How SMS helped OneMRI turbo-charge growth

OneMRI is a healthcare provider with a difference. Launched just a year ago, the business provides Whole Body MRI services by leveraging underutilised MRI machines in clinics all over Australia. Once a scan is complete, OneMRI’s team of specialists assesses the results and communicates them to the customer. In twelve months, the business has partnered with 21 clinics across 5 states, had hundreds of customers with a 9.7/10 customer rating, and built a wait list of around 10000.

How has its ten-strong team handled this rapid expansion? SMS automation is a big piece of the puzzle. After working with another provider early on, the business switched to Sinch to manage SMS communication, complete with automated workflows, templates and personalisation.

“Where Sinch has helped is in giving our team leverage to be able to tackle this at scale,” explains CEO and co-founder Gopi Sara. “To be able to communicate often and in an automated way that allows us to personalise.”

OneMRI uses Sinch SMS services through an integration with HubSpot, enabling keyword-triggered auto-responses, templates and automated messaging flows. Because it’s integrated, OneMRI can create multi-channel customer journeys using email and SMS, and manage all its customer communications via a single, user-friendly platform. It’s a setup that aligns with the need for flexibility and scale.

“I’m a big fan of the user interface,” says Gopi. “The ability to duplicate and automate replies, to have multiple people tap into templates and workflows, that’s where the high leverage comes in.”

He and his team use Sinch to manage both marketing campaigns and functional messaging, helping them connect with thousands of existing and prospective customers.

What does this look like in practice? Gopi explains what happens when a potential customer books an initial consultation online.

“With Sinch, we’re able to message them back and say: ‘Hey, thank you, the team is looking forward to talking to you.’ If someone cancels their consult, we’re able to message back and say: ‘We noticed you cancelled your consult, can we help reschedule for another time?’ It’s all these automated sequences. And we are able to do multi-touch with SMS and email through Sinch. That’s great.”

SMS automation has allowed the team to communicate with customers effectively, without an unmanageable amount of manual work – in fact, Gopi says that they are saving roughly three days a week in admin time.

Even with a high volume of SMS – 30,000 each month – messages are timely and reliable, and personalised to each customer. The result: from the very first interaction, potential customers get a consistent, personal experience with the OneMRI brand. For a healthcare-based business looking to develop a strong following and build trust with customers, this is essential.

“Because of the variance we can get from Sinch, they have a feeling it’s personal,” Gopi explains. “It’s very hyper-personalised to them because of where they are in the journey.”

Support also played a big role. A fast-growing customer base meant OneMRI needed to scale up its messaging quickly – and having a responsive partner made all the difference. Gopi has nothing but praise for the support they received, explaining that they went above and beyond to help out. This was a real benefit during the switch from its previous provider.

“We switched over without any customers being lost or any messages being lost,” he explains. “And they were just amazing.”

Even a year on, the team can still call on Sinch for help when they need it.

“They jump on the phone with us all the time,” he says. “They want to do their best for their customers, and that just kind of resonates throughout the company.”

Key takeaways:

• Cut admin time by 3 days a week
• 30,000 messages sent monthly
• Achieved consistently high deliverability rates

In a single year, OneMRI has gone from fledgling startup to thriving company – with a chunky wait list and satisfied customers to prove it. That growth is likely to continue as Gopi and his team partner with more clinics, move into new parts of Australia, and provide MRI services for even more customers. It’s all part of the mission to enable longevity through accessible whole-body imaging.

As it grows, OneMRI is looking at new ways to leverage the Sinch platform for customer communication – including messaging through social platforms like WhatsApp.

One thing that’s not likely to change? The enthusiasm for Sinch SMS.

Gopi puts it like this: “Sinch has strong integration capabilities, a great platform and even better team. It’s like, if you’re going to partner with someone around this, they’re the best to go to. They’re super responsive and are always going above and beyond.”