Privacy laws require that you receive a verbal "yes" from a customer before you send a Text Message to their phone. This is the law that prevents our cell phones from being blown up by unsolicited marketing texts unlike our home phones which are blown up by "sales" calls about extended warranties and student loan consolidation all day.
The customer does not have to reply to the Welcome Opt-In Text to consent to future text messages from you, that consent is implied. But if a customer decides they no longer want to receive text messages from you they can reply "no" to unsubscribe. If they want to re-subscribe they will need to tell you to re-send the Welcome text.
We have added an update that will allow you to automatically send a Welcome Opt-In Text if a phone number is collected on a New customer's account.
How to Automatically Send the Welcome Opt-In Text to a New Customer
First find the Settings Icon at the top right of your Marketing Suite Dashboard and select it.
Now select Customer Check Out and New Customer Information Settings.
Here you will find a checkbox beside SMS Consent by Default (will send Welcome Text automatically). Checking that box will activate that setting and now all New Customer Petowner accounts that have a phone number added to them will be automatically sent a Welcome Text upon Saving their details. They no longer have to reply "yes" to opt-in, that will be implied. This text, and all future texts you send to them, will include directions on how to opt-out if they should decide to do so.
TIP: While you are there you might as well check the box for Send Welcome Email by Default. This will automatically send the Welcome Email to a New Customer which includes a way for them to verify their email address and links to download the Free Mobile App.
Now when a New Astro Pet Owner Account is created the checkbox beside Customer Consents to SMS will be automatically checked and all the Cashier needs to do is click Save Pet Owner - Send SMS to save the account and send the Welcome Text.
The cashier also has the option to uncheck that box if the customer does not want to be a part of your SMS Text Campaign List.
How to Send an Opt-In Text while Checking Out a Customer
Astro has devised a way to help you send these Opt-In Text Messages in a quick and easy manner while you are checking out your customer at the register. This way you both can have a nice chat about your upcoming promotions.
Then when they get all excited about your current promos and say,
"Oh man, that's so cool! I wish I knew about that before today."
you can say,
"Well, guess what, we now have a way to send quick text alerts right to your phone whenever we have something eventful going on at the store. Would you be interested in signing up for those alerts? You can cancel anytime just by replying STOP, but don't worry, we only send texts when something truly great is going on."
At this point, when your customer agrees to try it out all you need to do is open up their Pet Owner Information by either clicking on their email address below their name at the top left of the checkout screen, or if there is no email you can click where it says No Email on File which would also show up below their name.
Click on their email address or No Email on File to open Pet Owner Information This will open a pop-up where you can add or edit their contact information. If they do not already have a phone number on file you can add it for them at this point.
Make sure that you confirm with them that the phone number they are giving you is able to receive Text Messages.
You will need to enter all 10 digits of their phone number. Do not include the leading 1 or the dashes. Once you have the number entered in the field it will say Valid - Save for more options below the mobile number field. At this point you need to click the green button that says Save Pet Owner.
Now you will see a grey button appear that says Send SMS Opt In. Click that button to send the text. Your customer should receive a text on their phone in a matter of moments.
Your customer no longer has to reply "Yes" to that text in order to be opted-in, that will be implied. However, if your customer changes their mind they can reply "No" to opt-out of future messaging.
You can also take this time to add an email address if they do not have one entered yet. Then you can send them the
Verification Email which will include links to download the
Free Mobile App. They can then use this app to follow along with their Frequent Buyer Card and see what Offers you have available. You can also send them
Push Notifications.
Once your customer has received their text you can click where it says Click Here to close or click the X in the top right.
When your customer has successfully opted in to SMS Messaging you will see the phone icon below their name with turn from Yellow to Green. In the example below the customer's icon is still yellow since they have not replied YES to their SMS Opt In Text.
These icons are a quick and easy way for you to tell at a glance if your customer has signed up to receive Text, Email, or (Mobile App) Push Notifications from you. The paw icon will show you if they have any pet information on file.
If you are unable to send an Opt-In Text to your customer while you are checking them out you can send them a text from the Customer menu.
We do recommend that if you use this method to send your Opt-In Texts that you keep a signup sheet by your register so your customers can sign their name and fill in their mobile phone number. This will serve as your proof you had their permission before you sent the Opt-In Text.
At the end of the day, or week, or however frequently you want to do this. You can take your signup sheet and look each customer up under the Customer menu on your Astro homescreen. Once you have found the customer you are looking for click on their Name to open up their details.
First you can take a mental note of the color of the SMS icon to determine this customer's status.
Red = No Mobile Number on File / Yellow = Mobile Number on File but has Not Opted In / Green = Has Opted-In to SMS
If the icon is not Green click on the Edit Customer button. This will bring up the Pet Owner Information Pop-up so you can add any information that is missing and send the Opt-In Text. This is the same pop-up that is accessible from the Checkout Screen. Make sure to click Save Pet Owner before closing the pop-up.