Do you have the right SMS provider?

Johan Andersen, CEO Target365

We talk a lot about new channels: RCS, WhatsApp, email, push, social media. Yet the reality is simple:

👉 SMS is – and will long be – the most important communication channel for businesses that want to reach end customers.

At the same time, we see that many businesses have had the same SMS provider for years , without making a real evaluation of whether the solution is still right. It's a risky sport.

SMS is much more than “message in – message out.” Below you will find some questions you should ask yourself regularly.

1. Security – is your data well secured?

• How are personal data and traffic handled?

• Do you have secure authentication and 2-factor login ?

• Is access control and logging in place?

If your SMS channel is critical for operations, customer dialogue, or security, then security must be accordingly.

2. Customer support – do you get help when you need it?

• Do you get quick, competent assistance when something happens?

• Do you have a contact person or just a generic support center?

• Do you feel that the supplier cares about your success?

When something goes wrong, the quality of customer support means everything.

3. Reporting and insights – do you see what is actually happening?

• Do you have transparent access to delivery rates and error codes?

• Can you easily analyze campaigns, mailings, and discrepancies?

• Is the insight actively used in your improvement work?

Without insight, you're groping blindly – even if the messages seem to be getting out.

4. Scalability – can you grow with your current provider?

• Does the current solution handle increased volume without problems?

• Can you expand to new countries and destinations?

• Is the provider actively working on new services (RCS, new APIs, better security)?

A good supplier should not be a limitation when it comes to your growth – but on the contrary, an enabler.

5. Ease of use – how cumbersome is it really?

• Are interfaces and portals easy to use ?

• Are the invoices structured and understandable?

• Are the APIs modern, well-documented, and stable?

If your team has to "struggle" with the tools, you lose time and quality every single day.

6. Functionality – do you have what you actually need?

Should you be able to:

• mask the content or parts of the content?

• set storage time and lifetime of messages?

• prevent unnecessarily long messages (which drastically increase costs)?

• block shipping to expensive destinations?

• ensure correct sender ID?

• be able to integrate directly with Salesforce, Dynamics 365 or other core systems?

If the answer is yes to several of these – but your solution doesn't support it – you have a gap.

7. Does the supplier also work with your competitors?

• What else does the supplier provide in the market?

• Who owns the supplier?

• Is there a risk that you are actually financing your own competitor , directly or indirectly?

It is worth having a conscious relationship with these questions.

8. Is the supplier honest and thinking long-term?

An important but often forgotten question:

• Do you know how much the supplier earns from you?

• Have they ever suggested that you should n't send text messages?

• Have they recommended measures that actually reduce your volume but increase quality?

A partner who always says "send more," without discussing relevance, quality, or other channels, is perhaps most concerned with their own income.

Yes, price is important – but it's not everything

The price per SMS is visible and easy to compare. However:

If you push the price all the way down to the supplier's cost price , money has to be saved somewhere.

Often it means:

• poorer customer support

• slower development rate

• less focus on safety and quality

• weaker stability

A long-term, proper supplier must make money in order to:

• develop new services

• ensure uptime

• invest in security

• be there when you need them most

When should you reassess?

• If you haven't evaluated your SMS provider in years

• If no one really knows how the solution is actually set up

• If SMS is critical, but is treated as "something simple and cheap in the background"

Then perhaps it is time to look up.