Accounting Firms and Mass Texting

Mass texting is a form of communication that has become more and more popular over the past few years. Research has shown that over 90% of Americans text at least once a day. The bottom line is that most people would rather receive coupons, answer questions, and be reminded of important deadlines by text. The reason for this is that they are much more likely to read texts. No one wants to receive time-sensitive information over email because they simply won’t see it in time for it to be helpful. Coupons are sent to their spam folder and reminder emails are easily lost in their inbox. People don’t check their email the way they check their texts. Research has further shown that over 80% of smart phone users respond to texts within minutes of receiving them. In the fast-paced world we live in, a few minutes versus the hours, or even days it takes to respond to emails, is a big deal.

Because none of these statistics are industry specific, most businesses can get results from adding mass texting to their daily operations. One of the industries that can benefit from texting is finance. There’s a lot of deadlines and documents that exist within the tax world; incorporating texting into the communication at your accounting firm will yield results almost immediately. Firms that are utilizing this tool are already receiving positive feedback from their customers. The truth is, it’s just so much easier for people to text than it is for them to email.

Before we get into the specifics, it’s important to acknowledge the things happening in the world right now. Due to COVID-19, many industries are suffering financially and having trouble adjusting. Businesses and individuals have received stimulus checks and small business loans meaning that accounting firms have had a lot of extra business streaming in all at once. Being able to communicate information with both individual and commercial clients and get answers quickly will allow solutions to be reached as soon as possible, something that could go a long way in times of financial stress.

1. Two-way texting

1. CanaryTEXT communication is a two-way street. This can be extremely useful in any situation, but especially in the accounting industry. It allows for the fastest and most reliable communication possible. With two-way texting, you can:

- - - Ask how information should be sent and received.
    - Set up appointments.
    - Allow both parties to ask and answer any questions quickly.

2. Schedule texts

Canary offers a feature that allows the sender to schedule texts to be sent at a later time. This can be extremely useful to:

- - - Remind clients to fill out and submit tax forms.
    - Send reminders on deadlines that are approaching, such as when tax returns are due.

3. Auto-fill names

Another feature that CanaryTEXT offers is a name auto-filler. In any business, personalization is one of the most important things you can do to sustain clients. When you create template emails, you can begin by having “Hi, [name],” and we will auto-fill the recipients name to the message. This is a great feature because it allows you to create more personal ties with clients without writing time consuming messages.There are a few reasons this is helpful in accounting:

- - - Keeps texts personal without giving a personal phone number so clients don’t abuse privacy.
    - People want to do business with people, especially when it’s their money you’re handling.
    - In a similar vein, Canary offers a landline auto-detector to delete numbers that can’t receive texts, saving a lot of time for whomever would have to compile the viable numbers.

4. Tags

Tags are groups that you can create within CanaryTEXT that allows you to categorize contacts based on need. Once you create a tag, you can send one text to entire list, and it will autofill their names into the message. This also doesn’t limit your contacts; you can still select individuals to text apart from the rest of the tag. Tags allow you to:

- - - Categorize clients based on tone or content of messages they will receive.
    - Communicate efficiently with different kinds of clients (messages are different for people vs for large businesses).
    - Create tags within tags. For example, within a large tag for all commercial clients, have more tags based on the size of the companies in the client list.
    - Have unlimited tags.

5. Templates

Templates are one of the best features for accounting firms that Canary offers. They are pre-written message drafts that you save and label for any purpose. Instead of typing out a message for every little thing, just go to your templates and choose what you need. With templates, you will be able to:

- - - Create message templates for different purposes.
    - Have reminder messages to fill out and submit different tax forms and documents.
    - Create templates to ask someone to come in to the office.
    - Let clients know that their tax return is ready, or any other documents.

6. Links

CanaryTEXT allows you to embed links in the texts you send. This is extremely beneficial in the accounting industry to:

- - - Link online portals that clients are encouraged to use to fill out and submit forms.
    - Embed links in messages to send clients to a separate portal to schedule online appointments.
    - Ask clients to visit a link and leave a review.