With the increase of business appointments in various sectors, customer service becomes evidently important, especially interaction at every step. For businesses in the healthcare segment and consultancy, you have to deal with a huge number of customers each day. Confirming them their time of appointment and ensuring there is no time lag between the said time slot, business owners prefer sending SMS for confirmation. There are some other ways to confirm appointments, say via e-mail or calls. But SMS rule over anything else since there are a lot of advantages. Let’s analyze the reasons why SMS is preferred as a mode of confirmation, rather than anything else.
• They are automatically sent: Instead of calling your customers for appointment reminders, it’s easier to send them a message template. Message templates are now a trend and are sent from business texting software. Especially for business in hospitals, education, and other related platforms, this is a very compatible method. The procedure of selection is quite simple as you have to choose the template for SMS, then indicate the frequency, timing, and then ready to go. Calling or typing messages are backdates and time-consuming. The present trend of template messages saves your time, and you have to choose the package that best suits you.
• SMS is read by everybody: Unlike e-mail messages, or WhatsApp messages, SMS is easily sent to the client and even supported by the oldest form of phones. Here, there is no requirement to download any application, still, you may see the messages. In fact, statistics have shown that SMS is ready by most people and that is read multiple times a day. Since another application-based digital service requires buying data, the procedure of sending messages via SMS is preferred over anything else.
• Instant communication occurs: It’s been an observation that 90% of the messages are read within 3 minutes of receiving. In fact, e-mail messages are read once to twice a day by the recipients. So, for cases of emergency confirmation and messages, SMS services are chosen for a text reminder. Customers might be a bit reluctant to answer calls that correspond to appointment confirmation as it demands their precious time. But SMS is seen and is answered spontaneously.
• Easy adding to the client’s phone calendar: A message template is quite handy and can be saved to a client’s calendar at the moment of getting received. If you mail or call, the client has to take the time to answer calls or might be taking a moment to remove his pen/ papers and then note the message. In certain cases, it’s seen that the client might forget the messages entirely, as noting down slips from his mind totally.
• Handy and can be referred later: Simple SMS is quite handy and reminds the client about the time of booking, and also the source of reminder. Sending SMS is quite accurate and there are no chances of human errors. The details are already typed on the message and they are simply being sent to individuals. In fact, in case you are required to bring any documents for referral, that is clearly mentioned in the SMS, which is quite handy. Customers save time re-finding the text and useful information.
• Certain to be delivered: Once you have sent an SMS, you can be certain that it will deliver the right place. In fact, there is no beating around the bush; no chances of typo error, and there are no causes of getting the message in the spam box of e-mail. In fact, SMS is more accessible and doesn’t interrupt to the environment of a noisy office. Your client doesn’t require a ‘pin-drop silence’ atmosphere to pay attention to the phone call. Template messages are cost-efficient and also time-efficient.
• They reach as private messages: SMS are encrypted messages and they offer full privacy to the person reading it. In fact for calls, one has to find a private place to answer, because there are people who feel uncomfortable discussing business in front of others. The time lag between sending a text reminder and receiving is much lesser in the case of SMS compared to any other means like e-mail or calls.
means like e-mail or calls.
While writing messages to your client, there are certain facts that are to be kept in mind are:
•Keeping your messages short and more importantly to the point.
•Language should be very simple and easy to use.
•You may remind your customers to bring any paperwork along with them, which is essential for the purpose of the visit.
•You have the opportunity of asking your customers by answering your messages by a simple, ‘Y’ or ‘N’.
•You may send messages anytime in the afternoon between 12 pm and 5 pm.
With the progress in business and communication, the process of interaction with customers is facilitated with various template usage. Business owners have understood how by using a text message reminder, their purpose can be solved and business could be eased.
