SMS for business: the channel people actually read

A text gets read within minutes; an email gets read when someone gets to it. For anything with a clock on it, a new lead, a reminder, a quote that is about to expire, text is the channel that works.

It is also the channel that is easiest to get wrong. Done well, people appreciate it. Done badly, it is spam from a number they block. The difference is consent, timing and tone.

The leak

The reminder went out by email and sat unread under forty other emails. The appointment was missed anyway. The channel was wrong, not the message.

The number it moves

Reply time, no-show rate and repeat rate: the numbers that depend on being read.

Where text wins

The first reply to a new lead, within a minute.
Reminders the day before and the hour before.
A quote or a payment link, with one tap to act.
A review request the evening a job is done.
On my way messages for in-person work.

The rules

People opt in: by enquiring, by booking, or by ticking a box. The system records when and how.
Every message says who it is from, and STOP always works.
Quiet hours: nothing before 8 am or after 8 pm local time, unless the customer started the conversation.
Few messages. A sequence is two or three texts, not ten.

What we build

A business number that is yours, usually on Twilio, with the opt-in and STOP handling registered properly so messages are delivered rather than filtered. The sequences themselves, written with you. Two-way replies that land in the CRM, so a text back becomes a conversation instead of a dead end.

What it looks like on the leak map

Text moves the gates with a clock on them: replies in time and bookings that happen. The illustrative model shows those two gates moving from 40% and 50% to 60% and 60%, which is most of the difference between 4 customers a month and 11.

Questions, answered.

Will texting customers make us look pushy?

Two reminders and one review request is what people expect from a dentist or a delivery. Pushy is ten marketing texts a month, which we do not build.

Do we need a separate phone?

No. The business number lives in the system and forwards to whoever is on. Replies show up in the CRM and in your inbox or Slack.

What does it cost to send?

Fractions of a cent per message at this scale. The number itself is a few dollars a month. Both are passed through at cost.

Related guides, and the work they come from.

Find your biggest leak

Free, 30 minutes, and you keep the findings.

Book a leak audit