New Law Brings Changes to Text Messaging

Article, marketing

Starting Wednesday, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) has some new changes that effect businesses who text their customers.

The changes require a business to obtain prior express written consent from your existing and new contacts before you can engage in any marketing related text messages to them.  The business is required to send out a TCPA consent request, asking them to re-opt in. Only those that reply “YES” will be able to receive marketing text messages from you.

“The TCPA makes it unlawful for a person to “initiate” a telephone call to a residential line and to wireless numbers for non-emergency purposes without the prior express written consent of the called party. The TCPA applies to both voice and short message service (SMS) text messages, if they are transmitted for marketing purposes.

The new TCPA guidelines DO NOT apply to non-marketing communication such as appointment reminders, service reminders, employee communication, or other services provided by our sister company Dr. SMS.

Failure to comply may result in penalties of $500-$1,500 per text message.

Questions? Let me know.

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Next Seminar – The REAL ROI of Social Media

Speaking / Gigs

UPDATED: 6/10

Sorry folks  – need to postpone this one. I’ll reschedule soon.

 

Let’s get to it:

  • Is Social Media really a business tool?
  • Is it viable?
  • And what’s the REAL ROI with Facebook, Twitter, Yelp and the like?

Learn from the ABC that will be a Social Media Case Study for years and what the don’ts are.

This seminar answers these questions and more. Come join us and find out why a conversation between two of your customers is no longer really between two people.

Entry includes seminar, take-a-ways, Q&A session and snacks. Can’t make it? Sponsor the seminar with a business card ad for only $25.00. Seats and ad space are limited!

 

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How Times Have Changed

news and notes, tech

I started the original CellCon Consulting in the late 1980s. At first, we were consulting people and businesses on how they could use these new things called “cell-phones” (get it- CellCon…), how to get things like “dropped call credits” and what “roaming access numbers” were (and if you know what any of those things are, you’re in an elite club!)

Anyway, we soon branched out and started selling cell phones and accessories. I went to the local bank where I had the corporate account and applied for a merchant account – in order to take credit cards. I was declined, not because I was too young or didn’t have a proper proposal (I did, and the bank VP complimented it.) No, the company was declined because we didn’t have a physical store front. Never did. If someone wanted to buy a phone, we went to them. It was a consultative sale – tell me what you need and want, we made a recommendation and then ordered the phone. We had no inventory.

Anyway, I digress. A bank declined us for having no store front. I told them right then and there that soon people would be buying things from the internet and if they didn’t change their policy they would be left far behind. We did end up getting an account from Novus and were soon in business, selling phones and taking charge cards.

So, why am I telling a story from 25+ years ago? Today, Groupon started a service called Breadcrumb. It’s very similar to Square (which we love) but the rates are a bit cheaper. There’s no exclusive deal with either, so I signed up and will use both.

The signup for Breadcrumb was very similar to that of Square. It took me under 10 minutes and I had a merchant account (OK, now two.) This is how technology changes the world folks. 25 years ago, a bank turned me down in an effort to grow my business. Today, it took about 6 minutes.

 

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18 Customer Facts Marketers Can’t Ignore

news

Saw this on Branding Strategy Insider and thought you’d find it intersting – I did!

It comes from The Ritz-Carlton. I’ll give you a few here and then you can click on to read the whole story.

  • It costs 6 times more to attract a new customer than it does to keep an old one.
  • 89% of Consumers purchase from a competitor following a poor customer experience.
  • 50% of Consumers give a brand one week to respond to a service concern before they stop doing business with them.
  • US Businesses lose an estimated $83 Billion in sales annually due to poor customer experiences.
  • Probability of selling to an existing customer:  60-70%, Probability of selling to a new one: 5-20%
  • Customer Loyalty can be worth 10 times as much as a single purchase.
  • It takes 12 positive service incidents to make up for a negative one.

Click HERE to read the full article

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Best Buy Stepping It Up…

tech

Found at The Consumerist.com:

Best Buy Confirms Price-Matching Policy Change With “Low-Price Guarantee” – Aims to stop “Shrowrooming.”

According to a statement from BestBuy, starting March 3 Best Buy’s Low Price Guarantee will “price match all local retail competitors and 19 major online competitors in all product categories and on nearly all in-stock products, whenever asked by a customer.”

Starting March 3, 2013 Best Buy will price match the current pre-tax price for new, identical, immediately available products from local retail competitors and select designated major online retailers at the time of purchase only. (No subsequent price matching of competitors is allowed)

Here is the list of online stores that are Best Buy is willing to price-match at launch in the Low-Price Guarantee:

(All are .com): Amazon, Apple, B&H, Buy, Crutchfield, Dell, Frys, hhgregg, HP, HomeDepot, Lowes, Newegg, OfficeDepot, OfficeMax, Sears, Staples, Target, TigerDirect, Walmart

Also starting March 3, the “Return and Exchange period for eligible products will change from 30 days to 15 days.”

Read more HERE

 

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