How customers opt out of your texts

In this article, you'll learn what happens when a customer texts STOP to your business, how they opt back in, and where to see or change it yourself. It's worth knowing, because once someone opts out the CRM won't send them anything until that's lifted.

To see a client's opt-out settings:

  1. In the menu, click Clients.
  2. Open the client.
  3. Click Do not disturb to open it.

On a phone, it's the Do Not Disturb row on the client's page. It reads Do Not Disturb — on in red when any switch is on.

Opening Do not disturb on a client's page

How customers opt out

A customer opts out by texting your CRM line a message that starts with one of these words:

  • STOP
  • STOPALL
  • UNSUBSCRIBE
  • CANCEL
  • END
  • QUIT

Capitals don't matter. The word only has to come first, so "Stop" and "stop texting me" both count.

When that happens, the CRM:

  1. Turns on DND for all channels for that client.
  2. Adds a dnc tag to them.
  3. Stops any review requests that were queued or in progress for them.

The text itself still lands in your conversation with them, so you'll see what they wrote. On some lines the CRM also texts the customer a short note saying they've been unsubscribed and can reply START to opt back in.

Warning: Because only the first word is checked, a text like "Cancel my appointment for Friday" also opts the customer out. If that happens, see the section on turning it back off below.
Note: This only works for a number that's saved as a contact. A text from a number you haven't saved isn't acted on.

Replies to review requests

If a customer you've asked for a review writes back asking you to stop, says you've got the wrong number or the wrong person, or is upset with you, the CRM treats that the same way. It turns on Do Not Disturb, adds the dnc tag and stops their review requests.

After a customer opts out

With DND for all channels on, the CRM refuses to contact that client. If you or an automation tries to text them, the text doesn't go out and you'll see Client has DND selected for texting. The same switch also blocks emails, calls and Facebook messages from the CRM, not just texts.

If you still need to email them, open Do not disturb on their page, turn off DND for all channels, and turn on DND for text messages instead. That keeps texts blocked and lets email through.

How customers opt back in

If the customer later texts START or UNSTOP (again, as the first word), the CRM turns off the Do Not Disturb their opt-out turned on and removes the dnc tag. You don't have to do anything.

Note: START only undoes an opt-out the customer asked for themselves. If someone in your office turned Do Not Disturb on by hand, or it went on because they said you had the wrong person or were upset, it stays on whatever they text.

Turning it on or off yourself

The Do not disturb section on the client's page has one switch for everything, then OR, then one switch per channel:

  • DND for all channels
  • DND for emails
  • DND for text messages
  • DND for calls & voicemails
  • DND for Facebook messages
  • DND for review requests

Click a switch to change it. It saves straight away. While DND for all channels is on, the channel switches below it are greyed out, because everything is already blocked.

Tip: Only switch a customer back on if they've asked you to. Texting someone who opted out can get your number flagged by carriers.

Related articles