Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

Hello everyone,

As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business.

Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business:

While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can get quicker payments and also retain the customers in the long run. As a business owner, you need to come up with ways to get your message/reminders to the customers in a more quick and efficient way.

Email notifications satisfy such requirements where you could just send out an email to your customers about the necessary upcoming reminders. However, with a contrasting ratio of four mobile devices to one computer, it is evident what our customers are using as their preferred mode of communication. Along with the growing number of smartphone users day by day, you should try to make your business more mobile-friendly. 

Now, wouldn't it be more efficient to keep your customers notified instantly via SMS about their upcoming reminders? Let us see how we can leverage SMS messages to effectively communicate with your customers.

How to set up a Custom SMS workflow for your business?

You can use our Custom Function workflow to integrate with one of the many third party SMS providers to send out your messages. You can choose your SMS provider based on your region or preference.

Since most of the reminders are events triggered, we are going to use event based workflow for this integration. You can choose the event according to your requirement. Few such examples would be new subscription, subscription renewal and subscription cancellation events. As soon as the event occurs, you will have to use the SMS provider's API to send an SMS to the customer with an appropriate message.

Below are few of the third party providers for which we have compiled the custom functions.

1)  Twilio


     Website                    - https://www.twilio.com/

     API Documentation -  https://www.twilio.com/docs/usage/api
     Custom Function      - GitHub Link

2) Text Local


    Website                    - https://www.textlocal.in/

    Custom Function     - GitHub Link


3) SMS Magic


   Website                     - https://www.sms-magic.com/

   Custom Function     - GitHub Link

For this particular blog, I will be explaining how to integrate with Twilio's API.

Obtain Twilio credentials for authentication:

In order to use Twilio's API, a Twilio account is needed. We will follow the simple token-based authentication using Custom variables. All requests to Twilio's REST API requires you to authenticate using the two important authentication parameters namely Account SID and Auth Token. 

Login to https://www.twilio.com/ and get the credentials after signing up. Obtain the Account SID and Auth Token.




Code Explanation:

As previously mentioned, you can refer the code for Twilio integration here. The code is written in Deluge script, which is easily understandable to non-programmers.

1) Initially, we need to paste the Account SID and Auth Token values in the corresponding variables.

2) This snippet of code will be executed after the event which you configure in your custom function. So, construct the SMS message with regards to that context.

3) Once that particular event is triggered, we will be hitting an API request to Twilio with the customer's mobile number and the message.

Getting started with the Custom Functions:  


1. Go to Settings -> Automation -> Custom Functions. 


2. Create a new Custom function. Provide a name for the function. 


3. Choose the module and event according to your need.


4. Copy the code which was given above. Do the necessary changes that are required.


5. Save the Custom function and you are good to go.

Found this useful? Try it out and let us know how it works! If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask!


Cheers,

Sasidaran K,
Zoho Subscriptions.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Tip #4 : Refer and Earn Workflow system for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, We've been coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which can be implemented for your business. In continuation to the previous post, this week we will be seeing about how you can implement the Refer and Earn Workflow system to acquire more customers. Why are Referrals important? Customer Acquisition is crucial for any business to sustain itself in a constantly evolving market. It involves persuading new consumers to purchase your products. Customers

    • Tip #2 - Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a custom function workflow every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation of this previous blog, this week we will be seeing about Cancellation of Offline Subscriptions based on the Expected Payment Date. Business Scenario: In general, for any business, the customers make payments via online as well as offline. In case of subscription where the automatic collection of charge is enabled (aka online subscription), the customer's

    • Tip #3 : Send SMS Reminders for your Subscription Business

      Hello everyone, As you all know, we are coming up with a tip every week to address specific business scenarios. In continuation to the previous blog, this week we will be seeing how you can use SMS reminders for your Subscription Business. Using SMS messages for your Subscription Business: While managing your subscription business, more often than not, you need to keep your customers informed about upcoming renewals, payment reminders and cancellations. By keeping them informed in advance, you can

    • Tips And Tricks - Announcement

      Hello everyone, Every business is unique and each of them follows a specific workflow. While managing your customers' subscriptions with Zoho, you might have some needs unique to your business. Custom Functions helps you address such needs. This is a start to a series of posts, where we will be coming up with a custom function workflow every week that addresses specific business scenarios. Watch this space for further updates! Also, if you have any specific business scenario which needs to be addressed,

    • Tip #6 : Accessing external URLs from Zoho Subscriptions

      Hello everyone, We have been sharing a tip every week to address specific business scenarios which you can implement for your subscription business. Last week, we shared a tip about implementing the Approval Workflow system. This week, let's look at how you can access external URLs with the help of Custom Link. Business Scenario: Every business functions differently and has its unique requirements. At times, businesses might want to access other websites or applications by appending specific information

    • Recent Topics

    • Zoho books and venmo

      Hi, Is there a way to hook Venmo into zoho books? I have a Venmo business account and want to be able to sync that. I know you can do it with the paypal integration but I dont want to use paypal for the fees and that doesnt allow me use/integrate my current

    • Global Sets for Multi-Select pick lists

      When is this feature coming to Zoho CRM? It would be very useful now we have got used to having it for the normal pick lists.

    • 550 5.4.6 Unusual sending activity detected. Please try after sometime. <a href=https://www.zoho.com/mail/help/usage-policy.html target=_blank>Learn more.</a>

      Please help me with this. Sending of mails is blocked.

    • The Social Wall: November 2024

      Hey everyone, As we move into December, we're excited to share all the updates that went live in Social during November. View, monitor, and respond to your WhatsApp and Telegram messages from Inbox Take your communication a step further by integrating

    • Segmenting Contacts Based on Product Purchased

      I am trying to organize our main Marketing Automation email list in a way that segments contacts based on products they have purchased (for example in this case it is 3 different products). To my knowledge, this would require the sync from Zoho CRM to

    • Urgent Assistance Needed with DKIM Verification

      Hi, I have been trying to verify the DKIM for the past month using your instructions as well as other resources. Unfortunately, I have not been able to resolve the issue, and it remains persistent. I need to address this problem as soon as possible so

    • How do I attach tasks from one task to other tasks in the same project

      How do I attach tasks from one task to other tasks in the same project

    • Incorrect Handling of XLSX data

      Trying to import an XLSX schedule of bills into Zoho Books I ran across the problem of date formatting. To replicate: Build a CSV file with bill dates in whatever format you like and import it - this should work if you match the "dd/MM/yyy" etc. format

    • Zoho Books Invoice Salesperson: requires ID but there is no "Fetch salesperson" action

      Hi, I am trying to attach a Salesperson to a Zoho Books invoice. In Zoho Flow, the salesperson field required an ID. However, I only have the salesperson name, I need to fetch salesperson by name and then provide the ID. There is no option to fetch salesperson...

    • Change format of quantity format

      Hi,  I would like to change the qunatity format from 1,00 to 1.  Is this possible?   thanks!

    • Ticket Views: filter criteria -> dynamic date values in relation to the current date

      Hello all, It would be very helpful if you could build custom views in such a way that you do not have to adjust the criteria daily or at whatever interval in order to change the fixed date value as needed. For example, I would like to create a view that,

    • Captchas: No support for Google reCAPTCHA or similar

      Hi all, The current captcha integrated into Creator is very basic, and often near-impossible to read. I'm building an app for a charity which includes a couple of public-facing forms, and this is a real issue for people with dyslexia and related conditions - it's effectively excluding them if you want any form of spam protection at all on your published forms (and that being said, the current captcha doesn't even seem very effective - bots can often read it more easily than humans). I've raised this

    • Maintain consistency in ticket responses with shared snippets

      Hello everyone! We are excited to announce that our highly anticipated snippet sharing feature is now available to all users. As you know, snippets are pre-defined message templates, or canned messages, that help agents respond to tickets with efficiency.

    • Tickets - Zoho Desk

      Hi Team, My Clients need to see their tickets created and the status of the ticket in the Zoho Support Desk itself. How can I do this? My Client doesn't have a Zoho Account. They need to access the ticket by the provided link without signing in.

    • Automatically assign Contacts to Account owners

      Hi, I have a finite number of accounts set up in the CRM, and each new contact that comes in is automatically assigned to an Account according to a rule I set up. I want the Contact owner in the Contacts module to be assigned to the relevant Account owner.

    • Making Copies/Duplicates of Zoho Forms (Shared)

      Question to the community: is there a way to take a 'shared form' , make a duplicate copy and save under My Forms, so that i can use that which was already created as a template to make updates to and use as a test form and be able to have full access,

    • Using IMAP configuration for shared email inboxes

      Our customer service team utilizes shared email boxes to allow multiple people to view and handle incoming customer requests. For example, the customer sends an email to info@xxxx.com and multiple people can view it and handle the request. How can I configure

    • Can you help us creating a customised form with payment link?

      I would like to create a customised Transport form where the user will be asked to make payment basis the drop/ pick up they select.

    • Deleting or disabeling predefined ticket list views

      Is it possible to delete or disable predefined views or is this still not possible? For instance, we are not using the chat function and therefore have no use for the "Missed Chats" view. Thanks!

    • Email an Invoice from API

      When calling the API to email an invoice, it seems it does not actually send it. Below is a screen shot where I used an API call for the bottom record, and it updated its' status to "Due Today", but no email was actually sent. The top record, I hit the

    • Unable to load your extension. Please check your plugin-manifest or Resources.json.

      Hi Team, I am using the config module with multiple fields of different types, such as checkboxes and picklists. However, I am encountering the following issues: Error Message: When loading the extension, I get the error: "Unable to load your extension.

    • Layout Rules / Quick create

      Hello, is there a way to create a layout rule for quick create option? Regards, Katarzyna

    • Issue with Create Note Button and Popup Form in Leads Module

      Hello Zoho Community, I am trying to implement a "Create Note" button in the Leads module with the following functionality: 1. When the button is clicked, a form should pop up with fields to add notes. 2. After filling out the form and clicking Send,

    • Finding draft ticket replies

      Is there a way to see all tickets which have draft replies?

    • Guidance on Making Zoho Desk Connections Available for All Data Centers

      Hi Team, I’m currently developing an application using Zoho Desk connections to manage OAuth for my third-party products. Could you please advise on the steps required to make it available across all data centers? Looking forward to your thoughts on

    • Able to change project on timelog entries

      Ability to move the timesheet entry from one project to another. When a user adds a wrong entry a manager can change/update the timesheet entry to the correct project.

    • Caso de Uso | Menos trámites, más salud: Clínicum optimiza sus recursos con Zoho One

      "La automatización del proceso de solicitud de bajas y su trazabilidad a través de Zoho nos ha supuesto una mejora en el ROI." - Carol Rodríguez, Responsable de Experiencia del Cliente interno y externo en Clínicum ¡Hola a todos! Estamos emocionados de

    • Is it possible to disable Chat Waiting Time, or to make it indefinite?

      We have used many online chat services over the years. However, Zoho's SalesIQ appears to be the only one we've tried that has a mandatory time limit where we must respond to new customer queries. We are a small business so we have no dedicated staff to monitor incoming chats, which makes this requirement very undesirable. (There have been no complaints from our clients when we're slower to follow up.) Is there an option I'm missing to turn Chat Waiting Time off, or to allow an infinite wait time?

    • Double opt-in notifications and customizable confirmation messages for your webforms

      Dear CRM Community, We are excited to announce a major upgrade to our Webforms feature. You can now customize the confirmation message shown to your users who double opt-in from your webform and also customize your confirmation emails when they submit

    • Bulk create tasks - Zoho Projects API

      Hi Zoho/Community, I am trying to create multiple tasks in a single API call, is there a way we can combine multiple request bodies into one single payload? The issue I am facing is the rate limiting on the API, I wanted to create certain amount of tasks

    • Task Due dates and Reminder Date & Time

      I like to have a reminder on many tasks in Zoho Recruit. I find the process cumbersome in that each task requires the following: 1. click and select due date 2. Click the reminder box 3. Click on (Reminder) Start Date 4. Click on (Reminder )Time If one

    • Unable to Access Admin Console and Email Sending Issues

      Hello Zoho Support Team and Community, I hope this post finds you well. I am currently facing two significant issues with Zoho services: Admin Console Access Issue: Every time I try to access the Zoho Admin Console, it gets stuck on the loading screen

    • Tracking new lead response time

      Hi, I have a team of Sales Development Reps, who have a KPI of responding to a lead within 20 mins or less once it hits the system.  I seem to recall that Zoho CRM had the capability to track this in a previous version, but don't see it anywhere.   It's

    • Getting The Following Error.. 550 5.4.6 Unusual sending activity detected

      I just launched a marketing campaign and I got this error. Everything was working fine previously. This is a big launch so need to fix it asap. Can anyone help?

    • mail

      Frequent sending of this email, what does this mean? How to solve it

    • Printing on 80mm bluetooth Pos Printer

      Hello. I am trying to print receipts and invoices using my 80mm bluetooth connectivity Pos printer. I have configured the Templates to Retail so that it matches the paper width of the Pos printer. However, when I click Print in zoho, first it opens the

    • Trying to integrate gmail but google keeps blocking Zoho access for integration??

      hi i am trying to integrate a gmail account so can track/access business emails this way. I have followed the instructions but after selecting my email account it gets re-routed to this message (screengrab below) Can anyone advise a way around this or

    • Which attribute in Zoho books invoice api represent branch attached to the invoice?

      Hi Zoho Team, We have done the integration with Zoho Books API. While fetching data from Invoice API we want to get branch value attached to the invoice. We could not figure out which field in "Get an Invoice" api represents branch value attribute. Thanks

    • How to Billed from two different GST Numbers

      How to Billed from two different GST Numbers. Suppose ABC & Co had GST registration in Delhi and Haryana and Zoho account is created with Delhi GST Registration number. Now i also want to issue invoice from Haryana GST Registration number. How can i proceed ?

    • How to hide Predefined views

      Hi, I would like to know how to hide: Predefined views and Recent views or some records from this list. If I'm using it form iPad I have to scroll to see User created views. Or maybe it's possibility to move User created views on the top. All the best,

    • Next Page