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 hereThe 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

    Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


      • Recent Topics

      • Name Change and Delete Email ID and Alias

        Hello please i require urgent assistance, 1.) I would also like to change the name that appears when people receive my emails. I have an info@spacetraiders.com but when people receive my email its say Ronma Adedeji instead of either Info or Space Traiders..
      • Feature Requests and enhancements: Subform

        By The Grace of G-D. Hi, It would make it much easier to use if we could have some more features in subforms: More Columns/Fields Set the size of a column Show the subform in Full Page Width Sorting By Column Please consider The above suggestions. T
      • Unapplied AP Credits not showing up on AP Detail Aging

        I am new to using Zoho Books. I was reconciling some accounts and found differences from the GL balance and AP Aging and it came down to unapplied vendor credits. Is there an option to include that on the report, so I can pull a matching AP Aging to the
      • Add Entry and Subform Record from Deluge Scripts

        Hi all,  I would like to know how do I add a new entry and also subform records from a deluge scripts.  I can use the insert into to add a new entry to a form, but how do i insert a collection into the subform of the entry? I am using a deluge script
      • Finding draft ticket replies

        Is there a way to see all tickets which have draft replies?
      • How to apply a tag to a ticket based on the to email address?

        I need to assign a tag to a ticket if the ticket was sent to a specific email address. For example, we have the email accounting[at]company.com forwarding into Zoho Desk. We would like all emails that were sent to this address to be tagged with an Accounting
      • Engineering Change Order Process using Tickets?

        Hi Zoho Community, I'm working with my company to create an Engineering Change Order/Request (ECO/ECR) process where engineers can internally create tickets for changes in a product that must be reviewed, approved and implemented by people or teams in
      • How can I move a ticket from Department A to Department B?

        Hi there, how do I move ticket from Department A to Department B? I went in the ticket and tried to scroll down the menu under the "department" but it won't let me, I am a support admin. Did I do anything wrong? or am I doing it in the wrong place?
      • Validation Rules Trigger on Untouched Fields

        In Zoho Desk, validation rules trigger for ALL fields during an update—even fields that weren't modified in the current edit. This behavior is fundamentally different from Zoho CRM and other Zoho products, where validation rules only apply to fields actually
      • How to work with getFieldNames formdata functions ,Any Examples

        I don't find any example showing usage of getFieldNames. Where do i find .is there any Help documents available
      • Zoho Notifications - Received two notifications for one message and none for the other

        We had a client reply to a ticket twice in one minute. The ticket owner received two emails for the second message but none for the first (which was crucial content and unfortunately was therefore missed). I'm assuming this created a race condition -
      • What is the difference between "Reply" and "Public Comment" in a ticket?

        Hey, my company is thinking about switching to Zoho Desk but we do not understand the difference between the "Reply" and the "Public Comment" feature. When should we use which? And why? What is the difference between them? Thank you for your help! Kindest
      • Tasks View for Opportunity/Jobs does not indicate "Related To" account

        How can ZoHo be setup so that when a task is created for an Opportunity, the subject automatically lists the underlying account? Right now, it's impossible to link the Account to the task when the task is created from the Job.  Therefore, the open task view is inadequate.  And it's a lot of maintenance to have to manually add the account to the subject...defeating the purpose of "Automated" workflow. 
      • can i show alert when i finish running the function?

        how i can show alert inside the custom function or popup notification. when i use alert inside the custom function it show this error Error at line number:  2 'ALERT' task can be used only in on load, on validate and on change actions ​
      • CRM calendar not syncing with Zoho Calendar

        The sync is not happening: This is my Zoho Calendar CalDAV synced with Outlook This is my Zoho CRM Calendar (sadly empty ...) I have enabled CalDAV Access. In Zoho Calendar, I have set up APP Calendar sync like this: What else can I check? Thank
      • Pipeline in Custom Modules

        I love the way the Sales Pipeline looks and functions with reports. I would like to add the save pipeline features and visualization to a custom module, however, I only see that these pipelines are only available for the Deals module. Is there a way to add pipelines to custom modules?
      • Cannot associate event with other objects when creating?

        I am attempting to associate an Event with one or more other objects when creating it via the API. According to the API docs, the "Related_To" property is a jsonobject even though the description says "Provide the details about the entities the event
      • How to disable subform records dynamically

        Hi Everyone I have a requirement to dynamically disable or hide subform fields based on certain criteria. However, the code I tried didn't work as expected. It either disabled or hid all the fields in all subform records or none at all. What I actually
      • Client Script Operate Timeout

        Hi Zoho, I have set a client script that use for ( i =1; length < i , i++) to fetch all of the product in order I have an order have 30+ products, seems this script will be stopped when it is checking rough 10 + products because of timeout (may be). May
      • Why and When to Manually Regenerate Reports?

        What is the protocol for needing to regenerate reports?  It is very confusing when data in reports pulls correctly sometimes, but are inaccurate other times.   Why is report regenerating necessary at all - can the report function not read the live data as inputted into the forms?  We have built lots of reports and it is very tedious and time consuming to have to regenerate the report before each use of that data to make sure it is accurate.  Is there a way to know when a report should or shouldn't
      • Import template from Zoho Writer

        I am trying to import a mail merge template - tried to import direct from my .docx file on my hard drive and the formatting went all over the place. I then imported the .docx file in my Zoho Docs and then fixed up the formatting within Zoho Writer. Can
      • Button Duplication when emails forwarded or replied

        When I create a new email template in campaigns and send it out it looks fine to all the users, however if that email is then on forwarded or replied to then all buttons within the email duplicate.  See below The one on the left is the original one.
      • Enhancements to Custom Connectors in Zoho Creator

        Hello everyone, At Zoho Creator, we believe in providing you with the necessary tools to achieve a well connected ecosystem of apps. Our Custom Connectors feature is a testament to this, enabling you to integrate with a wide range of external services
      • AutoScan Not Working Since April -Support says it with engineering

        Hi there, Autoscan has not been working on my account since April. Without this feature, completing expenses reports is laborious and error-prone. I keep asking for updates seeing as this is a critical feature, but told that it's being looked into and
      • Zoho books bulk update for invoices

        Hi Zoho team, Why only 25 invoices can be bulk update at a time. I am booking 800 to 900 invoices in a month. Please increase this limit? Please dont tell that you dont have enough request for this task. 25 limit for bulk update is too much low
      • Querying CloudSQL using NodeJS?

        How can I query CloudSQL over nodejs? Are there any rest apis from which I perform Select Queries in the data of a Workspace? In the v1 we had C#, Python, Java for CloudSQL Now I only see Java? I am confused about the overall API of Analytics, there any
      • Rename Record Templates in Zoho Creator

        Hi Team, I need to rename the Record Templates based on the name of the employee which i have configured in Zoho Creator Deluge Script. How to do this one? // Attachments :template:PDF_ECF:Exit_Clearance_Form input.ID as PDF
      • Les Zoholics 2025 sont de retour

        Bonjour à tous, Préparez-vous pour deux jours exceptionnels au cœur de l’écosystème Zoho ! Nous avons le plaisir de vous convier à Zoholics France 2025, un événement dédié à l’innovation, à l’expertise et à la communauté Zoho. Au programme : • Présentations
      • Salutation

        Hey there, I want to make an indvidual salutation. It is possible to use if statements in the email templates? For exampe: When is male then wirte "Dear Mr." else write "Dear Mrs." Thanks David
      • Personal Expenses

        I have reviewed the board and found a few scenarios like mine however not exactly so sorry if this is a re-post.  I just recently joined Zoho Books and had to go through 2000 transactions manually which took FOREVER. So the dilemma that I am facing is that I have attached my personal and business checking cards to my account because it was not until half way through 2015 that I decided to open up a business account as an independent contractor.  When I first started my account I placed the opening
      • Not receiving instagram verfication emails

        Hi- I'm not receiving Not receiving instagram verfication emails.  I have seen other users having the same issue and your answer was to contact instagram.  But instagram no longer has a support email.  
      • Change work hours per day for employees

        Hello, Is there a way to modify the work hours per day for employees in Zoho projects? This would be helpful for resource allocation to more accurately see when an employee who works 35 hours a week vs 40 hours has a full schedule. Thanks.
      • Zoho Commerce

        Hi, I have zoho one and use Zoho Books. I am very interested in Zoho Commerce , especially with how all is integrated but have a question. I do not want my store to show prices for customers that are not log in. Is there a way to hide the prices if not
      • PROBLEMA AL CONECTAR EL DOMINIO

        hola buenas tardes hoy estoy tratando de crear mi registro y no me deja conectar el dominio  me dice que el dominio ya está vinculado a una cuenta y la verdad no tiene conectado el dominio a ninguna cuenta  tengo acceso al hosting y cpanel que se compro pero al revisar los dns estan apuntando al mismo hosting del panel  del proveedor del domini ... como hago para poder crear la cuenta con ese dominio, incluso cree un registro pero no  me deja vincularlo el dominio es integrasoft.co agradezco me ayuden  
      • Delay in delivery of emails

        I'm experiencing random delays for emails sent from Zoho account. Headers show that the message reached mx.zohomail.com almost instantly, followed by a delay of anywhere from 3-15 minutes (and counting). Please confirm whether this is a system-wide
      • Zoho Mail not working. Constant OTP

        Firstly, my emails have been playing up for over a year. They are struggling to send and I have to press Send a few time to make them going. They mostly hover with a loading note saying Sending. I emailed Zoho and they got it working, but now it is doing
      • Zoho Mail Storage Usage Discrepancy – Incorrect Storage Reporting

        Dear Zoho Support Team and Community, I previously raised a concern about inaccurate storage usage reporting in Zoho Mail but did not receive a clear or satisfactory response. To investigate further, I meticulously calculated the storage used by all folders
      • Announcing 12 new connectors in Zoho DataPrep

        We’ve just made data management even easier - Zoho DataPrep now supports 12 new external connectors to help you build more robust, scalable ETL pipelines. Why it matters: ✅ Broader data access ✅ More automation, less manual work ✅ Smarter pipelines, better
      • What Is ZOHO-Workplace? Why was I charged?

        Hi, Today my PayPal account was charged $12.72 for ZOHO-Workplace. The transaction ID is 15S32484H3826544W. What is this charge for? It is the first time I am seeing it.
      • Building a custom site

        do we have an option in Zoho to build custom sites like adding custom functionalities? want to make a site like https://trackscourier.com/jnt-tracking-ph/. Is it doable? Please assist.
      • Next Page