What to charge for SMS service?

ozlizard · 4th Sep 2013, 10:57 PM

This was being discussed in in another thread, but I can't find it.

My first SMS client has been running a trial for last month.
17 mobile numbers collected. A small amount, I know, but this is a small Café in a holiday town and it's the off season. Come summer he gets 2,000 customers per week coming through the door.

He has just informed me that he got more than a 100% response, ie some customers came back again! This was just for a free coffee with every $15 spent.

He has supplied me with a few more numbers, so up to 28 in total and we are continuing the same campaign to the end of this month.

Looks like this is going to grow and be quite successful, especially over the peak season.

The problem is, I don't have a clue what to charge him. A monthly fee, a cut of the action, a fee per campaign, what is the best option?

Gene.Gerwin · 7th Sep 2013, 10:00 PM

What are your expenses? How much time will you give each month in support and consulting?

dman1995 · 7th Sep 2013, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by Gene.Gerwin

What are your expenses? How much time will you give each month in support and consulting?

Exactly, what platform/service provider are you using as a reseller to provide your service? Trumphia, eztexting, nexomo etc and what are you paying monthly? This should be your basis for pricing for providing him with your services.

xlfutur1 · 8th Sep 2013, 09:59 PM

He is giving you phone numbers? Is he collecting them with opt in or just uploading numbers? Be sure he gets them the right way.

I have found that an 8-10X my cost is reasonable for the business owner and easy money for me. So if my cost is 10 bucks per month on average, I would be in the $99 bucks per month range. I use Twilio and its easy to judge because each SMS is 1 cent.

Don't gouge them but make enough to make it really profitable for yourself. Once you set everything up, it should be virtually hands free for you.

imsolutionsgroup · 9th Sep 2013, 10:27 AM

I agree with the pricing structure xlfutur1 wrote above.

But, one thing I would like to add is - I've found most small business owners don't necessarily want to take the time away from running their business to learn new software for sending SMSs...no matter how easy or hard it is.

That said, you can charge extra and a lot of the business will really like if you offer a Done-For-You service.

Plus, this will also differentiate you from almost all the other SMS providers out there and the business owner won't be able to just put a price on the actual sending of the SMS.

For example, there are many services out there, if you do a quick Google search, that gives you the ability to create an SMS database and send SMS messages to these databases. These sites usually charge $X amount of messages sent per month.

If that's all you're going to provide your client...you better have a very similar price point. Otherwise, when your client eventually does a Google search and finds these other SMS providers, why would they not go with the cheapest service that offers the same features you do?

Hope that helps and makes sense

TwinkleToes · 12th Sep 2013, 05:17 AM

It depends on how much setting up sms server costs you and how much
profit you want to earn. Do you want to provide after sales support
or not. On these factors you can decide your price.

ozlizard · 13th Sep 2013, 06:57 PM

Thanks for all the replies and sorry I haven't been on for a few days to respond.

I am not sure how much time this will take as it's early days.
At the moment he is just collecting the numbers using his own mobile number, however when I finally sign him up we will purchase a VPN from the company I am using. They charge for SMS credit, ie no monthly fees just pay, for an example, $38 for 500 SMS, then when you run out just buy more.
So I guess the starting point is to cover that cost, plus my time. Over the busy period I would think that 1 or 2 campaigns per week would be sufficient.
As the numbers will be collected automatically all I have to do is write the message and click the send button.

imsolutionsgroup · 13th Sep 2013, 07:45 PM

Originally Posted by ozlizard

Thanks for all the replies and sorry I haven't been on for a few days to respond.

I am not sure how much time this will take as it's early days.
At the moment he is just collecting the numbers using his own mobile number, however when I finally sign him up we will purchase a VPN from the company I am using. They charge for SMS credit, ie no monthly fees just pay, for an example, $38 for 500 SMS, then when you run out just buy more.
So I guess the starting point is to cover that cost, plus my time. Over the busy period I would think that 1 or 2 campaigns per week would be sufficient.
As the numbers will be collected automatically all I have to do is write the message and click the send button.

Awesome, sounds good! If you need any advice wants you get started...let me know

ozlizard · 13th Sep 2013, 10:40 PM

Awesome, sounds good! If you need any advice wants you get started...let me know

Thanks, always glad to get good advice, I am a babe in the woods when it comes to this stuff!

marketkidz · 13th Sep 2013, 11:18 PM

What type of service do you want to have? Is it international one or for particular company? International one always costs more and particular country is having lesser charges

TrumpiaTim · 25th Sep 2013, 06:26 PM

Average per text cost will range between 3-6 cents on average.

4th Sep 2013, 10:57 PM	#1
ozlizard Active Warrior Registered Member Join Date: 2013 Location: Western Australia Posts: 88 Thanks: 2 Thanked 16 Times in 13 Posts	What to charge for SMS service? Share on: This was being discussed in in another thread, but I can't find it. My first SMS client has been running a trial for last month. 17 mobile numbers collected. A small amount, I know, but this is a small Café in a holiday town and it's the off season. Come summer he gets 2,000 customers per week coming through the door. He has just informed me that he got more than a 100% response, ie some customers came back again! This was just for a free coffee with every $15 spent. He has supplied me with a few more numbers, so up to 28 in total and we are continuing the same campaign to the end of this month. Looks like this is going to grow and be quite successful, especially over the peak season. The problem is, I don't have a clue what to charge him. A monthly fee, a cut of the action, a fee per campaign, what is the best option?
	Mobile Sites/Web Sites/Mobile Marketing http://www.zapmedia.com.au

7th Sep 2013, 10:00 PM	#2
Gene.Gerwin HyperActive Warrior Join Date: 2010 Location: San Francisco Posts: 100 Thanks: 20 Thanked 16 Times in 8 Posts	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: What are your expenses? How much time will you give each month in support and consulting?
	B2B Telemarketing Blog: Telemarketing Blog Get into Text Marketing: Start Your Own SMS Business

8th Sep 2013, 09:59 PM	#4
xlfutur1 Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,112 Thanks: 13 Thanked 249 Times in 154 Posts	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: He is giving you phone numbers? Is he collecting them with opt in or just uploading numbers? Be sure he gets them the right way. I have found that an 8-10X my cost is reasonable for the business owner and easy money for me. So if my cost is 10 bucks per month on average, I would be in the $99 bucks per month range. I use Twilio and its easy to judge because each SMS is 1 cent. Don't gouge them but make enough to make it really profitable for yourself. Once you set everything up, it should be virtually hands free for you.

9th Sep 2013, 10:27 AM	#5
imsolutionsgroup Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: 2012 Location: Philadelphia, PA Posts: 629 Thanks: 39 Thanked 197 Times in 103 Posts	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: I agree with the pricing structure xlfutur1 wrote above. But, one thing I would like to add is - I've found most small business owners don't necessarily want to take the time away from running their business to learn new software for sending SMSs...no matter how easy or hard it is. That said, you can charge extra and a lot of the business will really like if you offer a Done-For-You service. Plus, this will also differentiate you from almost all the other SMS providers out there and the business owner won't be able to just put a price on the actual sending of the SMS. For example, there are many services out there, if you do a quick Google search, that gives you the ability to create an SMS database and send SMS messages to these databases. These sites usually charge $X amount of messages sent per month. If that's all you're going to provide your client...you better have a very similar price point. Otherwise, when your client eventually does a Google search and finds these other SMS providers, why would they not go with the cheapest service that offers the same features you do? Hope that helps and makes sense
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12th Sep 2013, 05:17 AM	#6
TwinkleToes Active Warrior Join Date: 2012 Location: Lagos Posts: 40 Thanks: 0 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: It depends on how much setting up sms server costs you and how much profit you want to earn. Do you want to provide after sales support or not. On these factors you can decide your price.

13th Sep 2013, 06:57 PM	#7
ozlizard Active Warrior Registered Member Join Date: 2013 Location: Western Australia Posts: 88 Thanks: 2 Thanked 16 Times in 13 Posts	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: Thanks for all the replies and sorry I haven't been on for a few days to respond. I am not sure how much time this will take as it's early days. At the moment he is just collecting the numbers using his own mobile number, however when I finally sign him up we will purchase a VPN from the company I am using. They charge for SMS credit, ie no monthly fees just pay, for an example, $38 for 500 SMS, then when you run out just buy more. So I guess the starting point is to cover that cost, plus my time. Over the busy period I would think that 1 or 2 campaigns per week would be sufficient. As the numbers will be collected automatically all I have to do is write the message and click the send button.
	Mobile Sites/Web Sites/Mobile Marketing http://www.zapmedia.com.au

13th Sep 2013, 11:18 PM	#10
marketkidz Active Warrior Join Date: 2013 Location: CA Posts: 61 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: What type of service do you want to have? Is it international one or for particular company? International one always costs more and particular country is having lesser charges

25th Sep 2013, 06:26 PM	#11
TrumpiaTim www.trumpia.com War Room Member Join Date: 2011 Posts: 824 Thanks: 2 Thanked 65 Times in 58 Posts	Re: What to charge for SMS service? Share on: Average per text cost will range between 3-6 cents on average.
	[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] www.Trumpia.com Trumpia: The Most Completed SMS Text Messaging Software & API Solution.