Consider this scenario. You’re a sales professional with a financial institution and you’ve spent weeks trying to close a big deal. Finally, you’re on the verge of making it happen when the client asks you to text them. You’re compelled to oblige. It doesn’t seem practical to ask your client to install the business-friendly and regulatory-compliant instant messaging app that’s used for in-company communications. Ultimately, you decide to send a SMS message to the client — but it comes at the risk of significant fines due to regulatory non-compliance.
To say this is less than ideal would be an understatement, especially with potential fines in the millions. You ultimately close the deal, but that win is tempered with worry over whether your bank could be fined.
Business Instant Messaging and Regulatory Non-Compliance
The sales process is rife with tension, especially as you approach the point where you’re on the verge of closing the deal. Communicating with prospective clients is an essential part of the process and you need the right tools to make it happen. Enter: instant messaging apps. But a single message could place your company in a really bad position in terms of regulatory compliance, amongst other things. This may leave business leaders wondering how they can meet clients where they are in terms of messaging, without placing their company at risk.
The reality is that SMS texts and consumer-grade instant messaging apps can leave an organization vulnerable to major penalties. Take the example of nearly a dozen major financial institutions which were recently fined a combined total of nearly $2 billion dollars for using consumer-grade messaging apps including WhatsApp and iMessage to communicate with clients. The fines were handed down by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The financial institutions included Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup, Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and Deutsche Bank. These banks each saw fines to the tune of hundreds of millions dollars — a devastating sum for any business.
Companies in a variety of industries and business sectors are required to retain messaging data for a specified period of time. Yet virtually all consumer-grade messaging apps and SMS texting platforms don’t even allow for simple data exports. This makes it impossible for a business to meet the standards set forth by regulatory oversight groups, particularly in the financial sector and the health care space. So what’s the solution?
How Can Companies Meet Regulatory Requirements Without Installing New SMS Texting Apps?
It’s impractical to expect a current or prospective client to install a new app just so they can communicate with a salesperson who’s working to close a deal. And you place your business at risk of fines if you work in a highly-regulated industry and send SMS messages in the course of doing business.
The solution to this dilemma comes in the form of an instant messaging app for business communications — one that includes external messaging capabilities. SayHey Messenger® is amongst the only SMS messaging apps for iOS and Android that allows for secure and compliant inter-company communications and SMS texting capabilities.
External messaging capabilities allow you to connect with prospective and current clients with ease — and they don’t need to install a new app. SayHey Messenger® allows you to meet clients where they stand in terms of messaging. In fact, there are several advantages to use a business messaging app with SMS texting capabilities.
- You can connect with and message clients in a way that aligns with their needs and their communication preferences.
- Clients don’t need to install an app for the exclusive purpose of connecting with your organization.
- Companies can minimize or even eliminate concerns related to legal and/or regulatory compliance.
- You won’t drop the ball on closing the deal because your communications faltered.
One of the only SMS messaging apps for iPhone and Android, SayHey Messenger® is built for business, with an intuitive, familiar UI that makes for easy user adoption. In fact, external messaging capabilities make it a step above other SMS texting apps since users can communicate both internally and externally.
Benefits of a Business Messaging App With External SMS Texting Capabilities
SayHey Messenger® is a unique and regulatory-compliant business instant messaging platform that solves many of the challenges that companies face when it comes to communication. The team at 7T developed SayHey Messenger® as a method for patching the holes in your company’s messaging situation.
The SayHey Messenger® app features:
- Data sovereignty for control and ownership of all messaging data;
- Fully compliant instant messaging for regulated businesses;
- Seamlessly integrates into existing company software platforms;
- Admin portal for moderation, auditing, and inclusivity;
- SayHey Spaces for company-wide broadcasts and team collaborations;
- Engaging, intuitive user interface for incredible adoption rates;
- Send compliant SMS messages to external users with full data retention; and
- Custom UI with your logo, colors and branding elements for a style that’s all yours.
SayHey Messenger® offers two deployments: a SayHey Messenger® Business deployment with a mobile app platform (for iOS and Android) and web app portal. There’s also SayHey Messenger® Enterprise deployments, which entail storing all messaging data in the client’s private cloud environment and the platform is fully integrated within the client’s existing software platforms, including mobile applications. This allows users to access their instant messages without leaving the screen, leading to greater productivity, higher user adoption rates and better efficiency.
Consider using SayHey Messenger® as your business messaging platform. And the best part? We can deploy this business messaging solution in a matter of days. Contact us today to learn more about SayHey Messenger®.
