A recent survey by the Mobile Data Association highlighted the continued growth of SMS – up 23% year on year. The growth of Business SMS – sending and receiving of SMS messages via PCs – reflects this trend as does the consequent increase in the number of SMS providers.
So how do potential or existing Business SMS users differentiate between different suppliers?
Many start with price. And this should be relatively transparent. We’ve always published clear SMS pricing and have set out our pricing principals before.
Like many SMS providers we also offer a free trial of both our office products such as Web SMS and Email SMS and our SMS API so that you can get to grips with the functionality that we offer.
But how do you gauge the level of service and support that you will get with each supplier and their strength in depth, particularly when half a dozen providers are claiming to be the “UK’s leading provider” of Business SMS services.
A company’s reputation is often a good starting point: dig down a few pages on a Google search, or even a Twitter search: what are other people saying about them, are they hiring, are many others using them?
For those looking at Premium Rate SMS services, PhonePayPlus’ adjudication database can also be “illuminating” too!
Thereafter a certain amount will come down to “gut feel”:
- Does the SMS provider have the financial strength to offer you account terms?
- Is it always the same person answering the phone, indeed do they answer the phone!?
- And do their claims seem unrealistic: if a provider claims global reach or to be the biggest provider in the market, how does this stack up with whatever others say about them?
As a business we’ve defined one of core values as Integrity. We’ve always been careful not to make claims that we can’t back up. At the risk of sounding pompous we’ll continue down this path but we urge potential purchasers to dig deep when looking at different suppliers.
If you’ve got any questions about what we offer or who we are, please get in touch. We’d welcome the opportunity to meet with you here in Nottingham.
Posted by Julian
It’s quite easy to disguise yourself on the internet. Build yourself a website, get a non geographic phone number, claim your the “leading provider” and hey presto you’re attracting clients.
I think different businesses will require different things and you’re correct that buyers need to look deeper into their suppliers to ensure they are a proper fit for their organisation.
They’d do well to start with credit checking their suppliers. Then as you said, check out the PPP database, it’s revealing, illuminating, and shocking too.
- Gary Bury