SMS may have been around for a while, but it is still being used by people on a daily basis. In fact, billions of texts are sent every single day, many of them by businesses. Why? Because using SMS can boost efficiency. SMS can be better than phone calls. It can be better than emails. We want to look at how SMS can boost your efficiency.
SMS Allows For More Simultaneous Engagement Than Phone Calls
Perhaps the main advantage of SMS is that it allows you to be active in multiple conversations at once. A lot of businesses are moving to SMS sales and support for this reason alone.
Answer a phone call, and you can only converse with one person at a time. Conversations tend to be lengthier too, but we will come to that. Some businesses have discovered that in the same time, it takes to deal with a single phone call, a person could have been sorting out the problems for 6-7 people via SMS. Far more efficient. Most customers would probably prefer this too, since a surprising number of people are averse to communicating for lengthy periods on the phone.
SMS Messages Can Be Responded to ‘When Free’
The problem with phone calls is that you are expected to answer them right away. A missed phone call can lead to missed sales. In fact, many businesses have lost sales because they weren’t quick enough to the phone, or the person that they were trying to reach out to just wasn’t available. While there are ways around this scheduling conflict, it is just a lot of hassle.
SMS is different. There is no obligation to respond to the message right away. In fact, nobody really expects that the message gets responded to right away. This can work wonders for efficiency as it means a person doesn’t have to drop whatever they are doing to answer a phone call. As long as the person responds to an SMS message at the earliest possible convenience, then fantastic! Some apps allows you to forward all your text to your email – providing you the ability to increase your productivity, archive your messages, and never miss an important message even if you have left your cell phone behind.
SMS Messages Force You To Be Clear About Messaging
When SMS messages first appeared, there was very little leeway in the number of characters that you could use. You had a fixed limit of 160 characters per message. While things have changed a little bit with modern cell phones (they can combine multiple messages into one), SMS still results in people thinking harder about what they include in a message.
SMS allows much more clarity in messages. SMS results in people cutting out the ‘fluff’ and getting straight to the point. You will be surprised at how much information you can convey in just a few words. When the ‘fluff’ is cut out, people find it easier to understand the message that is being sent. This means that time is saved not having to ‘explain’ the message, field questions, etc.
You can try this for yourself sometime. Write a message. Doesn’t matter how long it is. Then, try and compress that message down to 160 characters. This will show you just how easy it is to effectively communicate with just a few words.
Some SMS Can Be Automated
A lot of SMS messaging can now be automated. You can:
- Send automated messages (perfect for booking notifications, marketing messages, etc.)
- Automattic spellcheck
- Schedule messages so they are sent at the ‘right’ time.
- Auto responds to messages.
- Copy and paste ‘stock’ answers in response to common questions.
As you probably know, automation really does help to boost efficiency. The more tasks that can be automated, the more productive a person becomes. Take the automated message’s point here. In the past, if somebody wanted to communicate certain things to customers (let’s say a booking notification), they would either have to draft a message at the right time (lots of hassle) or give them a call (very time-consuming). Now the system can handle this automatically. A person doesn’t even need to think about it. It just happens. Could feasibly save an hour or two per day.
SMS Messages Get Answered Quicker
Did you know that 98% of all texts get opened? For emails, it is 27%. Not just spam emails either. All emails. This means that if you try and communicate with somebody via email, there is a good chance that they won’t read it. The chances of them responding are even lower. This can make it a massive hassle to get anything done.
98% of all text messages will eventually be read within a few hours. This does create far more efficient marketing, but it also means that people can get the responses they need quicker. Something which could take days, if not weeks, to get done over email can be accomplished within a couple of hours using SMS.
Final Thoughts
Whether you run a business or send texts as an individual, SMS is great for productivity. It allows multiple simultaneous conversations, automation, and faster responses. It is no wonder so many businesses are now opting to run much of their communication over SMS as opposed to email or the phone.
