The A2P Text-Messaging Workbook

The A2P SMS-messaging workbook 1

5 ways to be there for your customers

The A2P text-messaging workbook

Keep the flames burning

Deeply personal questions have no place at the start of business workbooks. But in this instance, we’d like to make a very small exception.

So we’re just going to come right out and say it.

Are you ready? Here goes…How do you keep the flame burning in our relationships?

OK, we know – totally inappropriate. So let’s rephrase:

How do you ensure you’re always there to support and care for the most important people in your lives? (Think about your kids, relatives and friends as well as your partners.)



Keep the flames burning

Truly, madly, deeply (in trouble) Time to clean upSadly, avoiding upsetting customers is beyond most enterprises – because they don’t have the ability or resources to communicate effectively with them.

That’s why so many customers have to endure generally poor services from call centers – waiting on hold, being cut off, getting passed around from rep to rep, repeating their details over and over, or dealing with staff who can’t meet their needs. Then there’s the waiting what seems like all day for deliveries and visits (that often don’t arrive).

Many organizations don’t even attempt to keep people informed of these situations by email – because they know the vast majority go unread anyway.

The truth is, too many organizations are so used to the limitations of their communications that they’ve given up on the idea of providing that extra care and empathy that drive great customer experiences.

This is a big mistake. We live in an age of abundant choice, freedom and aspiration. It’s more important than ever for brands – and while we’re on the subject, people too – to pull out all the stops and maintain fantastic relationships with the people that are important to them.

We’re talking about keeping promises to customers, helping them avoid stressful situations, offering help and advice, and being on hand in important moments.

It may seem an impossible challenge – especially when enterprises have millions of customers to keep happy through your complex ecosystem.

But this workbook will show you one powerful way to actually be there for all of your customers, and enjoy powerful, brand-building Empathetic Interactions.

It all starts with an A2P (application-to-person) text messaging system that connects neatly with your CRM system.

We’ve laid out five steps to follow. Here goes.

We’re probing a little here – crossing lines and overstepping marks – because we want to get you thinking about all the empathy, consideration and sometimes imagination it takes to contribute to the happiness and satisfaction of the people you care about.

Building strong relationships is about so much more than doing the bare minimum to avoid upsetting your customers. So the fact that the vast majority of big brands and enterprises tend to take exactly this approach when dealing with their customers is a little bewildering.

Step 1

Know the facts, figures and opportunity

The text messaging opportunity is surprisingly compelling. That’s why so many customer-obsessed brands (including Apple, Virgin, Amazon, Facebook and Linked-in) are placing messaging at the core of their customer communications.

To find out the full story on the text opportunity – including why enterprises have taken so long to take advantage of it – read our eBook: The Empathetic Interaction.

Emails don’t cut through anymore. And call-centers tend to infuriate. But everyone uses SMS messaging. And every text is read, usually within seconds.

Some important stats:

– Six billion people or more use SMS messaging* (that’s 84% of the human race)

– 98% of texts are read (compared with 20% of emails)

– 90% of texts are opened within three minutes

That’s why an intelligent, automated text-messaging service allows enterprises to connect with millions of customers – in precise moments and exact places. The world’s most customer-obsessed brands are using SMS in the most imaginative ways to create empathetic interactions and win legions of fans and advocates.

But in the meantime, here’s a one-minute A2P text-messaging pitch. You have our blessing to use this to explain opportunity to your board (even if you don’t choose us as your partner). It’s a pretty easy argument to remember and rattle off.


The text messaging opportunity – a one -minute pitch

Know the facts, figures and opportunity

Read the eBook

http://www.openmarket.com/resources/customer-service-ebook/?utm_source=enlightened-interaction-ebook&utm_medium=cross-promotion

6The A2P SMS-messaging workbook

In summary, text messaging gives enterprises an instant, always-open, two-way line of communication to customers at all times – no matter where they are.

This is big.


Step 2

Imagine the possibilities


This section is light on words but heavy on inspiration. Because we want you to do the thinking. How can you use your permanently open line to customers to empathetically interact with them?

Imagine the possibilities

The Empathetic Interaction is all about seizing the countless invisible opportunities to surprise and delight your customers by giving them information, engagements, experiences and alerts that they will value at precise moments in exact places.

It’s about using what you know about the individual and the situation they’re in – then anticipating what might make them happy. When their needs and yours can be met in a single moment, Empathetic Interactions become really valuable.

All you need is an intelligent, automated mobile messaging system linked to your customer ops tech stack. A good imagination comes in pretty handy too.

We’ve put forward 25 scenarios to start you off. But first, let’s explain what an Empathetic Interaction is.


01. They’ve just received a text from their train company telling them what platform their train is on – before it was announced at the station. So they beat the rush-hour stampede.

02.Ten minutes ago, Stan and his son Will received a text informing them there were short queues on Rocket Mountain. Now, it’s lift off.


03.He’s enjoying a stroll around the mall instead of waiting in line at the tech store to speak to a technician. He’ll wander back when an automated text tells him his queue number is going to be called.

04.A round of beers without having to get up from their seat – and a receipt text on its way. Two-way texting at its best.

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There are thousands and thousands of enterprise use-case scenarios for automated texting. Even if you feel the following sections don’t apply to your line of business, we suggest you look through them all. It won’t take long. And inspiration can come from unlikely places.

The A2P SMS-messaging workbook


Customer operationsCustomer operations is made up of managing many, many steps – including account set up, payment, delivery or appointments, post-purchase follow-ups, and so on. Companies with millions of customers end up having billions of these transactions a year. So even if just a tiny percentage mess up, that’s a lot of unhappy customers.

05. Delighting your customers can be as easy and painless as giving them the option to text: A) Confirm (and get up), or B) Re-schedule (and recover from the flu)


07. She’s not happy with her new laptop. But instead of venting on Twitter, she’s filling in a text survey she just received from the manufacturer.

06. He was about to have a few drinks after work – but he’s thinking he should get back home after receiving this text: We’ve left your parcel in your porch.


08. She’s re-planning her day tomorrow after receiving this handy reminder: Your engineer arrives between 10 and 11am. Text ‘A’ to confirm ‘B’ to arrange another time


09. He doesn’t have to carry a number-generating widget around anymore to make online bank transactions. Instead he types in a number texted to him on his phone.

10. Every time she logs into her company laptop, a unique code is sent to her mobile phone for her to input. Cyber security doesn’t have to be a hassle.

AuthenticationTwo-factor authentication is catching on fast. Not just in financial services, but across retail, travel, social media and loads of other sectors. Enterprise IT departments also use text messaging for authentication use cases.


11. After going on a mini shopping spree, he doesn’t have to call his bank’s fraud department yet again. A few texts will confirm that he made those purchases.


12. She doesn’t forget to take her morning and evening pills anymore – after she started getting daily texts like this:

“Joan – remember to take your pills. Please text back YES when you have.” (If Joan didn’t text back – she’d get a second reminder text in an hour. Then a call from a nurse).

13. Missed appointments at the medical center she manages are down 35% since she introduced automated SMS appointment reminders. And getting feedback on service is now as easy as this: Please rate your care on a scale of 1 – 5 stars (1 being bad and 5 being great).

Medical appointmentsSMS can be a real life saver.


TravelGood travel experiences are all about logistics and planning. Think upgrade requests, schedule changes, mobile check-in and check-outs, travel confirmations, room swaps, tips, offers and facilities.

15. He’s desperate to have his say on the poor hotel service he received on his business trip. And his travel operator is desperate to hear about it. Post-checkout text surveys are powerful tools.

14. He’s prepared for the sun after receiving this SMS from his golf tour operator:

“ The rain’s going to clear and it’ll be hot and sunny. Remember your suntan lotion!”

16. Clare and Jim hate rushing to make flights. Texts like this make life easier:

“ Get to terminal 5 by 1pm tomorrow for your 2.30pm flight.”


ConfirmationsText messaging is used to deliver a wide range of tickets and confirmations – train tickets, theatre tickets, dinner reservations, airline boarding passes, online order confirmations – the list goes on.

17. She’d forgotten her ticket for the concert. Luckily she had her ticket text confirmation to show security.


Sales and marketingTailored messages that are delivered in exact times and places – that’s sales and marketing Nirvana. (Now just imagine the power of linking automated text messaging to store loyalty card data.)

18. He’s about to fill up his wine cellar (correction: small wine rack in his kitchen) after receiving a text notification about an offer on his favorite bottle.

19. Ordering new contact lenses can be as easy as this:

“Kate our records show you are nearly out of contact lenses. How many more would you like to order: A 30 B 60 C None for now”


Social media and the sharing economyWhatsApp, Snapchat and other messaging-based social apps were once thought of as SMS killers. But these services all need SMS to authenticate phone users. So do Linkedin, Facebook, Apple and many others. Sharing economy apps such as Airbnb and Uber also rely heavily on SMS for authenticating users.

20. Jane is always a little nervous when renting out her flat to strangers on Airbnb. But knowing they can be linked to their phones through SMS authentication is a comfort.


BankingSMS is used for PIN resets, account enquiries, online banking authentications and transaction notifications.

21. He’s just received an SMS alert from his bank asking him to confirm purchases that look fraudulent. He hasn’t made any transactions. So they’re going to be stopped.

22. No more waiting on hold to authorise her banking app activation. She just types in her SMS activation code instead.


HR and internal commsThe ability to communicate with every staff member – or groups of staff members – (whether they’re in work or not) is a Godsend for HR.

24. She’s going to take the car to work today after a text from her HR team warned her about train delays.

23. IT sent everyone a text to say there’d be a service outage for half an hour. So they knew just the time to get together for a brainstorming session.

25. Sometimes getting a message to every worker at the same time is essential: “No one log on to the company server. We have a security problem.”


It’s hard to immediately imagine how using SMS to help machines communicate with each other can lead to great customer experiences. So here’s a quick story featuring one of our favourite customers.

The internet of things

MRI machines that textMRI imaging is one of the great healthcare breakthroughs of recent decades. Because of the huge demand from patients and their medical teams, clinics tend to run their MRI machines 7 days a week.

So when a scanner breaks down, patients can miss out for days on (sometimes urgent) scans. Meanwhile, clinics struggle to clear backlogs.

Philips Healthcare builds the most advanced MRI scanners in the world. Despite the technology being so cutting edge, and magnets being notoriously delicate, its engineers manage to maintain almost 100 per cent uptime. How? By fixing issues before they become problems.

Sensors on the MRI continually monitor factors such as temperature, chiller function, magnet pressure, helium level, and power supply. When an irregularity is detected, an SMS alert is sent to the phones of local engineering teams. This allows Philips to attend to issues within minutes.

The key to the system is immediacy. Text messaging provides that.

Philips also uses text messaging to alert engineers to when street lamp bulbs blow. And soon every car will have a sim card that sends out an alert to authorities if the vehicle crashes. The almost universal connectivity of SMS will ensure it’s at the heart of the Internet of Things.


Step 3

Roll out a text -messaging system


Roll out a text -messaging system

Recognise problems – then actDefining an enterprise-wide, A2P SMS-messaging strategy is easy. The starting point is to imagine the problems your customers have. The next step is to consider whether SMS can solve these problems. Then you and your SMS-messaging partner can plan out an SMS workflow.

notification text sent at exactly the right time (before station platform announcements were made) would help. This is the workflow they worked out using OpenMarket’s Mobile Engagement Platform.

Good APIs and clear messaging platforms make processes like this simple.

This is how Virgin Trains used text messaging to notify passengers about platform notifications before they were announced on station boards.

Virgin Trains thought hard about how to use SMS to make their train journeys more comfortable for customers. They realised a quick one-way platform


Roll out a text -messaging systemKeep your goals in mind Get the IT department

involved earlyRoll out a pilot

Your goals when introducing a text-messaging scheme will often be to improve customer experience and decrease cost. But let your overarching business strategy – for example growing your customer base / encouraging repeat custom / outperforming a particular rival – influence your communications strategies.

IT departments usually help run enterprise text messaging schemes. So it makes sense for enterprises to ensure the IT department is in control of the first use case – then they can gain valuable experience to pass on to other parts of the business. Authentication is a good initial use case.

A quick pilot scheme can be set up in minutes if you use a company with the right expertise, APIs, and workflows to plug into your tech stack.

One use case at a time

Often enterprises start using SMS for a particular function. Then once the messaging platform is in place, delivering memorable moments and getting results, they add further services across departments.

UK media giant Sky is a great example of this. It turned to text messaging for a few customer operations interactions in 2014. Now it has multiple use cases across many departments – saving £millions a month.

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Step 4

Use your powers wisely


Use your powers wisely

Unlike email, it costs money to send a text. And this is one of the reasons text messaging is relatively spam free. It doesn’t pay for spammers to spam.

But to keep the channel spam-free, brands have to take responsibility. So when customers authorize you to send texts to them, make sure you deliver great value. Your customers should like your texts – even look forward to them. Think intelligent, timely, personalised and unobtrusive.

Step 5

Pick the right partner


Pick the right partner

Throughout this workbook, we’ve hinted at the fact that an SMS-messaging system is a piece of cake to implement. In reality, the world of A2P SMS is a hugely complex environment. There are 800 mobile operators in 200 countries – each with wildly varying rules and regulations.

But SMS-messaging can be easy… If you have a partner that has:

– Connectivity to all international carriers.

– A track record for security.

– Experience of treading around the international regulatory minefield

– A complete end-to-end integrated solution that allows IT, sales, marketing, HR, logistics and distribution, supply chain and finance to talk to each other in the same language, despite being located in different countries and time zones.

– The APIs to integrate its platform into your existing IT infrastructure.

– The ability to consolidate fragmented messaging systems.


The age of fussy

You may have noticed an evolutionary trend recently. We all seem to be becoming a bit more… fussy. We want increasing levels of comfort and convenience. And we want to be listened to (and heard) always. We’re evolving to expect Empathetic Interactions. And too few brands are meeting these expectations.

Text isn’t the only answer here. But it’s a great way to communicate with your customers – at exact times and in exact places – that’s super convenient for them and super reliable for you.

If you manage to dovetail an intelligent, automated text messaging system with your other communication channels and existing tech stack, you’ll finally be able to be there for the people you care about – when it matters.

The A2P SMS-messaging workbook

openmarket.com

If you’re interested in implementing a text-messaging system, drop us a line. We’d be happy to pass on our wisdom.

We help the biggest brands in the world use mobile messaging to connect with their customers in the moments when it counts. When they need to be there and be responsive in real-time. When customer experience isn’t just a buzzword: it’s an obsession. We’d love to do the same for you.

For more stories where SMS made the difference, check out the rest of our Empathetic Interaction series.

SMS messaging: a new opportunity to delight customers at scale

The EmpatheticInteraction

http://www.openmarket.com

https://goo.gl/ZOlhSh

