Head of Marketing Department
Dear Mr./Ms. Hideyuki Matsubara 様
CRM Team Leader
Dear Mr./Ms. Ken Kurahashi 様
Services you can use
SMS Connect (API) (Marketo integration)
--Could you tell us about Leverages' business and your respective areas of responsibility?
Matsubara:Our company's corporate philosophy is "to pursue the happiness of all stakeholders and promote the growth of each individual through the creation of customer experiences," and we conduct various businesses to make the world a better place using IT as our weapon. Our main business is human resource services such as job placement support for nurses, engineers, and designers. In addition, in order to realize our goal of "pursuing the happiness of all stakeholders," we operate not only human resource services but also, for example, a Q&A site for engineers.
I oversee the marketing department for our own media, specifically the departments that handle everything from attracting customers through advertising to designing and producing web services. At our company, in order to accumulate as much know-how as possible in-house, we handle all the work that would normally be done by an advertising agency or production company in-house.
Kurahashi: As the CRM manager for the nurse job change website " Kango no Oshigoto ," I am responsible for implementing marketing strategies targeting existing registered users.
--We often hear about the shortage of nurses in the news
Kurahashi:The situation varies from hospital to hospital, but there are many hospitals nationwide that are experiencing a shortage of nurses, particularly smaller hospitals and those located in rural areas. Furthermore, even within hospitals of similar size, working conditions can differ significantly depending on the type of hospital. We hope to address the problems facing the medical industry from a human resources perspective by acting as an intermediary and creating opportunities for hospitals facing staff shortages to connect with nurses seeking better employment.
—Could you tell us what prompted you to introduce SMS (short message service)?
Kurahashi:With "Nursing Jobs," while an email address is optional during service registration, a phone number is required because we conduct telemarketing. Therefore, the direct impetus for introducing SMS was the idea of finding a way to make better use of phone numbers.
--What do you use SMS for?
Kurahashi:Our sales and marketing departments use it for different purposes.
In the sales department, salespeople used to manually send SMS messages to each individual from their mobile phones as one of their means of communication. However, sending SMS messages one by one by operating a mobile phone was quite time-consuming. So the sales department requested that they be able to send them through a system. That's when we came across Acrite's service, and now we have API integration between our in-house CRM system and Acrite SMS, and we send SMS messages from the CRM management screen. It's really easy to use, and our work efficiency has increased dramatically.
Also, for applicants who have registered but have never been contacted, salespeople used to follow up with them by phone, but now we use Marketo to automatically send SMS messages to applicants who haven't been contacted for a certain period of time. On
the other hand, in the marketing department, we have API integration between our in-house CRM system and Marketo, and between Marketo and SMS, and we are using SMS to reactivate dormant members, similar to an email newsletter.
—How effective has the introduction of SMS been?
Kurahashi:In the sales department, we've seen a reduction in the amount of work involved in sending SMS messages, as I mentioned earlier. Also, by automatically sending SMS messages from Marketo, we no longer have to keep calling until we get in touch with someone, so we feel that the time saved can now be used for more effective phone calls.
In the marketing department, we had been sending emails from Marketo for some time, but as I mentioned earlier, registering an email address is optional, so we weren't able to send emails to 20-30% of our customers who only registered a phone number. We believe that being able to send text messages to those people is one of the benefits of introducing SMS.
—Is there any difference between sending a message via SMS from Marketo and sending it via email?
Kurahashi:I think it depends on the profession, but for example, engineers tend to have a relatively high email open rate, perhaps because they use email for work. On the other hand, nurses don't open emails very often. I feel that SMS messages are more likely to be read when sending information to nurses.
Also, they respond quickly. Sometimes I get a reply a minute after sending an SMS (laughs). I think it's because SMS messages are short and easy to read.
—The fact that SMS messages arrive on the device immediately after being sent, and that user recognition rates are significantly higher than email, may be one of the reasons for the quick response
—Are there any unique ways to use Marketo in combination with SMS?
Kurahashi:For example, we've started a strategy where we only send SMS messages to people who haven't opened our emails. Since SMS has a character limit, it's not meant to replace email or phone calls, but rather to supplement phone calls or encourage people to read emails. We've only just
started integrating Marketo with SMS, but we're exploring various other uses for Marketo and SMS, so we're looking forward to seeing the results in the future.
—In terms of communication with customers, are there any aspects where the combination of Marketo and SMS is particularly well-suited?
Kurahashi:I believe our company's value lies in our sales team speaking directly with job seekers. We carefully listen to their preferences, suggest suitable hospitals, schedule interviews, and even help them prepare for those interviews. I think that careful, time-consuming communication is essential for those aspects. However, for other standardized operations, such as reactivating inactive members or contacting those who haven't responded, I think Marketo x SMS integration is very well suited to automating and streamlining the process, and we are actively using it in this way at our company.
Matsubara:In the human resources industry, I believe that the ability to make proposals that leverage each person's individuality is a major differentiating factor. When you pursue a system where each person is assigned a dedicated sales representative, you inevitably need human resources. However, talking on the phone isn't always the best means of communication. For example, sending interview dates or the names of hospital contacts via SMS eliminates the risk of misunderstandings and the need for notes, and sending a map URL is faster than explaining the hospital's location over the phone (laughs). We utilize the parts of SMS that are more convenient, and we believe that focusing on "human warmth" will ultimately create a better environment for our customers.
—When you actually implemented it, were Marketo and Acrite SMS able to integrate smoothly?
Kurahashi:The instructions were easy to understand, so there were no particular problems. I followed the instructions and it connected smoothly.
--Thank you. We put a lot of effort into integrating Marketo with our service so that it doesn't require any development on the company's side and can be easily linked through a simple procedure. Our service development team would be overjoyed if they heard about this (laughs)
—What do you see as the main difference between SMS and email?
Matsubara: Email addresses can be easily created, right? Mobile phone numbers can't be created that easily, so I feel they are much closer to being a "person" than email. I think that's a very strong point of SMS sent to mobile phone numbers. In particular, for members who have registered with so-called carrier email addresses, if they change their mobile phone company, their address changes, so there are quite a few cases where the mobile email address they previously registered no longer receives messages. But since we started using SMS, we feel that if we get their mobile phone number, we'll be fine going forward, and I think that mobile phone numbers are now the most reliable unit for representing an individual.
Also, the fact that SMS has push notifications is a big advantage. I think it's important to know when a message has arrived.
—What are the differences between SMS and phone calls?
Matsubara:I think the biggest difference is the burden on the recipient. You never know when a phone call will come, and it forcibly takes up the recipient's time. However, with SMS, "the recipient can read it when they have time," and that difference is significant.
For example, engineers feel that they can communicate more effectively via SMS than by phone. In the case of nurses, they may be sleeping during the day due to night shifts, so you have to be mindful of the time you call. However, with SMS, you can communicate as long as the nurse checks their mobile phone when they have time.
Also, since it leaves a written record, if you send the content of a phone conversation via SMS, the recipient's understanding is completely different compared to just a phone call.
Another big advantage is that you can send URLs. It's very convenient to be able to say "I'll send you the URL later" on the phone.
—Could you tell us why you chose our service for your SMS delivery service?
Kurahashi:The selection process mainly involved comparing two points: performance and price. First, in terms of performance, we compared SMS services that send from within Japan with SMS services that send via overseas, and decided to introduce a domestic service that is less likely to be blocked and has a high delivery rate. Next, we compared several companies among the domestic services, and in addition to the reliability of the service, such as system stability and track record, we felt that we could trust and work with them when we met in person, and the price was also attractive, so we made a comprehensive decision and selected Acrite's service.
--What are your current impressions after implementing Acrite SMS?
Kurahashi:We haven't had any particular problems since implementing it. Also, we sometimes need to ask support for changes to configuration information or administrative procedures, and they respond very quickly, which is a great help.
--We have a dedicated support department to handle this. Our service doesn't end with the implementation; we strive to provide meticulous support, including answering any questions that may arise during use and introducing examples of how to best utilize our service. I'll be sure to pass on your positive feedback to our support department. (laughs)
—Did you receive any complaints from applicants after sending them SMS messages?
Kurahashi:We haven't received any complaints. However, because SMS messages are viewed so frequently, we believe that sending too many SMS messages could potentially cause problems. As a preventative measure to avoid such problems, we adjust the number of SMS messages sent per person.
—It seems like you've already accumulated a lot of expertise regarding SMS
Kurahashi:We're only about 30% of the way there. Right now, we're in the process of trial and error within the company, gaining experience and accumulating know-how. Both SMS and Marketo are new tools, so we're still exploring how to best utilize them.
--Finally, could you tell us about your aspirations for the future?
Kurahashi:As I mentioned earlier, in our marketing department, we conduct all marketing activities in-house in order to accumulate know-how within the company. We are also proactive in adopting new technologies, such as Marketo and SMS, which we have recently implemented. If you want something, we can pretty much do anything (laughs). I want to create new value together with members who are interested in technology and want to change society through marketing.
--When Leverages first introduced Acrito's services, they started with delivery from a web browser-based management screen, and have since expanded their use of SMS through API integration with their CRM system and integration with Marketo, achieving significant results. We at Leverages also want to
further expand our integration options with various services, including Marketo, to meet our customers' expectations and further enhance the convenience of Acrito SMS. We will do our best so that our customers can say they are glad they chose to work with Acrito, so please look forward to it.
Thank you very much for your time today.
* Please also check out the Marketo blog post, " Learning Multi-Channel One-to-One Marketing from Leverages: Reactivating Dormant Customers ."
