When it comes to dealing with customers, speed is crucial. It’s why marketing experts, like us at Verti Group International a.k.a. SEO Seattle®, encourage you to have social channels so that your customers can send you a message whenever they like.

Increasingly, customers don’t even want to pick up the phone to talk. They’d rather use social media or instant messaging services.

Now there is another way for customers to contact your business: through text message. That’s right, as of today, July 17th, customers can now contact you directly via your business’s Google Local panel.

But only if you have it enabled.

Here’s how it works
Google has been testing this update since last November and it is one we have been expecting for a little while. Google has now confirmed that it is rolling out the feature to businesses in the US and we can help you get set up with it today.

The feature is relatively straightforward to set up. We will be able to complete this for you or you can implement this feature yourself. You can find a breakdown of the steps in this article.
http://searchengineland.com/google-begins-rolling-messaging-feature-within-google-business-278790

This is what your Google My Business listing will look like if you enable messages.