How Outsourcing SMS Support Improves Customer Experience
SMS support delivers great value to customers no matter where they are in the customer experience process. The process covers everything from the time the customer discovers your brand through marketing channels to the time the customer starts using your product, provides feedback about their experience through reviews, and follows up with customer support when they have issues with your product or service. Certainly, text messages can enrich a customer’s experience with your brand, and outsourcing SMS support for each stage in the process helps you improve your sales.
#1 Two-way text messaging gives customers the opportunity to engage with customer service reps as quickly as possible.
Keeping the customer on hold is not an option when conversing through SMS. Conversations through SMS chat follow a more streamlined process compared to phone calls. Agents have the option to consult a knowledge database or to search for answers from other sources on the web, so they can resolve the issue as soon as possible.
#2 SMS chat can convert online visitors from virtual window shoppers to paying customers.
Visitors to your website or social media profile rarely come to you with a specific product in mind. Most of the time their intention was to take inventory of the products on stock and see which ones had the features they were looking for at a price they can afford.
Sometimes, all they need is a little push to take that leap and buy the items they most liked. You can do this by getting high ratings and positive reviews. Or, you can do it through proactive or reactive chat. Let your online visitors know that they can easily connect with a customer service rep through SMS.
SMS support is the ideal option. On average, people are likely to respond to text messages within 90 seconds compared to email, which may take your respondents an hour to an hour and a half to send a reply. Some people like to “sleep on it” and make a decision after a day, or a few days at least.
SMS chat directs their attention to what they were thinking of buying and helps them make the right decision. Give them all the info they need. Tell them the total amount they will have to pay, including VAT and additional charges for shipping and delivery. Inform them whether or not they have the option to pick up their order from a nearby store, so they can save money on shipping and delivery.
#3 In-store SMS push notifications can convince indecisive shoppers into buying something.
Many store visitors are window shoppers. They like to roam around and check out the merchandise, but they end up not buying anything because nothing stood out from the racks and shelves. Persuading these potential customers to buy from you is difficult but not impossible.
Good thing mobile phones these days have GPS and many apps use it to ping the location of their users. This kind of technology helps businesses like yours connect with potential buyers inside their stores and those who are nearby. And, SMS support via a mobile app can help you engage with your customers unobtrusively.
Indecisive shoppers who use Facebook Messenger or some other mobile app can opt-in to receive push notifications from you. When the app locates them inside your store or near it, they will receive promotional texts, which they can easily present to the cashier to get a discount. Restrict the use of the promo code for just one day, and you add a sense of urgency that shoppers cannot ignore. Getting an item at a discount almost always leaves your shoppers satisfied with their purchases.
#4 Take advantage of short-code SMS marketing in your offline and online campaigns.
Offer an exclusive discount code to new followers on your social media pages and to new visitors who sign-up to become a member of your site. You can increase the chances of turning them into paying customers by using keyword-based text messaging, which instructs users to send SMS that includes a specific keyword or a shortcode to avail of a discount when they pay online.
This SMS marketing approach can also be applied to in-store purchases. Add short-code promos to your outdoor ads, print ads, and TV commercials. Fast-food joints, hardware stores, and supermarkets have made use of SMS marketing to improve customer engagement with their brands.
#5 SMS support for customer care creates goodwill and turns your customers into brand ambassadors.
Most of how SMS marketing works may rely heavily on automated receipt and processing of messages. But, the quality of responses that customers receive whenever they interact with your company strongly influences how they perceive your brand and the value your product or service brings to them. This is why SMS support for improved customer experience is best handled by human agents who know how to make your consumers feel supported and cared for.
Human intervention when using SMS support to emotionally connect with your consumers becomes even more significant in light of TCPA regulations. The FCC considers transactions through text messages as similar to phone calls. Shortcodes comprised of 5 to 6 numbers were created to prevent text spam from reaching the same disgusting levels as email spam.
