At the start of the 2010 year an extensive UK mobile survey was carried out by Dialogue Communications with some positive results for the future of text messaging in business. Some findings were:
Over 67% of mobile users would like to receive reminders or alerts by text for everything from medical appointments to bill payments
60% would choose to opt in for the text reminder service.
Only a tiny 3% of people currently receive reminders by text
However, a staggering 83% are sent through the post.
To help us understand what these figures mean in real life, they also shared the reasons behind the answers from the participants.
The major reason why people wanted to move away from postal reminders towards SMS message reminders was that it was more convenient. With the majority of people keeping their mobile phones with them most of the time text messages are a good way of communicating a short reminder as the message will then be stored on the phone for future reference, and respondents considered they were generally more reliable then the post. Others reasons included being more environmentally friendly, and – with smartphones – easier to sync and update their calendars there and then.
Is SMS good for me and my business?
Okay, so our customer wants to receive text message updates, but is SMS good for our business? In a one word answer, yes!
To begin with if you are doing something your customer wants, and we all know when we do something our customer wants, the benefits always come back to us in word of mouth, customer perception and loyalty. Secondly, what about the bottom line? How much does it cost you to currently send out a reminder in the post? You have the paper, the ink, the packaging and don’t forget the postage cost as well. payment reminder These all add up pretty quickly. However, with a text message at from anywhere from 10p -12p (depending upon your provider, and only 8p from CLIM8.NET) the cost is very low, you still get your message across and you can even say you are being more environmentally friendly by doing so.
Guiom Peersman, managing director of Dialogue Communications, commented: “People text all the time and the survey shows they are more than happy to use it beyond normal social networking. With 67 per cent of our study participants happy to receive SMS reminders, and only three per cent currently doing so, our findings show that service organisations now need to be aware of this need and respond to it.”
With the launch of our SMS facility into our Web Based CRM Software we have seen this trend grow, but it is always great to read stats like this to support what we know about SMS and that it is a communication channel that our contacts and customers really want. So if you’ve been feeling unsure about whether to use a bulk SMS service, now might be the time the act.
