We wish you happy holidays
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Did this year last forever or did it go by really fast? No matter which one it was for you: this year was different from all the others we have experienced. Many of you had to reschedule at short notice, learn a lot of new things in a very short time and confidently deal with a situation that was new to all of us. Actually, not everything was bad. In many areas of life a wonderful solidarity and creativity emerged. Neighbors did the shopping for the elderly residents in the house, groups who could no longer meet took full advantage of the possibilities of digital collaboration and many of us tried to help the people who were hit hardest by the pandemic, either financially or with emotional support.
For better or worse, one thing in particular has, in our opinion, become apparent: The need for effective communication. We are happy to have made at least a small contribution in helping you to communicate.
A heartfelt thank you
First we would like to thank you, our customers, partners and interested blog readers. Not only have you placed your trust in us, but you have also given us feedback so that we can continue to expand our services for you. We will continue to do our best to meet your needs in the upcoming year. The whole seven team wishes you, your colleagues and employees, your friends and family happy and peaceful holidays and this year one thing in particular: good health.
What happened at seven in 2020?
Of course we have also noticed the effects of the pandemic this year. We spent quite some time in our home offices. Fortunately, this was not really a challenge for us. We have always placed great value on flexible working. That’s why we were well prepared to allow for longer periods in the home office. By the way, this blogpost is also written in a home office, paired with a good coffee and some gingerbread.
On the customer side, it was very clear that the need for communication was growing strongly, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. We could see this not only in the number of new customers or the SMS messages sent, but also in the fact that we received a lot of inquiries for various functions. However, our long-established products were quite in-demand as well. For example, the fire-brigade Freienohl showed how simple solutions sometimes work best. Here, our SMS inbound solution was used to optimize the reception reliability of the alarm system for the emergency services.
Changes
Sometimes less is more: In order to provide a better service, we decided to no longer offer Economy SMS in 2020. For similar reasons, we have discontinued payment via Sofortüberweisung. Instead, we have focused on improving our products for you. For example, you can now create individual placeholders to further individualize your messages. We also now offer a discounted payment plan for inbound numbers: With annual payment you save more than 30% compared to monthly payment. By the way: you can read about these and other changes we are making in the changelog.
Our team has also changed a little in 2020. Since April Dominique and Jana are with us. Dominique supports us with press and public relations and Jana, that’s me, the one with the gingerbread, has been working with us as content manager since then. We have settled in well despite the long home office phases and are looking forward to a new year full of messages and communication.
Christmas greetings via SMS
If you wish, you can of course send Christmas greetings via SMS. Do you know why SMS are great for sending out some holiday cheer? It’s simple: You can plan this message well in advance. This way, it can be sent even when you are no longer in the office. Thanks to the personalisation, all your customers will still receive individual SMS messages in which they are addressed with their name. You can also create your own placeholders, as we mentioned above. This helps you to personalize your Christmas SMS even more. If you need help with this, you will find an example in our tutorial video starting at 2:42 min. The small, personal greeting, without advertising or other intentions, will certainly be appreciated by your customers and will be remembered positively.
By the way: Of course SMS are also suitable for holiday offers. However, you should refrain from sending them on the actual holidays. Here, advertising is rather perceived as annoying. And honestly, most of your customers are surely busy with other things anyway.
See you next year!
In conclusion, we can confidently state that 2020 was a year full of challenges. Whatever this year may have held in store for you or demanded of you, we hope that you will be able to enjoy the coming holidays and get some rest. Schedule your last SMS, sit back and relax. We look forward to communicating with you again in 2021!
Happy Holidays
Header picture by Daria-Yakovleva via pixabay.com