How SMS Texting Software Can Improve Financial Businesses?

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Financial businesses or organizations providing financial services include insurance companies, banks, financial advisors, and loan providers. These organizations need customers to use their services to improve their business. For this, they need to regularly engage with customers and promote their services. There are different ways in which this can be done. One of the most effective ways is using SMS texting software. The use of SMS as a means for marketing communications can be very beneficial for financial companies.

SMS is preferred by customers since it is non-intrusive. Text messages are ready by more than 97% of recipients making it the best way to reach out to customers. It is also easy and cost effective to use SMS for marketing. A company can buy or subscribe to SMS texting software. This software can be used to send bulk text messages to customers at the click of a mouse. The following explains how financial businesses can benefit from SMS texting:

Finance companies can broaden their reach

A finance company, whether it is a bank or an advisory firm needs more customers to grow. This can be done by contacting prospective customers and informing them about their services. A finance company can do this by sending a text message. A general text message blast can be sent to all leads and inquiries introducing the company and talking about its services. This is a good brand promotion exercise. The message can carry an introductory offer to motivate the recipient to visit the company offline or online.

Marketing campaigns can be run online

A finance company can run a marketing campaign by inviting customers to subscribe to its services, open a bank account, avail of a loan, buy an insurance product, or avail of advisory services. Special offers can be given to customers to encourage them to avail of the service. All this information can easily be sent through email. A discount or a free trial service can be offered and the details sent through SMS. Customers can visit the branch and show the message to get the offer. Those who offer online services can provide a web link in the SMS using which a customer can avail of the service online.

Offer services through SMS

A financial company can offer its services through SMS. For example, customers who want a loan can send an SMS indicating the loan amount they want. The sales representative can then contact the customer for further processing. Similarly, an insurance company can send details of its products and ask the customer to reply indicating the product they want. The company can send more details of the policy through subsequent messages.

An SMS is not merely one-way communication but can be used as interactive communication. Companies can engage with customers using SMS. The use of keywords can help in this. The message can contain the keyword the customer needs to use. When a message is received using this keyword, the SMS texting software can be configured to automatically send reply messages. 

Send alerts and reminders frequently

Financial services would require regular financial transactions. An insurance product requires premium amounts to be paid. Investment advisors require investment amount to be credited along with their advisory fees. Banks may require a minimum balance to be maintained. All these transactions can be made easier through SMS. Alerts can be sent to customers reminding them of payments due, account balance, maturity due dates, etc. Such information is important for customers and SMS can be used to send this information instantly. 

Confirmation messages can be sent

Whenever financial transactions occur, it is important to confirm them. For instance, if a client decides to sell shares or withdraw money from an account, a confirmation SMS is required. This needs to be sent so that complete updates on the account are communicated to customers. The other key benefits of sending such confirmation messages are that they can help spot financial frauds immediately. 

Generally, people perceive that SMS is all about bulk messaging. It is possible to even send personalized messages. Messages with information on account balance is a personalized message sent only to the account holder. Even other messages sent can be personalized by adding the name of the customers or account number or other such details. Such personalized messages help the company to create a better rapport with customers. 

Send useful information

Financial services companies need to send regular information to clients. Eg: Stock market performance report, account statement, etc. All these can be sent using SMS in brief. For example, latest news regarding the stock market can be sent at the end of the day through a text message. Banks can send information on policy changes, loan agencies can send information on changed interest rates, and advisory firms can send information on new investment products.

Get feedback from customers

For a business to succeed, it is important to satisfy customers. This is possible by first understanding if customers are happy and then taking corrective measures to make them happy. This can be done through feedback. SMS can be used to get feedback from customers instantly and to find out areas for improvement. An SMS message can be sent after every major transaction to get feedback. Alternatively, feedback can be sent at specified durations (half-yearly or annually). 

A text message can be sent with question(s). Customers can reply with the rating. For example, if they send 1, it means they rate the service as poor, whereas if they send 5, it means they rate it as excellent. In this way, quick feedback can be obtained. Even detailed feedback is possible by creating a web form and sending the link to all customers through SMS.  

The tips given in this article explain how financial services companies can improve their business by using text messaging. All that is required is a database of customers and SMS texting software. At a fraction of the cost spent on other methods, SMS texting can help ensure better results.