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Why is SMS customer service important?
According to 2025 statistics, SMS campaigns typically convert at 21% – 32%, and abandoned-cart messages have conversion rates as high as 24.6% – 39.4%. This is higher than emails (2% – 5% average) phone calls (13% – 25%) and even social media engagement rate.
This makes SMS customer service more than just another support option for organizations; it’s one of the most effective communication channels for organizations.. It’s a way to respond faster, reduce friction, and build stronger relationships in a channel that prefered for customers interactions already.
Let’s explore how SMS customer service works, the benefits it offers, and what to look for in a software solution.
What is SMS customer service?
SMS customer service software gives you the ability to manage customer conversations directly through SMS text messaging. It allows businesses to send and receive messages in real time (business texting), set up automated responses for common questions or after-hours inquiries, and connect seamlessly with existing tools like CRMs or help desk software as part of an automated workflow, so that all interactions are tracked in one place.
Just as importantly, it helps you stay compliant by managing opt-ins, opt-outs, and customer data securely. Think of it as a modern call center, but on your customers’ cell phones and mobile phone devices.
5 Key benefits of using SMS customer service software
Texting remains the top mobile activity. 83% of consumers now say texting is their most-used app, beating social media and email for daily engagement. By including this in your business, you show your customers that you are listening to where they want to talk and speaking with them the way they want to listen—making your customer service strategy more effective.
Here are the reasons you should use SMS for customer service:
- Consumers prefer text-based support
- Real-time conversion with faster response SMS texts give you this with an incredible 98% open rate.
- Customers prefer texting businesses over emails, calls, or face-to-face interactions
- Scalable for businesses of any size
- Cost-effective with high ROI
Let’s look at these points in detail.
1. Customers prefer text-based support
In 2025, 71% of consumers want to be able to text a business for customer service, and many companies are responding; about one in four now use SMS as a support channel.
About 78% of survey respondents wanted to communicate with businesses over SMS.By incorporating customer service SMS in your toolset, you are offering consumers what they want and enhancing the customer service experience they expect.
Essential tips for your SMS customer service program:
1. Collect explicit permission from customers before sending texts (SMS opt-in) and opt-in for SMS customer service website.
2. Make it easy to unsubscribe or stop receiving messages. Shortcodes like STOP, END, QUIT, or CANCEL can give customers an easy way out.
2. Real-time conversion with faster response
Messages like an emergency alert text or an appointment reminder are time-sensitive. As a business offering customer service, you need a near-perfect guarantee that these messages are read. Texts give you this with an incredible 98% open rate.
People don’t just open texts; if given space, they also reply. Texts have a 7.5x higher response rate than emails. Why is that important for customer service? Because two-way conversations are pivotal in earning trust.
The 2025 Customer Engagement Report from Twilio puts authentic, two-way communication as one of the top priorities for customers. unlike phone calls, which often require long wait times and call center queues, SMS lets customers (customer experience) get answers instantly while keeping the interaction convenient.
3. Customers prefer texting businesses over emails, phone calls, or face-to-face interactions
Text-based communication isn’t just effective at delivering messages; it also drives action. In 2025, 72% of consumers reported purchasing after receiving a text message from a business, while automated SMS flows generated up to 30x more revenue per recipient compared to one-off campaigns.
If you don’t know how a customer prefers talking to you, initiating the conversation with an SMS is a safe bet. You can start by asking about their preferred channel. Like so:
4. Scalable for businesses of any size
One of the most significant advantages of SMS is its adaptability. More than 76% of organizations now use SMS for customer service, and 59% report it as their most effective customer support text messaging channel for responses.
When it comes to customer success, small businesses can ace personalization. They have the bandwidth to have one-on-one conversations with their customers efficiently.
Big businesses, which have a much larger customer base, have to rely on automated broadcasts, which may make customers feel less valued.
Business texting software that enables peer-to-peer texting and SMS Opt-ins (also known as SMS chatbots) makes this process scalable for both large and small businesses.
| A P2P texting tool: | An SMS opt-in tool: |
| Can send up to 3600 texts per hour | It helps you collect information about customers and supporters through automated prompts |
| It does not require explicit opt-in since each message is sent manually | Enables automated conversations |
| It lets you compose personalized texts, polls or surveys | It lets you compose personalized texts, polls, or surveys |
| It lets you collect data as part of a 1:1 conversation | It lets you collect data as part of a 1 1 conversation |
| It lets you compose personalized texts, polls, or surveys | Learn more about SMS chatbots |
5. Cost-effective with high ROI
One SMS from a software provider like CallHub costs around 3.4 cents, and one MMS costs 10 cents.
For reminders, surveys, and such objectives, texts thus become cost-effective.
Over 40% of respondents in a UK survey said they missed an appointment because they forgot about it. reminder text could have helped these individuals follow through with the appointment and helped the business with revenue, especially in industries where missed bookings delay services or payment processing.
An SMS costs a few cents, which is a small price to pay compared to the revenue lost from missed appointments.
Of course, this is just one example of how SMS customer service is cost-effective. Fundraising appeals, GOTV, and product launches via SMS all have a high return on investment.
SMS customer service software best practices
SMS customer service software best practices to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction:
Texting is no longer just a means to stay in touch with friends. It has crept into most forms of communication- formal and informal. One text is enough to complain, get offer updates, receive event invites, etc. Using SMS for customer service, you can do the following (and more!)
- Troubleshooting customer problems
- Send out reminders
- Help customers discover new products and services
- Keep customers engaged with polls and surveys
- Onboarding and personal assistance
Let’s understand how:
1. Troubleshooting customer problems
Customer feedback not only makes your supporters feel valued, but it can also help you improve your products and services. This is why having a conversation about grievances whether about technical issues, billing concerns, or to collect customer feedback on products is crucial to resolve customer issues.
Using CallHub Peer-to-peer (P2P) texting, you can manage one-on-one support conversations at scale. Customers can opt-in by texting a keyword like HELP to your shortcode, and agents can respond personally, with canned responses, or ready-made templates or fully custom replies.
Read more: Here’s how to use opt-in text messaging for your advantage.
2. Send out reminders (GOTV, events, appointments)
Reminders are one of the most effective uses of SMS. Whether it’s reminding a supporter to vote, nudging customers to complete a survey, or confirming an appointment, SMS ensures they don’t forget. Studies show that SMS reminders can increase turnout or attendance by 3%.
With CallHub’s text broadcast, you can send reminders to thousands at once. Use scheduled messages and campaigns to send alerts at the right time, such as during peak hours when customers are most responsive include links to surveys or event pages, and track engagement with built-in analytics.
For more personal touches, agents can use texting from the call center, sending quick follow-ups right from the call dashboard.
Read more: Text GOTV reminders: what you need to know.
3. Promote new products with text messaging
Boomers spend 30 minutes texting, and millennials spend 48 minutes daily. So, one of the best ways to get their attention to your new product or service is to text them about it!
For customers or supporters who have already registered their mobile number with you, texting the launch of your latest product is a cost and time-efficient way to advertise.
With CallHub, you can easily launch bulk MMS texts or use Rich Communication Services (RCS) to send attractive pictures and videos, which can also give a further boost to your campaign.
Remember to include the description in your first message, such as the date, time, and nature of the event, as shown in the above example.
Motivate people to take action by clearly stating what you want them to do after reading the message, followed by a website link or “buy now” link (texts have over 30% click-through rates)
Read more: Let’s see the unique difference between SMS and MMS
- Remember to include the description in your first message- like the date, time, and nature of the event in the above example
- Motivate people to take action by clearly stating what you want them to do after reading the message, followed by a website link or “buy now” link (texts have over 30% click-through rates)
4. Keep customers engaged with polls and surveys
Food delivery apps enrich the experience by sending a survey text almost instantly. You don’t have to log in or scour the website or app to share your thoughts about food delivery.
SMS customer service software best practices to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.CallHub makes this easy with automated SMS surveys. You can design short, conversational question flows that customers answer directly in their text thread.
For nonprofits and campaigns, this is ideal for gauging supporter sentiment or collecting data for GOTV efforts. For businesses, it’s perfect for post-purchase or delivery feedback.
Make sure your text blasts consist of such polls regularly and design them so that answering is easy and quick.
5. Onboarding and personal assistance
Some conversations need to go beyond a 5-star rating or a quick survey. GOTV is a good example of messaging that requires you to listen to your supporters, understand their needs, and reply accordingly.
CallHub’s peer-to-peer texting lets campaign volunteers and staffers engage hundreds of people at a time in personal one-on-one conversations. Agents can send resources, like step-by-step instructions, and respond in real time to individual needs. For time-sensitive campaigns like GOTV, P2P texting ensures no supporters slip through the cracks.
Tips to help you use the SMS customer service tool
To truly get the best results, you need to use your SMS customer service tool strategically. Here are some proven tips to help you get started.
1. Use multiple SMS tools to assist you
Different types of SMS technology serve different purposes. By combining them, you can provide a richer customer experience.
- P2P – Peer-to-peer texting: Best for one-on-one, conversational support. It makes customers feel like they’re texting with a real human rather than a faceless system. P2P is ideal for resolving service issues, following up on inquiries, or handling sensitive matters where personalization is key.
- MMS – Multimedia Messaging Service: Go beyond plain text by sending images, videos, a quick troubleshooting guide, or even promotional visuals. MMS helps you explain complex information in a more engaging, visual way.
- RCS – Rich Communication Services: RCS enables you to include interactive buttons, carousels, and branding elements within your messages. It combines the familiarity of texting with the interactivity of apps.
The best part? CallHub already supports all three of these messaging tools, so you don’t need separate tools to get started.
2. Set a casual, approachable tone for SMS customer service
People prefer customer texting over emails because it sets a more informal tone for the conversation. The character limit of texts discourages the use of greetings and other ornamentation. Plus, texting has also given way to the wide use of abbreviations and emoticons to get your message across compactly.
Add them to your messages organically to set an informal, approachable tone to your conversations. Read our guide on text abbreviations for further tips.
3. Use short, easy-to-understand codes
Keywords and shortcodes make it simple for customers to start a conversation with your brand. One great example is Chipotle. After closing stores for an all-hands meeting, they asked customers to text “RAINCHECK” to their shortcode for a free burrito.
A follow-up text asked people to subscribe to regular updates about discounts and even job offers. The clever campaign set a conversational tone, was easy to remember, and offered a meaningful incentive.
Best practices:
- Keep keywords short, clear, and on-brand.
- Use them to start conversations or opt-ins (e.g., HELP, JOIN, SALE).
- Offer incentives, such as discounts, freebies, or insider updates, to motivate customers to subscribe.
4. Keep messages short and to the point
Character count is one reason to keep your texts short. However, the other primary reason is our diminishing attention span.
The bad news is that technology has reduced our attention span from 12 seconds to 8 seconds in recent years.
The good news is that we no longer need long emails to communicate. A short text will work. Make sure your messages are to the point so your customers read them thoroughly without signing off.
5. Use software that keeps everything in one place
It’s difficult, time-consuming, and confusing to manage information when it is scattered across multiple tools.
If you’re using a contact management software, make sure that your SMS customer service tool can share data with it. A customer service texting Software like CallHub lets you integrate directly with popular CRMs like Salesforce and NationBuilder or use a third-party connector like Zapier to share data.
New subscribers, customer conversation details, and purchase history all sync up automatically, eliminating the need for daily manual spreadsheet imports and exports.
Read more: Best CRM for small nonprofits based on features – A list.
Frequently Asked Questions: SMS customer service
| What is SMS customer service? SMS customer service, also known as customer texting, enables businesses to engage with and assist their customers by sending and receiving text messages. Instead of waiting on hold or checking email, supporters and customers can reach you quickly, and your team can respond just as fast. It’s a straightforward way to build trust, save time, and keep communication personal, even as you grow. |
| What is the role of SMS customer service in modern business communication? SMS customer service is an integral part of modern business communication, offering speed, convenience, and a personal touch. You can instantly reach out to clients for urgent updates, automate replies, and manage conversations efficiently, all while keeping data secure and compliant. Using SMS not only improves customer satisfaction and loyalty, but also sets your business apart with convenient, responsive service that today’s customers expect. |
| What are the best SMS and texting platforms for customer service communication? There are several top SMS and texting platforms for customer service, each offering helpful features for business communication. One of the leading options in 2025 is CallHub. CallHub stands out for its robust automation, peer-to-peer texting, MMS, and RCS capabilities, compliance, and easy CRM integrations, making it an excellent fit for businesses, nonprofits, and campaigns that value personalized, scalable messaging and firm support. |
What’s next with SMS customer service
Texting has now become an integral part of our communication. However, most brands have yet to adopt a formal strategy for customer texting service. SMS provides an organic platform to keep in touch with your customers and reduces efforts on both sides.
Explore CallHub’s SMS solution today and see how easy it can be to keep customers informed, engaged, and satisfied, all with a simple text.
Feature Image Credits: Clay Banks/ Unsplash
