Tele Reminders: An Eye-Opening Guide

In this guide we will discuss what tele reminders are, why your business needs them and how you can start using them. We will cover the most common problems and the solutions. I will give you some ideas of how different industries can use tele reminders to improve theur business and services. So, lets jump into it.

What are Tele Reminders?

Tele Reminders (telephone reminders) can help grow your business by politely reminding your current customers that they need your services again. Examples of this are MOT’s, eye tests, dental appointments and membership renewals.

Telephone Reminders are:

  • An active marketing technique compared with other passive techniques – like letters
  • A very personal, chatty approach
  • A flexible system allowing the customer to choose their appointment time and date
  • Good at promoting the feel “wanted” factor with the customer.

Therefore, Tele Reminders improve brand perception, customer relations, booking rates and profitability. A company can perform telephone reminders in-house or employ an external agency.

Why you need Tele-Reminders?

When the elapsed time between the client’s first visit and the second and subsequent visits can be a year or even two years; for example car MOT’s, membership renewals, eye-tests and central-heating boiler servicing. Consequently, the client can easily forget.

You have a few simple options:

  1. Do nothing and hope the customers come back
  2. Send out letters and postcards to remind customers and wait
  3. Be pro-active and use tele reminders.

Most businesses pick option one or two and then they cross their fingers. These are both passive marketing techniques and will have a limited result. However tele reminders are an active marketing technique, engaging the client in conversation and consequently, have a higher success rate.

So how do you start using Tele Reminders?

So, how can your business start using tele reminders? All you need is a database of all your clients with their contact details and phone number and last date of purchase. One month before your client is due for his or her appointment give them a call and remind them about the appointment and ask if you can book them in. This can, of course, be done in-house, however, not every business has the resource available and we would recommend that they use an external agency.

When selecting an agency you must ensure that they are well spoken professionals with experience in tele reminders. All you need to do is give them access to your online booking system and they can do the rest for you.

Tele Reminders – Why, What and Which Businesses?

If you want to increase your repeat purchase rate and client retention rate, tele reminders are the answer.

Tele reminders will increase your re-booking rate by an average of 20-25%.

Here are some examples of which different industries can use tele reminding.

  • Retail Marketing – promotions and special offers.
  • Patron Information – inform your patrons of up and coming events.
  • Non-Profit – let past donors know about new awareness campaigns and events.
  • Restaurants – remind customers of their reservations, special offers and events.
  • Event Management – remind customers of events and up and coming events.
  • Green Industry Marketing – solar panel maintenance, tree surgery and recycling.
  • Health Care – eye tests, repeat medical appointments and dental check ups.
  • Utilities – gas central heating boiler servicing.
  • Maintenance – reminders of maintenance for kitchen extraction systems, air-conditioning, refrigeration etc.
  • Automotive Industry – MOT’s, servicing etc.
  • Clubs, Associations & Gyms – membership renewals, event notification and ticket booking.

As you can see there are many uses for tele reminders and I am sure you can think of a way you can use them for your business. This type of personal interaction with your clients can really help to improve your brand relations and profitability.

Conclusion

In conclusion, tele reminders can help grow your business by politely reminding your current customers that they need your services again, be it an MOT or an eye test, for example. They can be performed in-house or through an agency.

Get started with Tele-Reminders

If all of this makes sense and you want to start using Tele reminders today, you can Call BHT Marketing on 0808-172-1900 for a free consultation or click here to fill in our form and one of us will give you a call to discuss how we can help.