Seemingly simple requests, like a request to opt out of communications, can sometimes have expensive consequences. Fines for illegal text messages can range from $500 per text to $1,500. If you’re sending thousands of texts, fines can quickly become overwhelming due to non compliance.

More than that, however, is the desire to build trust between your company and your customers. Customers these days want a transparent look into your motives and methods. Asking permission before you send a text and honoring requests to stop sending texts are small ways to demonstrate transparency and care for your customer.

Michael Weinhouse, founder and co-CEO of Logical Position, wrote in a Forbes leadership article, “But as scary as the idea of transparency might seem, I know from experience that, in the long run, it’s good not only for your customers but also for your business. In addition to attracting new customers, transparency allows you to better serve your current ones, ensuring they stick with you.”

We think asking customers to opt into your messaging program will help make the world (and your business) a better place. It demonstrates the kind of respect we all want.

What Are the Rules?

In the United States, commercial text messages are governed by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The Federal Communications Commission established the act in 1992 to slow the stream of unwanted telemarketing calls. In the subsequent years, the TCPA has been expanded to include text messages, too.

Here is a quick guide from law firm Whitfield Bryson LLP outlining what is not allowed under the TCPA:

• Unsolicited Text Messages – businesses are not allowed to text consumers without their permission. If a consumer gives permission for texts, the first text you send to them should confirm their permission.

• Requesting Payment – businesses may not request payment or additional identifying information before revealing the actual message.

• Scrambled Messages – businesses must send readable texts. They may not scramble the message or use unintelligible audio.

• Do Not Call Registry – businesses must respect the Do Not Call registry established by the FCC and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

• Robocalling & Automated Dialing – businesses may not use robocalling to generate phone numbers or send text messages.

• Restrictions for Residential Numbers – businesses may no longer use an “established business relationship” as the basis for texting someone’s home number. That includes mobile phones that are used as home numbers.

So what should you do? Here are suggestions from Gleantap, a customer management platform created for the fitness industry:

• Receive consent before any message is sent
• Mention your company name in the first text
• Give the coupon or value proposition upfront
• Mention the frequency of messages that will be sent monthly
• Disclose possible carrier costs and fees
• Give an option to ask for help and opt out of future texts

How Can SMS-Magic Help You?

Our customers use messaging in a wide variety of applications in a wide variety of industries. No matter what industry you’re in – banking, higher education, hospitality, healthcare or others – SMS-Magic can make compliance a breeze. We’ll help you keep up with customer permissions as they opt-in (and perhaps opt-out) of your messaging campaigns.

SMS-Magic is designed to track opt-in and opt-out requests so that you send only to the customers who have specifically asked you to. Our back-end systems are structured so that we can display individual requests, and we can prove you’ve complied with customer requests. You won’t have to worry about regulators asking to see your records. We use on-going processes to collect and store information about distribution and can share it with regulators, if necessary.

Does SMS-Magic sound like the answer you’ve been looking for? We hope so!

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you why your compliance worries will disappear with SMS-Magic!

Research shows that 80% of sales require 5 follow-ups and 44% of reps give up after the first follow-up. On top of that, regular follow-up channels like email and calling have discouraging response rates. Customers want to communicate and respond on a channel that’s easy for them. The average American checks their phone 47 times a day. With text messaging, you can meet them where they are.

Integrating text messaging with your Salesforce CRM makes it easy for you to start engaging with your audience and responding to leads.

Faster response times. When you integrate SMS messages in Salesforce you’ll be able to respond faster to leads and customers. For leads, we know that the company who responds to an inquiry first gets the business over 40% of the time. And with customers, you’ll greatly improve satisfaction and loyalty by having quick responses.

Engage in multiple conversations simultaneously. Managing the regular influx of leads and inquiries while also keeping older leads engaged is a challenge all sales teams face. By integrating SMS with your CRM you are able to handle a higher volume of conversations each day. Reps can also quickly share resources and links from the ‘Resource Base’ saved within your CRM. This actively helps with providing customers and leads with relevant information based on the conversation.

Quickly access conversation history. It can be difficult to keep track of who said what to each prospect, what information has been shared, and how they’ve responded to interactions. By integrating text messaging with Salesforce you can easily access complete conversation history. This allows any rep, even if they have not been involved with a lead or customer before, to jump right into a conversation without anyone having to repeat questions or information.

Automating appointment reminders. Having no shows at meetings can be a huge waste of time and energy for reps. When you have text messaging integrated with your CRM you can automate appointment reminders, which cuts down on the number of no shows you encounter. By knowing the status of all meetings in advance, reps can optimize their time and spend their energy on promising leads.

Tracking engagement status. When you have your messaging programs integrated with Salesforce you can easily see the engagement of each interaction. By having this quick view you can set up campaigns to send them information based on their status. For example you could send a lead a discount code, a promotion, a reminder of an upcoming webinar or a specific case study geared towards their interest.

The Bottom Line

People want to use text messaging as a main form of communication with companies. If you’re not using it yet, you’re missing out on having personalized conversations with your customers and leads, ultimately driving more revenue for your business. And by integrating text messaging with Salesforce you’ll gain a competitive advantage because of how easy it is to have interactive conversations with your customers and leads.

If you have questions or would like to discuss how CRM integrated messaging can help your sales team, contact us or email at sales@sms-magic.com.