I’ve been playing around with a demo account of the customer factor seeing if I’d like to start using a crm but have a question for y’all that do.
It seems like you are able to set up sms/text promotions but they are sent through not your own phone number, but weird numbers that you rent to be able to send.
Do you have a lot of issues with people trying to reply to those numbers instead of your own? Do the replies sent to that number come back to you or are they just gone in the ether?
I am kinda interested in markates ringless voicemail feature but them charging an extra 10 dollars a month for a million things that are free on other CRMs really chaps my behind and feels like a death by a thousand cuts.
Last year I worked out of my truck and it was relatively inexpensive. This year trying to run this business like a grown up and would t you know it…my overhead is considerably more this year so trying to spend my money wisely.
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There are dozens of options to run a no-ring VM campaign. I’ve never set one up myself, but I know it has been done (typically as a friendly follow-up to existing clients though).
There are also a million text app options inside and outside of CRMs, and every one of them works differently. You’d have to get into the nuts & bolts of how the one you’re interested in functions.
We text via for proposals and automated follow-upsResponsiBid, and those replies come into the chat section on there. We get email notifications if something comes through there with a link to the client’s file page.
We text via Jobber for confirmations, reminders and billing. Those replies would also come back into Jobber.
It’s rare that we get replies to either of those places, so we just make sure someone is notified of incomings so we don’t miss anything. Everything is in finding what works best for your setup, making sure you understand how it’s working so you don’t actually miss anything, and executing whatever system you have in place.
Ive got 27 contacts written down in a notebook from last year. my text campaign is probably going to just be me copy and pasting from my work phone when i start up for the year, maybe a fathers day promotion, and then an end of season gutter offering.
With my limited customer base i just really want to make sure they dont get lost in the cracks. It seems that if i DO plan on becoming big time, that id want to integrate a CRM as quickly as possible to make my transition as painless as possible.
I just got quickbooks and let me tell you…it was pretty boring taking pictures of and verifying receipts. I could imagine it being a nightmare punching in a few years of contacts written in a notebook into a CRM . 27 probably wouldnt be that hard 
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I used CF text feature and put a note in the bottom of my text to call/ text my number for follow-up or what ever you want. Stopped using it because I use 100% email. I love emails. Saved my butt numerous times.
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