At a time when face-to-face communication has become a rarity in nearly every business, the mission of Text Request has never felt more urgent.
“We’ve had very interesting conversations with customers across industries,” says Kenneth Burke, director of marketing for the company, which helps its customers use texting to communicate. “For many, this situation has heightened the need for what we offer.”
As the coronavirus crisis worsened, shuttering local restaurants and forcing small businesses to move to a carryout-only model, Text Request launched a free platform to help local entrepreneurs weather the changes.
“In these trying times, we feel obligated to help our fellow local businesses do whatever they can to stay up and running,” says Brian Elrod, Text Request co-founder and CEO. “Curbside pickup and delivery are new business models for many restaurants, and with so many Chattanoogans stepping up to support them with an influx of orders, some are struggling to manage increased demand. Text Request was built to support such needs, and we’re happy to lend our product to these restaurateurs and their teams.”
The Text Request team spent weeks working from home to protect the health and safety of employees, but the entrepreneurial spirit at the heart of the company has kept it thriving through a time of nearly unimaginable challenges, Burke says.