Use Business SMS services for Customer Loyalty and Retention

<h1>Use Business SMS services for Customer Loyalty and Retention</h1>Author: <a title="Ann Wilkinson" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/ann-wilkinson/183881.htm">Ann Wilkinson</a> In today’s economic climate, retaining a loyal customer base is even more important as competitors fight for market share and businesses work to keep their operating costs down. To remain competitive, every business needs to build customer loyalty and retain those hard-won customers. After all, it costs on average, three times more to acquire new customers that it does to keep an existing one. Customer loyalty and retention are central for increasing business revenue. Studies have shown that by increasing customer retention, a company’s profits can grow dramatically. A study by the global business consulting firm, Baines and Company concluded “A 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%.” One way companies can encourage customer loyalty and retention is by using Business SMS to communicate with them. Businesses are realising SMS is the ideal to communicate with customers as its immediate, discreet, has high readership (over 98%), is cheaper than the phone and direct mail, and it encourages an immediate response. Moreover, the mobile phone is one of the best devices for contacting with people, as they tend to have it with them at all times. So how can a business use SMS to improve customer loyalty and retention? Here’s just a few ideas of how SMS can be used for customer loyalty: <ul> <li>Regular SMS communication keeps your brand in the minds of your customers </li> <li>Provide excellent Customer Service. Get your customer service team to communicate via SMS with customers. </li> <li>Use SMS to confirm appointment times, reducing no show rates and therefore your costs. </li> <li>Encourage repeat purchase by sending timely reminders – such as insurance renewals, garage services etc. </li> <li>Send last-minute promotions via SMS to boost demand for your products and services. </li> <li>Use SMS to confirm delivery time of goods. </li> <li>Reinforce and build brand recognition and awareness through SMS marketing campaigns. </li> <li>Allow your customers to send SMS messages back to you. SMS lends itself to 2-way communication with customers. </li> <li>For many people today, SMS is their preferred method of communication and if you don’t offer this channel your customer may go to a competitor that does. </li> </ul> So you’ve decided that a Business SMS service is for you. But which method do you choose to send SMS? Send SMS from the Web: Web SMS <ul> <li>Web SMS is ideal if you need access on the move, as you can send SMS from any web-enabled PC. </li> <li>No software to download, no integration needed. </li> <li>Buy SMS online and you can send SMS messages straight away.</li> <li>Web SMS is straightforward to use and no training is required. </li> <li>An ideal Online SMS solution for bulk messaging, simply upload and send. </li> </ul> Send SMS by Email: Email SMS <ul> <li>An Email to SMS service allows you to send and receive SMS from almost any email software. </li> <li>Allows for rapid rollout to a large number of people within the organisation e.g. call centre. </li> <li>It’s ideal if you don’t want your staff to have internet access. </li> </ul> Send SMS from PC: <a href="http://www.esendex.co.uk/Services/PC-SMS">PC SMS </a> <ul> <li>It’s ideal for day to day communication with colleagues. </li> <li>‘Always on’ so there’s no need to login to a separate application. </li> </ul> Send SMS from your business applications and websites: SMS API <ul> <li>The SMS API service allows you to automate the sending and receiving of SMS messages by integrating SMS services directly with business applications, websites or other software. </li> <li>Some SMS providers offer kits of development fully compatible with and to download directly and free like: ASP, ASP. NET, C++, C#, Delphi, Java, PHP, VB.NET o Visual Basic. </li> </ul> If you are looking for an SMS provider to send Business SMS, take a free trial first so you can test the reliability of the SMS service.About the Author: Ann Wilkinson is Marketing Manager for Esendex, international SMS Services provider. We provide the free tools to send and receive SMS via Web SMS, PC SMS, <a href="http://www.esendex.co.uk/Services/Email-SMS"> Email SMS </a> or integrate your websites or apps directly with our SMS API.Article Source: <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/">ArticlesBase.com</a> - <a href="http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/use-business-sms-services-for-customer-loyalty-and-retention-1022121.html" title="Use Business SMS services for Customer Loyalty and Retention">Use Business SMS services for Customer Loyalty and Retention</a>

In today’s economic climate, retaining a loyal customer base is even more important as competitors fight for market share and businesses work to keep their operating costs down. To remain competitive, every business needs to build customer loyalty and retain those hard-won customers. After all, it costs on average, three times more to acquire new customers that it does to keep an existing one.

Customer loyalty and retention are central for increasing business revenue. Studies have shown that by increasing customer retention, a company’s profits can grow dramatically. A study by the global business consulting firm, Baines and Company concluded “A 5% increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75%.”

One way companies can encourage customer loyalty and retention is by using Business SMS to communicate with them. Businesses are realising SMS is the ideal to communicate with customers as its immediate, discreet, has high readership (over 98%), is cheaper than the phone and direct mail, and it encourages an immediate response. Moreover, the mobile phone is one of the best devices for contacting with people, as they tend to have it with them at all times.

So how can a business use SMS to improve customer loyalty and retention? Here’s just a few ideas of how SMS can be used for customer loyalty:

Regular SMS communication keeps your brand in the minds of your customers
Provide excellent Customer Service. Get your customer service team to communicate via SMS with customers.
Use SMS to confirm appointment times, reducing no show rates and therefore your costs.
Encourage repeat purchase by sending timely reminders – such as insurance renewals, garage services etc.
Send last-minute promotions via SMS to boost demand for your products and services.
Use SMS to confirm delivery time of goods.
Reinforce and build brand recognition and awareness through SMS marketing campaigns.
Allow your customers to send SMS messages back to you. SMS lends itself to 2-way communication with customers.
For many people today, SMS is their preferred method of communication and if you don’t offer this channel your customer may go to a competitor that does.

So you’ve decided that a Business SMS service is for you. But which method do you choose to send SMS?

Send SMS from the Web: Web SMS

Web SMS is ideal if you need access on the move, as you can send SMS from any web-enabled PC.
No software to download, no integration needed.
Buy SMS online and you can send SMS messages straight away.
Web SMS is straightforward to use and no training is required.
An ideal Online SMS solution for bulk messaging, simply upload and send.

Send SMS by Email: Email SMS

An Email to SMS service allows you to send and receive SMS from almost any email software.
Allows for rapid rollout to a large number of people within the organisation e.g. call centre.
It’s ideal if you don’t want your staff to have internet access.

Send SMS from PC: PC SMS

It’s ideal for day to day communication with colleagues.
‘Always on’ so there’s no need to login to a separate application.

Send SMS from your business applications and websites: SMS API

The SMS API service allows you to automate the sending and receiving of SMS messages by integrating SMS services directly with business applications, websites or other software.
Some SMS providers offer kits of development fully compatible with and to download directly and free like: ASP, ASP. NET, C++, C#, Delphi, Java, PHP, VB.NET o Visual Basic.

If you are looking for an SMS provider to send Business SMS, take a free trial first so you can test the reliability of the SMS service.

Ann Wilkinson is Marketing Manager for Esendex, international SMS Services provider. We provide the free tools to send and receive SMS via Web SMS, PC SMS, Email SMS or integrate your websites or apps directly with our SMS API.

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Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/use-business-sms-services-for-customer-loyalty-and-retention-1022121.html

Article Tags: Sms Api, Sms Service, Business Sms, Email SMS, PC SMS

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