SMS is booming in the accountancy world. CKW, a Manchester-based firm of Chartered Certified Accountants, is living proof. The team save heaps of time by delivering vital updates – from book-keeping reminders to tax return deadlines – to their clients from the FireText platform. With the praises of director, Alistair, we tell CKW’s success story and how they’re reaping the benefits of SMS.
CKW’s objective
When Alistair first came to FireText, his objective was to reduce the team’s time chasing clients for information. The CKW team found they were spending hours every month chasing clients via email and phone. Specifically, they needed more information from clients in order to complete VAT returns on time.
The challenge
Before coming to FireText, Alistair says CKW’s main forms of client communications were calls and emails. This was time consuming. Often struggling to receive responses in time (if at all), the team would spend two to three hours every month chasing clients for essential information ahead of tax return deadlines. Emails would get lost in the inboxes of busy clients, and it wasn’t uncommon for most phone calls to go straight to voicemail, resulting in a clunky back-and-forth approach.
That’s when they decided to turn to FireText. “Our staff were reluctant to use their own mobile to text the clients for obvious reasons”, Alistair mentions. Using FireText – and covered by our market-leading security credentials – the team can communicate to their clients without worry, particularly when sending bulk messages to a group of clients.
Example message content
Despite the transactional nature of the messaging, we always encourage businesses to make the most of every client interaction and pull in some personality. For example:
Hi {{firstname}}, it’s Alistair here from CKW Accountants. We’re wrapping up your VAT return for Sept – Nov 2022, but just need a few more details from you in order to submit it. Please give us a call on XXXXXXXXXXX before the 7th Jan 2023 deadline.
This example is provided by FireText.
The result with FireText
Even after a few weeks of using FireText, Alistair and the team immediately notice the positive impact of SMS. “Awesome facility!“ Alistair says. “We used to spend about two-three hours a month chasing clients for info. Emails often get ignored/missed and phone calls straight to voicemail.”
There’s also the time and money-saving elements: “We now spend about two minutes a month using Firetext. What is great is the delivery report whereby you can see how many of the messages get delivered. Clients are now calling us back thanking us for the reminder. It pays for itself when you think of the two-three hours’ downtime of my staff.”
Platform Demo? Questions? Let’s chat
We help accountancy firms across the UK refine their communications with clients. The result? A smooth customer experience for long-term loyalty. If you’re looking to further boost your transactional communications using SMS, book a chat with one of our experts to prepare for the quarters ahead.