Intro

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We co-authored The Conversational Report with Postscript to understand one simple question: when shoppers text brands back, what happens next? The punchline is uncomfortable. Customers treat texting like a real conversation, but most brands treat replies like a support inbox, or ignore them entirely. That gap is where a lot of abandoned carts live.

Role-based hook: For DTC founders and operators scaling past $1M who want SMS to do more than broadcast promos, and want replies to turn into revenue plus better creative and PDPs.

Mike Manheimer from Postscript joins to break down what the data says, why brands struggle operationally, and how AI changes the economics of responding quickly.

What we get into:

• Why brands misread replies as “support,” and why that kills revenue
• The consumer expectation gap, plus why 26% real time reply rate is a gift for anyone who executes
• The easiest way to start: add one question to your welcome flow and watch what comes back
• Turning reply data into a weekly insight loop for PDP, creative angles, and offer clarity
• What a real playbook looks like beyond “send more promos”

Who this is for: Retention, growth, CX, and founders who know SMS works, but feel like it has not matured into what it should be.

What to steal:

• The “question mark” strategy for welcome and abandoned cart flows
• A reply triage model that does not require headcount explosions
• A simple way to turn conversations into segments you can act on

Postscript

Mike

Report

Timestamps

00:00 Why brands are wasting SMS potential

02:00 The gap between brand assumptions and shopper behavior

04:14 Why SMS should be treated like sales, not support

06:00 The staffing problem behind slow SMS replies

08:10 How Postscript’s conversational AI actually works

11:20 Why fast replies create a better buying experience

13:05 The LTV upside of real SMS relationships

15:10 How to write SMS flows that get real responses

18:12 The revenue and ROI from conversational SMS

21:35 Why PDPs cannot answer every shopper question

25:05 How SMS conversations create better customer insights

31:20 The best conversational SMS playbook for brands

37:45 Why one-way SMS is becoming obsolete

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