Tag: Small Business

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Do I Need a Separate Business Number?

Gnymble business texting
Separate Business and Personal Texts

At Gnymble we like to emphasize the importance of creating a wonderful work-life balance by separating your personal and business phone numbers– because Mom and Customer Joe shouldn’t be next to each other in your texting app. There are many reasons to make the switch, but we will be discussing the top four: time management, privacy, useability, and a few other concerns. 

  1. Time Management

Many people dread the idea of having two different phone numbers. I’m here to tell you– don’t knock it until you try it. For example, after a long workday, you might go meet a friend for dinner when you receive several work texts. Your mind starts running through all you need to get done for work and the whole relaxed mood is ruined for you as well as your friend. If you opt for separate phone numbers for personal and business matters, you can turn off business notifications after hours. This offers you the ability to manage your time however you would like while also keeping a great work-life balance.

  1. Privacy

A separate business phone number also enhances the privacy of your business. While it may be unlikely, your company might need to check some business-related text-message exchanges. If you have a separate business and personal number, there’s no chance of personal material being accessed. In the event of business material needing to be deleted, you won’t lose any personal information. Lastly, keeping your personal number private also creates boundaries that are necessary for privacy.

  1. Useability

In many cases, certain cell phone carriers have better service in different areas. This can be an issue when traveling for business. Gnymble provides a web-based texting platform. This means you can access your Gnymble texting account from any device that has access to either data or the internet. Nowadays most airports, hotels, and convention centers offer free wifi. Gnymble gives you multiple options to help you stay connected to your business conversations.

  1. Ridding Other Concerns

Unfortunately, if you share a phone number for business and personal uses this limits the amount of your cell phone expenses you can deduct from your income taxes. This can be a concern for small business owners. Another concern with sharing a personal and business number is taking a lot of time to create records of minutes used and text messages sent to give to your employer. 

Take back control of your personal cell phone number. Feel the power of being able to transition from work to home life without work distractions. If you want to learn more about how Gnymble can help you separate personal and business numbers please text 757-818-8010 or contact us here.

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Industries

Tech in the Tobacco Plus Event Industry

Technology is used in a variety of industries but recently has made strides among manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers in the tobacco plus event industry. This industry includes everything from cigars, vapes, hookah, CBD, and much more. There hasn’t been much technology used in the tobacco plus event industry in the past, but that is changing as the way we do business continues to evolve. 

What New Technology is the Industry Using?

  1. Age Checking Technology
  2. Electronic Business Cards
  3. Business Texting
Age Checking Technology

There are certain age regulations when it comes to the tobacco plus industry. In the United States, you must be 21+ in order to purchase tobacco or tobacco-related products. Retail shops are required to check your ID before you purchase tobacco, alcohol, etc and online retailers are required to verify age. 

AgeChecker.net is a customizable age checking technology that verifies customer information at check-out with their identity network. Nearly 90% of customers are verified in seconds and can continue to purchase on your site. This technology helps you stay compliant with FDA age requirements, merchant account policies, and state laws. 

Electronic Business Cards

An electronic business card, also known as a virtual or digital business card, is becoming a popular way to share contact information. It’s an easy, fast way to share or receive contact information by tapping the card on a mobile device. Businesses are slowly moving away from paper business cards to these electronic business cards. 

Not only do electronic business cards save you time and money, it’s also a great alternative to using paper business cards. Electronic business cards are great for events like tradeshows. As people come by your booth, just tap the card to their phone and they will receive your information.

Business Texting

There are many laws and regulations when it comes to texting about tobacco and related products, but Gnymble has taken on this industry. We have implemented a system to make sure your messages are being sent and received successfully. If there are any issues, we will let you know and help work to fix them.

Gnymble is especially helpful in the trade show space for a few reasons. By simply printing a QR code with your textable business number on it, you can collect contact information from attendees via text– and Gnymble automatically saves contacts. After the show, you can reach out to them in the way that they prefer: texting!

With Gnymble, your entire team can all access the same inbox. No messages go unanswered and everyone knows what’s going on. Back home you can send out broadcast text messages about upcoming events, new products, or special offers. Set auto-responses according to your business hours, create templates, and more.

The use of technology in this industry will continue to grow. Age checking technology, electronic business cards, and business texting are only a few ways. Is your business up to date? Before your next trade show, reach out and see how Gnymble can help you collect leads. If you’d like to learn more about business texting email [email protected] or text 757-818-8010.

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Features Industries

How Business Texting can Boost Customer Experience

Even before the exponential rise of ecommerce due to the pandemic, Customer Experience (CX) has been a priority for small to medium-sized businesses. Statistics demonstrate that 75% of customers are more inclined to buy from companies that provide a good customer experience. And 80% of customers are likely to switch to a competitor after only a single bad experience.

What we learn from these stats is how important it is to make your customers feel acknowledged and appreciated. Your margin for error is slim. It’s not enough to have a quality product, you also need to support and nurture your customer relationships. Communicate too little and they may feel neglected. Communicate too much and they may feel suffocated. The balance comes from understanding what each of your customers require to feel confident in their relationship to your business.

What Does Exceptional Customer Service Look Like?

Interactions with a business need to be smooth and painless. Friction in doing business with you is likely your number one hurdle to conversion. Good customer service begins with empathizing with the specific needs of your customers and addressing their questions and concerns with speed and reliability. Imagine a restaurant having menus but no serving staff to guide patrons through the many options. A server’s main job is to provide personalized and professional consultation to ensure the guest gets exactly what they want. 

The same principles apply to all businesses in the digital era. Websites need to be user-friendly by following user experience (UX) best practices. They need to be easy to navigate, with accessible information.

Emails and social media posts need to have a clear message with a clear call to action to ensure they’re meeting customer needs and expectations. But where these digital experiences end, one-on-one service needs to begin. This is where direct contact either through phone calls or business texting is essential to providing that last piece of quality service. Your team needs to respond to customer interactions with messaging that is personalized, professional, reliable, meaningful, fast, and convenient to your customers.

Business Texting For Superior Customer Experience

While phone calls may provide a channel for personalized service, they’re not convenient. Many people don’t have the time to wait on the phone and many find the experience of voice communication to be a bit nerve wracking. This is one of the top reasons why business texting has become a preferred method of communication. Customers can reach out in the same way they are used to communicating in their day-to-day lives. 

Business texting addresses the most important elements of quality customer service:

  • Personalized. Customers can ask specific questions to get detailed answers regarding the information they need to make an informed buying decision. Messages can be tailored to each individual and be addressed personally. 
  • Professional. Your customers can connect to your entire team so responses can be generated from every level of your organization. This ensures that answers can carry the full weight of your team’s expertise.
  • Reliable. Rather than a call center employee, your team has a deeper understanding around your products and your customer needs. By providing accurate responses to customer queries, your customers can be assured that all information is reliable and valuable.
  • Meaningful. By providing customized business texting communications, you can reach out directly to your customers with messaging specific to their interests. Sales and promotions can be more meaningfully targeted across your database and analytics can supply critical details about the effectiveness of every communication and campaign.
  • Fast. Websites can take time to navigate. Phone calls may not get answered in a comfortable time frame. Business texting occurs in real time and is ideal for getting messages out quickly. This means your customers can get answers to timely questions and help them make faster buying decisions. 
  • Convenient. Since your customers have their mobile devices with them most of the time, it’s an easy way for them to reach out to you, or vice versa. However, they can also take the time they need to respond or read your messages. When you allow customers the freedom to communicate on their own timeline, they are more likely to follow through with both the communication and the sale.

How Business Texting Can Drive Engagement

The more that your customers feel connected to you, the more they will come to trust and depend upon your messages to keep them informed and supported. This allows you to reach out to customers with personalized messages and direct marketing content. The key here is to remain relevant by providing messaging that actually matters to your customers and prospects. The benefit of business texting is that it can create an immediate conversation that requires a response. This gives you an opportunity to build a relationship with your customers and open up avenues of communication where you can not only demonstrate exceptional service, but you’ll have more opportunity to communicate marketing messaging as well.

Here are a few business texting examples that can drive engagement and sales. 

  • Follow up with a customer after a purchase to get any feedback or to ask for a review
  • Promote similar products based on purchase history
  • Alert customers to upcoming events or promotions
  • Share exciting news or helpful resources and provide a link to your site
  • Get the word out and advertise new product offerings, services, or features 
  • Offer limited time deals that require immediate action
  • Build interest in joining your social sites for a multichannel customer experience

Quality customer experience requires strong communication. And it’s a two-way street. Your customers want to be listened to as much as you do. The more you can get involved in ongoing conversations within your industry and your customers’ communities, the more likely you’ll be seen as a trusted source of information.

Interested in building a business texting strategy to drive engagement with your customers? Contact or text us at 757-818-8010  to learn more about how to apply the tools, technology, and marketing strategy to get the most from this effective channel of business communication.