Upstage Competition with Customer Service Text Messaging

Customer Service Text Messaging Solutions

Poor customer service can lead to loss of customers and a bad reputation. 91% of customers who are unhappy with a brand will just leave without complaining. Avoid this by investing in text messaging channels that will help you improve customer service and support.

64% of consumers think businesses should contact them via SMS more often. Why? Because it’s an instant way to send out customer notifications and it costs way less than agents or outsourcing contact centre help.

Good customer service can be delivered via text messaging because customer issues can be handled promptly, avoiding unhelpful service or lack of appreciation.

Increase your loyal customer base by implementing SMS, voice, and rich messaging communications into your customer support. Let’s have a look at the ways you can integrate rich communications for customer service handling.

1.    Let Customers Know Which Channels They Can Reach Out To

Developing an omnichannel communication strategy is key to reaching out to and being contacted by all your customers. It might be more convenient for some customers to reach out to you on a live chat, or via text, or even on WhatsApp.

Depending on their preferred channels, an omnichannel strategy allows them to interact with you easily. Text messaging can include:

• SMS
• Chatbots
• Voice
• Rich Media Messaging
• WhatsApp for Business
• Facebook Messenger
• Viber
• And more

You have to include most communication channels into your strategy. If you are only using a few, think about investing in a cloud communication platform that always adds channels to your arsenal.

New features are always developed by communication providers, so it’s easier for you to implement solutions if you have a platform where all your communication can be centralized.

2.    Use Personalization Techniques in Text Conversations

Personalization is a huge part of the customer experience today. When sending out text messages it helps if you mention the customer’s name and if you know details that make the experience more personal.

For example, when sending an SMS payment reminder, make sure that you include a link to a personalized payment landing page that has:

• Company branding
• Name of recipient
• Account number
• Customer information
• Self-serve options
• Option to speak to an agent

The more you use customer information and data to personalize your customer experience, the better the results. This way, you will create meaningful relations with your customers, turning them into loyal advocates for your brand.

Providing pre or post-interaction services with minimal effort and time isn’t easy, but with the right communication provider like VoiceSage, there will be little effort on your part to provide great customer service.

3.    Automate Customer Service Conversations

Automating customer service is a great way to handle queries fast and efficiently. After all, customers remember brands that handle their issues fast.

In a good scenario, when your customer texts you on WhatsApp regarding a failed delivery, you answer them immediately. Listening to them and acting quickly to resolve the issue will make your customers feel valued.

Automated customer responses in their language can speed up conversations, improve response times, and deliver personal messages. With easy API integration, this is extremely easy to achieve.

Elevate customer interactions by offering promotional discounts that are not available on your site. This will come as a surprise to them, but it’s a great technique used in marketing loyalty programs.

Here’s how retailers can use text messaging for customer service:

• Send out order confirmations
• Send delivery notifications
• Booking rescheduling
• Live chat transcriptions
• Voice chat transcriptions
• Automate SMS responses to FAQ

4.    Send Follow-up Text Messages

Instant customer feedback after an interaction is an indicator of successful customer service. Text surveys effortlessly gain valuable feedback so you can improve customer engagement and satisfaction levels.

Getting real-time internal feedback from customers is extremely important because it shapes your future interactions. Sending customer feedback via email might be common, but it won’t be as effective as text.

90% of SMS messages are read in the first 3 minutes of receiving them, while only 20% of emails are opened. In terms of engagement rates, links within SMS (or rich messages) get a 19% click-through rate, while only 2% of links in emails are clicked.

So, get started on your post-interaction messages to see what your customers think of your service. Schedule them at an appropriate time, right after the interaction ideally, as the experience is still fresh in the customers’ minds.

Additionally, set up auto-responders further to each query and try resolving them. A useful way to use Rich Media Messaging is to have support videos and articles. Rich content is easier to digest and helps users better than plain text, so be as creative as you want with your informational content.

5.   Customer Service Text Messaging Templates

With SMS or other instant messages beginning to adopt more customer service requests, there are some simple ways to adapt and optimize support messaging at your company.

SMS for customer service doesn’t require face-to-face conversations or verbal communication. It’s fast, instant, and cost-effective. Given the popularity of text messaging, it’s not hard to send and receive SMS daily, so it’s hard to ignore the messages.

The most common SMS templates for customer service are:

• Onboarding messages
• Product guide
• Product intro
• Order confirmations
• Order delivery status
• Abandoned cart
• Thank you reminder
• Discount offers
• Product sales
• New product launches
• Referral program invitations
• Special occasions
• Follow-up surveys
• Company updates
• Lapsed customer re-engagement

Imagine a world with the perfect message for each customer experience. It exists. VoiceSage has created a whole post about it. You can check out their text message templates for customer service teams.

Get Started with Customer Service Text Messaging

Text messaging for customer service has proven more effective than traditional channels. Whether your customer support is via SMS, voice, or Rich Media Messaging, make sure you help your customers resolve their issues.

Create personalized conversations instead of cold automated messages. Be more human in your interactions because text messaging enables everyone to connect fast

Lastly, invest in a good communication platform that allows you to do all of this. Voicesage’s priority has always been to create outstanding customer interactions that increase overall customer engagement.

We are specialists at creating meaningful conversations that make your contact centres more productive, and your customer support resolutions faster. Let us show you what we can do by booking a demo now.