Text Messaging & Business Management

Chiirp (www.chiirp.com, 801/806-4804) is a text messaging platform for business designed to maximize the conversion rate of initial contact by a visitor to a company website from lead as a potential customer by consistently following up with texting, email, estimates, appointment reminders, (either immediately or down the line), review requests, automated follow-up for repeat business using automated text messaging, two-way text messaging, and follow-through drip campaigns.

The solution can be used on the desktop and in the field, with the mobile apps for iOS and Android. Chiirp is founded on the premise that, over the past number of years, SMS has become a very effective method of digital marketing to potential customers.

How it Works

Leads can be captured from anywhere, including: forms on your website, Facebook Lead Forms, QR codes, inbound calls/texts, and third party lead vendors like Angi or Thumbtack. Chiirp can also put a chat widget on your website that instantly starts a conversation. The chat widget can direct the conversation to the right department or representative and can send alerts to team members when a new lead chat starts. Chiirp can use your existing business existing phone number or you can get a new local or toll-free number.

Customers text your business and the leads flow into the Chiirp Messenger. If a customer responds, you continue through normal business channels. If customer does not respond, Chiirp lets you send out follow-up automatically as frequently and as far out as you want through drip messaging. 

You can control the rate of drip campaign- e.g. from frequently at the beginning to less frequently but consistently going forward. (You also have the option of following up with voice mail, email mail, or phone call.)

A Pipeline Builder lets your company track the flow of leads and trigger the appropriate SMS campaign for follow-up. For example, you can set up automated repeat business texts at whatever frequency you want (e.g. monthly, 4x a year, yearly) and can personalize messages.  

You can also broadcast messages to all your contacts or use filters to send to select lists. It is also possible to send pre-recorded voicemails direct to your customers’ voicemail inboxes. After completion of a job, Chiirp can send out automated review requests and follow up for repeat business.

The Chiirp mobile app enables texting back and forth with customers, the option to broadcast texts, and the ability to send targeted texts from a mobile computing device.

Chiirp offers deep integration with field service solutions HouseCall Pro, Service Titan, and Service Monster, enabling a company to trigger follow up all the way down to tags, specific timelines, job types, business units, etc. It also integrates with ResponsiBid, a sales funnel automation software solution, and with Zapier, which allows users to integrate third party web applications and automate workflows.  

Pricing: based on how many automations you want to build and the level of support you want

vcita (www.vcita.com, 855/824-8244) is a business management platform suitable for small companies with up to twenty team members that provides contractors and other home ands office professionals with tools to help manage day-to-day operations.

The solution, available in three scaled plans (Essential, Business, Platinum) and including a free mobile app for Apple or Android, includes a secure, branded client portal from which clients can view services, schedule appointments, make payments, share files, and message the business 24/7 from any device.

The software supports a wide range of business and payment workflows including digital estimates and invoices, automated billing, and prepaid service and product packages. 

How it Works

Analytics-powered reports help monitor the performance of different aspects of their business – bookings, clients, payments, marketing, and staff to create custom reports.

vcita also offers a lead capturing widget that can be added to any company website, allowing potential clients to interact with the business through their website. When a potential client contacts a business through the widget, a new client card is automatically generated in the software, allowing business owners to interact and convert the lead into a paying customer.

The software’s marketing tools allow for the creation of professional email and SMS campaigns in a few minutes and accommodate segmentation of an audience in several ways. It also offers a library of email templates that can streamline marketing. The number of email campaign recipients can go up to 10,000 according to the plan chosen (Business or Platinum). It also comes with a bank of SMS credits starting at 100 for the Essentials plan that can be expanded according to business needs.

All plans can send estimates and branded invoices, charge credit cards and receive payments online via third-party payment processing and e-wallet platforms, including Stripe, Square, PayPal, and Venmo. The software allows contractors to streamline and automate their payment collection process using automated billing, payment reminders, and the option to collect payment when a client books a service.

The platform integrates seamlessly with many popular business software solutions, including Zoom, Quickbooks and Zapier.

Pricing: Monthly or annual billing. Free trial available.

Patti Feldman writes articles and web content for trade magazines and manufacturers of building products. She can be reached at [email protected].