Finding the Right SMS API for CRMs, from a SaaS Co-Founder

Written by: Lauren Spinelli

With customers such as LendingTree, Zillow, Realtor.com, Bankrate and more, Bonzo is one of the top CRM and communication providers for the mortgage industry. Within their CRM, Bonzo offers omni channel communications for voice, email and SMS. According to Jason Perkins, Co-Founder & President, their customers use “SMS 30 times more than email and probably 50 times more than voice.” Working with the right partner in the 10DLC space is crucial to growing Bonzo’s business and keeping loyal customers.

In mid 2023, Bonzo migrated from Twilio to Telgorithm for SMS APIs. We caught up with Jason to get his thoughts on the communications industry, recommendations on how to vet a new provider and why Bonzo decided to switch providers.

Lauren:
Can you elaborate on the nuances of your specific industry, especially how it relates to SMS?

Jason:
Mortgage loan officers work closely with real estate agents and clients. Most clients prefer to communicate via text, whether it’s for rate quotes, contract updates, or post-closing check-ins. SMS allows us to humanize the mortgage process at scale to maintain strong, personalized communication with clients, which is crucial in our industry.

Lauren:
You guys were using Twilio prior to joining Telgorithm. Can you share a bit about the challenges you were facing with Twilio, especially knowing how critical SMS is to your product?

Jason:
The transparency of the SMS market is daunting, even for technology companies that use SMS, because there are many layers and vendors besides your service provider. For software providers like us, there’s no education on the complexity of the industry. We didn’t know any of that when we were working with Twilio.

We'd ask questions like, why did this message get filtered, or why did this message not get filtered? Or why did this campaign get rejected by the TCR? We were left in the dark without any clear guidance on how to address issues, or insight on how to instruct our clients on what they had to do on their end to get their campaigns approved.

Lauren:
How did Twilio's lack of answers and clarity impact your customers and your business?

Jason:
We lost customers, especially larger clients who were sending out high volumes of text messages. Some of our customers are sending out over a million text messages each month and their campaigns were getting rejected. We were trying to find answers in the Twilio logs or from their dashboard but we weren’t getting the data and answers that we needed. Without clear answers from Twilio, we couldn’t provide our clients with the answers they needed, which hurt their trust in us. The lack of transparency from Twilio almost destroyed our business. 

Lauren:
When you were researching Twilio alternatives, what are some of the key questions you asked, or what are some of the questions you’d recommend that other software providers ask?

Jason:
There’s a general narrative that you should go with the big players because they have market share and experience. However, big players in the market can hurt you because of the lack of transparency and multiple layers you have to go through to get answers. We’d be on daily calls with support and engineering teams and still couldn’t get clear answers.

I’d recommend asking the vendor about their understanding of the TCR campaign and brand approval process. For example, understanding the differences between a standard campaign versus a mixed low volume campaign, or what are the thresholds within these campaigns, is also important. Make sure the vendor can recommend the best way to set up a big client with multiple brands. How does the vendor handle queueing and rate limits? It’s important to understand all the nuances and details, including how they ensure strong deliverability, because these details can make or break a relationship with your customers.


Lauren:
Many companies are reluctant to switch providers. What made you go with Telgorithm vs. Twilio?

Jason:
We received an email from you and I looked you up on YouTube. I saw Aaron [Telgorithm CEO] discussing the changes in the 10DLC process in a very transparent manner. This was the first time I’d heard about the reasons why campaigns are approved or rejected. That was my ‘aha moment’ and I told my team, we’ve never heard of this company but they know what they’re talking about and they are going to help us navigate these waters.

The first conversation we had with Aaron was eye-opening. He answered questions that we had been struggling with for over a year. His transparency about what happens at the carrier level, the different providers, and what’s involved in getting campaigns approved built a lot of credibility and trust. The knowledge shared and the use cases provided gave us the confidence to move forward with you. We were in talks with other companies, but Telgorithm’s transparency, especially regarding message deliverability and filter rates, was unmatched.

We also reached out to some of your customers and they gave extremely positive feedback about their experience with you.


Lauren:
You mentioned rate limits. How familiar were you with rate limits and how they affect deliverability before working with Telgorithm?

Jason:
We had a limited understanding—probably a 2 out of 10. We knew there was a process, but it was very unclear. Working with Telgorithm has provided us with up-to-date information and insights that we didn’t have before.

Now, when a client hits their rate limit, we’re notified and can proactively address the issue. This transparency allows us to maintain strong communication with our clients and ensure their messages are sent when they need to be. This also builds trust with our customers because they know we’re looking out for them.

Lauren:
How has working with Telgorithm impacted your team?

Jason:
It’s been fantastic. We use Slack to connect directly with Telgorithm’s engineers, and we get immediate responses. Working with the Telgorithm technical team ensured that everything was set up correctly – the accounts, the APIs both on our side and Telgorithm’s side, and the endpoints. It was all very seamless. Just committing that time to make sure we did it the right way was awesome and certainly helped us tremendously.

It was almost like we had a ‘technical concierge’. As a new customer, the team’s client-focused approach and urgency was something we appreciated, and something we continue to appreciate.

We’ve even built out our own internal telecom team thanks to what we’ve learned from Telgorithm. We participate in speaking engagements where we educate others in the industry about the importance of strong SMS communication. Working with Telgorithm is a big win for us.

Lastly, the pricing is transparent, and we have a clear view of our messaging metrics, which was difficult with Twilio due to hidden fees and unclear billing. When it comes to billing the telecom space can be quite complicated. Companies can take advantage of that, but Telgorithm doesn’t.