Inside Vertica CRM
Vertica Text: Revolutionize Customer Engagement with Integrated Text Messaging in Your CRM
Vertica Text is the texting CRM built for business brokers: two-way SMS and MMS from the contact record, segmented text campaigns, automated follow-ups, auto-responders and keyword replies, with every message logged in the CRM. Here's what it does, how it compares with texting from your own phone, what it costs and how to get started.
Quick answer
Vertica Text is the SMS and MMS texting built into Vertica CRM. Business brokers text buyers and sellers from the contact record, send segmented text campaigns and large blasts to buyers matched by industry, location, business size or revenue, automate texts in drag-and-drop workflows, send meeting reminders, and reply automatically after hours or by keyword. Every text and reply is logged on the contact record and visible in the SMS Control Panel. It runs through Twilio, with Phone.com being added; brokers in the US and internationally can get a local number; and all carrier fees are passed through to the brokerage at cost.
Gone are the days of struggling to reach clients through overloaded email inboxes. Vertica Text is the SMS marketing suite built into Vertica CRM for business brokers: personalized texts, campaigns and automated follow-ups, all from the same system as your contacts, listings and deals.
This page covers what Vertica Text does. For when to text and when to email, US texting rules and ready-to-use templates, see our guide to SMS for business brokers.
What Vertica Text does
| Feature | What it does for a broker | Where you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Two-way texting | Text any buyer or seller and get replies, logged like email | Contact record |
| SMS Control Panel | Every text conversation with every contact on one page | SMS Control Panel |
| MMS | Send listing photos, logos and charts | Contact record, campaigns, workflows |
| Personalized campaigns | Texts built from CRM data, such as a listing alert to matching buyers | Campaigns |
| Segmentation | Target by location, industry, business size, revenue or time on market | Campaigns |
| Large SMS and MMS blasts | Announce listings, events or market updates to a whole list | Campaigns |
| Automated workflows | Texts triggered by new leads, new listings, profiles or data room releases | Workflows |
| Meeting reminders | Automatic reminders before meetings and tours | Workflows |
| Auto-responders and keyword replies | Instant replies after hours or when a contact texts a keyword | Workflows |
| Text tasks in sales sequences | Assign text tasks to team members at each pipeline stage | Workflows and tasks |
| Local numbers | Local numbers for brokers in the US and internationally | Set up with the provider |
Craft personalized text campaigns
Vertica Text builds messages from the data already in your CRM. Send a new listing alert only to pre-qualified buyers whose profiles match its industry and revenue, with each text addressed by name.
Effortlessly automate workflows
Trigger texts automatically from real-time data, buyer profiles or new listings: a welcome text when a new lead arrives, or a short text that follows the email releasing a buyer's data room access. (Workflow automation for business brokers.)
Segment your audience with granularity
Filter recipients by location, industry, business size and time on market, so every text is relevant to the person who receives it.
Build engaging workflows visually
Pick a trigger, drag the actions onto a flow chart, and configure them. No coding, and the Vertica team can build the workflow for you.
Why text messaging in your CRM matters
Superior reach and engagement
Texts reach people wherever they are. According to Pew Research Center, 98% of US adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone. (Pew Research Center.) A short, relevant text is read where your buyers and sellers actually are, not in an inbox they check later.
Faster response times
A text asks for one simple thing, a reply, a click or a time to talk, and people tend to answer texts far sooner than email. For a broker, that means a buyer's interest is captured while it's hot.
Streamlined communication
Texts and email work best together. Send the detail by email, then a short, permission-based text prompting the recipient to open it. (Email marketing for business brokers.)
Benefits of Vertica Text for business brokers
Centralized text message log
“During my years closing deals, I learned the hard way that when critical buyer and seller conversations happen on personal cell phones, deal momentum and institutional memory die the second an agent gets sick, takes a vacation or leaves the firm. Centralizing SMS directly inside the CRM turns casual, fragmented text negotiations into a verifiable, shared audit trail, ensuring every offer update, due diligence request and landlord sign-off is instantly visible to the entire deal team and tied directly to the listing record. Most importantly, it protects your commissions: when an inquiry comes in from a portal, having an automated, timestamped text conversation logged inside the listing's file provides indisputable proof of procuring cause if a buyer ever tries to bypass you directly to the seller.” Joshua Factor, founder of Vertica CRM
Every text and reply is stored on the contact record, where your whole team can see it: a buyer's valuation question, an offer, a seller's update. Nothing is lost on a personal phone, and everyone can pick up the conversation.
Send rich SMS text with images
With MMS, send listing photos, your logo or a chart, not just words, from the contact record, in campaigns and in workflows.
Remind prospects of upcoming meetings
Automatic reminders before meetings, calls and business tours reduce no-shows and keep deals moving.
Text message auto-responders
Reply instantly after hours with answers to common questions, and set keyword replies, so a buyer who texts a keyword gets the information they asked for right away.
Automatic opt-out handling
When a contact replies STOP, Vertica Text records the opt-out on their contact record and stops future texts to them automatically, so you stay on the right side of texting rules without tracking opt-outs by hand. (Texting rules for business brokers.)
Send large SMS and MMS blasts
Announce new listings, industry events or market updates to large lists of buyers or sellers at once, segmented so each message stays relevant.
Automate text message follow-ups
Schedule texts to go out after meetings, calls and business tours, so every prospect hears from you at the right moment.
Auto-assign text message tasks as part of a sales sequence
Assign text tasks to the right team member at each stage of your pipeline, so personal follow-ups happen on time, every time. (Lead assignment for business brokers.)
Seven Vertica Text workflows business brokers use
| When this happens | Vertica Text does this |
|---|---|
| A new inquiry arrives from your website or a listing portal | Sends a welcome text with the registration and NDA link, logged on the new contact |
| An NDA is still unsigned after 24 hours | Sends a short reminder with the signing link |
| A listing's price is reduced | Texts every buyer who inquired about it, inviting them to ask for the updated numbers |
| A buyer's data room access is released | Sends a heads-up text that their login is in their email |
| A meeting or business tour is booked | Sends a reminder the day before, with a reply to confirm or reschedule |
| A text arrives after hours | Replies automatically with when you'll respond and a link to your listings |
| A buyer texts a keyword | Replies instantly with the details they asked for |
Each workflow is built by picking a trigger and dragging actions onto a flow chart, and can mix texts with emails, tasks and data room steps. (Workflow automation for business brokers.)
Vertica Text vs. texting from your phone
| Personal phone | Standalone texting app | Vertica Text | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texts logged on the contact record | No | Sometimes, by integration | Yes, automatically |
| Team can see the conversation | No | Varies | Yes |
| Segment by buyer profile and listing | No | Limited | Yes, from CRM data |
| Automated workflows | No | Basic | Yes, with email, tasks and data room steps |
| MMS photos in campaigns | No | Varies | Yes |
| Auto-responders and keyword replies | No | Often | Yes |
| Opt-outs recorded and honored automatically | No | Often | Yes |
| Stays with the brokerage when an agent leaves | No | Varies | Yes |
| Cost | Your phone plan | Monthly subscription | Carrier fees passed through at cost |
Texting from a personal phone feels easy, but the conversation never reaches your CRM, your team can't see it, and it leaves with the agent. (CRM security for business brokers.)
Case study: transforming client engagement with SMS follow-ups
This is a real Vertica client; we've changed his name. Michael is a seasoned business broker who had sent weekly email campaigns for years, with moderate results.
One week after sending an email about a new business listing, Michael sent an SMS follow-up to 500 recipients. He immediately received 150 replies, which led to 25 new inquiries about the listing and, ultimately, three successful sales. By adding text follow-ups to his email campaigns, Michael increased his sales by 20% in just a few months.
“Before we had texting built into the CRM, half my follow-ups just disappeared. I'd send an email about a new listing or a buyer inquiry and hear nothing. Now I fire off a short text right from the contact record, ‘Hey, just sent over the teaser on that manufacturing business, any interest?’, and I'm getting replies the same day. One buyer who had gone quiet for three weeks finally responded to a text, toured the business that weekend, and we closed 45 days later. The text feature didn't just improve my response rate. It actually put money in my pocket.” Michael, business broker and Vertica CRM client (name changed)
| Step | Result |
|---|---|
| Texts sent | 500 |
| Replies | 150 (30%) |
| New inquiries | 25 |
| Sales | 3 |
| Sales increase | 20% within a few months |
How to get started with Vertica Text
- Choose your provider. Vertica Text runs through Twilio today, with Phone.com being added and more providers as needed.
- Get your number. Brokers in the US and internationally can get a local phone number through the provider.
- Register. In the US, business texting numbers and campaigns must be registered (10DLC). The Vertica onboarding team helps with setup and the preliminary steps to get approved. (Texting rules for business brokers.)
- Load your templates for new inquiries, NDA reminders, price reductions and meeting reminders.
- Build your workflows, auto-responders and keyword replies.
- Forward replies to your phone, if you like. Texts are handled in the CRM; set up forwarding if you want them on your phone too.
Cost considerations
All carrier SMS and MMS fees are passed through to the brokerage at cost, so you pay only for what you send.
Texting terms every business broker should know
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| SMS | A text-only message, up to 160 characters in a single message |
| MMS | A message that includes photos or other media, such as a listing photo |
| 10DLC | A standard 10-digit US phone number registered for business texting through The Campaign Registry |
| Two-way texting | Sending texts and receiving replies, with the whole conversation kept together |
| Auto-responder | An automatic reply, for example after hours |
| Keyword reply | An automatic reply triggered when a contact texts a specific word |
| Opt-out | A contact's request to stop receiving texts, usually by replying STOP |
| Bulk SMS (blast) | One message sent to a whole list or segment at once |
What's changed since 2024
- MMS everywhere. Photos and media in one-to-one texts, campaigns and workflows.
- Replies tracked like email. Every reply is recorded on the contact record and in the SMS Control Panel.
- More providers. Twilio today, with Phone.com being added.
- Local numbers worldwide. Brokers outside the US can get a local number through the provider.
- A full texting guide. When to text, US and international texting rules, and templates. (SMS for business brokers.)
Vertica Text: a powerful tool within your CRM
You can send texts from workflows, from any contact record, or from the SMS Control Panel, and every message lands in the same place as your emails, NDAs and deals. Vertica Text turns texting from a side channel into part of how your brokerage closes deals.
See Vertica Text in action
See two-way texting, MMS, segmented campaigns and automated follow-ups with your own listings, all logged in your CRM.
Schedule a Demo Questions? Call +1 212 381 4994 (USA) or +61 3 8518 4759 (Australia).Frequently asked questions
What is Vertica Text?
Vertica Text is the SMS and MMS texting built into Vertica CRM for business brokers: two-way texts from the contact record, segmented campaigns and blasts, automated workflows, reminders, auto-responders and keyword replies, all logged in the CRM.
How much does Vertica Text cost?
All carrier SMS and MMS fees are passed through to the brokerage at cost.
Which texting provider does Vertica Text use?
Twilio today, with Phone.com being added and more providers as needed.
Can brokers outside the US use Vertica Text?
Yes. Brokers in the US and internationally can get a local phone number through the provider.
Are text replies saved in the CRM?
Yes. Every text and reply is logged on the contact record and visible in the SMS Control Panel, where your team can see it.
Can I send photos by text?
Yes. Vertica Text supports MMS, so you can send listing photos, logos and charts in one-to-one texts, campaigns and workflows.
Does Vertica Text support auto-responders?
Yes. Set automatic replies for after hours, and keyword replies so a contact who texts a keyword gets the information right away.
Can I send bulk texts to buyers?
Yes. Send large SMS and MMS blasts to segmented lists, filtered by location, industry, business size, revenue or time on market.
Can I get texts on my phone?
Texts are handled in the CRM. If you'd like them on your phone too, set up forwarding.
What happens when a contact replies STOP?
Vertica Text records the opt-out on the contact record and stops future texts to that contact automatically.
What is the SMS Control Panel?
A single page in Vertica CRM showing every text conversation with every contact.
Do I need to register to send business texts?
In the US, yes: business texting numbers and campaigns must be registered (10DLC). The Vertica onboarding team helps with setup and the preliminary steps to get approved.
How is Vertica Text different from texting on my own phone?
Texts from your phone never reach the CRM, your team can't see them, and they leave with the agent. Vertica Text logs everything on the contact record and connects texting to your campaigns, workflows and pipeline.