Setting up a new store: texting, customer email and Google chat

Opening a new store in SalesThumb? Do these three things in order, so every way a customer reaches the store lands in one Inbox. Each store does its own, since each has its own number, email and Google profile. Only owners and admins can set these up.

1. Texting from the store's number

Start this first. The carrier approval takes the longest, usually 1–3 weeks.

1. Go to Settings → Texting (in the Marketing & Communication section).
2. Fill in Your business exactly as on the store's IRS EIN letter (CP 575 or 147C): Legal business name, EIN and Business type.
3. Fill in Legal address with the address on that EIN letter.
4. Fill in Person the carriers can contact: the person authorized to sign for the business, usually the owner, with an email at the business's own domain.
5. Click Continue.
6. Pick Keep my current number to text from the number customers already call, or Get a new number.
7. Keeping the number? Turn texting off with its current provider first. On Zoom Phone: Phone System Management → Phone Numbers → the number → SMS off.
8. Tick Texting is off with my current provider and click Submit for approval.
9. Answer the verification call on that number and key in the code shown on the Texting page. Then sign the authorization letter that's emailed to you.

Make sure the store's online booking page is on (Settings → Online Booking). The carriers read the texting box on it before they approve.

SalesThumb pays the carrier registration fees, and a new number picked from the list is included free. Texting customers starts once the store is on a paid plan. Full details, statuses and fixes: Texting from your own business number.

2. Customer email into the Inbox

Forward the store's email to its SalesThumb address, so customer emails show up in the Inbox next to their texts.

1. Go to Settings → AI receptionist.
2. Under Where it answers, find the Email row.
3. Under Your forwarding address, click Copy.
4. In Gmail, open Settings (the gear), then See all settings, then Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
5. Click Add a forwarding address, paste the address, and click Next, then Proceed.
6. Gmail sends a confirmation code to that address. Back in SalesThumb, the Email row shows Confirmation email received: with Gmail's message. The code is the number in it.
7. In Gmail, type the code into the verify box and click Verify.
8. Choose Forward a copy of incoming mail to the SalesThumb address, then click Save Changes at the bottom.

The Email row then shows when the last email came in. Gmail's menus may change. Outlook and other providers have a similar forwarding setting.

Forwarding only brings emails in. The AI answers them only if you turn on the switch on the Email row. That needs the Growth plan or up.

3. Google Business Profile Chat → Text message

Let people who find the store on Google message it, and have those messages land in the Inbox as texts. Do this once texting is live.

1. In SalesThumb, go to Settings → AI receptionist.
2. Under Where it answers, find Google Business Profile and click Set up, then copy the store's texting number.
3. Go to business.google.com and open the store's profile.
4. Click Edit profile, then Contact.
5. Next to Chat, click Edit, choose Text message, and paste the texting number.
6. Click Save.

The profile must be claimed and verified, and Google offers Chat only in some regions. More: AI replies to chats from your Google Business Profile.

Related

• Setting up the AI receptionist for chat and calls
• Texting rules: consent, STOP and quiet hours

Frequently asked questions

Q: Which should I set up first?

A: Texting. The carrier approval usually takes 1–3 weeks, and the Google Chat option needs the texting number once it's live. Set up email forwarding while you wait.

Q: Where do I find Gmail's forwarding confirmation code?

A: Gmail emails it to your SalesThumb forwarding address. In Settings → AI receptionist, the Email row shows "Confirmation email received:" with Gmail's message. The code is the number in it. Type it into Gmail's verify box.

Q: Does each store need its own setup?

A: Yes. Each store has its own texting number, forwarding address and Google profile, so do all three steps in each store's settings.

Q: Who pays the texting registration fees?

A: SalesThumb does. A new number picked from the list is included free. Texting customers starts once the store is on a paid plan.