Text messages have quickly become a powerful tool to keep the entire world connected. Not only does it work on a personal level, but now is an extremely useful asset to many businesses and how they interact with their customers.
To make sure you get the most of this tool, make sure your texts are sent regularly, have a direct purpose for the recipient, and follow up without seeming spammy. The last thing you want is for your business outreach to become another series of disregarded texts that your customers are inclined to ignore.
Texts are often more effective than any other form of contact and can be really effective in putting your business on the map. Here are several ways texts can become a powerful asset to your business if you use them properly.
1. Customized Text Delivery
In addition to being commonplace on most smartphones nowadays, texting can prove to be a powerful tool for your business. It’s a great way to stay in touch with customers on a daily basis. Instead of relying on traditional outreach like phone calls and e-mails, you can reach your customers via SMS and provide relevant information that helps improve their customer experience.
But before you send out your mass text messages, make sure you have a strategy in place. Decide what the purpose of these alerts will be and what they will look like. Then, determine the most effective way to program your outreach.
You’ll want to be very strategic with how you program these texts to go out. Start off with a simple welcome greeting. Don’t overwhelm your customers right from the get-go. Instead, draft a personalized greeting and possibly introduce some of the options they have for what text messages they will receive.
From there, offer a plethora of customizable options so that your customers only get the alerts they most need. This will result in a more engaging experience for your customers.
2. Direct Connection to Your Customers
Texting is a great way to open a direct line of contact with your customers. They will appreciate the feeling of having direct contact with someone who listens to their needs and offers valuable ways to move forward and address them. This will make them more inclined to continue building a relationship with your company and spread the positive word about your service.
Also, you can quickly provide updates about the business, which can help your customers feel included in the business and valued as a contributor. This is a great alternative to having your customers call in and wait through endless tones of hold music until reaching a live representative to get their answer.
A great way to move away from the typical ideas of customer service, you can forefront your texting options as the best way to obtain customer support. This will make the experience seem like they are directly chatting with you, and help make for a more positive customer service experience.
3. Increased Professionalism and Business Value
Consistency is key when it comes to texting. Whether you’re thanking them for their business or providing deals and coupons, it’s very important that your texts are sent around the same time of day and are right to the point.
This goes hand in hand with offering your customers the ability to customize their alerts, so they know that when one comes in, it’s for something of interest or value to them.
This will help propel your professionalism and value in customers’ eyes. They will understand that you truly care about their experience when interacting with your business and thus be more comfortable when they have to contact you with any questions or concerns they might have.
4. Create Automated Texting Campaigns
By using business texting software, you can use messaging and marketing to enhance customer service and personalize customer interactions.
For instance, you can send an SMS with a discount code for something the customer was previously viewing on your site. Or, you could notify them about a sale that is about to begin.
This makes automated texts a very powerful tool for your business because it will not only attract more user activity each time they use it, but it also helps alleviate the stress of personally replying to each message yourself.
This will also allow you to propel your business into a wider market, as you can reach new and existing customers without having to bother them with calls or emails.
5. Adaptability For You and Your Customers
Clients are connected to the most top-notch technology and devices, so ensure you adapt to this. For instance, if your customer prefers to not do business over texting, you should still try to connect with them when possible.
Instead of cutting them off completely, try sending an e-mail or making a call that will keep them updated.
If your customers are unsure about using texting as a means of customer support, offer to guide them through the process and highlight the benefits of this feature. Emphasize how texting is similar to emails or calls but offers more of a personalized experience. And best of all, you can show them that texting your business can be like sending a text to any other person.
6. Authenticity
You should be authentic, which means you should be willing to discuss any relevant topic with your customers. This will be the stage in which you can program your SMS Automator to personalize the outreach to your customers so that they only get relevant news about your business that pairs with their likes and needs.
If your customer has a question about a coupon offered to them, give them the chance to contact you and get more details. Let them know the terms and conditions of the offer and possibly extend the offer for them depending on the situation. This is your time to be the voice of your company and show your customers that you really do care about their needs and not just their business.
7. Build Trust
Opening a direct line of contact with your customers will help you seem like a more trustworthy business. And because texting is something so simple yet so integrated into everyday life, it helps make your customers more at ease to trust you and your intentions.
Conclusion
Automated text messages are an excellent way to show your customers that you value their feedback and want them to have the best possible customer experience when interacting with your business. It shows them that you truly care about them and value them as part of your business’ success. Nonetheless, you have to be very strategic with how you roll out these text messages because you don’t want to overwhelm your customers either. If you can make your customer feel like they are texting an old friend when reaching out to your company, then you have set yourself up for success.