unsaturated” medium, such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger.
    When to use text messages to “talk” to customers?
    There are thousands of situations in which a text message, flat, short and without “fluff”, can give us the opportunity to chat with customers.
    In addition to instant conversation, it’s an excellent channel to keep customers informed, which many will value. It is another point in the brand’s favor towards loyalty to the company, product, or service.
    But you can go much further than just sending updates, alerts, or reminders.
    With a text message you can develop trust when a customer is ready to ask questions about your offers and they see how quickly they get a response. That sets your company above your competitors who may not offer the same instant customer service.
    For example:
    Rosspirtprom, which markets 60% of alcoholic beverages in Russia, implemented a way to verify the authenticity of the bottle.
    How do you check the authenticity of the product?
    Easy, by text message.
    You send a message with the product code and the company responds, either confirming that the product is authentic or not.
    But there are many other situations for which text customer service is ideal.
    Suppose you own a hotel, and you are looking for a way to use SMS for business.
    As part of your service design, you might include a simple practice: send a text message to the customer when they leave forgotten objects. And there you can tell him how to claim it.
    But it is also a common practice for visitors to receive a thank you text message after their hotel stay, where you may even want to include a discount offer for the next time they book a room.
    Based on the provided examples and listed benefits of SMS for business, are you ready to give landline texting a try? Click for a free trial!
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Everything You Need to Know to Write the Perfect Out-of-Office Message – with Templates!

We all need a break from time to time. Whether you’re giving yourself some much-needed time off or away at an important conference, hitting the brakes when it comes to all things work and career is necessary.
When these days or weeks come along, you need to ensure you have a ready-made out-of-office message when clients call or email. The best way to enjoy your time off while not leaving your customers in the dark is by using a simple automated reply feature.
Below, you’ll find out-of-office templates you can simply copy and paste, rules for writing your unavailability message and how to set up an automated response on email or text.
Why You Need an Out of Office Message
An out-of-office message is an automatic response you send to any client or partner who emails or texts you when you take a vacation.
In this message, you could include when you’ll be back in the office or provide an alternative number to reach out to in cases of emergencies.
Setting up these automatic responses prevents upset clients who may be unaware that you’re away. In the end, these automated messages will help keep your reputation as a business and professional. Additionally, this prevents you from sifting through repeat emails and follow-ups when you come back from vacation.
The process gets even easier when you partner with us at TextMyMainNumber. Our automated texting feature allows you to customize automated reply messages when you’re out of the office. This way, you save time from sitting on your phone and replying – you can spend all the time enjoying your time off.
Out-of-Office Message Templates
There are many approaches, tones, and ways to address your customers in your out-of-office message. Below are a few examples you can copy and paste right into your automated messaging system.
Fun and Lighthearted
Hello there!
Thanks for getting in touch.
Currently, I’m enjoying one too many martinis on my vacation away. A much-needed break for me! I’ll be back by September 5th to answer any questions: business will be back as usual afterward.
In the meantime, visit my FAQ page if you have any general questions or inquiries. See you soon.
Business Casual/Professional
Hello,
I am currently out of the office at a conference in Miami. I will be back tomorrow afternoon to follow up with any emails or calls. As such, please be patient. I will get back to your messages as soon as I can.
In the meantime, you can reach out to my assistant Philip at philipllt@gmail.com for any urgent inquiries. Otherwise, visit our website for general questions.
Thank you and take care.
For Urgent Matters
Hello,
Thank you for your message.
I am currently on a two-week vacation and will return on October 27th. I apologize for any inconveniences this may have caused.
If this is an urgent matter, please reach out to my colleague Rebecca at XXX-XXX-XXXX, and she can assist you in any way that she can. In the meantime, you can also check out our website for any questions you may have.
Looking forward to responding to you all as soon as I return.


Rules for Out of Office Messages
There are ways to make your messages more effective and resonate with your clients. Below are some recommendations we have for effective out-of-office messages.

  • Keep it short and sweet
    You do not want to go too much into detail – your goal is to keep the message concise. For example, it’s not necessary to describe where you are and what you’ll be doing while away from the office.
    People should easily skim the message and understand the situation. Make sure that your message comes off as empathetic to your clients and thank them for understanding.
  • Avoid making unrealistic promises
    When you return, you’ll have an entire backlog of text messages and emails. You need the time to sort through the ones that are of priority and the ones that are not. As such, do not include in your message that you’ll respond to everyone within 24 hours.
    It adds more pressure on yourself and you’ll more than likely fail to meet those deadlines. As seen from the templates, stating that you’ll respond to clients as soon as you can does not specify a particular deadline.
  • Let them know of alternatives
    Sometimes people will have urgent matters. Other times, they just need answers as soon as they can. In all of your messages, make sure to include other resources or another contact number in case your clients need answers as soon as possible.
    This is all in good business. In this case, customers will still feel taken care of even if you are away on vacation.
    How to Create an Automated Response
    Whether it’s by text message or email, we’ll show you below how to enable auto-response features.
    Email: Enabling auto-response on your email depends on what server you use. On a platform like Gmail:
  1. Go to setting in your mailbox
  2. Click on the settings button on the top right corner and select Vacation Responder On.
  3. Set a date range in which you’ll be sending out the out-of-office message.
  4. Type in your message (you can easily copy and paste the templates we have above) into the text box.
  5. Select save changes and you’re all set!
    Text: If you regularly use landline texting in your business (and you should), there is a way to enable the auto-reply feature. Most landline texting packages should already come with an auto-reply option. Here’s how to activate auto-response when you sign up with TextMyMainNumber:
  6. Login to your TextMyMainNumber account.
  7. Click on the auto-reply feature.
  8. Set a start date for the out-of-office message
  9. Type and save your message.
    Once you follow these steps, you’re all set when you go on vacation! If you do have any questions about creating your automated reply or how to activate it, reach out to TextMyMainNumber at 1.800.797.3167 or email us info@textmymainnumber.com. We have exceptional customer support that will walk you through any questions and concerns you may have.
    Following the steps and the text message templates above will help you craft the perfect out-of-office message. This way, you can keep your customers happy while you happily enjoy your vacation away.
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Why You Need Landline Texting to Promote Your Political Campaign

Voting day is around the corner, your campaign has just launched to the public – it’s probably the most exciting yet important time of your career.
You’re probably used to the standard T.V campaigns, posters, and going from institution to institution to win overvotes. While it’s the traditional and standard way of campaigning, landline texting can do wonders to promote your candidacy and message.
Obama championed landline texting in the 2008 presidential election by sending out 3 million text messages to his supporters about rallies, fundraising, and more. The results showed how effective SMS texting can be. Below, we cover the benefits of SMS texting for your campaign, ways to utilize this tool, and standards of landline texting for your campaign.
The Benefits of Landline Texting for Your Political Campaign
On a daily basis, nearly 6 million text messages are sent and read every day. It is the modern way of communication meaning it’s the most effective way to reach people.
Whether your campaign requires more funding, or you need greater support from your voters, landline texting helps you reach your audience quicker. Not to mention, more people will likely read your message as well.
Here are the benefits of landline texting for your campaign:

  • Reach more people
    Compared to emails, text messages have an average 97% open rate. With more people getting reminders on your next stop, you can reel in more eyes on your campaign.
  • Increase engagement with your voters
    Nowadays, more people spend time on their mobile devices than any other form of technology. When sending out political text messages, you’re preventing your followers from losing interest in your message and your cause.
  • Easy mode of communication
    T.V ads require booking a slot with a news channel. Showing up at institutions requires scheduling, attendance tracking and so much more. However, with a simple text to those who sign – up, you can send out millions of messages with a simple draft and click of a button.

Ways to Use Landline Texting

  1. Event Notifications
    When you’re on your campaign trail, you’ll visit many different cities and stops along the way. How successful and impactful your campaign stops will depend on the turnout rate at your events. Not only can you seal more voters but continue to strengthen your group of followers.
    You can surely take advantage of landline texting during your political campaign to promote your next rally at city halls, schools and so much more. This updates your followers who want to come out and show support.
    You can send this out a few hours ahead of time or a few days before; whatever method works for you. Also use this opportunity to remind your voters of any other media appearances you’ll make!
  2. Updates on Campaign
    Whether you’ve reached a milestone or want to share any good news with your voters, use landline texting to update your followers on stats from your campaign. Your voters will appreciate the updates and may even encourage others to follow your platform as well.
    While many news broadcasters take a professional approach to these updates, you don’t have to. Landline texting grants you the ability to speak to your voters with more compassion and as if they’re your friends. The more voters can relate to you, the more you can gain their support.
    You can use an auto-reply feature that allows you to respond to voters. These replies can include a link to your website, videos, etc.
  3. Sending out Your Platform
    The main reason voters pick a candidate to support is that their cause and what they aim to achieve while elected reflects what they want to see. You can easily let your know your stand on issues during the campaign via landline text. This allows voters to understand exactly what you stand for.
    Besides a simple text, you also have an option of sending out surveys to understand your voters just slightly more. For example, you could also ask for their opinion on an issue and what changes they want to see. When you sign up with TextMyMainNumber, we walk you through the option of sending out a survey via text. And don’t worry, the process is simple.
  4. Gain Donations/Volunteers
    Campaigns need funding. If someone believes in your message and potential enough, the funding will come in. You can send out a landline text linking to where they can potentially donate some money.
    However, if money isn’t possible, you’ll still need volunteers to help out during your campaign trial. You can simply organize rallies and gather a team of volunteers with one text. Just include a sign-up link in your text to get others to join.
  5. Voting Day
    Unfortunately, many people do not register to vote despite the option to do so. It’s important to remind voters of the voting day throughout your landline texts. This will not only remind people of the important date, but it will emphasize the importance of voting rights.
    Etiquette for Landline Texting
    Landline texting can do wonders for your campaign and your potential to get elected. However, like anything, there are a set of standards and unspoken rules to ensure your attempts are effective. Here are just a few rules to consider:
  • Don’t spam your voters:
    While it is important to get your message out there, while it is essential to remind voters when polls open, spamming your voters with text after text may sway them to end communications with you.
    As such, take the time to plan out a texting timeline. Narrow it down to essential peak times in your campaign to send out texts.
  • Take a personal approach
    Being a professional figure is a must during your campaign. However, times are changing. Voters and people, in general, want to vote for someone they can personally connect with. They want to stand behind someone who has a likable personality.
    Take advantage of landline texting to send out messages with emojis and add some humor to your messages.
  • Create groups
    When people sign-up for your text messages, it’s best to organize your voters into groups. For example, have a separate group of volunteers, donors, and potential voters. This will help you curate specific messages to the particular group.
    Using Landline Texting in your campaign trail can help you get the audience and votes you need to be elected. If you’re still curious about what business texting can do for your political ventures, do not hesitate to call us at 1.800.797.3167 or email us at info@textmymainnumber.com.
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5 Ways to Use Landline Texting for Hotels

Landline Texting for hotels is quite an asset. Booking hotels through mobile devices have grown exponentially and successfully in recent years. Most travelers’ own cellphones or smartphones and enjoy the convenience of having a travel buddy that doesn’t talk your ears to death. Carrying a mobile phone represents an indispensable travel companion that serves as a source of information for any tourist trip. Their phones become a digital guide to bars and restaurants, a camera, a GPS, and also serves to receive text messages from hotels with available offers or relevant booking information.
According to Siteminder, Facebook is a major conversion funnel for hotels and trip ideas. Their survey demonstrated that more than half of the people surveyed found and booked their trip while browsing the app, rather than on travel websites or apps. Mobile devices have been and will continue to be the best way to grab the attention of people who are looking to book a hotel. Not only when traveling, but even when looking to book a hotel right away in your local area.
For this reason, using landline texting for hotels helps improve the experience and customer satisfaction rate both in the booking and throughout the stay. Text messaging will also help to improve the relationship with the customer by staying in touch with confirmations, updates, changes, promotions, nearby attractions, and amenities. Providing that level of convenient and trusted service will result in customer acquisition and loyalty.
Benefits of Using Landline Texting for Hotels
Landline texting is an economical way to provide fast and continuous communication with customers and prospects. In addition, SMS for business is well received when it comes to promotions in hotel room reservations. Below are 5 ways to use landline texting in Hotels in order to increase the number of customers and improve communication with current tourists.

  1. Attract Customers with Exciting Information
    Landline texting for hotels is designed to inform your target audience about promotions, discounts and booking packages that may attract them and turn them into customers. Therefore, it is necessary to send text messages with concise, real information that will help encourage them to book at the hotel.
    An example of a text message from Hotels might be: “Hello Margaret! This week ‘Hotel ABC’ is offering you up to 30% off on all spa services. If you want to enjoy a great massage or relaxing bath, make your reservation using the following link: ‘hotelabc’.com.”
  2. Improving Customer Relationship
    By using landline texting, hotels will be able to better communicate with clients. Without a doubt, through continuous contact, a text messaging platform will help expand the possibilities of getting more tourists and improve the experiences and feedback received from customers.
  3. Providing Useful Tourist Information
    For customers who have never visited the city or the facilities of the hotel, to get their attention it is advisable to start the relationship with them using landline texting to send tourist information and recommended areas of the city, such as museums, restaurants, events, parties within the hotel, celebrations, etc.
  4. Sending Welcome Messages
    One of the text messages that has the greatest receptivity with customers is welcome messages. As soon as the customer makes the reservation you can send a text message thanking them for choosing the hotel and notify them of their schedules (in cases where it’s a business trip), services, facilities and more.
    Here’s an example: “We welcome you to the ‘Hotel ABC’. At any time that you may need information you can go to our reception desk from 8:00 to 6:00. They can inform you of all activities, services, and the available events of the week. We hope you enjoy your stay!”
  5. Appreciate the Visit and a New Call to Action
    Once the customer has checked out from the hotel, it is advisable to send them a text message thanking them for the visit and inviting them to return whenever they want. In addition, you can also give a promotional discount or a gift voucher (i.e., spa services, hotel restaurant voucher, etc.) from the hotel for the future. This is a strategic method to encourage that they return now that they appreciate the quality of the service, the personalized attention, and the experience they were afforded.
    For example: “Margaret, we want to thank you for your visit to the ABC Hotel and we hope you return soon! As a form of appreciation, we want to offer you a 20% discount off your next stay. Please use code HABCM5 when booking.”
    SMS for business for hotels embodies a great way of communicating with customers, and serves to increase loyalty, personalized service and professionalism. There are endless possibilities for which landline texting can be used in hotels, but the most valuable reasons include attracting customers, promoting offers, confirming reservations, sharing event information, indicating how to get to the hotel and thanking each hotel customer upon check-in and check-out.
    If you own or manage a hotel that is looking for a better way to stay connected with existing customers while finding a way to attract leads, it is highly recommended that you try landline texting for hotels to reach a greater number of customers in a shorter period of time.
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10 Tips on Using SMS for Business

SMS for business has a lot of uses. It existed even before smartphones were created that is why even your grandmothers and grandfathers know about it. It has always been a medium of communication from generations to generations.

With the growing trend of technology, SMS for business has become more significant to people. Most of us use texts to communicate with people, especially our loved ones. However, some of us utilize texting platforms at work and even schools have begun to use text messaging to communicate with students and faculty. Aside from that, written forms of communication are mostly subject to misunderstanding or misinterpretations. That is why it’s important to be strategic and knowledgeable of the content we use when using SMS for business.

Here are tips to guide you on how to write good SMS for business:

  1. Using a simple and clear language is the key.
    Too much is not always a good thing. Sometimes, using too much flowering words will be the reason your message goes straight to trash. If you want your receiver to be impressed by using complex words, then the opposite of the goal you are trying to reach will be the result.

Complexity ruins the clarity of the message. It is the reason why most of the people receiving complex text messages fail to understand its meaning and just disregard it. You must put yourself in the reader’s position and ensure that your message does not feel like they are walking into a dictionary. Use simple words to convey the message clearly.

  1. Be mindful not to exceed the limit.
    Text messages are not unlimited. There is a certain number of characters you must not exceed. You should learn to estimate the length of your message. Also, people’s attention and reading span is getting shorter and shorter by the day. This is a very good reason for you to not circle around your ideas.
  2. Do not use confusing words when using SMS for business.
    Needless to say, using confusing words would literally mean you want your message to be ambiguous, and surely that is not your intent! If you do not want your recipient to misunderstand your message, then choose your words wisely and always remember to aim for a simple but classic approach.
  3. Always include your contact details.
    If you are texting somebody for the first time, it would be best to start your message with a simple introduction. It would be more likely for your receivers to read a message from someone brand they sort of know, than a brand they’ve never heard of.
  4. Always go straight to the point.
    Going in circles would be very tiring for both the sender and the receiver. It will lead to misunderstandings, too. Before you start to type, make sure you know the purpose of the text message you’re sending. It will be helpful in composing a message that goes straight to its point.
  5. Personalize your content.
    Make sure to keep in mind that the text message you send represents who you are or your brands’ presence. You must assess to whom you are sending it to in order you to choose the right tone. There will always be a perfect choice of words for everything. You can also opt to address your recipient by their first name. It would create a friendly approach to your text message.
  6. Consider what your recipient can benefit from your text message.
    Time is gold. You cannot expect all people you sent your texts to will read it immediately. If you are aiming for your receivers to read your message as soon as possible, consider what benefits them and put it on the first part of the message. In that way, they can read the solution to their pain point or the discount they’ve been waiting for first, This can fuel their curiosity especially if you hit the bull’s eye on what it is they need.
  7. Monitor spelling and proper grammar.
    SMS for business is usually used in shortcuts. This is actually a taboo. If you are worrying about the fact that you might exceed the limitations, shortening words is not the answer. Go straight to your point, instead. Also, shortcuts can be ambiguous at times especially if your reader is not into texting that much.
  8. Use your receivers’ language.
    To achieve a good SMS message, it is important to put yourself in the audience’s shoes. How can you do that in a text message you ask? Well, the simplest way to make your reader feel that you are with them is by speaking their language. With that type of protocol, they can understand your message way better. This can also make them feel comfortable reading and replying to you. Trigger the emotions you would want them to feel in order to pull them into your sales funnel. It also beats one of the common problems in communication – the language barrier.
  9. Optimize a schedule in sending your texts.
    Of course, it would be best to be timely. Send your text at the most convenient time of day for your receivers. Avoid sending texts late at night by checking the recipient’s time zone so that they’re phone isn’t buzzing or dinging in the middle of their good sleep. Also, texts should be sent immediately. Just like news, if you receive it late it sometimes beats its purpose.

Conclusion

SMS for business has transformed into a crucial communication platform because of its ease of use and cost efficiency. It fits into the smallest business budgets and depending on how virtual your daily operations are, it may even be the solution you have been looking for to tie all communication onto one simple platform. Want to test that theory? Take advantage of a free trial to prove it.

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Five Must-Have Questions to Include In Your Fitness Survey

From customer engagement to personalizing services, surveys are a great way to understand each one of your customers a little more. Brands in every industry send out customer surveys, and the fitness industry is beginning to do the same. When done correctly, fitness member surveys can give you insight into upgrading your gym facility and programs. 

This guide will show you the benefits of surveys for your fitness center, why landline text surveys may be a more feasible option, and five must-have questions to include in your survey. 

The Benefits of Fitness Member Survey

You might be wondering if a fitness survey is worth the time and investment. After all, your customers may seem happy, and sales may be steady. 

However, if you want to elevate your customer experience and ensure that your clientele stays loyal to your gym, surveys are the tool you need to achieve that. Here are two reasons why surveys can increase customer engagement at your gym facility: 

  • Understand customer satisfaction

You will never know how our customers truly feel until they provide that insight. Perhaps your members think you can implement more squat machines or add more workout classes. Maybe your members stick with your gym only because of the convenient location. Rather than approaching each gym member, a mass survey can collect this feedback and input. 

The business landscape is becoming increasingly customer-centric. That’s why listening to your clients express their suggestions and needs allows you to make data-driven decisions. 

  • Develop greater personal connection

76% of customers would purchase from a brand they feel a connection and trust towards, rather than shop with a store they have no emotional connection to. Utilizing client surveys helps establish that personal relationship with your fitness members. It shows your customers that you care about their thoughts and experience with your facility. 

When you establish this community with your fitness members, you inevitably develop greater customer loyalty. This reduces the chances of losing your fitness clients to competitors or when they have a single bad experience. 

Surveys allow you to better engage with your clients as well. The more you interact with your customers, the more you establish a greater connection with your fitness family. 

Have you made adjustments to your gym and haven’t seen any improvements? Learn how SMS fitness member surveys can get the data you need to enhance customer loyalty and improve your services. 

Email vs Texting Survey

If you’ve researched client surveys, you will come across two popular methods to distribute surveys: email and landline texting. 

Email surveys have been around for a long time. Generally, you can create a survey on SurveyMonkey and include the link in your newsletter or have a separate email for the survey. Here are the pros and cons of an email survey. 

Pros:

  • Simple to create if you already have an emailing list. 
  • Cost-effective and not time-consuming
  • Customers can send their responses in on their own time

Cons:

  • Emails generally have a low open rate at around 21%
  • Email surveys also generally have a low response rate. 
  •            

Text surveys are a new method that businesses are beginning to employ due to the popularity of mobile devices. The concept is simple: you send a link or a direct survey over SMS to your clients. Your fitness members then receive the link and can answer on their own time. Here are the pros and cons of text surveys:

Pros:

  • Simple to create and easy to send out
  • A much higher open rate of 98% ensures more people will answer your survey than email surveys
  • With mobile as such a popular medium, fitness members are more inclined to respond from their phones

Cons:

  • Direct SMS surveys are sometimes limited in the number of words you can send 
  • May be limited on how many messages you can send depending on your plan

While both methods work depending on your situation, text surveys are the new wave in the industry. If you’re curious about implementing landline text surveys for your clients, don’t hesitate to contact us at Text My Main Number.

We can help you set up your SMS text services in minutes so you can take advantage of this feature as soon as possible. Talk to one of our representatives about what business text plan works best for you.

Five Must-Have Survey Fitness Questions

Below are five questions that you must include in your survey to get the most important insight from your fitness clients.  

  • What are some fitness goals you have this year?

This is a good general question that gets you to learn a little more about your customers. The answers will allow you to see how you can fit into their fitness plan and help your members achieve their dream bodies.

Depending on the answers, you can then use this information to tailor specific alerts or group workouts that align with your client’s fitness goals. 

  • What’s your favorite muscle group to work out?

Answers to this question may get you to think twice about the machines and equipment you want to invest in. For example, if you notice very few members mention cardio workouts, you might want to spend less on treadmills in your gym. 

Alternatively, if you notice members love to work out compound leg workouts, you can upgrade your squat racks. While your gym should come equipped with machines that allow full-body workouts, you can delegate time to improve certain equipment. 

  • What motivates you to work out? 

Asking a more personal question like what motivates your members to work out helps you understand your clients better. It also gives the impression that you care about your members and their goals as individuals. This is a great question to get your clients engaged.  

  • How can we make your experience better?

Asking your members for feedback shows your willingness to adjust accordingly to their needs. Approach this question with an open mind and think about what’s realistic. Some members may address the cleanliness in the gym, while others may wish your gym opened for longer hours. 

Whatever it is, consider each suggestion. If you notice a common factor between the responses, you might want to look more into your fitness member’s concerns. 

  • What’s your favorite equipment or class at our gym? 

Understanding the elements of your gym that your client enjoys shows what keeps your clients coming back to your gym. You can either invest more money to enhance the equipment or offer more of a similar service. It’s important to take your customer’s answers and turn them into actionable responses. 

Survey Bonuses

These surveys help build customer loyalty and can potentially help you reel in more clients. Given its importance, offering a bonus such as a free one-week pass to the gym or merchandise can help entice customers to fill out your survey even more. More answers mean more data to utilize. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Text My Main Number and learn more about how to set up SMS surveys for your gym!

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Hot to Make Sure Your Business Texts Aren’t Seen as Spam

Although different definitions exist, spam messages generally indicate anything unwanted, unrecognized, or unpleasant. As a business professional, you may already know how to stop emails from ending up in the junk folder or being reported as spam. With business texting, however, the meaning focuses more on a perceived lack of value for the recipient.

When you adopt landline texting as one of your primary communication methods with your target audience, you run the risk of aggravating people who did not know what they were signing up for or forgot they did to begin with. While reporting texts to the FCC is rare, and the CTIA, the US organization that represents the wireless communications industry, does not handle such matters, you still do not want to risk unpleasant reports or blocks.

If you want to make sure your business texting activities are not viewed as spam, follow these guidelines without fail.

Only Use Business Texting Alongside Opt-In Strategies

Consent to all marketing messages matter when it comes to making a positive impression and avoiding spam complaints and business texting blocks. Of course, you cannot send a text from your company to a consumer or other connection without getting their number first. While you may assume sharing information is the same as opting in, it helps to get unequivocal consent to messages at the same time. This could be as simple as a checkbox on the sign-up form. However, if you want to keep your audience content, make it obvious what they are opting to receive from you. Also indicate assumed consent to message back if they send you a text or contact the company through a chat app.

Provide Valuable Information and Non-Marketing Content

One of the main reasons to send business texting involves marketing. You want people to hire you to perform services and buy products. However, people do not want a constant bombardment of advertisements and offers even if you hand out discounts or freebies all the time. These things only represent the value if the person wants to buy the item already. Intersperse marketing messages with survey links, customer care follow-up, new ideas, and even fun facts that align with recent events or holidays.

Educational content sent through a landline texting platform provides true value to the recipient and put your brand in the best light possible. In order to avoid spam complaints, the tips or lessons you provide need to go beyond the same old things your target audience would find with a Google search and actually help with something they are interested in. It makes sense to have mini courses and tip lines as separate segments of your text message audience.

Mix Up Content Types to Keep Things Fresh

Adjacent to the idea of providing value is a recommendation to increasing interest through diversity. If you sell dog sweaters online, for example, your customers want more than a never- ending flow of text messages that show cute dogs in their new clothing. While engaging to a certain consumer base, this can quickly become nothing more than a cute diversion instead of valuable content that comes from your brand specifically. Mix things up in your business texting strategy to keep things fresh and interesting.

Identify Your Brand Frequently as a Reminder

Engagement with the brand depends on mentioning it so no one forgets where the value comes from. Even with the adorable dog sweater example, mentioning that the sweater comes from your shop may not be enough. When you identify your brand, you must go beyond texting its name or including a logo in your next MMS text.

Sharing identity also includes creating and sharing an effective brand identity that aligns with your target audience, transcends your competitors’ attempts, and communicates your unique selling proposition and focus with every message. Add information about the company mission, events or awards, new product lines, and what you truly stand for in the world or your specific industry. Consumers respond well to meaning instead of marketing.

Focus on Texting Communication Instead of Content

Another effective way to avoid having your business text messages blocked is to use them primarily for requested communication. In other words, engage in the customer service process through texts, answer questions promptly, give recommendations directly to people who ask for them, and follow-up with a personal message after a sale or service completion.

Things like automatic business texting blasts of cute dogs in sweaters or whatever aligns with your brand provide value to subscribers. However, excessive messages of any kind cannot only become disruptive but may increase someone’s bill if they do not have unlimited service. This type of thing will ruin your reputation considerably, and you will get blocked.

No one will block you for telling them that your shipment is on the way or asking if you are 100% satisfied with the new hardwood floor they just installed. No one will block your texts after asking for a recommendation for website development services and receiving a quality answer. Spam is defined as messages that people do not want, did not ask for, and find disruptive. Communication hardly ever falls under these traits.

The number of robo texts, spam, and automatic messages have increased alongside the popularity of using smart phones for all communication and Internet access. People constantly search for ways to stop annoying and potentially costly text messages from bombarding their phone with useless information, phishing scams, and marketing messages. According to a 2021 survey, 46% of participants in the United States reported spam calls or texts every single day.

As a company owner or brand representative, the last thing you want to do is annoy people with contacts. Business texting provides a massive benefit for your overall marketing strategy if done correctly. These guidelines outlined above can help you make sure both your automatic and manually sent text messages avoid spam claims completely.

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Top 6 Survey Questions Every Service Company Needs to Ask

Companies that provide services like plumbing, office cleaning, social media marketing, and tutoring have unique customer service needs that go beyond those of retail shops. Instead of focusing on whether a product fulfilled the customer’s needs, you must focus on a diverse range of interactions and outcomes in order to determine overall satisfaction. One of the best ways to get this all-important feedback is through sending out a business survey. Although these work well through email, landline texting offers a truly convenient way for clients to share their opinion.

How do you get honest opinions of people you provided services for the past? The first step is to get their phone number so you can send them text messages as the main form of communication. Allowing your customers or clients to opt in and out again is an essential part of the entire customer service process and helps you avoid spam complaints and frustration. The second step in the process of getting important data about your service company’s impact involves creating an engaging survey that people are willing to complete.

Although service companies in different industries and niches should ask different types of questions specific to the things they provide, these survey questions will help build a firm foundation of knowledge that helps you improve every aspect of your business. Remember to mix up types of questions – multiple-choice, open-ended, rating scale, etc. – to generate the most interest in survey completion and get the most detailed information possible.

1 – What Were Your Goals for Using Our Service and Did We Meet Them?

Even if your company provides a relatively straightforward service, different clients can express a diverse range of goals that they were looking to accomplish. The first part of this question allows you to figure out if you are marketing effectively to people whose goals you plan to fulfill. In part, this question creates a psychographic profile of your most responsive target audience. It helps answer the question “why did you want to buy our service?”

The second part focuses on whether those people who received your marketing message got what they wanted from you. If you discover a discrepancy between the two parts of this question, you may have to readjust marketing content or how you communicate and results to the public.

2 – Who Are You and How Did You Find Us?

Even though business texting lends itself to short messages, you will not actually ask “who are you?” in a survey. In most cases, the survey itself is hosted on the website or another platform and you would send the link to the opt-in customer list. This question deals with both demographics and marketing reach. It is a great way to identify new avenues for advertising more effectively. You can match personal information like age, gender, income, and location with effective marketing platforms or methods both online and off.

3 – How Has Our Service Improved Your Life or Business?

The specific focus of this question depends on whether you offer services to individuals or businesses specifically. For example, you can ask specifically if your tutoring services improved the grades or test scores of the student, your social media marketing services boosted revenue for an online business, or your housecleaning gave the family more time to enjoy fun activities.

4 – How Would You Rate Our Customer Service?

If you ask for a simple star rating or a yes/no answer to this type of question, you will not receive enough information to make improvements in the service you provide beyond the job itself. Word this open-ended survey question in such a way that the recipient knows you are talking about things like communication, professionalism, friendliness, and promptness of replies to questions and concerns.

If someone hires a plumber, for example, they expect their sink to get unclogged. They should also expect someone who covers dirty boots before coming into their home, a respectful greeting and demeanor, and follow-up in an unobtrusive and caring manner.

5 – What Improvements Would You Like to See?

Never represent your service business as the ultimate perfection to customers or clients. It is much more effective to indicate that you constantly strive to improve. Not only does this demonstrate your fervent desire to bring the best possible services and customer care to your audience, but it also allows them to become a part of those improvements. This is the type of thing that customers want: a voice and influence on the companies they choose to do business with.

When you send the link to your survey through a text message after you complete the service, express how valuable their input is to the overall process. Think people who take the time out of their busy schedules to answer the questions and let them know that their feedback will help you make what you offer even better than before.

6 – How Likely Are You to Recommend Our Service to Others?

The ultimate benchmark for success for any service provider does not have to do with sales or revenue. Instead, it has to do with impressing clients so much that they will eagerly recommend you to their friends, family, and neighbors. If you provide business services, you can specifically ask if they would recommend your service to another professional they respect. If you finish your service business survey sent through a great landline texting platform like ours, follow-up with a message thanking them for their participation and pointing out any loyalty programs or referral rewards they could receive.

Collecting this type of information from past clients will help you transform not only the services you provide but your entire customer care process. Understanding strengths and weaknesses only lead to improvements that can boost revenue, build a stronger reputation, and ultimately spell success. It does not matter if you train bodybuilders, lay tile floors, design marketing graphics, or walk dogs in the neighborhood. Business texting and effective survey questions allow you to grow and change in the most positive ways. Customer feedback makes it possible.

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The Power of Conversational Commerce (and How Business Texting Excels)

Although the term conversational commerce was first coined almost a decade ago, its popularity in all types of business marketing and communication has skyrocketed in recent years. Although sometimes relegated to the world of artificially intelligent chat bots, business texting plays a major role in its practice and success.

What is conversational commerce? Before you figure out how to use this unique and powerful method of engaging customers and clients, it is important to understand what it is and how it actually functions. As the name implies, this type of commerce deals with a conversation between the consumer and the brand that once them to buy products or services. It provides amazing service because it takes a lot of the potentially aggravating parts of the customer journey out of the hands of the customers themselves.

Why People Like Conversational Commerce

People are busy, overwhelmed with information, impatient, and sometimes lazy, too. Instead of an insult to consumers everywhere, this short list clearly shows new expectations in customer care and the shopping process itself. Conversational commerce engages people in ways that make them feel good, and that is at the top of the list of all desired brand interactions.

Busy? No matter what a person has to do during the day – work, school, family responsibilities, and socializing – they may view online shopping or searches for service providers a drain. Directly messaging a company for recommendations or answers to questions without searching through Google or the website itself makes sense for their busy lives. Best of all, with integrated text message capabilities, they will get answers sent to their phone while they are tackling other activities.

Overwhelmed with information? Five million websites on the Internet may tell a person how to hire the best plumber or which athletic shoes will help them prevent blisters. How are they supposed to read through this information and make an informed decision before their sink overflows or they get injured?

Consumers trust recommendations from trusted sources more than anything else. This starts with their friends and family, extends to follower groups on social media, and also includes trusted brands that have a track record of providing quality products and services in the past. If your organization can build that trust, your conversational commerce process will cut through the overwhelming amount of data and bring clarity and satisfaction with the consumer.

Impatient or lazy? These are just ways of putting a negative spin on the above problems. In the end, it does not matter if your target audience once what they want now or does not want to do the legwork to research everything themselves before making a decision. This is where you and your business texting and chat app communications come in. When you can transform these emotions of frustration and laziness into connection and confidence, everyone wins.

How Business Texting Aligns With This Method

Fast responses matter most when it comes to answering questions or making recommendations that keep consumers interested. With the help of a business texting chat widget on your e-commerce or service provider website, people have an immediate way to get in touch with you for any reason. When they get a quality response, they feel valued as an individual. It makes the best first impression of your brand.

The features available from the best landline texting platforms like ours at Text My Main Number offer everything you need to engage in conversational commerce with the human touch that people desire. It may start with multi-level integrated text responses in an automated fashion, but having actual service representatives engage in the conversation and is the best idea for overall satisfaction.

Chat Bots and Automation vs. the Human Touch

Almost every website that sells products or services includes a link the bottom that says something like “Ask us a question” or “Try messaging.” Businesses invite you to start a conversation with them because they know that is what you want. With increasing frequency, you get a chat bot when you click one of these icons. These AI systems have improved dramatically in the past years and are quite proficient at delivering accurate answers from a database of information.

Despite their technological advancements and convenience when online shopping, automated answers lack something important that consumers want these days. They do not only look for fast information. Search engines can provide that. They also look for personalized service with in-depth recommendations or answers to specific questions. The moment the robotic customer service makes a mistake or fails to deliver is the moment you lose potential revenue or a good review.

This problem started back when customer service phone lines began using automatic menus and responses. A full 88% of people in a Clutch survey expressed their desire for human communication above all else. The same goes today for business texting and chat apps.

In the quest for increasing convenience and speed, nothing at this present time beats the phone in your pocket when it comes to communicating with companies. More people access the Internet with their phones than ever before, and text messages have become the preferred mode of interaction in both social and professional situations. It makes sense to expand this focus to conversational commerce as long as you have the appropriate landline texting platform to back you up.

Chat bots and AI systems are getting smarter and more effective all the time. However, nothing frustrates consumers more if they failed to get the information they want and need because of these things. People still want to communicate with other people rather than robots regurgitating scripts and sometimes ineffective answers. If your brand’s customer service team can effectively man the phones to answer customer and client text messages promptly, you may find your reputation skyrocketing. However, automated responses still provide benefits over lack of any response at all.

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Create a One-Year Calendar of Effective Business Texting

No matter what type of company you own or need to market, business texting provides a new layer of connection with your target audience. Not only to people prefer the quick message format, it at an affordable and convenient tool to your marketing arsenal. One of the best characteristics of business landline texting is the ability to plan a full one-year calendar of effective messages.

What are the benefits of thinking that far in advance when it comes to marketing strategies? For some businesses, a one-year calendar may feel excessive. After all, you may not know where your company will be six, nine, or twelve months down the road. Remember that these strategies are flexible. Planning still makes a difference especially when it comes to scheduled business texting for segmented subscriber groups.

Five Simple Steps to a One-Year Marketing Calendar

Business texting remains one small part of your overall brand building, sales making, and fan base growing plan. The exact methods you use depend on many factors. These include your company’s focus, target audience, budget, and more. No matter what marketing efforts you include in your strategy, these five steps will help you plan up to a year in advance. Consider using a template to start the process off right.

1 – Assess Your Current Situation

Not only should you figure out the current level of success your company enjoys, but you should also research competitors to determine where you stand in comparison. Identify strengths and places where you struggle. Way each current advertisement and marketing push against its past performance and future expectations.

2 – Understand Your Budget

Responsible company owners know everything about their finances so they can plan growth strategies and marketing campaigns. Simply determine how much money you have to spend on these efforts for the next year. Use a budget-planning template to help or speak with your accountant. Choose affordable methods like business texting to make your funds go further.

3 – Use What Your Audience Wants

Who do you market to, and what type of content and contact do they want? Business texting has exploded in popularity as more people access the Internet and communicate via mobile phone. While you cannot ignore traditional advertising, social media and content marketing, and other options, landline texting presents a powerful solution.

4 – Define Marketing Goals

What do you want to do in your next year of business? Your smart goals can include anything from a profit percentage increase to a specific number of new subscribers. It can focus on beating major competitors or infiltrating a new market sector that shows promise.

5 – Start the Creation Process

Begin to build marketing content, write copy, create graphic ads, and set up systems like your landline texting service so you can put your plan into action. Do not do everything at once. If one ad tanks, you do not want to be stuck using it because you do not have the budget to create a new one a few months down the road.

One-Year Marketing Plan for Increased Engagement and Sales

You have covered the basics of identifying your target audience, choosing marketing methods like business texting that will work, establishing a budget, and assessing your current position and your future goals. Now is the time to focus on what a full calendar year marketing strategy looks like. The most important thing to remember is that you cannot simply set everything up on January first and leave it alone without reassessing every month or at least every quarter.

Markets shift, your budget may change, you may introduce a new product line or discover a new market segment responds favorably to your offers. Remaining agile means more success than sticking to the plan usually does. The flexibility of business texting allows for quick changes and reassessment without wasting time or money.

Create Content for Every Audience

Audience segmentation matters when it comes to long-term marketing planning. You do not want to send the same business SMS text message to someone who has seen your ad for the first time and a returning customer. Identify effective segments and separate their marketing strategies to deliver exactly what they want when they want it.

Use Known Annual Events and Goalposts

People expect and welcome marketing messages around holidays and at certain times of the year, especially if you extend a discount offer or other valuable benefits to them. Besides using obvious designations like the start of summer, Mother’s Day, and Christmas, focus on times a particular interest to your audience.

  • Location-specific planting season for a garden shop
  • Pre-tax day tips from an accountant
  • Back to school suggestions for parents

Use obscure holidays or historical events that coincide with your business focus, too. Did you know that February 20 is National Love Your Pet Day? The consumers interested in your doggie daycare may not either.

Set Up Convenient Recurring, Scheduled, and Auto Reply Messages

Email marketing, social media posts, and business texting all give you the opportunity to preload messages on your one-year calendar. This makes the process much simpler and less labor-intensive down the road. For example, a marketing landline texting plan may include 3 to 5 text messages every month. With the right service like TextMyMainNumber.com, you can set these up ahead of time for automatic sending.

This is especially useful for brand recognition and building campaigns and those that provide value to the audience. If you want to market your hair salon, for example, you can send a series of five texts teaching people how to care for their new style at home. Educational content is a great way to engage your audience and help them view you as an authority.

Business texting is just one of the marketing methods to include in your one-year calendar. After careful exploration of your current status and future goals, you can create effective content and automatic contact messages that work. A large part of the convenience and budget-friendly aspect of this process includes choosing methods that have all the features you need integrated into your existing equipment or capabilities. Landline texting fits the bill.

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Why Business Texting Matters More in a Post-Pandemic World

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected how the world does business more than anything since the Industrial Revolution. The shift in where people shop, how they receive products and services, and what types of marketing information and access they use makes business texting more effective and accessible than ever before. While the pandemic is not over, looking ahead to an eventual return to normalcy must include understanding of these changes.

Statistically, smartphone usage has skyrocketed in the past year due to business shutdowns, social distancing, and a shift in overall buying patterns. Although some company owners may yearn for return to pre-pandemic business operations, chances are that people will continue to turn to their phones for the bulk of their e-commerce and communication needs. If you want to stay competitive and survive this bumpy economy, business texting matters more than ever before. In fact, it may matter more than almost any other marketing communication method available to you.

Embrace a New Normal (That Isn’t Really That New)

People have been using their phones to shop online and text friends and family for over a decade now. They send messages to businesses, check order statuses, remit feedback, and follow favorite brands. The increasing focus on smart phones and texting specifically is nothing new. It has just sped up a lot due to the current pandemic situation.

Will people stop relying on business texting if the health measures in place end the pandemic? Although there is no way to see the future, you should ask yourself if people would have a reason to set down their phones and go back to landline or email communication. The answer is simply, “no.” The existing benefits for business texting will not go away.

People Want and Need a More Personal Connection

The shift to text-based marketing and communication has a lot to do is convenience. After all, you can get your SMS message into somebody’s pocket or purse in mere seconds, and they can respond with unbelievable ease. However, business texting also provides a much more personal focus than other marketing methods especially things like display advertising and direct mail.

The Covid-19 situation has greatly affected the ability to connect socially in any meaningful way with others. As a company who wants to engage a specific target audience effectively, you understand the importance of making meaningful connections. Of course, you are not trying to become someone’s friend or confidant. However, people do value more in-depth knowledge of and connection with the brands they do business with today.

When you choose a service like TextMyMainNumber.com’s landline texting option to your existing toll-free or local number, you get the opportunity to connect directly with consumers. Personalization, targeted messages, quick follow-up, and value increase the chance of making a lifelong brand fan.

Business Texting Tips for Improved Brand Relationships

With limited possibilities for brick-and-mortar locations and new regulations and shutdowns potentially affecting all types of businesses in the foreseeable future, marketing and communication methods like texting matter more. People all around the world are experiencing pandemic fatigue with its associated stress and frustration. While post-pandemic practices may shift back in some key ways, direct communication will always provide great benefits

1 – Keep It Personal

Address business texting to the individual. Not only can you use special codes to include their name or customer-focused information, you should also create different content for different segments of your subscribed audience. This minimizes annoying repetition and increases profitability by giving each person exactly what they want and need. It keeps costs down for everyone, too.

2 – Share Valuable Content

People do not want a bombardment of ads for your products and services. Give them value for free to improve your brand relationship. A nail salon that shares tips on cuticle care will be seen as an expert in that niche. A website design firm that empowers their followers to maintain site security on their own will create a bond of trust that is difficult to break.

3 – Send Super-Fast SMS Help

A large part of improving brand relationships and increasing loyalty comes from the speed and efficacy of the customer service each person receives. Business texting operates with the same expectations people have for their own personal communication. If they send a text to their best friend, they expect a response very soon.

As a business, you need to understand that this speed is an essential part of engaging consumers today. That is what makes business texting such an amazing option for both sharing information and customer care.

4 – Remain Agile and “Read the Room”

Have you ever seen one of those comedy posts that shares a screenshot of repeated texts from an annoying friend? The person texts over and over again without any response or positive feedback. This is a major social faux pas for communication today, and it is just as egregious for companies to act like this if they want to improve their relationship with consumers.

The phrase “read the room” means to pay attention to the response around you when you attempt to socialize at a party or other gathering. You need to do the same thing with business texting. Establish two-way conversations by sending quick polls or asking questions. These things will help you get a read on how engaged your audience is. If you do not get a response, business texting allows you to quickly shift tack for a new and more effective approach. Remaining agile improves your chances of not alienating the people you want to attract.

Now more than ever before, people seek out the safety, convenience, and social aspect of communication through business texting. With the existing and potentially long-term challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, this service may become the most important aspect of your customer care and marketing strategies. Trends in phone usage and online shopping show no signs of reversing anytime soon. Take advantage of the extensive business texting capabilities that can propel your brand ever higher.

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5 Templates for Customer Service Business Texting Success

Customers respond well to business texting, and statistics show they prefer this method of communication above all others these days. When you combine that knowledge with the understanding that customer service does more to build brand trust and reputation than anything else, it makes sense to handle questions, complaints, order management, and follow-up through texts.

Before sharing the templates and examples of various essential customer service messages, these questions and answers can help you streamline and tailor your efforts to your specific consumer base.

Should you send written or image texts? Although MMS messages sent through Text My Main Number’s landline texting service can grab attention, send pictures with customer care messages only when needed for complete information. For example, you can send a scan of an order form or product picture. Keep emoji use to a minimum.

Does personalization matter? Yes. Address customer care texts to the individual so they know you are giving them pertinent information. Personalized service improves trust and reviews a lot. While an automatic response works for some questions, improve the outcome with a more hands-on approach from an actual customer service representative.

What about responses and follow-up? A large part of customer service involves answering questions and making sure the person is 100% satisfied with the outcome and entire process. Always ask for a response or feedback. Also, send a follow-up message a day or two later to make sure there is nothing else you can do to help

Business Texting Customer Service Examples

Although your customer care needs may diverge from these specific examples, they are representative of the types of things that most product or service-oriented businesses need.

1 – Order Confirmation and Shipping Info

This type of business texting usually makes use of an automated process that sends a personalized message to the buyer. It represents the absolute minimum that any shop or service professional should do so customer knows their order went through properly.

Hello (name). Thank you for your recent order. (Order number or product list). You can check on the status and shipping information at this link. If you have any questions, please reply and we will get back to as soon as possible.

When the order is shipped, send a similar text message with the tracking number and name of the carrier service. Consumers feel much more confident if they know when they will get what they spend money on. Confidence leads to brand trust.

2 – Automated Response to Queries

A large part of customer care involves answering questions and giving more information as quickly as possible. However, you cannot have someone sitting in the office handling all business texting tasks as soon as they come in. Customers would love this, but the next best thing is an automated message that lets them know you received their text and will get back to them shortly. At least they will know their question did not disappear.

Thanks for your recent message. We wanted to let you know we have received it and our customer care team will get back to you within twenty-four hours. (Provide alternate contact information.)

Although text messaging is the preferred method of communication these days, including a toll-free number or link to a secure website form can give customers another option.

3 – Request for Feedback and Reviews

While customer service focuses primarily on helping an individual with their needs or issues, your company should focus on improving the entire start-to-finish process for everyone. Boost your care capabilities by asking for reviews on products, services, and interactions with the company itself. Feedback provides important data that you can use to make everything better.

Greetings (name). A week has passed since your last order/contact, and we’d love to know how you feel about your purchase/experience. Please take one minute to leave a review, reply to this message, or fill out this quick questionnaire so we can serve you better in the future.

These automated messages should have tailor-made specifics appropriate for the individual’s interaction with your company. In other words, do not actually send “order/contact” in business texting. Choose the appropriate words for each text.

4 – Follow-Up Responses to Complaints and Bad Experiences

All customers or clients will contact you directly if they have a complaint or poor review about your company. They may post it on an online review site, e-commerce platform, or social media. It is important to understand that negative attention will not disappear, so ignoring it is not the best option for your customer service efforts. If the individual has opted into business texting contact, send them a message while also offering a public response directly to their complaint.

Hello (name). We recently noticed that you shared dissatisfaction with the product/service you received from Company Name. How can we solve this problem and make your experience better? I can offer (refund, answers, etc.) if you get in touch. (Contact information)

Positive customer service involves giving people what they want. If they already believe you failed to do that, it takes something extra to turn their impression around. Business texting allows immediate and personal contact that shows you care about their satisfaction.

5 – Rewarding Loyalty

Even if a customer or client has a wonderful experience with your brand, they may not become a lifelong fan if you do not follow up with them and reward their loyalty. These efforts are part of ongoing customer care that clearly shows you value them for more than their money. Business texting offers a variety of easy ways to communicate regularly, and people love to get texts that give them something valuable. The two main ways to reward loyalty and thus improve overall service include organized reward programs and special offers for specific consumer segments.

Congratulations (name)! You have reached your first reward in our Brand customer loyalty program. That entitles you to one free (product) with your next purchase. Just input this code when you check out online.

Personalize the reward to make sure customers and clients get something they actually value. Someone who buys a fifty-pound bag of birdseed every month from your pet shop will have no use for a free dog toy. A free $5 gift card means nothing if you sell diamond jewelry worth thousands of dollars.

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Five Ways Elementary Schools can Benefit from SMS Software

Parents want transparency and clear communication with their child’s schools at all times. And landline texting delivers that open two-way communication. From school alerts to scheduling parent-teacher night, many administrators within elementary schools have taken the jump and integrate business texting into their operations. 

While the idea may seem foreign, the same schools have experienced an influx of positive feedback. If you’re interested, read down below how schools can make the most out of business texting. 

Reasons to Implement Business Texting

Texting, in many ways, is the main mode of communication in our modern times. 81% of Americans text daily. Besides this, on a national scale, people send 6 billion texts back and forth every day. But how does this benefit you as an educational institution? 

For one, this makes communicating with parents more efficient. You have higher confidence that parents will read your notifications and alerts. Secondly, this makes communication efforts easier. You don’t have to wait until you’re at a computer to draft a formal email to parents or go through the hassle of collecting emails. 

Besides, business texting provides much more benefits than using a personal cell number. For teachers, this allows them to:

  • Keep personal numbers private

Enabling landline texting with your school’s number will allow educators to use their phones without their personal numbers being accessible to parents. Teachers can conveniently send alerts, reminders and share information without compromising their private number. 

  • Liability 

The system will store all messages on one central software. This holds everyone accountable and makes messages accessible to administrators as well. 

How Schools can Utilize Landline Texting

When you sign up with Text My Main Number, you’ll have a variety of ways to connect with parents. Here are some ways you can use landline texting below: 

  • Mass Emergency Text System

Parents want to know about the safety of their children at all times. If an incident has happened near or within the school, you can send a quick message to parents, ensuring them of their child’s safety. These updates will help put parents at ease. 

Additionally, in emergencies, you may need to connect with other educators and administrators in the school. Signing up with Text My Main Number gives you access to sending mass text messages or individual texts. These options make it easier for you to communicate with parents or staff. Overall, landline texting in dire situations helps strengthen the communication efforts between all parties 

Example: EMERGENCY ALERT –

currently a recent fire broke out in a nearby building. The fire department is present, and all students have been instructed to remain where they are. 

  • Meeting Reminders

Teachers can use landline texting to remind parents of upcoming events or interviews. For example, you can send out a mass text message reminding everyone to attend their parent-teacher interview time or send out individual messages depending on your class size. 

How could this be better than sending an email? Across the board, SMS open rates are much higher than email open rates. On average, people open up 98% of their text messages while open rates for emails remain at just 20%. This is a staggering and notable difference that should prompt educators to switch to landline texting for reminders. 

Example:

“Hi Mr/Mrs. Brown. Please arrive 5 minutes before our parent – teach night interview tomorrow at 6 p.m. Thank you!”

  • Auto-reply

In some cases, parents may directly message the landline number to reach you. You can set up an auto-response to inform them of when you’ll be available in the office or what specific times they can call your number as well. This saves the time necessary to respond individually to parents. 

Example:

“Hi there, thank you for your message. I am currently on leave for 1 week. Once I return, I will schedule a phone call with you at your earliest convenience.” 

  • Parent Surveys

Engaging with parents and listening to their feedback will likely strengthen your job as an educator. The best way to understand their concerns or where they would like to see improvements made is by setting up a survey for parents to fill out. 

At Text My Main Number, we offer survey text messages as a part of our services. This way, with a simple touch of a button, parents can express their thoughts and share their opinions. To parents, it shows how caring you are as an educator. 
 
Alternatively, you can create a specific group chat meant for parents to freely ask any questions they might have. For example, parents may ask questions about school trips or the additional textbooks they need to purchase. Whenever you have the time, you can address these questions in the chat. 

  • Send out Helpful Resources

In a case where parents need more educational resources for their children, you can always send out helpful sources for parents to explore. You can send a direct link or a shared file that parents can use for future reference. If any parents have a specific question, you can also individually respond to them through your school’s number. 

If you’ve ever wondered how you can improve teacher-parent communications, the solution is landline texting. Read our article to understand how elementary schools can implement and strengthen their communication efforts with SMS services. 

Example:

Parent –

“Hi there. Lucy still struggles with her fractions. Are there any resources I can use to help strengthen her math skills?”

Teacher –

“Hi Mrs. Brown, yes please have a look at the online tutorial videos created by the authors of our math textbook. You can find it here: www.math.com.” 

How Parents can Sign-Up for Your School’s SMS Service

We understand that not everyone is tech-savvy. However, parents can easily sign up to be a part of landline texting if they choose to. Depending on how you set up your business number, parents can either: 

  • Text a keyword to the business number. This activates their ‘subscription’ to your landline texts. 
  • Sign up on your school website. 
  • Fill out a form online or in-person with their name and number. 

After that, parents will receive any alerts and messages you send. Additionally, they can begin messaging you at that number. 

Landline Texting Tips For Educators

  • Keep it short

Save long conversations for phone calls and meetings. Like any text, messages are most effective and easy to read when it’s concise. 

  • Set boundaries

Parents might feel the urge to contact you on a daily. You can resolve this issue by setting up an auto-response and clarify the need to communicate during school hours. 

  • Be clear

To avoid continuous back and forth questions, make sure to keep your messages clear. With Text My Main number, you can also send out message templates so that you’ll only have to write a specific question once. 

The Next Steps

If you’re even slightly interested, we encourage you to reach out to Text My Main Number at 1.800.797.3167 or email us info@textmymainnumber.com. We have exceptional customer support that will walk you through any questions and concerns you may have as an educator. 

Alternatively, you can give it a try at our 14-day trial to see if Text My Main Number is the right fit for your school system. 

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6 Ways Law Firms Can Take Advantage of Business Texting

Technology has shifted and transformed the way many businesses and industries operate. And often, it’s for the better. 

Just have a look at the legal field. Now more than ever law firms take advantage of business texting to connect and communicate with clients on a daily. However, for some attorneys, it may seem disruptive and unproductive to incorporate business texting into the process.

While we understand the hesitation, it will make your jobs more organized and streamlined. If you’re curious and eager to learn more, keep on reading.  

How Can Business Texting Help My Law Firm?

Mobile devices are becoming inseparable from many of us. The stats around our texting habits speak for itself:

What does this mean for your law firm? Landline texting rewards you with the potential to better communicate with current your clients. In a profession like the legal field, this is imperative.

It allows you to streamline your case management and promptly attend to a client’s needs. With a small investment into business texting, you can heighten your reputation as a law firm among your competitors.

Wondering how to turn your law firm into a tech-savvy and efficient business? Read out latest blog to discover the different ways business texting can improve operations within your law firm.

How Law Firms Can Implement Business Texting   

  • Send Reminders 

Attorneys know the importance of deadlines and due dates for documents, contract drafts, and more. As much as lawyers need to keep up with deadlines and tasks, clients must co-operate for a smooth legal process. 

With business texting in the equation, you won’t have to worry about clients missing documents or skipping out on meetings. A simple SMS reminder will ensure clients stay on top of their obligations.

If you’re juggling multiple cases at the same time, you should send out a mass text message and have clients follow up. Since the average person opens a text message within seconds, texting is a great medium to send reminders. 

Example SMS:

“Hi Daniel, please have the lease signed and dated before our next meeting in my office.”

  • Schedule and Confirm Appointments 

Clients balance other obligations beyond their appointments with their attorney. As such, your law firm can use business texting to either confirm or remind clients of upcoming court dates, briefings and consultations. 

Besides this, you can use business texting for scheduling purposes as well. To do this, send out a mass SMS to your clients with a link to a scheduling form or an excel sheet. Using business texting for this purpose automates scheduling appointments, saving up more time for your legal team. 

Example SMS:

“Hi there, click on the link to schedule your consultation with an attorney at our law firm.”

  • Invoices

Sending out an invoice and making payments has never been easier. When you sign up with Text My Main Number, we offer invoice features that allow lawyers to simply send an unpaid bill to your clients. This makes it easy for clients to make a payment from anywhere and at any time. 

Example SMS:

“Please find attached the bill for the court fees last week. Thank you.” 

  • Send over documents

Beyond SMS, business texting offers MMS messages as well. Let’s say you need your client to urgently review a contract ahead of schedule. Alternatively, your client may need greater clarification on a section of a document.

Instead of scanning the document, clients can take a photo of the document they referred to, send it to your business number and you can solve the issue from there. 

Example SMS:

“Nathan, please have a look at this section of the contract to ensure your name and date of birth are correct.” 

  • Provide Quick Case Updates 

Attorneys know how frequently changes happen in any court case. As such, you might need to provide updates to your clients as soon as possible. Additionally, you might have to quickly alert your legal team as well. 

Business texting enables you to communicate instantly and efficiently with clients. You don’t have to wait to get back to your office and draft an email, you don’t have to call with the chance that clients won’t answer. A simple text message is perfect for urgent matters. 

  • Quickly Answer Client Questions

Many times, especially before a court date or meeting, clients have tons of questions for their attorneys. Some are short ones about time, place, mannerisms at a meeting, etc. For these prompt questions, business texting is the perfect medium to provide quick answers.

Business Texting Tips for Law Firms

Business texting may be new to you and your law firm. To secure a smooth implementation of your business texting service, keep the following rules in mind:

  • Keep it professional

Texting may appear informal given how commonly we use it to connect with friends and family. However, never forget that your authoritative role as an attorney. Always keep communication professional with clients at all times despite the usage of text messaging. 

  • Promote your business number on your website

It’s always a good idea to promote your business texting number to clients before you roll out the service. This is because clients may have questions or be curious about how this service can help them.

Additionally, tech-savvy clients may grasp the notion of business texting right away while others may have trouble with it at first. As such, spread awareness about this service on your website, social media and meetings with clients.  

  • Keep conversations within business hours

Business texting makes it so that clients can reach you at any time. But some clients may abuse this privilege. Remember that you still have a life outside of your law firm. As such, keep communications during business hours and only respond to urgent requests. 

You can enable an automated text message when clients message you after business hours to inform them of when you’ll be available. The automated feature saves you the hassle of individually replying to clients. 

Business Texting Service Features To Look For

If you’re going to integrate business texting into your law firm, make sure you pair up with an SMS service that provides features you’ll need. Here are some things to look out for:

  • Bulk texting and individual texting: Attorneys need both options to individually connect with a client or send out a mass text message. Partnering with ⦁ Text My Main Number gives you access to both.  
  • Free Customer Support: No matter how great a business texting platform is, you’ll inevitably run into issues or have questions from time to time. That’s why it’s essential to have customer support available whenever needed. 
  • Unlimited Inbound SMS: Teaming up with Text My Main Number allows you to receive an unlimited number of text messages no matter what plan you go for. However, the advanced packages will allow your law firm to send more outbound messages. 

How To Get Started

If you’re interested in adding a better communication system to your law firm, call Text My Man Number at 1.800.797.3167 or send us an email. We can also get you started with a 14-day free trial to get you familiar with the platform! 

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Everything You Need to Know about the 10-Digit Long Code (DLC)

Major changes are happening to the landline texting industry. That’s right – we’re referring to the introduction of the 10-digit long code (10DLC). This newly integrate long-code was created specifically for application-to-person (A2P) business texting going on in the United States and Canada.

While the changes may appear minor, many of the shifts happening behind the scenes requires businesses to register with new requirements, obtaining a trust score and much more. Our team at Text My Main Number is dedicated to helping clients through this interesting transition. For businesses interested in implementing business texting to their company, keep on reading to understand the ins and outs of the 10DLC.

What is the 10DLC program?

The 10DLC allows businesses to send a large number of landline texts (or SMS messages) from a local phone number. And we all know how important it is for businesses to use landline texting. On the surface, it works the same as the traditional shortcode. Customers text a keyword to a number code, and they begin receiving business texts from your company. This is not the only way, customers can opt in, can we broaden this please?

The first version of the 10DLC launched when business texting was still a novel concept. 10DLC was solely meant for low throughput messaging and person-to-person (P2P) communication. But times have changed – now more than ever people use SMS marketing to grow their enterprise given the popularity of text messages.

10DLC is a major change to the world of business texting. Find out the details about 10DLC and what this means for your business.

Why are landline texting changes happening?

The use of shortcodes and toll-free numbers have their fair share of issues. Let’s just look at the current options (besides the 10DLC) that businesses have and delve through its features.

  • Toll-free long codes:

While this option supports calls and messages, toll-free long codes lack their message volume capabilities. These codes only support 1- 2 messages per second, making its throughput extremely low. Toll free is actually a high throuput option. Please check out Aerialink and toll free. It may explain more.

  •  Shortcodes:

Generally, these 5-6 digit numbers allow a very high volume of messages to be sent. Large companies and even government organizations use shortcodes to send out alerts, reminders, etc. Shortcodes also support 100 messages/second.

The problem is, it’s an expensive choice to make. The price attached to using shortcodes make it less feasible for small businesses. It can cost a few thousand a months, the application process can take up to 3 months, and only support SMS texts.

The Benefits of 10DLC

From the description above, it’s evident that there was room for improvement and change. 10DLC is meant to be that solution within the world of business texting. This longer code also has the benefits of:

  • Preventing spam for customers

Customers frequently receive spam from shortcodes. The reason for this is because many businesses often share the use of one shortcode. With more businesses implementing business texting to their platforms, some spammers are abusing it. Carriers have a difficult time pinpointing the person responsible for the spam.

To protect customers, each business will have a unique 10DLC. This means that if a business were to violate any guidelines, carriers could put a stop to it immediately. Customers will also see a recognized area code when you use a 10DLC. As such, customers will be more willing to open and trust the content within the messages. This could mean the public will have more trust in text message campaigns and be more willing to participate in business texting.

All major cell phone carriers (Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile) offer a 10DLC messaging option, but each carrier is structuring its new registration process a little differently, if at all.

  • Higher messaging volume

You won’t have to worry about limiting your throughput with 10DLC in the picture. Some speculate that 10 DLCs will allow businesses to send 5- 15 messages per second. While it’s not as high as shortcodes, it still presents a medium-high messaging volume.

  • Cost-efficient

10DLCs is the cheaper option that delivers a high volume messaging and top security. For businesses, 10DLCs will only cost you a few dollars per month. With more money saved, you can delegate that money to other important business ventures.

You can upgrade your business texting with TMMN, invest it in better products and so much more. While it may be more expensive than long toll codes what are these? Toll free numbers?, it’ll be much cheaper than shortcodes.

  • Phone call enabled

Besides sending and receiving text messages, businesses can use 10DLC to call as well. This allows you to create a much closer interaction and enhance the customer experience when you use 10DLC. Customers will appreciate that feature to directly reach out when they need help. They already use their phone number to call, maybe we can replace this with another benefit? Can we mention some benefits like marketing like simpletexting and other uses?

How to Switch to 10DLC

Before the 10DLC rollout for businesses, carriers must have perfected their 10DLC to ensure the product works. A few carriers have pushed back their launch date of the 10DLC due to issues associated with it. With more carriers eliminating their shared shortcodes, here are the next steps for businesses.

  • Businesses need to register their texting campaign and pay additional fees to access the 10DLC program.
  • They can continue using their existing phone number to send messages, but they will need to be registered to continue using the program and avoid having their messages filtered out.
  • Businesses sending landline texts via shared shortcodes will need to use either 10DLC or a dedicated shortcode.

If you own a small business or you are an independent contractor, you may not need to complete the same registration process if you do not send a large number of text messages, according to Twilio. Is this true? I read this:

“However, registration will ultimately be a requirement for all customers sending messages to the United States using 10-digit long code numbers.”

Changes vary based on the carrier

Each carrier has its separate requirements. Let’s look at the top 3 carriers below to see what they’re doing with their 10 DLC rollout.

  • Verizon

They previously added a per-message surcharge to outbound SMS and MMS messages but have not announced plans to adopt a brand or campaign registration process. They have been using spam and smashing filters to vet A2P 10DLC users since early 2019, according to a blog post by Open Market.

  • AT&T

AT&T started a class-based structure with different surcharge amounts for each class. It expects businesses to register their campaigns by June 1, 2021, according to Twillio. Message charges will include the base message rate and the surcharge to the destination carrier, according to Bandwidth.

  • T-Mobile

T-Mobile is expected to introduce a new activation or migration fee, flat-rate surcharges for each brand rather than each campaign. T-Mobile also has specifications for types of messages and has daily caps for the number of outbound messages per brand, according to a blog post by Bandwidth.

How do you register your 10DLC campaign?

Many people can register their campaign directly through The Campaign Registry (TCR), which is a third-party company contracted by carriers to handle the campaign registration and vetting process. The registration process gives carriers more information about who sends mass messages and the type of messages sent. SMS service providers can register 10DLC campaigns for the brands they work with.

Text My Main Number will help its customers register to ensure they receive the best possible rates, throughput rate, and service continuity.

If you do not register your campaign, but continue using the 10DLC program, carriers may charge higher fees or they may block your messaging traffic. 

To register, you’ll have to provide some basic information about your brand and your campaign. Carriers will ask you to describe the campaign and provide a few sample messages,  according to Bandwidth . It’s important to give complete and accurate information during the registration process because each brand and campaign will be assigned a Trust Score. You will receive a message throughput based on your Trust Score and what type of campaign you registered, according to Twilio.

10DLC is taking over as the new and improved solution for business texting. Cost-effective, high-volume messaging capabilities and beneficial for your business overall. Reach out to our team at TMMN and we’ll assist with your transition to 10DLC!

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How Non Profit Organizations Can Benefit from Landline Texting

Non-profit organizers will all agree on one thing – spreading awareness about your initiative is fundamental to successful fundraising and making an overall impact. But many organizations still struggle to promote their message. 

Non-profits that implement business texting into their marketing strategy experience the opposite: it does wonders to their platform. It’s a cost-effective and efficient investment that non-profits use to increase their visibility and drive up their donations. 

What Can Non-Profits Use Business Texting For?

Non-profits can take advantage of business texting in multiple ways. In one landline text, hundreds of potential donors and volunteers can receive your message. Here are a few ideas on how you can use business texting in your day-to-day operations. 

Every non-profit relies on community support and awareness to fight for an important cause. Landline texting helps expand your potential. Using landline texting enhances your ability to spread the word about your non-profit. 
  • Event Reminders

Donation drives, charity runs and auctions – events are the bread and butter of many non-profit initiatives. You can use landline texting to remind participants of upcoming events and fundraisers. 

You can send reminders tailored to different groups as well. Text My Main Number (TMMN) gives the option of grouping your contacts depending on their roles. So if you have a specific reminder to volunteers, donors and sponsors, this is a great feature to utilize. 

  • Donation Reminders

Business texting allows you to directly reach out to individuals donors and remind them of upcoming deadlines for donations. You can also include a link to the donation page as well in your text. 

But you want to refrain from generic donation messages. Put emotion and feeling into your text. If possible, consider writing specific texts to your donors as well

  • Promote your social cause

For people to support your non-profit, they need to know what your social cause is. You can break down your social cause in 2- 3 sentences for a simple landline text and send it to those who signed up. This is a great opportunity to promote your website and existing socials as well. 

  • Volunteer Recruitment

Enabling business texting with TMMN gives you the feature of a keyword. Interested volunteers can text a keyword to a number and they’ll receive alerts and reminders to sign up. 

As such, texting is the perfect medium to turn interested people into volunteers for your organization. Send out a landline text showcasing the need for volunteers and the impact they’ll make when they join your non-profit. This method is much more efficient than sending out an email. 

  • Bring awareness to stories related to your non-profit

To further your message, non-profits can highlight recent stories related to your organization. A recent decent natural disaster may have happened. A humanitarian crisis may have stirred up a lot of attention in the media recently. 

Whatever it is, with a simple landline text, you can bring awareness to the issue. It’ll reach more people, prompting greater motivation for volunteers and donors to join your initiative. 

Example Charity Situation

Let’s assume your non-profit organization collects clothing and toiletries for a woman’s shelter in the local area. As people pass by your table you constantly hear “I wish I could donate something but I just don’t have items right now.” or “When’s the next donation drive?”

Now you utilize social media, posters and your local drives to promote your business number and code for others to join. This ensures that anyone who expressed interest gets updates right on their phones. The first few texts are sent to promote the upcoming event. The next few speak on the need for volunteers.  

And the numbers skyrocket. Donations, interest, volunteers: it’s beyond what you could imagine. From one short text message, many more people receive the updates they need to follow your non-profit.

Features You Can Take Advantage of

Signing up with Text My Main Number equips you with everything you need to make the most out of business texting. Better yet, implementing it in your business comes at a low cost. Here are other features you can expect when you sign up TMMN. 

  • Auto reply

With upcoming fundraising events, your inbox will flood with messages and sign-up requests. The auto-reply feature allows you to automate reply messages depending on keywords texted to your business phone number. 

For example, if someone texts the words “volunteer sign-up,” the algorithm assumes that someone is asking about becoming a volunteer. This is an example automated response:

“Hi there, so glad you’re interested in volunteering for our organization. Please follow the link below to fill out a volunteer sign-up form on our website!” 

  • Scheduled texting

If you have an upcoming fundraising event or charity event, scheduled texts are a great way to promote it ahead of time. Here’s a sample text in this scenario:

“Calling all volunteers, donors and people looking to make a change. Join us on Friday at noon for our annual charity event. Guest speakers, raffles and fun games will be present, so come out!” 

  • Direct chat messaging

If there’s a concern from someone in your organization or a text message that you would like to directly respond to, TMMN has a chat function that enables that. With the chat feature, you can simultaneously have as many conversations as you want. 

  • Exceptional customer support

Any issues or trouble with your business texting? Do you want to learn about the full potential of some other features? When you sign up with TMMN, you’ll have access to our free support service whenever you run into any issues. 

Can Business Texting Improve My Marketing?

81% of Americans text regularly with over 6 billion texts sent in one day. The stark reality is that text messaging has taken over as our main way of communication. 

This why non-profits should take advantage of business texting. You can directly connect with potential volunteers or donors and promote your events for a larger turnout. 

How To Start

  • Sign up with TMMN (simple form to fill out)
  • Create awareness around your business texting number: It’s a good idea to mention your business texting platform on social media or your website. 
  • Create your text message template: With TMMN you can store your messages for easy access. Better yet, we also have a plethora of text templates you can use as well. 
  • Text your subscribers

Business Texting Tips for Non- Profits

  • Add the emotion: Potential volunteers and donors will feel enticed and emotionally drawn to your organization if you add that emotional layer to your messaging. 
  • Don’t text too often: Staying engaged with donors and volunteers is amazing. However, you don’t want to overwhelm people with messages every day. Instead, it’s best to follow a weekly or monthly schedule. 
  • Make it concise. While it may be difficult, texts should be short. As such, ensure that your messages are to the point!

Integrating landline texting with your non-profit organization is a great way to elevate your marketing strategy and increase awareness for your cause. If you’re still curious about what business texting can do for you, feel free to call us at 1.800.797.3167 or email at info@textmymainnumber.com.

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Business Texting vs Email Texting 2021

Presently, many businesses and organizations has adopted email messaging as their primary mode of communication. This adoption has been there for some years now, and it’s mostly for professional reasons. However, we cannot underestimate the impact and effectiveness of texts in our daily lives and business. The influence of business texting and land texting on customer relationship encourages the need for incorporating it as part of the communication strategy in small and large companies. However, some people have seen it as a challenge due to the efficiency and record-keeping ability of email messaging, making it an easy and quick strategy for communication. Regardless of which category you fall under, the main point would be to have easy access to information and fast communication with your customers or team members. The purpose of this article is to give you some merits and demerits on implementing business texting as part of an established communication strategy for your business.

Are you sitting on the fence about choosing a business text strategy or continuing with email communication.? In that case, you should stick around this article. I promise you will gain clarity on this issue as we proceed in this article.

Merits Of Business Text Messaging Over Emails

Access Everywhere

Sending business texts or communicating with customers via text messages will not require having internet access or Wi-Fi. It is mainly accessible anywhere in any part of the world. This is unlike an email connection where you need to be hooked up to the internet via Wi-Fi or through mobile data before getting information across to anybody. If you cannot access the internet, it becomes a problem for you to pass information.

Interaction

Business texting is best for customer interaction. The truth is, some customers prefer using texts as a communication medium. It is easier for them to pick up thier phone and send you a text regarding a product or service than hooking up to the internet and sending an email. By sending a text, a customer can interact with you whenever it is convenient for them.

No Spam

We all know that important emails can get lost in your spam folder sometimes. This cannot happen with a business text because it comes directly to the Mobile phone, and the user instantly sees it. Sometimes the emails are left unread, it occurs when you send a text also, but the rates are higher in emails. Some emails also have low response and open rates when compared to texts.

Most people will reply a text immediately in the first 90 seconds of reading it. Considering this fact, it is clear that text messaging has the best engagement rates. This engagement rate is essential and has led to companies incorporating business texting as part of Thier communication strategy.

Real-Time Communication

Using business texts gives you a real-time communication feeling. It creates a real-life communication environment where customers can call for your help and get solutions instantly. This is likely to create a better customer experience. Thanks to B2C texting service, customer service reps can communicate with customers efficiently and professionally.

Personalization

Do you know you can build up customer experience and customer loyalty by sending them timely text messages with relevant information? Business texting makes this possible and easy for you. You can even send them personalized messages on their birthday and build trust, loyalty, and empathy with them.

Synchronization

It’s an easy process to synchronize and archive all communication exchanges with CRMs. You can see all communications residing in one place.

Demerits Of Business Texts Over Emails

You must have enjoyed reading about the merits of business texting over emails, but here are some of its downsides.

Brief Texts

When using business text, your texts must be brief because your customers won’t fancy reading long text messages. So you have to keep the texts short, precise, and straight to the point. You cannot give an in-depth conversation or customer service assistance over text. The email remains the best place for a lengthy customer service conversation, especially when the customer is dissatisfied with the service.

It could be un- pleasant

Believe it or not, some customers get irritated when they see too much business text from you on their phone. As a business owner, when you send too many marketing texts, in conjunction with the notifications that always pops up on mobile phones, the customer can get frustrated and demand to be removed from the texting and communication list. To avoid this, using a text should be when communicating a message with a value and a purpose to the customer. If the text helps the customer solve a problem or gives them a piece of vital information, they are most likely to not opt out of receiving them.

Costs

Using a business text for marketing purposes and general communication in your business will require a lot of money. It does not cost only on your part. If your customer does not have a plan that allows them to receive unlimited texts, it will cost them some money too.

Misinterpretation

Even though business text messaging has improved over the years, sometimes, when you convey your message with a text, you are at risk of being misunderstood or misinterpreted. If you feel that your receiver might misunderstand the point of your message, you should use a medium that allows you to explain yourself perfectly. You can revert to using an email to enable you to elaborate perfectly or even placing a phone call.

Just like land texting, business texting has become more prevalent in our world today, which is why it has more advantages than disadvantages. With a business text, you can reach your audience immediately with any information you want in Real-Time. As a business owner, customers will appreciate a business text because they receive texts every day. If you’re going to stay relevant and keep evolving with your desired customer base, then you should implement texting services for your business. With business texting, your customers can engage with you in a way they prefer and the way they are accustomed to.

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How Educational Content Works for Landline Texting Across Industries

Adopting landline texting services in your business is all about engaging customers and clients and making more sales, right? Ultimately, the communication methods you choose influence marketing success. You cannot simply send out ads, however, if you want to use business texting practices most effectively. Snagging consumer interest depends largely on providing value. Educational content goes far when it comes to convincing people your company is worth their time and money.

It does not matter what industry or niche your business serves. You can create educational content for any type of service or product in order to engage customers more fully. Explore these options for effective non-promotional content so you can incorporate them into an overall business texting strategy that gets you the results you need.

Why Consumer Education Matters

Statistically speaking, educating your target consumer base matters because it greatly increases the chance that they will make a purchase from you. A Conductor survey showed a 131% increase in sales after people read or heard educational content. That’s the type of boost that any company needs. The numbers do not lie, but it is important to understand the reason why this works.

What do people want from companies? Yes, they want a high-quality product or service most of all. They know they get this from a brand that stands for excellence and expertise within an industry. When you send out a business text with quality information, you send a strong message to your audience. You care about what they care about and have what it takes to provide value to them. Your company stands ready to solve their problems.

Try These Educational Content Ideas in Your Landline Texting Plan

The decision to use landline texting for your business indicates your intelligent approach to marketing, customer service, and growth. How do you use educational content to improve interest and engagement in the people that receive these texts? These examples cover a wide range of industries and niches, but you can tweak the details for the unique needs of your targeted consumer group.

Send a Quick Daily Tip Focused on the Product or Service

Instead of saying, “Our widget will solve all your problems!” text people quick bites of information about what they can do to solve a particular problem. The information should help independent of any purchases or contracts. It makes sense to upsell or cross-sell in conjunction with some of these tips, however.

  • DIY tips for skin care from a cosmetics company.
  • Seasonal lawn care tips from a landscaping business.
  • Smart money tip from a debt consolidation firm.

Link to and Educational Blog Post or Video

Share more in-depth education that teaches your audience how to do something new or gives multiple ideas about how they can improve things for themselves. The text you send should include a quick greeting, one sentence revealing the value, and a clickable link.

  • Top ten tips for a clutter-free home from a maid service.
  • How to take the cutest pictures of your pup from a dog costume shop.
  • Why a project management app helps improve results from the IT firm.

Segmented Text Series – Mini Courses and More

When you use Text My Main Number for all your landline texting needs, you get the power of scheduled texting campaigns for separate groups in your audience. Use this type of segmentation and set up power to create mini courses or text series with more in-depth educational content. This could include either individual messages or links to written or video content. While you should remind the recipients of your brand throughout, do not hammer them over the head with ads or calls to action.

  • Dress for your body type course from a clothing boutique.
  • Step-by-step organizational tips for launching a new business from a marketing firm.
  • Study guide for the SATs from a tutoring company.

Educational Content Rounds Out a Text-based Marketing Strategy

The power of valuable information proves its worth again and again. It makes logical sense even if you do not look at the statistics surrounding non-promotional content. Of course, consumers want to know the brand they give their money to knows what they are talking about. They will value your company much more when they know you value them.

Your business texting strategy should involve multiple types of communication for maximum effect. You cannot give away all your secrets or teach people to do everything effectively for themselves. They won’t hire you or buy your products then. You also cannot push your offers at them like a flea market vendor waving bright signs and shouting about their low prices.

Balance a friendly, personal approach with occasional marketing, calls to action that encourage responses, and educational content that helps them become better consumers. People are very sensitive to advertising, and too much will backfire in many cases. Add value to their lives instead of chasing value for yourself. All of these things work together to create a positive reputation in whatever industry or niche you represent. Better still, valuable texts make it much less likely your audience will unsubscribe.

Landline texting presents a wealth of opportunities for businesses like yours to thrive in an increasingly digital landscape. As more people than ever before use their phones as the primary shopping, searching, and communication device, business texting takes precedence over almost any other type of growth-focused action.

It takes a lot more to engage consumers than announcing sales or special discounts, asking for feedback on products and services, and answering customer care questions. Consumers want engagement and high-value content from the brands they spend their money on. These tips for multiple industries help you educate in a productive way that ultimately leads toward improved reputation and profits.