Business success relies heavily on good customer experience, better still, the ability for customers to reach support seamlessly when they need it. Communication is at the top of the list when it comes to excellent customer service. Customers expect instant replies or actions when they have urgent questions or technical issues that require quick resolutions.
Given the amount of requests a business can receive at anytime, it is extremely important to provide customers with quicker, easier channels that they can rely on. Social media, emails and voice calls are all already existing channels, but have you ever considered providing SMS support channel? Many experts recommends SMS support channel as the best method for offering personalized service.
Here are some of the reasons why you should implement SMS support and how you can use it:
SMS provides an easier alternative to calls
A 2013 study revealed that 14% of calls made to businesses are placed on hold. That might seem like a small number but 78% of customers prefer to text a business than call. Simply put, customers hate waiting on hold.
With texting, customer support personnel are able to attend to requests faster than they can via call. Some FAQs can be automated so that a customer gets instant response when they text a particular request code; however, ensure that they can be transferred to support personnel at any time.
Below is a customer support-texting statistics published by eWeek:
SMS can be used to conduct polls, surveys and feedback
Have you ever wondered how a business with 10,000 customers attends to all customers’ requests with a team of 5 support persons? The reality is, they cannot. Instead, 91% of customers who experience issues would rather let it slide than join a cue of callers or send several un-replied emails.
With SMS, you can conduct periodic polls and get feedback anonymously from customers which you can use to improve your business. This method is cheaper and faster compared to calls. It is especially efficient due to a staggering 45% SMS response rate compared to the 6% of emails.
Send appointment reminders
If you run a service-oriented business such as event planning, mechanic, consultancy, etc., there is no better way to remind your customers of an appointment than with an SMS. 75% of millennials would prefer reminders by texts than by calls or postcards. Due to the 98% open rate of text messages, a higher percentage of customers turn up for appointments and schedules.
Offer Tips and Advice
A great way to build customer loyalty and win more patronage is by providing tips and updates. This can be easily achieved through text messages. No one has the time to answer calls on tips and advice except if you’re a finance service firm dealing with high net-worth clients.
The more targetted the tip, the better. However, be sure to minimize the amount of texts you send out per week so as not to trigger opt-outs.
Make personal information update easy
Can you remember the last time businesses called you to update personal information? The world has moved on since then! Nowadays, companies use SMS to get subscribers/customers profile updates through simple texts to codes.
With a few simple texts, new phone numbers, name changes, and addresses can easily be updated and businesses can provide better service. The last thing your business needs is storing decayed data or wasting resources sending SMS to inactive numbers.
Ready to make a move?
SMSexperience can help you get started. We provide you with seamless bulk SMS service, super fast text message delivery, tracking metrics, automated systems among others. Simply sign up with SMSexperience to get started. To speak with an SMS expert on setting up your business mobile marketing campaign, kindly call +234-706-8832-575 or send a mail to info@smsexperience.com.
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