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/

    API Documentation - https://www.textlocal.in/simple-developer-sms-api 

    Custom Function     - GitHub Link

3) SMS Magic

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

   API Documentation - http://www.screen-magic.com/how-to-send-sms-using-api/

   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.

• Topic Participants

• Sasidaran K

  

• Harikrishna

• lh

• Sasidaran Kumar

  

• Adam W.

• 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

• Generate a link for Zoho Sign we can copy and use in a separate email

  Please consider adding functionality that would all a user to copy a reminder link so that we can include it in a personalized email instead of sending a Zoho reminder. Or, allow us to customize the reminder email. Use Case: We have clients we need to

• I would like to request a new feature or setting for SalesIQ.

  Hello Zoho Team, I would like to request a new feature or setting for SalesIQ. Currently, when a user opens our contact widget and clicks on the "Chat with us" option, it opens a standard chat window that remains empty until either the user types a message

• In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."}

  In Zoho inventory Converting sales return to cerdit note from using Api from Creator Error details: {"code":-1,"message":"Invalid Sales Return ID."} this is button Function used in the Creator map Inventory.Create_Credit_note(int CRE_ID) { return_value

• Zia should track how customer relationships evolve over time

  Here's a feature idea that I've been thinking about The Problem Zia is great at analyzing individual interactions email sentiment, call transcription, best time to contact. But here's what it can't do: tell you how a relationship has evolved over time.

• FSM integration with Books

  Hi, I have spent a few months working with FSM and have come across a critical gap in the functionality, which I find almost shocking....either that, or I am an idiot. The lack of bi-directional sync between Books and FSM on Sales Orders/ Work Orders

• How to Track Inventory Usage from Zoho FSM to Zoho Inventory?

  Hi everyone, We’re currently working on integrating Zoho FSM with Zoho Inventory, and we’ve encountered a challenge we’re hoping the community can help us understand better. Here’s the context: When we create a Work Order in Zoho FSM that involves parts

• Set Field Mandatory by Client Script ZOHO CRM

  #Tips of the day We can set the field as mandatory by the client script var field_obj = ZDK.Page.getField('Custom_Field1'); field_obj.setMandatory(true); Custom_Field1 = Field API Name Apart from is if you have required any kind of Zoho work please do

• associating products with accounts

  I have all my accounts and products in zoho now. I need to generate a sales order for an account. The product lookup feature on the sales order shows no products...how can I get them to appear.

• Can we rely on order of returned ids when inserting multiple records?

  Hello! API https://www.zoho.com/crm/developer/docs/api/v8/insert-records.html does not mention that the response array will match the input array*, keeping this important information implicit and someone might have doubts to rely on it. (*the response

• New UI for Writer - Disappointed

  I've been enjoying Zoho Writer as a new user for about 6 months, and I really like it. One of my favorite things about it is the menu bar, which you can hide or leave out while still seeing most of your page because it is off to the left. I think this

• Zoho CRM Community Digest - February 2026 | Part 2

  In this edition, we’re highlighting a few more product enhancements, along with some helpful community discussions that explore everyday CRM scenarios from automating reminders and managing lead outreach to making the most of APIs and client scripts.

• Dont want to list inactive items.

  If an item is made inactive, there is no point in showing it in the item list. Please provide an option to hide all inactive items in 'Preferences'. 

• Client Script event on any field of a Detail page

  Hi everyone! I'd like to trigger a Client Script when a user modifies a field - any field - from the Account Details page, how can I do this? I don't want to trigger it on a specific field, but on all of them. Thanks in advance!

• Tip #66 - Exploring Technician Console: Network Statistics - 'Insider Insights'

  Hello Zoho Assist Community! Have you ever wondered why a remote session feels sluggish, or wanted to check whether connectivity issues are on your end or the customer's? That's exactly where the Network Statistics feature in Zoho Assist comes to the

• REFUND REQUEST FOR PLAN SUBSCRIPTION CANCELLED

  I have cancelled my Zoho Books subscription and would like to request a full refund for the subscription. Kindly process the refund at your earliest convenience.

• Sales IQ - Bot Builder - Forward to Operator Action Card Improvement

  Hi team, It would be a great improvement to have an additional branch out of the Forward to Operator Action Card. I would like to allow 10 seconds for an operator to pick up the chat, if they don't or if they reject the chat I would like the Bot to continue

• purchasing a pagkage

  goodmorning i want to pay for my monthly package but your app is sayinng i have insufficient funds yet i loaded money on my account yesterday though in our currency of ugx

• Edit Receipt, how?

  Do you notice the big blank space in Receipt? I want to remove that. I know there is a template but that blank space, I can't seem to remove it. Please help. Thank you!

• Can I export a TXF (TurboTax exchange format) file out of Zoho Books?

  Hello, I'm trying to do my US Small Business Taxes using Intuit's Turbo Tax. Can I export my expenses from Zoho Books to a TXF format file, so that it can then be imported into Turbo Tax? Thanks, Rajnesh

• Tax inclusive and exclusive for Sales invoices

  Hello, where can I set my tax to be inclusive or exclusive for invoices in Zoho Books? There used to be a button for me to do that right above the products table. Can someone help me please? Thank you!

• Unable to produce monthly P&L reports for previous years

  My company just migrated to Books this year. We have 5+ years financial data and need to generate a monthly P&L for 2019 and a monthly P&L YTD for 2020. The latter is easy, but I'm VERY surprised to learn that default reports in Zoho Books cannot create

• ZOHO Reports are taking longer time to get refresh

  Hi Team, Since last few days, I'm facing issues in getting updated reports. For eg: right after making an expense entry or even posting a journal, it is taking longer then expected for the updated reports. Refer below: "You are viewing the report that

• audio and video comments in tasks in zoho projects

  Hi, is it planned to have the ability to post audio and video comments? the whatsapp wechat format of communicating is a reality... tools like zoho project would facilitate a lot teamwork by facilitating the way in which we can give feedback in audio and video rather than only text. thx!

• Looking for Zoho + Twilio Automation Specialist (Duda Website Integration)

  Hi everyone, I’m looking for an experienced Zoho specialist to help build a mostly automated CRM and booking system for my service business. I already have a live website built on Duda.co and need help integrating my existing forms into Zoho CRM (no rebuild

• How To Implement an Auto-Check-out Feature for Attendance?

  If an employee forgets to check out, the system should automatically check out the employee at 6:30 PM

• Zoho CRM For Everyone UI Rollout Begins for All Users

  Hello Partners, We have started rolling out the new Zoho CRM For Everyone UI as the default experience for all users. This update is being released in three phases based on organization size and account type. We want to keep you informed of the rollout

• How to retreive the "To be received" value of an Item displayed in Zoho inventory.

  Hi everyone, We have our own Deluge code to generate a PO according to taget quantity and box quantity, pretty usefull and powerful! However, we want to reduce our quantity to order according to "To be received" variable. Seems like this might not even

• Introducing Explainer Videos for Zoho Desk: Solve everyday challenges with simple configurations

  Dear everyone, We have created a set of short explainer videos that show how common support scenarios can be handled using simple configurations within the product. The solutions often lie in the plain sight, but go unnoticed. Through these videos we

• Notifications Feeds unread count?

  How do I reset the unread count on feeds notifications?  I've opened every notification in the list.  And the count never goes to zero.

• Simple reliable solution to convert MSG files for AOL Mail?

  A simple and reliable way to convert MSG files for AOL Mail is by using a professional tool MacGater Mac MSG Converter. This software allows users to quickly convert MSG files into formats compatible with AOL, such as MBOX or direct email migration. It

• Zoho One Support is non existent...

  I've tried through Email, Chat, this community and finally through Phone. There is no way to receive an answer. Email = over a week and no answer Chat = not available Community = no answer at all Telephone = after clicking myself through the callcenter

• Disable Zoho Contacts

  We don't want to use this app... How can we disable it?

• Custom module - change from autonumber to name

  I fear I know the answer to this already, but thought I'd ask the question. I created a custom module and instead of having a name as being the primary field, I changed it to an auto-number. I didn't realise that all searches would only show this reference.

• Dynamic Questions in Zoho Forms

  Is it possible to add dynamic questions (like displaying a user’s name) in Zoho Forms? I know this is possible in surveys, but can we implement similar functionality in Zoho Forms?

• Introducing Zoho MCP for Bigin

  Hello Biginners! We're excited to introduce Zoho MCP for Bigin, a completely new way of interacting with Bigin data using AI. With Zoho MCP, you can securely connect your Bigin account with popular AI tools like Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code,

• [Action Required] : Update Shopify Access Scope to fetch complete order history

  Hello Shopify Users! Shopify has updated the access scope for apps under developer portal. With this change, the read_orders scope now provides access only to the last 60 days of order history. To access older historical orders, Shopify requires a separate

• Advance Payment Record Removed When Deleting Applied Credit from Bill

  Hello, So while working with vendor advance payments, I noticed that removing the applied credit from a bill also removes the corresponding entry from the Payments Made section. What I did : Recorded an advance payment to a vendor through Payments Made.

• How to Connect Zoho Books with e-Way Bill Portal (Step-by-Step Guide)

  Integrating Zoho Books with the e-Way Bill portal helps automate your logistics and compliance process. Follow the steps below to set it up easily: 🚀 How to Connect Zoho Books with e-Way Bill Portal (Step-by-Step Guide) Integrating Zoho Books with the

• Is there a way to update all the start and end dates of tasks of a project after a calendar change?

  Hi! Here's my situation. I've built a complete project planning. All its tasks have start dates and due dates. After completing the planning, I've realized that the project calendar was not the right one. So I changed the project calendar. I now have

• Lookup fields can't be used for anything important

  Hi It seems the lookup fields are mostly.... informative, you can at most link stuff between modules... You can't use lookup fields in blueprints, you can't use them in layout rules or anything... It that correct?

• Next Page