We believe online texting service for business is the future of communication. Businesses need to have guidelines in place to help employees understand the standards to follow and what is expected. Using NVM, BRB, LOL, TTYL, OMG, IDK, and OMH doesn’t always work in communicating with customers and prospects. So, what exactly are the best guidelines to follow? What is and isn’t ok? 

9 online texting service for business guidelines to live by

  1. Be brief
  2. Watch your tone
  3. Know when to pick up the phone
  4. Be respectful of time
  5. Watch abbreviations
  6. Don’t use all caps
  7. Triple check spelling and grammar
  8. Respond promptly
  9. Don’t send bad news over text

Be brief

online texting service for business

The nature of text messages is that they are short. Using an online texting service for business to send texts is no exception. Send an email or pick up the phone and make a call to have a discussion if the information that is being sent is longer than a few sentences. 

Longer texts typically require longer responses. Writing a long response can be time-consuming and irritating for your customers. Important information could also be lost in the interaction if either participant chooses to exclude something for the sake of time.

Watch your tone

It’s best to write in complete sentences to prevent sounding abrupt. It is important to ALWAYS read your message out loud to make sure it doesn’t come across too harsh and that it makes sense.

Know when to pick up the phone

Not every conversation is appropriate for text. Anything complex that might require further explanation should be handled with an email or a phone call. 

Be respectful of time

This one’s simple – limit texting to work hours. Sending a text after-hours signals urgency, so wait until the next business day to relay your message. You wouldn’t call a client with a great idea right before you climbed into bed for the evening, so don’t text them at that hour either.

Watch abbreviations

Abbreviations can be seen as too informal. It’s best to understand your customers and establish a foundation with them prior to using common abbreviations as you would with a friend. 

A good rule of thumb with an online texting service for business is to only type what you would be comfortable saying out loud, and only use abbreviations that are widely known such as “LOL” (laugh out loud) or “NP” (no problem). It is best to shy away from using any that could be deemed unprofessional, like “WTH” for example.

Don’t use all caps

Somewhere along the line emailing, texting, and social messaging, capital letters have come to be perceived as shouting and as such will only annoy recipients and potentially interpret the message incorrectly. Just as you wouldn’t shout at business contacts face to face, don’t do it by text.

Triple check spelling and grammar

Always triple check your message before sending it. Text messages shouldn’t read like accidental texts sent a 5-year-old. An article by Harvard Business Review states that people who care about their writing demonstrate credibility, professionalism, and accuracy in their work Texts are a written medium, so make it easy for your customers to read them. Slow down and reread the text message before it is sent.

Respond promptly

Texting often conveys a sense of immediacy, so when you receive a message from a client, respond in a timely manner. On the other hand, it is important to give yourself some time to think about your response. Speed and convenience are factors that make text so great! Don’t let it work against you though.

Never send bad news via text

The bottom line is that texting is too casual a medium to give bad news. It’s difficult to know what tone you’re giving off in a text message, so it’s safer to stick to only good news when sending texts to people in a professional setting.

TextBetter makes landline texting for business easy. We use your email to send and receive texts from your existing landline number. By simply pairing the two, you’ll send, receive and manage text conversations directly from your email inbox – without having to download (or change) a thing.

Think this sounds complicated? It’s not. Your landline number can be enabled for texting in these 4 easy steps.

  1. Pick Your Plan Whether you’re a team of 5 or company of 5,000 – we have a plan that’s right for you. Our plans are flexible, affordable and designed to give you everything you need and a little more
  2. Send Us Your User Information Simply send us an email with the name, email address, and landline number for each user so we can get started on account set-up. Text messages will be sent directly to and from the email address associated with each phone number. The TextBetter user will be able to send and receive text messages directly from their email account. 
  3. Verify Your Number Once we’ve called you on your landline and authenticated your telephone number, we’ll text-enable each user by pairing their landline number with their email account. The entire pairing process takes just a few minutes, without any downloads, applications or new software to install.
  4. Start Texting Once you get an email confirming that set-up is complete, you’re ready to start texting!

Your customers are already very comfortable with text as they use it in their personal lives, let them engage with your business the way they prefer and are accustomed to. Integrating business texting solutions into your day-to-day is key to staying relevant and evolving with your customer preferences.

About TextBetter

TextBetter™ is a business texting service that makes it easy to send or receive texts from your landline number. Our cloud-based service seamlessly integrates with your business, without having to install new software or change how you do business. Through our three separate product offerings, we proudly cater to organizations of all sizes: Teams, Business or Enterprise.

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