Access messages anytime, anywhere
Staff can receive an SMS message while on-the-go, so important notifications can always be picked up whether they are in the office, on holiday, off sick, or out at a meeting. Using bulk SMS messaging means that you can be assured your alerts will always be picked up and responded to. This also means that you won’t miss out on securing important deals as transactions can be completed at any time.
A cost effective communication channel
Internal SMS campaigns are a cheap and cost-effective solution. Instead of wasting money on printing staff newsletters, or taking time to visit staff in person, instant messaging can reach all your employees with vital information included or a URL to a web page where your news is hosted. This information will also be delivered straight to staff mobile phones rather than relying on them being in the office to pick up a printed copy.
Fast and efficient business communications
Bulk SMS messages remain one of the most instantaneous and effective ways to reach large groups of people. Recent studies indicated that 98% of text messages are opened within 3 minutes. You can draft and distribute mass outreach announcements as soon as they are required, and it is as quick as sending out a regular SMS message. You can always be assured that your text messages will reach their target audience promptly.
Send out automated updates
Just like SMS marketing promotional messages, internal bulk SMS messages are great for sending out regular reminders and information such as IT error notifications and confirmation alerts once resolved. They can also be used for scheduling reminders about meetings, important company dates, and events such as staff training days. You can also set up this service to notify employees when pay slips are ready for collection or for announcements about office closures following adverse weather conditions. This will save the hassle of constructing individual text messages, reduce the chance of a message not being picked up, and boost staff engagement.
Bulk SMS sends text messages to off-site customer facing staff
SMS messages are an excellent way to reach off-site employees. Send important details out instantly, avoiding lengthy calls to workers who are working directly with customers. Text messages are perfect at times when it’s not appropriate for them to answer their cell phones immediately. By sending a text message your important information (i.e.: next visit confirmation, or requirement to attend an urgent call out) it can be dealt with quickly and discreetly as soon as the employee can do so.
Run employee feedback SMS campaigns
As well as sending out announcements, using an SMS message is also a great way to receive responses from staff. Whether this is a self-service for receiving staff feedback and suggestions about improvements to an area of the business or as a confidential service should problems arise which need to be reported back to the business.
Employees are more likely to provide feedback via SMS messages as it’s much less hassle than speaking face-to-face or writing a lengthy email. Use short surveys or questionnaires that can be completed quickly.
10 examples of how businesses benefit from bulk SMS as an internal communication tool
Traditional business communication channels as we have discovered can be largely ignored and inefficient. What we need right now is to move forward in a fast-paced world. We already know that SMS marketing is leading the way in communicating with our customers so it’s time to bring our internal communication tools in line to reach our workforce.
Since the pandemic, more people than ever are now working from home so communications have changed. Here are the different ways in which small businesses that are already benefiting from bulk SMS messages within their work teams:
1. Employee engagement
Effective communication within a business is when all of your employees feel that they are a part of the company they work for. It can be demoralising for employees when they feel that decisions are made without their input or knowledge. A workforce that is kept in the loop will be much more productive when information or changes are communicated to them effectively and promptly.
Bulk SMS will allow them to feel more included. SMS campaigns used to inform staff of the company goings-on should become standard practice. It is the fastest and easiest way to communicate.
2. Projects, tasks and reminders
In the same way that SMS marketing is great for booking confirmations and appointment reminders, bulk text messaging is effective for assigning work to staff. Text messages provide workers and management with clear evidence that a task or project has been assigned and can even be linked to your company database so that jobs can be signed off when completed and a further text message sent out to management to notify of completion.
Confirmations can include a time frame, further information, and a link to additional resources if required. Reminders can automatically be sent out when deadlines are due or when tasks are overdue, helping staff to prioritise without being micromanaged.
3. Emergency alerts
There may be some days when all staff need to be alerted immediately to keep a business running smoothly. Unforeseen issues such as power outs, safety issues, immediate business changes, IT downtime, etc. There may be important and sensitive news about a colleague or the business reputation that needs to be addressed to prevent unnecessary rumours from circulating.
Rather than using multiple different communication channels to get the message across Bulk SMS can reach all of your employees at once so crisis communications can be effectively managed to keep situations firmly under control.
4. Training schedules
Throughout the working life of an employee, there will inevitably be mandatory training to attend. Keep all of your staff up-to-date with training schedules, date changes, reminders, etc with text messages. Staff can even use their mobile phones to book training courses at their convenience and line managers can be notified about the booking.
In modern-day businesses, there are more than just training seminars that new employees can attend. With the rise of well-being practices and personal growth, large businesses often seek to offer a wider experience to staff to enhance their working life and offer value to their positions. All workshops and seminars can be communicated to all staff using bulk sms messaging.
Links to presentations and additional material can be sent out to staff following a workshop via text message.
5. Seasonal and appreciation text messages
Bulk sms messaging doesn’t have to be all work work work. It’s nice to take time to celebrate with your employees and show appreciation. Send out a Merry Christmas text message or wish your staff a Happy Easter. Send a welcome SMS to a new employee and introduce them to your bulk SMS messaging system.
Send out encouraging messages when you know your team needs them or a congratulations text message when they are hitting their targets. Boost morale with positive employee engagement.
6. Target tracking and performance monitoring
SMS marketing tools are so comprehensive that you can even use them to track your team’s performance. Within a short period of time after sending out a bulk sms message you will be able to see how many of your intended targets have read them.
Without the facility’s ability for tracking responses and actions Bulk SMS messaging would not be an efficient way to monitor communications. Thankfully SMS remains one of the only tools that will not only provide tracking information but also the appropriate metrics to help you improve communications. The data can be as detailed or as specific as you need it to be. If you have a select number of employees who are not reading their SMS, responding or actioning SMS requests, you will be able to spot the problem areas and respond accordingly.
If you are using bulk sms messaging to schedule staff appointments, training, or important meetings, you can add a link for members of staff to complete the action to show that they have attended.
7. Shifts and rota changes
If staff rely on shift patterns, bulk SMS messaging can be used to manage this automatically. Here’s a general outline of how it can work:
- The manager creates a schedule with different shifts and assigns employees to specific time slots. This schedule is typically maintained by a centralised system.
- The SMS system sends automated notifications to employees regarding their assigned shifts.
- SMS reminders are sent to employees a certain time before their scheduled shift. This helps in reducing no-shows or late arrivals.
- If an employee needs to request a shift change or swap, they can communicate their request through SMS. This can be done by sending a message to a designated number or using a specific keyword or code to inform the system.
- The manager or supervisor can receive the shift change request via the SMS system to approve or deny the request or the shift can be automatically sent out to other members of staff to pick up. If a colleague picks up the shift or no one picks up the shift, the manager can be notified.
- Changes to the schedule, such as shift cancellations or updates can be sent out immediately. This ensures everyone is kept informed and avoids confusion.
- Once an employee receives their shift assignment or any changes, they can acknowledge the message via a reply. This helps with communication and accountability.
8. Staff appraisals
If your company operates a staff appraisal scheme or a performance programme, SMS messaging could help managers to organise this system. It is especially useful when dealing with a lot of staff. As long as the information is correctly stored on the company database, SMS messaging can have multiple uses in this process such as:
- Notifying managers and staff when appraisals are due.
- Arranging appraisal meetings. Managers and staff can link to calendars to find a good time slot.
- Any actions or targets agreed during the meeting can be added to the database and deadlines added.
- Target reminders can automatically be sent when deadlines are not met in time.
- A summary of the appraisal meeting can be automatically sent to the employees or any other managers involved in their work with links to provide feedback as required.
9. Segmentation and personalisation
You may assume that Bulk SMS is an impersonal way to reach out to your workforce or that staff will get tired of being notified on their mobile phones so often. This is not the case. As with all SMS marketing software, bulk sms messages can be managed on your database to make them more targeted.
From a segmentation point of view, all staff can be categorised in any way that suits the business. The most common way to separate the workforce is by position or work team but, you may also wish to fine-tune this further. For example, there may be several ways that employees travel to work. Those travelling by car may need to receive sms messages about mileage, parking, and company car allowances but, not everyone wants to receive those messages. Some employees may be members of work-based leisure groups or belong to a particular union. By segmenting your audience, you can ensure that your staff are only receiving the information they need. This will in turn make them more responsive to SMS.
Personalisation is a great tool for SMS marketing and internally it can make a big difference in how messages are received. Employees are much more likely to respond to messages that address them by name. It helps to make people feel valued and recognised, especially when receiving praise. You can even send them a personal message on their birthday!
If you would like to know more about how your business communications could benefit from Bulk messaging, get in touch with our team today!
TextAnywhere is an experienced SMS marketing provider and can get you started in no time at all. Join us for a free trial and see for yourself. Check out our case studies to see how we have been helping businesses to make their internal communications run smoothly.