Franchises should consider using SMS messaging

SMS messaging offers franchise operations the opportunity to send out individual or group messages in a few seconds and deliver these messages to the cellphones of a targeted list of contacts. With a bulk SMS costing less than a standard SMS, communications can be done in an affordable way.

“SMS messaging is growing as an accepted business communications tool in South Africa. Franchises are well placed to take advantage of this mobile channel,” says Dr Pieter Streicher, managing director of BulkSMS.com, a global mobile messaging provider headquartered in Cape Town.

Sending messages to one or many contact’s cellphones ensures that you can keep customers, supplier, staff and business partners in the loop with relevant and up-to-date information about a business process (such as a delivery), products and services.

There are three ways that SMS messaging can enhance business communications within a franchise operation: it provides a specific channel for the franchisor to send notifications to the franchisee; it increases operational efficiencies; and it can be used to market products and services to customers.

Enabling better inter-franchise communications

Franchisors can use SMS to alert or notify branches of new sales and training opportunities or simply keep franchisees up to date on matters relating to the franchise.

· A restaurant franchise may send an SMS to all restaurant owners notifying them to check their email for new recipes, updated menu items, or promotions.

· A courier operation uses SMS to keep all franchisees up to date on transport problems that may affect the delivery of items.

Increasing business efficiencies within franchise operation

One area where SMS messaging is providing value for businesses is in increasing internal operational efficiencies. This translates into better service levels, happier customers, and cost savings for the franchise.

· A printing business sends messages to their clients when printed goods are ready for collection.

· A car repair specialist sends an SMS a customer updating on progress with repairs or when the vehicle will be ready for collection.

· A courier service offers an SMS alert to the sender to track the progress or delivery of a parcel.

· A plumbing or gardening service confirms appointments with customers.

· A childcare service reminds parents about when fees are due, inform parents when their child is ill, or when the school will be closing for the holidays.

Effectively marketing products and services

An area where SMS messaging is on the rise is mobile marketing - the sending of marketing messages about products and services directly to customers’ cellphones.

Franchises need to bear in mind that they only contact customers that have explicitly requested marketing communications in the form of an SMS. In upholding consumer privacy, it is best to adhere to the hard opt-in rule when adding a number to a database. This means customers confirm that they agree to receive commercial messages on their cellphone at the point of sale or through a promotional campaign.

There are many types of mobile marketing campaigns that use bulk messaging to alert customers to specials or promotions:

· A gourmet food company uses bulk messaging to alert food-lovers about new recipes or food promotions.

· A dieting company keeps customers motivated by subscribing them to a health tip sent weekly to their cellphone.

· A travel agency sends out reminders to their customers about promotions on new holiday destinations and tours.

Weekly in October, Textually will be promoting BulkSMS, a company providing solutions to send and receive single and bulk SMS messages using the Internet, covering 700 networks globally.

SMS messaging boosts online accommodation bookings

The benefit of SMS messaging has allowed SafariNow.com, an innovative Cape Town based online accommodation booking service, to successfully boost service excellence in the tourism industry.

“SafariNow uses SMS to complement email bookings as people do not always have easy access to emails or may not regularly check their emails. In looking for something that allowed for a quicker response time we found SMS to be the most effective way of reaching people,” says Riaad Nordien, technical manager at SafariNow.

The company deployed SMS alongside email notifications to accommodation providers alerting them of a new online booking enquiry. These communications direct establishment owners to the SafariNow website to complete the booking process. This has resulted in improved quality of service within the hospitality sector by ensuring quicker turnaround times in converting bookings into confirmed bed-nights.

The SafariNow travel booking website has booked over 1 million bed-nights since its launch in January 1999. It offers international and domestic travelers a means of searching, selecting and securing a booking with a range of establishments in a number of African destinations. By reviewing booking options from B&B’s and backpackers to guesthouses and safari lodges, travelers are able to make informed travel plans and secure their bookings via the Internet or by calling the company’s customer service centre.

“Once an accommodation owner or seeker registers on the SafariNow website there is an option to receive SMS notifications. What we have found is that there has been a significant uptake of the SMS alert service among both our clients and customers. A total of 65% of all our business communications use SMS,” says Nordien.

Automated and scheduled messaging are key requirements

On the cutting edge of digital technologies, SafariNow turned to SMS early in its history. Five years ago, after a review of per message pricing and technical offerings, the company decided on the electronic application programming interface (EAPI) solution provided by BulkSMS.com, a global SMS messaging service provider with headquarters in Cape Town.

“SafariNow chose the BulkSMS EAPI (SMS API) to send automatic SMS notifications. Their ready-made SMS solution enables us to send a message to the relevant party and to keep a record of the message delivery status,” says Nordien. This enables SafariNow to keep an audit trail of each SMS sent out via the BulkSMS EAPI.

Besides key tracking and reporting functionality for notifications of booking enquiries, the BulkSMS messaging system and gateway also met two other SafariNow key requirements. The Bulk SMS gateway had to offer the ability to send SMS’s internationally as SafariNow operates in numerous countries and has clients from all over the world. In addition, the messaging solution needed to support scheduled messaging to ensure that an SMS is received at the time of a client or customer’s own choosing.

The latter requirement emerged from client feedback. According to Nordien, “SafariNow previously had complaints from clients who received confirmation messages in the middle of the night. With the built-in scheduling application, clients can now choose at what time during the day they wish to receive notifications of a booking made online.”

SMS is good for business

In stimulating efficiencies within its market, Safarinow is also improving its bottom-line. Its online pay-as-you-use business model benefits from increasing the frequency of converting online enquiries for accommodation into firm bookings.

“Once a client makes an online booking, SafariNow establishes contact between the owner of the accommodation and the client. The faster they respond to each other the more business SafariNow gets to do,” says Nordien.

There is a further business case for adopting an automated SMS messaging solution. According to Nordien, SafariNow has been able to improve its overall customer service as clients receive instant notifications. The company has also saved time and money by staff not having to call people manually.

He goes on to say, “If we had to follow up with clients by way of phone calls, we would have had to hire more people for our customer service centre.” SafariNow has a staff of about 20 people of which 10 are involved in customer service.

The company’s online booking system has received several accolades from the tourism and technology sectors. The company won the Jump E-commerce Award in 2006 and 2007 for the best travel booking website in South Africa. In 2007 SafariNow was the recipient of the Bed and Breakfast Association of Namibia Award.

Weekly in October, Textually will be promoting BulkSMS, a company providing solutions to send and receive single and bulk SMS messages using the Internet, covering 700 networks globally.

Send and Receive Text Messages with BulkSMS

BulkSMS provides solutions to send and receive single and bulk SMS messages using the Internet, covering 700 networks globally.

Here are some ideas for using sms by BulkSMS:

Banking. SMS services enable banks to provide better customer service. These include sending transaction notifications, balances summaries or statement notifications or information services such as rates and special offers.

Bidding: SMS services extend the functionality of auctions services to the mobile/wireless devices such as mobile bidding and special interest alerts.

Company: SMS services to help a company stay in touch with their staff and customers by sending meeting confirmations, important notices, incentive messages and product announcements.

Credit Card: SMS services to notify when purchases are made, of current balances and special offers.

Financial: SMS services to send portfolio information, stock quotes, price alerts and news headlines.

Groups: SMS services to help groups communicate with each other about activities, meeting and special interest information.

Locate: SMS services offering driving directions, yellow pages, street address directory, e-taxi, traffic delays and flight arrival/departure updates.

Marketing: SMS services to support marketing campaigns and promotional activities via coupons, special offers and incentives.

Personal Info: SMS services offering reminders for birthdays, anniversaries, festivals, gifts, public holidays, bill payments, meetings, tasks & events.

101 Business Uses for SMS

Clickatell's 37 page guide reviews 101 innovative ways to use text messaging in your business and successfully:

* Reduce business costs
* Increase revenue
* Increase customer satisfaction

WHAT'S INSIDE?

Find out how SMS is being used for:

* Sales, Products and Marketing
* Customer Services and Relationship Management
* Business Process Management and Internal Administration
* Information Technology and System Administration
* Transport and Logistics
* Travel and Tourism
* Financial Services
* Social Networking

Clickatell And Social Networking

Clickatell's global text messaging service has also been used successfully for social networking. Below is a case study of a company called Mobiluck, a fast growing mobile location-based social network with over 1 million mobile members and 5,000 new people joining daily from all over the world.

Available on all cell phones and PCs, in all countries, on all operator networks, and without any download, Mobiluck allows people to find nearby people, places and events, sorted by distance. In just a minute, people and businesses can create a free mobile webpage in order to be easily found on the mobile web.

Mobiluck were looking for a global provider, which could offer quick and reliable global SMS delivery at a suitable price point.

Mobiluck chose to integrate with Clickatell's cost effective, reliable and simple to implement SMS API solution, which offered them the reliable global reach, performance and price point they required.

The Results

With Clickatell's truly global reach, Mobiluck is able to extend its mobile communications channel to 790 networks spanning 220 countries enabling them to deliver millions of monthly SMS alerts around the world.

Mobiluck members now receive free Clickatell-powered SMS alerts to inform them of interesting events such as nearby friends or recent profile views.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Clickatell Case Study: Schuh

Discover how fashion-forward retailers can establish leadership through mobile messaging, thanks to Clickatell.

SMS offers new opportunities for retailers to better interact with their customers. Taking advantage of this opportunity, fashion leaders such as Schuh - a UK footwear retailer - have adopted new mobile messaging and marketing programs and have seen direct increases in retail sales as a result.

Schuh understood that through simple, low cost, targeted mobile marketing campaigns, both online and in-store customers would always be given the earliest opportunity to participate in competitions, brand promotions or upcoming sales.In addition, Schuh used SMS to inform customers in real-time of orders and deliveries.

How it was done

Schuh integrated their existing software with their choice of Clickatell’s broad range of API solutions including sample code scripting and customer support to make it easy for a user to integrate SMS messaging into eCommerce websites and back-end systems. Within a short space of time, Schuh had successfully integrated messaging into their customer-facing applications and business processes and were ready to start sending SMS messages.

You can download the case study here (pdf)

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Clicktaell Case Study: Homeworker.ch

Clickatell's messaging services are used by more than 22,000 customers and 8,000 business customers across the globe. Below is a case study of how a Swiss based company used Clickatell to communicate with it's at-home work force and customers.

Homeworker.ch is the Swiss online market place for specialists working from home. Their platform offers translations, legal advice, export handling, security advice, computer support, advertising, marketing and sales support.

Thanks to customized profiles and interactive rating, Homeworker.ch offers a great deal of transparency when it comes to choosing a specialist. The different opportunities for interaction (such as specialist rating and messaging) facilitate the buying of advantageous business services and allow for a swift complementing of expertise.

The Situation

The specialists were often not able to respond in time as they do not spend all their time in front of the computer.

The Solution

By making use of Clickatell's HTTP API service, an alert system was set up allowing specialists to be contacted via SMS as soon as a query pertaining to them was submitted.

The Results

With the SMS service from Clickatell Homeworker.ch now has a faster response rate and more satisfied customers. In addition Homeworker.ch is now receiving more website traffic and better matches.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Clickatell Case Study for Customer Service

Dependable customer service is the key to every successful business. In this case study, SMS gateway company Clickatell explains how they set up a text messaging system for Dawsons Music Stores.

The company was looking for a solution that would allow for timely customer collections of repaired goods. "We wanted to allow our sales people to quickly and reliably inform customers when their repaired goods are ready for collection".

How it was done:

All Dawsons outlets utilise an .ASP based repairs system running on their Intranet. When a repair is booked back into the store (either from an external repairer or even when it has been repaired internally) the system sends a text message to the customer to let them know their goods are ready. It is customised for each store (with their own number) and even includes the Repair ID number instructing the customer to call the shop prior to collection quoting that ID number. The shops do not have to do anything more. The only requirement is that they capture the customers mobile number at time of booking in the repair.

Dawsons' customers are happier and better informed. According to Mark Fletcher, Dawsons IT Director, "repairs can be quite a negative subject but by having this level of service our customers are made to feel special."

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Clickatell NHS Healthcare Case Study

Clickatell's text messaging service is used by more than 8,000 business customers across the globe. Below is one example of how Clickatell has been used successfully for UK's National Health Service (NHS), allowing people needing healthcare information to access it via SMS.

The SMS-based service allows subscribers to access a wealth of health information via text message. Users can create their own profile by filling out an online questionnaire focused on common health issues. Subscribers will then receive information and advice via SMS on health issues pertinent to their profile, such as information on drinking, smoking and much more. Alternatively, users can send the system any particular health related text or phrase to receive facts on a range of topics such as obesity, safe sex or useful information such as the contact details for a 24-hour pharmacy.

The Results

The costs involved in printing and distributing information in traditional printed form can vary and actual penetration into the target audience is often less than 1%. By comparison SMS messages cost mere pennies and are targeted directly to the mobile phone of the user and so have a penetration into the target audience of +90%. This simple example shows a saving of between 50-60% in production and distribution of key messages using SMS as a delivery system.

SMS has allowed healthcare organizations to deliver health information on demand 24 hours a day directly to the mobile phone of the person who needs the information - This is powerful and often life changing.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Clickatell E-Commerce Case study

Clickatell's service is used by more than 22,000 customers and 8,000 business customers across the globe. Below is one example of how Clickatell has been used successfully for e-commerce.

Mama Mikes is an online store catering to Africans who live abroad. The virtual online store allows them to purchase gifts (chocolates, flowers, text books, electronics...), vouchers (food, electricity), and services (airtime, tuition) for their family, friends and loved ones based at home.

Unique or monthly payment orders can be set up online, enabling families left behind to buy groceries from local stores across Kenya and Uganda or to make phone calls. Mobile vouchers and credits are automatically loaded onto a mobile phone via SMS.

Why Clickatell?

Before using Clickatell, the company was receiving a number of orders online on a monthly basis, but had particularly high overheads when it came to informing gift recipients via phone call that they need to collect their goods. As a result the company opted to use SMS text notifications instead.

Mama Mikes selected Clickatell as their SMS provider, choosing to integrate the HTTP API product for simple integration with Clickatell's SMS gateway. Using the API, the company was able to send automated notifications at a fraction of the cost of a phone call to inform recipients in East Africa when gifts or vouchers needed to be collected.

The Results:

Greater productivity. The task of calling or sending clients SMS was moved to the web, allowing Mama Mikes' staff more time to attend to customer needs.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Send SMS From Your Computer with Clickatell

Leading SMS messaging provider Clickatell offers a cost efficient and speedy solution for communicating by SMS from your computer.

Called Communicator, it's a web-based application that lets you send SMS messages directly from your web browser and receive replies. You can message them individually or in groups, wherever they are and whenever you want.

-- Communicator is perfect for small businesses and entrepreneurs as it makes it simple for you to market instantly to your customers or members, or alert them to offers, deals, meetings or changes to arrangements.

-- If you're working in a corporate environment, Communicator is an excellent browser-based intranet tool for internal messaging.

-- Or as an individual, you can use it to manage and send text messages to your family and friends.

View the demo to see how it works.

What does it cost?

There's no charge of any kind for using the Communicator product. To send messages via Communicator you need simply to purchase message credits. The cost of these varies depending on the volume purchased and the amount used per message depends on the destination.

A convenient calculator helps you work out your message costs.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of editorial ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.

Clickatell Shortcode SMS Messaging

If you are considering a marketing campaign using text messaging, think no further than Clickatell's short code messaging solution.

It's one of the options offered by the world's leading SMS messaging provider Clickatell, to enable marketers not only to reach their customers on a one-to-one basis, but to earn revenue from text messaging campaigns as well.

Shortcode messaging is where a mobile recipient is charged at a standard or premium rate (depending on the country) for either receiving or sending a message; usually in return for specific content or a service, such as competitions, news, weather reports, mobile marketing, fund raising...

Forrester Research has shown that SMS is one of the most responsive marketing communications mediums, with 5 times better response rates than direct marketing.

Find out more about how Clickatell can be used in your business by reading their industry success stories.

Throughout September, Textually will be promoting Clickatell through a series of ads that will highlight some of their specific services tailored to governments, industry, retailers, social networks and individuals, helping them do business smarter and faster - not only controlling costs but driving more revenue too.