Facebook Messenger continues to move on from simply being an instant messaging app and is evolving into a platform aimed at enabling businesses to take advantage of new ways of connecting with customers.
Now a new partnership with Pro.com has been announced that means users can get instant pricing and appointment scheduling with home professionals via the service.
Immediate connection
The new mobile messaging service, which is called Text-a-Pro, was announced by Pro.com and will allow text message or Facebook Messenger users to schedule home projects at flat-rate prices.
By simply sending a message to Pro.com, a user can gain immediate connection to a personal Home Project Manager.
Matt Williams, CEO and founder of Pro.com, explained the thinking behind the new service: “Our customers don’t want to pick up the phone to call a Pro. Instead they want a seamless mobile-first solution that fits into their active lifestyles.”
700 million users
The most recent figures reveal that Messenger now has over 700 million monthly users. Already this year, the service has introduced a money transferring service for users, and Facebook has opened up the system to allow developers to build integrations.
Businesses have been evolving new ways to engage with customers via the app and have taken advantage of additions such as Pages Messaging, which gives customers options about how to send private messages to businesses and offers Page admins different ways to manage and respond to them.
Price transparency
The new Text-a-Pro feature is available through the Messenger app and will offer deeper integration and more functionality as it develops.
Although not directly connected with other ad-based innovations by the social media giant, Facebook’s willingness to develop new business-friendly services shows how the network can be a useful tool in connecting with customers in other ways.
“Text-a-Pro takes the hassle out of home services by offering price transparency, instant scheduling and easy access to Certified Professionals all through mobile messaging. There is no easier way to schedule, co-ordinate and complete home projects,” Williams concluded.
