With an astounding average response time of a mere three minutes, it overshadows traditional approaches like email and voicemail, not merely by a few strides but by miles. But the benefits of SMS messaging extend far beyond the time limit to get a reply from your candidate. It has the potential to redefine your recruitment landscape, slashing your time-to-hire, and magnetizing the digitally-inclined millennial and Gen Z talent pool. 

In this comprehensive guide, we will navigate the intricacies of messaging as a recruitment powerhouse and equip you with 9 actionable insights to ensnare top-tier talent. But before we dive right into the crux of our discussion, it’s essential to highlight the powerful role of text messaging in modern recruitment. 

Why Text Recruiting is the Key to Streamlining your Talent Hunt

With escalating costs and extended time-to-hire, traditional recruitment channels are increasingly proving inefficient. Over 83% of talent leaders acknowledge recruiting and retaining talent as their chief priority, adopting cost-effective and time-saving strategies is paramount. Here’s where using text recruiting messaging steps in, slashing cost-to-hire and significantly boosting efficiency, even with heightened hiring volumes.

Messaging’s real-time simplicity stands out from other communication methods. It efficiently engages candidates, especially since 39% lose interest from prolonged hiring. It’s especially useful for connecting with passive candidates, letting recruiters nurture relationships for future needs. Later in this blog, we’ll discuss using Text Recruiting Software to enhance recruitment strategies.

Harnessing the Benefits of Conversational Messaging into Text Recruiting

Conversational messaging, with its superior response times and increased reach, can slash your time-to-hire significantly. It enables real-time interaction with potential candidates, accelerating the screening and interview coordination process, thereby landing you the desired talent swiftly and seamlessly.

Transition from Passive to Proactive

The transition from passive to proactive recruiting can be a game changer. Using messaging as a tool, recruiters can actively reach out to candidates, fostering an engaging two-way conversation. It not only enhances the candidate experience but also allows recruiters to glean essential insights about the candidates, paving the way for informed decision-making.

Speaking the Digital Tongue in Text Recruiting

Millennial and Gen Z candidates are digital natives. To attract this tech-savvy talent, recruiters must communicate via their preferred channels. Messaging serves as an effective platform to engage with these candidates, by offering the quick, informal, and interactive communication they prefer.

Agility Personified

Filling temporary positions quickly is crucial to maintaining business continuity and productivity. With text messaging, recruiters can instantly connect with a broad network of potential candidates, streamlining the sourcing, screening, and hiring process. It’s a game-changer when speed and efficiency are the keys to success.

Crowning Practices

While the potential of SMS messaging in recruitment is vast, it must be employed strategically. From crafting engaging messages, and respecting candidate’s privacy, to timely follow-ups – best practices should be at the heart of your messaging recruitment strategy such as the Best SMS Marketing Services provided by SMS-Magic. This ensures optimal use of the tool while enhancing the candidate experience.

Text Messaging Templates 

Effective messaging demands the right blend of professionalism and personalization. To help recruiters navigate this balance, we provide proven text messaging templates. These templates, tailored to various stages of the recruitment process, ensure consistent, concise, and effective communication with candidates. So, to get these templates, get your sms-magic login and start conversing today to recruit the premier talent. 

Cultivating Personal Bonds

The power of messaging lies in its ability to cultivate personal relationships. Unlike formal emails, text messages foster casual and warm exchanges, making candidates feel valued and engaged. This personalized approach can significantly boost your brand image, leading to higher acceptance rates.

Decoding the Generation

Messaging resonates with younger candidates due to its immediacy and informality. This digitally-adept cohort prefers quick, concise interactions over lengthy, formal communication. Understanding this preference is crucial in tailoring your communication strategy, enabling you to attract and retain young talent more effectively.

The Recruitment of Tomorrow

With digital transformation permeating every aspect of business, recruitment is no exception. Embracing messaging as a key tool is not just about staying current; it’s about anticipating and adapting to the future of recruitment. Leveraging the power of Text Recruiting Platforms today can set your recruitment strategy on the path of success for years to come.

In the dynamic realm of recruitment, standing still is not an option; evolution is the key to success. As we’ve journeyed through the various ways text messaging can revolutionize your recruitment process, it’s clear that the power of Conversational Messaging is undeniable. By harnessing this tool, you can attract and engage top talent, reduce your time-to-hire, and enhance client satisfaction, all while future-proofing your recruitment strategy. As we navigate the digital age, embracing messaging is not just a strategic move—it’s an imperative.

Ready to revolutionize your recruitment strategy? Let’s embark on this journey together! Contact one of the Best SMS Marketing Services Provider SMS-Magic today and allow us to guide you through the transformation. With our cutting-edge messaging solutions and expertise, we’ll help you unlock the full potential of text messaging in your recruitment process. Start your journey to recruitment excellence today — because your future talent is just a text message away. 

Connect with us now, and get full insights about what we have to offer. 

First, let’s talk about how messaging can help you sell more insurance, serve your customers better and make your work life a little easier. The bottom line is that you can’t serve customers you can’t reach. Emails, phone calls and voice mail are tried-and-true communication channels, but you can spend hours begging your customers and prospective customers to respond to them, instead of spending time selling or serving.

Most of us have smart phones with built-in texting capabilities, and we carry our phones everywhere. Because of the nature of texting, we open 98% of our messages within three minutes of receipt, and we respond to 40% of them. We only open 20% of our emails, and you already know how hard it is to get a customer on the phone. When asked, 90% of us said we’d prefer to communicate with businesses via text.

What those statistics mean to you is that you can send reminders, have one-on-one conversations or schedule automated messages – and your customers will read your messages and respond faster than with any other channel. They get great service, and you have more time to work on your business.

To help you decide if messaging can make a positive impact on your business, here are the top 5 questions insurance agents ask – and the answers:

1.What should I do before I start texting?

You’ve probably heard about the regulations governing messaging. The regulations will apply when you want to send bulk marketing messages, and you’ll need to get permission from your clients or prospects to text them. Asking them to “opt-in” can become part of your emails, awareness and branding campaigns, applications or quotes. Even if you’re only texting one-on-one, it’s best to have written permission, but it’s easy to get. To make record-keeping easier, SMS-Magic keeps track of customers who have opted in to texting, and more importantly, it tracks who has opted out, so you won’t send them any more marketing texts.

2. Can I use my personal mobile phone?

The SMS-Magic mobile app allows you to use your own smart phone but doesn’t require you to use your own phone number. We don’t recommend that you send business texts from a personal phone number. You should set up texting for your office and connect it to your database, especially if you’re using Salesforce or Zoho. SMS-Magic can also connect to many office-management systems. With a mobile app, when you’re not at your desk, you can message your clients as if you were using your laptop, and yet you still maintain your privacy.

3. How can I handle times when I’m out of the office?

If you’re on vacation, sick or out of the area, you probably want some time away from work. Wouldn’t it be great if colleagues could field a client’s question via text and have all your previous conversations at their fingertips? It’s more than possible with messaging platforms like SMS-Magic. Once the messaging system is integrated with your database, texts are routed to the appropriate agent and the conversation is stored in the client’s record. Anyone with access to the system can read the background and respond. Your client gets great service, and you can disconnect from work knowing your colleagues have your back.

4. What types of messages can I send?

Texting gives you and your clients an easy way to share information. One agency serving a high volume of contractors, for example, encourages clients to use text to request COI’s. It’s easy to take a picture of a business card that has all the relevant contact information and text it to the agent. The agent can respond with a text or email containing the COI. Or a client might send a photo of a VIN by text to add a new vehicle to an existing policy. Another company uses texts to check in with prospective clients they’ve quoted but who haven’t responded. Text is a great way to send reminders for almost anything, including auto renewals and appointments.

5. Do I have to send all the texts myself?

Messaging is a great way to connect with clients, but sometimes you need the system to send automated messages immediately. When a client opts in to texting, for example, they need an immediate response to their request. With messaging solutions like SMS-Magic, you can set up pre-written automated messages that are triggered by certain actions like opting in or asking for more information. Your client gets an immediate response, and you don’t have to monitor text traffic 24/7.

Although messaging has been around for a while, it still seems more relevant to today’s consumers than email. Messaging platforms like SMS-Magic make it easier to conduct business by removing the repetitive chores that eat up your day. Messages are personal and relevant. And your customers love them.

SMS-Magic integrates with many office management systems, so ask us about your system. We’d be happy to talk about your needs. If you’re ready to start, set up a demo of SMS-Magic today!

Leveraging that behavior, colleges and universities can use SMS or MMS to capture the attention of incoming and current students in a way students will immediately understand and use. Students read most messages within three minutes, and they respond at a much higher rate to messages than they do to other communication channels. And if that isn’t enough to convince you to incorporate messaging into your digital marketing strategy, here is more information about how messaging can help you reach an audience of digital natives – your students.

Cost

Compared to most marketing channels, messaging is one of the most cost-effective methods and has the greatest ROI. While email and text campaigns are both affordable, text messages have a much greater open rate than emails, 98% and 20% respectively. The low per-message cost is an asset for colleges and universities, because text-message marketing is best executed with multi-message campaigns and follow-up messages.

Convenience

Text messaging offers a level of convenience that can not only save your team time but allows students to read and respond to messages with minimal hassle. Most messages are opened within minutes of receipt, which makes SMS and MMS messaging an effective medium for timely communications, offers and reminders. It also means you get real-time alerts about the messages that have been received and opened, so your team can adjust its approach when needed.

Performance

We know texting has an edge with open and response rates, but it is also an effective channel for facilitating sales, event registrations, class enrollments and more. Where emails that try to prompt certain actions can often be mistaken for spam, text messages can move more students through the chosen pipeline.

Interactive

Consider this scenario. Your university wants to send communications about financial aid applications to students who have been accepted but haven’t enrolled yet, and current students who still need to submit applications for the upcoming school year. The goal of this marketing initiative is both to build awareness of the financial aid resources available to students and act as a reminder for the students who are already aware of the resources but have yet to complete their forms.

When you send the information over email, some students may follow the action items all in one sitting: open the email, read the information, click on the links to complete the application, and finish/submit the application. But our paths are rarely that linear. Some student users will read the email one day, Google the information in a separate browser tab (without using the links in the email) and may even fill out the application in-person. That leaves marketing staff with a disjointed view of how their communications are influencing students.

With text messaging, the path is most likely to be linear thanks to short code keyword response options. As students respond “HELP”, “APPLY” or other quick replies, marketing teams gather better insights and engage in more student interactions.

Approachable

While text messaging can be used to achieve many university objectives, it’s the most personal method to connect with students, which is key to building brand loyalty. Giving students the ability to communicate in a convenient and accessible channel helps cultivate trust, break down barriers and maintain personalization with each and every student.

When to Use

Now that you know why to use SMS and MMS messaging, let’s talk about when to use it. The applications are limitless, but here are some ideas to get you rolling:

• Admissions and enrollment
• Financial services
• Retention
• Campus alerts
• Campus events
• Career services
• Alumni relations

Need More Information?

Just take a look at how SMS-Magic client, Northwest University, upped student engagement by 15x with messaging. This case study and others will give you plenty of inspiration on how you can use messaging at your institution. 

Contact us to set up a free demo, or if you prefer to chart your own course, start your free trial today.

Consider the proven results of messaging campaigns: MarketingProfs reported SMS marketing has a whopping 98% read rate, while 40% of text messages actually receive a response from customers. And when it comes to paying via text messaging, customers enjoy the convenience just as much. From mobile readers to crypto transactions, digital payments are fast and convenient.

Why would a business expand its customer tools to offer payment solutions via text messaging? A study conducted in 2020 by Weave found that 35% of customers are interested in paying with a text from their phone.

Convenience and Personalization

By offering flexibility and convenience to customers, businesses are more likely to improve their accounts receivable turnover ratios. Companies with high accounts receivable turnover ratios indicate that they collect payments from customers quickly without long waiting periods.

In addition, customers may also enjoy the personal, casual aspects of receiving text messages rather than formal bills sent via snail mail or email with a deadline to pay. In fact, a 2014 industry survey found that 52% of customers would be likely to text with a live customer support agent, and that the same percentage would prefer texting instead of their current method of reaching customer support.

One limitation to consider is the nature of SMS and MMS messages sent in the United States. Your messaging provider can make the physical and backend parts of their systems secure, but no one can secure messages once they are enroute without the special security environment provided by over-the-top apps like WhatsApp.

Compliance

Perhaps the number one priority for businesses accepting text payments is the need to be PCI compliant. If you don’t plan to process payments yourself, make sure you partner with a vendor who builds compliance into their interactions with your customers.

There are only 12 requirements your business must meet to accept debit and credit card payments, but being aware of these requirements is only half the battle. You must also adhere to them in your systems and transactions.

To ensure you take no shortcuts with compliance in text payments, practice these rules:

• Partner with a payment processor that has a solid track record of compliance
• Know the ins-and-outs of sensitive cardholder data
• Establish crisis and incident response plans
• Conduct regular security audits

Payment Data Storage

Storing cardholder data – account numbers, pins, CVVS, and more – is also a critical aspect of a company’s PCI compliance and security when accepting text payments. When data breaches occur, scammers are often skimming cardholder data.

In an ironic twist, your company’s own employees may be a major cause of non-compliance if they are not handling cardholder data appropriately. A Veritas Technologies study of international office workers found that 71% employees are exposing companies to risk by sharing sensitive data outside of the businesses that employ them.

Training employees in ethical and secure data handling is just as important as ensuring your internal controls and infrastructure meet compliance standards. Many companies choose to bring in an outside expert to establish data security standards and train employees for mobile payment practices.

The ability to accept payments or store personal information is becoming increasingly popular with global companies. In fact, banks and other financial institutions use WhatsApp to send bank balances, overdraft alerts and other inquiries to their customers via messaging. WhatsApp, which is supported by SMS-Magic, also has the ability to safely secure personal data.

BYOD Policies

With the rise of remote and mobile work, many companies have developed “bring your own device” policies. Guided by these policies, employees are allowed (or encouraged) to use personal devices that are not under the purview of the company, even if they are used for business purposes. When employees use their own device to communicate with customers, the employee becomes responsible for ensuring that they are practicing compliant behaviors when they’re engaging in messaging and in text payment processing.

Even secure transmission apps like WhatsApp can make proving secure communications difficult. For example, if a company ever had to conduct a security investigation – internally or externally – it would be difficult to extract information from an employee’s personal device unless individual consent or subpoenas are involved.

That’s why it’s important to make sure your business has an ironclad phone policy for employees using their personal devices for business purposes. Establishing dedicated work apps keeps their communication within a controlled work environment, ensuring you have access to communications if issues arise in mobile payments.

Whether you’re using WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, or any other messaging channel to accept text payments from customers, your business is making the customers’ lives easier. 

Ensure your company’s infrastructure is prepared to handle this sensitive data by choosing the right payment processors, cybersecurity specialists and messaging solutions to keep you compliant and safe. 

At SMS-Magic, we can help your business securely accept mobile payments from customers via our messaging solution that meets PCI and telecommunications regulations. To chat with an expert, set up a free demo.

Here are our suggestions for writing great hooks and CTAs.

Crafting the Hook

Keep it short

With SMS messages, you have an established message length of 160 characters, fewer if you include opt-out and help instructions. This means your hook needs to start the message off with a bang — ideally in ten words or less. This guideline isn’t for the sake of the character count alone. It’s also necessary to capture the attention of your consumers. Everyone is busy, so using a short and straightforward hook to get their attention is ideal.

Use power words

Powerful and emotive words are a hook’s secret weapon. These words snag your audience’s attention by being more memorable and intentional than others, yet they’re also simple and easily digestible for all audience types. Power words lead consumers to establish a differentiation between competing brands and can be stimulating enough to create a desire to purchase a product. Here are some powerful words you can test in your next hook: free, now, new, save, effortless, you, easy, expires, today only, reliable, guaranteed, money-back, and risk-free.

Make it personal

Friends and family members send text messages to each other all the time, and the messages are highly personal. Similarly, customers want their communication with you to be personalized. The hook can help make your messages authentic and human. For example, try adding your customer’s name to the text using custom fields. And if you do, make sure the character count in your message leaves room for long names.

You can also try an intro that feels conversational, not computer generated. Your opener is an opportunity to build a bridge between your audience and your brand’s personality. Whether bubbly and energetic or more formal and technical, the hook should leave your audience with an experience that reminds them of your company. Check out the difference in these two examples:

Impersonal Language:

Summer deals start today at XYZ 
Company! Click here for more info.

Conversational Language:

Buy a gift for a friend and 
get yourself one for free! 
Click here to treat yourself
and a friend to BOGO spa 
services this weekend.

Conquering the Call to Action

Create a sense of urgency

SMS messages reach your audience instantly, so it seems logical for your customers to reply quickly, too. But what is their incentive? Why should they act now and not later? Your CTA must convey a sense of urgency.

The good news is that there are several ways to create urgency around your company’s offer or opportunity.

• Put deadlines on sales or offers.
• Offer “today only” deals.
• Promote contests and sweepstakes with entry deadlines.
• Show how much stock is still available. 
• Announce new products and services with discounts available for limited times.
• Follow up on purchases with discounts for additional purchases.

Example:

Take 20% off when you try 
our new relaxing spa products 
by Labor Day. Click here 
to start your best day ever.

Convey value

Your message should conclude with value for your audience. Sales and limited-time offers or deals are clever ways to create monetary value within your CTA.

Example:

Text REWARDS to 93247
for your 20% off coupon.

Conveying value is especially important when your messaging campaign is designed to build brand awareness. For example, if your CTA’s goal is to increase traffic to your website or a new blog, your customer needs to know what’s in it for them if they do. This is an opportunity to introduce your brand and the value it offers.

Keep it short and specific

Character count matters and your CTA should be brief. You don’t want to increase the cost of sending messages because you’re over the character limit. Also, if messages are long, they can be divided and sent out of order which is confusing for your customers.

So how do you make it short but also clear? By getting to the point. Tell your audience precisely what action you want them to perform: call us now, subscribe today, see the offer before it expires!

Now that you’re ready to craft powerful hooks and CTAs for your SMS messaging campaigns, our team is ready to show you how SMS-Magic can make connecting with your customers easier and more effective with a demo or free trial!

To make your real estate chatbot an effective lead-qualifying tool, however, you need to structure it differently than your average customer service or troubleshooting chatbot. Here are 7 suggestions for creating an effective chatbot to help you find qualified buyers.

Brand your chatbot

To discourage your leads from thinking your real estate chatbot is a pesky pop-up ad, brand your chatbot and don’t be afraid to give it its own distinct personality. Think of your chatbot as a mascot for your business – friendly, approachable, and unique to your real estate agency. Get creative. If your agency specializes in beach-front properties, give your chatbot an appropriate name or identity, such as “Sandy the Assistant.” Your website is the digital version of your office, which makes your chatbot akin to your frontdesk receptionist. Set up your chatbot in that spirit.

Ask quick questions

A great way to immediately qualify your leads is to get the nitty-gritty details as soon as they enter the chat. These details include the zip codes they’re interested in, their budgets, their timelines, and other indicators that can give agents an idea of their buying intentions. With a system that saves all your conversations in a single customer record, agents can get the information they need to follow-up the chat, saving both the agent and the buyer time and money.

Keep it simple

When a potential buyer is seeking information through a chatbot, it’s likely because they’re not ready to pull the trigger. Keep your chatbot interactions simple and high-level and leave it to the real estate agent to ask more in-depth questions. Not every chatbot conversation will end with an introductory phone call or email with an agent. Sometimes it will be a virtual tour, information about financing or other resources that real estate agencies can offer. Your chatbot shouldn’t try to close sales; it should exist to assist customers with whatever they’re seeking.

Choose the right solution

Many chatbots are designed for customer service troubleshooting. You need to choose a provider whose chatbot services offer lead nurturing and can handle the nuance in conversations for potential buyers. Using sophisticated conversational branches and industry-tailored language, buyers feel like they’re getting information from a trusted resource rather than an automated robot.

Offer digital over personal

Potential buyers who are seeking out real estate information via chatbot are probably not ready to meet with an agent just yet. Program your real estate chatbots to offer more digital resources, rather than rushing them through to an agent. For instance, if a customer has indicated interest in a specific property, your chatbot should respond with a virtual tour, rather than an appointment request from an agent. Or if your customer says they are looking in the 90210 zip code, the chatbot should offer to send a link of listings specifically in that zip code. These can be sent via email or directly in the chat.

Measure and improve

Setting up your chatbot with all potential customer-inquiry scenarios should cover your bases, but out-of-the-ordinary requests or gaps in the conversational flow will happen. Regularly review conversation histories and inquiry-to-introduction turnover within your chatbot to ensure there aren’t hang-ups occurring in the conversational pipeline. You may also discover that customers are asking for information in an area you hadn’t thought of yet, giving you greater insight into what your buyers are looking for.

Never end without closure

If the chatbot conversation doesn’t reach a natural end, set up your chatbots to end with an offer for an agent to call. Chatbots are often programmed to wrap up conversations with “Did I answer all your questions today?” or something similar. If the answer is “no,” your chatbot should reply “Would you like for an agent to call you at [customer’s phone number]?” Offering a call from an agent – rather than providing the customer service email and phone number – is a much more personal and effective way to eliminate frustration among potential buyers and puts the power in their hands to decide next steps.

Chatbots don’t take the place of person-to-person interactions when a home buyer is working with a real-estate agent, but they can answer initial questions a buyer might have about a home. Chatbots can help you determine where a buyer is in the pipeline and help move them to the next level. Cahtbots are one more tool to handle routine inquiries, giving you the time you need to answer more complicated questions.

If you’re interested in learning more about SMS-Magic and chatbots, contact us!

Businesses are wise to offer payment via text to improve their accounts receivable turnover ratios. This ratio quantifies how well companies are managing the credit extended to customers and their outstanding debt collection through a specified accounting period. Although the standard for the accounts receivable turnover ratio varies by industry, the higher you can get your numbers, the better.

Companies with high accounts receivable turnover ratios indicate that they collect payments from customers quickly without long waiting periods. A better ratio means that a business has stronger cash flow, an important goal in any industry. Through conversational business texting, payment alerts can be issued and processed faster, directly boosting that ratio.

You might have questions about the security of messaging transactions, and that’s understandable. We have several specific suggestions for protecting your customers and your company, and we’ll discuss them in detail in a later blog.

In the meantime, here are some of the ways conversational messaging can improve your accounts receivable turnover ratio, bolster customer trust and streamline your team’s efficiency.

Add messaging to your payment methods

Adding text messaging as another way to receive payments is a no-lose situation. Your customers are free to use whatever method suits their needs best. Solutions like SMS-Magic offer great flexibility when it comes to the types of payments you can receive via text. You may decide that a multichannel strategy best suits your payment needs. If so, you can choose to send monthly payments via text, one-off purchases via email, and overdue notices via direct mail. The best combination is the one that creates payments.

Send payment reminders

Payment reminders are a key tactic for improving your account receivable turnover ratio. It’s good due diligence for your business, and it provides transparency for the customer to ensure they are not caught off guard. Simple text message reminders go a long way in keeping finances on track. 

Get your customers’ attention

Text messages have a 40% response rate, outperforming emails, phone calls, and direct mail. And while some customers may still prefer those methods to issue payments, younger generations prefer text messaging. Weave’s 2020 study found that 62% of buyers under age 35 would frequently or always pay with a text from their phone if they could. Mobile phones are  integral tools in day-to-day communication and are no longer limited to conversations between friends and family. Use text messaging to collect payments and effectively future-proof your company for evolving customer preferences.

Respond to questions

Customers who need clarification about their payments or charges can use text to clear the air. A 2014 industry survey found that 52% would be likely to text with a live customer support agent, and that the same percentage would prefer texting instead of their current method of reaching customer support. Customers who need bill or charge clarification can respond to their payment alerts via text. Bill transparency is an important element in building customer trust, and giving users the option to text questions quickly and conveniently will bolster loyalty in your organization.

Send reminders about overdue payments

Late payments cost small and mid-size businesses $3 trillion a year globally. A text reminder of upcoming payment due dates can prevent this, but it’s common for businesses to expect about 11% of their customer payments to be late. Financial mistakes can be sore spots for many customers, and texting can be a more comfortable method to discuss options instead of a phone call. If your business uses text messaging to seek overdue payments, take a gentle approach. Send your text message to late-paying customers to open the door for a conversation, rather than just alerting them of their late payment, which can come off as aggressive. Here’s an example of a softer approach:

“[first name], we noticed you didn’t make your latest payment. To discuss your options for payment plans or to adjust your services, reply HELP.”

Save time and cut costs

Sending texts is one of the most affordable ways to collect payments. Your organization won’t have to deal with the hassle of direct mail postage, delivery and manual entry of returned checks or payment slips. When a customer pays via text, their transaction is automatically processed through your financial institution, freeing up team members to focus on more value-based business efforts. And when you automate these text messages, you get customers on a regular payment schedule with little overhead from your team members.

These benefits all contribute to an improved accounts receivable turnover ratio. To implement text messaging into your payment collection channels, schedule a demo with SMS-Magic today.

How you implement conversational messaging, however, will depend on several factors. Here are our suggestions for evaluating your messaging readiness:

1. How many messages do you expect to send per month?
   SMS-Magic is a powerful tool, no matter how many messages you send, but our platform really shines as your volume increases. You can send thousands of text messages in just a few minutes, or you can send eye-catching multimedia files at a slightly slower pace. It’s easy to tailor your message volume to your goals and budget.

2. Do you work with a CRM like Salesforce or Zoho?
   If you send just a handful of messages each month, you can use SMS-Magic without using a customer relationship management tool like Salesforce or Zoho. If, however, you have conversations with more than a few clients or customers, a CRM can help you track your conversations, segment your delivery lists and customize your messaging campaigns. SMS-Magic is a top-rated partner for Salesforce and Zoho, and it integrates with them seamlessly.

3. Do you need to track all your conversations in one place?
   Once you’ve integrated messaging and your CRM, SMS-Magic will store all your messages to a single customer in one record. If you use a practice management tool like Litify, you can see the conversation history in Litify – there’s no need to open both applications. Accessing a conversation history allows contact centers to work more efficiently and reduces customer frustration. Customers don’t have to repeat their stories time and again because the conversation is available to the rep immediately.

4. Do all your employees need the ability to message?
   We can provide messaging access to all your employees – not just your marketing team – if that helps you respond to your customers faster. Some of the law firms that use SMS-Magic have found that empowering all their employees with messaging access allows their staff to respond to client questions and concerns, even if the lead attorney on the case is in court. The message history is available to everyone, so staff members can relay information to clients, follow-up on missing documents or send appointment reminders.

5. Do your employees need messaging access on the go
   The SMS-Magic Mobile App is a great solution when your staff members can’t be in the office. One of our customers, a property management company, has streamlined maintenance requests by converting to messaging. Tenants can use their preferred communication method to report maintenance issues, and staff members can respond promptly, even if they are visiting a property at the time. Because SMS-Magic is integrated into Salesforce for this customer, all conversations are stored for easy access back at the office.

You know how powerful conversational messaging can be. Your customers love it! They read 98% of the messages they receive and respond within three minutes to 95% of them. You can deliver a message at your convenience and your customer can respond at theirs.

Billions of people use messaging platforms like SMS, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp – allowing them to make payments, talk to their bankers, and submit applications from their mobile phones. Conversational messaging has become the preferred business communication channel around the world.

Are you ready to switch to conversational messaging? We’d like to help make your decision easier. Our customer support team would love to show you how SMS-Magic can make reaching your customers easier and more effective with a demo or a free trial!

As chief operating officer for Kwartler Manus, a personal injury law firm based in Philadelphia, Kwartler’s job is to help the firm’s staff convert prospects into clients. Often, he said, when people are seeking representation because of an injury, they contact several law firms to compare services and expertise. Law firms that can quickly connect with prospective clients have the best chance of earning their business.

When Kwartler started working with the firm three years ago, he realized that emails and phone calls were not the best way to start those relationships. He said it was difficult to get people on the phone.

“We’re all busy,” he said. “People can’t answer the phone right away or it’s inconvenient for them to return a message.”

Conversational text messaging, however, allows the firm to reach out quickly and personally. Clients can ask questions in a live interaction at their convenience.

Research about messaging shows that we prefer texts because globally we send 5 billion texts a day and open 98 percent of them. Conversely, we only open our emails 22 percent of the time, according to Gigaom. Research from Asurion shows that we look at our phones at least 96 times a day or once every 10 minutes or more. Kwartler knew that the firm’s prospective customers were just like the rest of us.

He said it was quickly apparent that his firm needed a conversational text messaging solution, and he contacted SMS-Magic. He chose SMS-Magic because it is integrated with Litify, his firm’s management software.

He was interested in getting the most out of both platforms by synching messaging with his management tools. He has had some advanced training with Salesforce and Litify and has become a Litify advocate. SMS-Magic is designed so that all client contacts are recorded in one place within the Litify environment. Anyone in the firm can see exactly what has been communicated, and they don’t have to open a second platform to do it.

“With SMS-Magic, we’re able to respond quickly to initial client queries via text,” he said. “We can start the conversation and tell the client who we are and then make sure we’re talking to the right person. It’s a conversation between the client and one person at the law firm. Clients really like the personalization.”

In addition to personalization, Kwartler Manus clients appreciate the quick response, as well as the opportunity to either move forward with their inquiry or end the contact altogether. And they really like handling it all without actually talking to anyone.

Everyone in the firm has a license to use SMS-Magic. “That way, if a principle or associate is in court, someone else can respond to the client,” Kwartler said.

Kwartler Manus doesn’t market by sending mass emails to potential clients. Instead, the firm includes space for phone numbers on ads and other materials prospective clients can return to the firm to indicate their interest. The firm uses phone numbers to contact prospects by text messaging.

“We wanted to start conversations.” Kwartler said, “So we wanted a texting platform that allowed us to have conversations with our clients. As a client’s case progresses, our staff can text them one-on-one.”

Working with SMS-Magic has been very easy, Kwartler said. He gives SMS-Magic high marks for creating a product that works well and then supporting it with engineers, developers and staff members who care about their customers.

“The SMS-Magic team responds to our texts right away,” he said. “They get back to us within an hour or two – at all times of day. When we’ve needed extra help, they’ve worked with us without the extra charges other companies use.”

After the dramatic initial increase in messages during the first three months – from 89 messages to 2,634 – Kwartler Manus has sent more than 182,850 conversational messages to its clients. The increase in usage has been steady and is currently averaging just under 7,000 messages a month. Kwartler said he couldn’t be happier with the integration of the two systems and the addition of messaging to the firm’s communications tools.

“Integrating SMS-Magic with Litify has given us a real competitive advantage,” he said. “It’s made life easier for our legal teams and has helped us serve our clients better.”

“I think the numbers will show that we’re converting more prospects and earning business we were leaving on the table before we made the switch,” he continued. “I highly recommend SMS-Magic to any law firm or company that needs fast, personal communication that’s trackable.”

If you’re interested in exploring how SMS-Magic can help you respond to your customers, book a DEMO or FREE TRIAL.