Tag: text for customer service

How to Create an Effective Business Text Messaging Strategy – The Ultimate Guide

Posted on luisa@webfx.com

U up? Text messaging replaced other communication methods for consumers all over the world. So why wouldn’t that extend to businesses?

Business text messaging is a great way to communicate with customers on their terms in their own messaging app. But it can be a challenge when you don’t have a plan.

Customer service is complex on its own, so taking it to a new medium only makes it harder. Knowing how to create an effective customer service text message strategy is the key to succeeding in today’s competitive market.

Why bother with business text messaging?

If you still think text messaging is a new-fangled fad, we’re here to open your eyes to the possibilities. (If you’re already rocking a text messaging strategy and just want to know how to improve it, feel free to skip to the next section—we won’t be offended.)

Your competitors are using it.

While you’re sleeping on text messaging (maybe you still think texting is for sending memes to friends, not business conversations), your competitors have jumped on business messaging and are seeing great returns.

In 2020, business messaging traffic hit 3.5 trillion. That’s up from 3.2 trillion in 2019, a 9.4% year-over-year increase, reports Juniper Research.

You can use business text messaging for all kinds of applications. Here are a few ideas to get your thought train started:

  • Customer support conversations
  • Outbound marketing messages
  • Appointment scheduling
  • Call-to-text in your interactive voice response (IVR) system
  • Complete one-off transactions
  • Use it as an engagement tool

Many businesses have found ways to use text messaging to interact with their customers, and now customers want and expect it.

People respond faster to text messages.

Text messaging has the benefit of being both a quick form of communication and a forgiving one.

Here’s what we mean. According to Forbes, it takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to an email but only 90 seconds to respond to a text message. So customers generally expect quick responses during a text conversation.

However, since the other person’s availability isn’t expected (like it might be with live chat), there’s typically some wiggle room.

So conversations are more likely to follow the customers’ preferred pace. It works when they’re ready for a quick chat, but they can step away whenever they need to.

Your customers want to message you.

Forbes also reported that 74% of customers say their impressions improve when businesses use text messaging. And it makes sense. Customers know how to use text messaging. They don’t have to download a new app or find your website.

When you use text messaging, you fit into your customers’ lives. You’re not asking them to do anything out of the ordinary—and they appreciate that.

If you’re still not convinced, here are nine more reasons why you should consider business text messaging.

Start by dissecting your current text messaging strategy.

Since text messaging is a unique medium with so many aspects to consider, you need a thorough strategy for success. Start by identifying the essentials.

What’s your purpose?

How are you using text messaging? Is it a revenue-driving channel? Are you using it for IVR system overflow? Customer service?

Pick a starting path. Trying to do all the things at once leads to a muddled strategy. Identify why you’re adding text messaging to your business. By starting small and focused, you’ll have the bandwidth to see what’s not working and fix it.

Who’s your audience?

Identify who you’re texting. While nearly every generation uses text messaging on a regular basis, they all use it in different ways. To start, identify who you’re targeting with text messaging. Consider:

  • Demographics like age, location, and income
  • Psychographics like lifestyle, preferences, and needs

Figure out how different audiences want to interact with you using messaging. For example, twenty-something single men will have different preferences than 40-something mothers.

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Use what you know to create a voice guide.

This is where phone-based customer service and text messaging customer service start to diverge. Since words have more weight when written (said the writer), it’s important to give your customer service team some direction.

Put everything you learned in the last section and put it together to decide on the tone of voice for your audience. If you’ve gone through this exercise with your marketing team, you can certainly use what they have and adapt it to fit your customer service and text messaging applications.

Pick your tone.

Text messaging is inherently a more casual medium than email or even voice. But that doesn’t mean you should send text slang. Tailor to your audience and your industry.

For example, if you’re selling luxury air travel to middle-aged business travelers, a professional tone is warranted. Avoid text acronyms, and skip the emojis and memes.

For an audience full of elder millennials with an affinity for plants, include emojis and memes. Stay friendly, upbeat, and as positive as possible.

However, if your audience is filled with college students, keep your tone friendly and to the point, but skip the emojis. Apparently, they’re cheugy 🤷‍♀️.

Create parameters.

Deciding on your tone of voice is only as helpful as the guidelines that go with it. Think about telling your customer service team that emojis are okay, only to see this: 😺🐵🐵🐀❣️❣️❣️😝

That might be overkill, but you get the point. Put guidelines in place, like maybe they can use three to five emojis per conversation but never more than one per text message.

Do the same for the tone of voice. Provide examples of what “professional” means and how it compares to “friendly.” If you’re already using text messaging in your customer support center, pull some examples directly from past conversations.

How to solve problems in a bite-sized format.

SMS texting has 160 characters—that’s not a lot of space to solve customer problems. There’s a lot to consider to keep the conversation flowing toward a quick resolution. Start with these steps.

Step 1: Introduce yourself.

There’s a lot of spam in the texting world. Whether the customer reached out to you or you’re sending a message (after they’ve opted-in, of course), make sure to introduce yourself just as you would on any other channel.

Step 2: Ask the customer to describe the problem.

Before you can solve the problem, you have to know what it is. Ask probing questions to determine the issue. If it’s an issue that can be seen visually, you can even ask for pictures or videos so you can identify the problem easier and exceed user expectations.

Step 3: Keep answers as simple as possible.

With so little space, you want to ensure messages are easy to understand. While SMS is limited to 160 characters, don’t be afraid to send two messages if that’ll help your customer understand the solution better. Just don’t forget to include an indicator that you’re sending multiple messages (e.g., 1 of 2).

Step 4: Include relevant links, videos, or diagrams.

If you’re using rich messaging, send whatever medium will help your customer solve their problems.

The dos and don’ts of business text messaging.

As you plan and launch your messaging strategy, keep these dos and don’ts in mind.

Do develop a prioritization system.

Prioritization plays a major role in organizing the process and improving customer service efficiency. As questions arise, it can help prioritize them based on urgency and order of importance. This helps ensure that troubleshooting questions and general issues are addressed as quickly as possible. Less urgent questions may be able to wait a little longer if necessary.

Here are a couple of examples of ways you can segment customer service questions in order to prioritize them:

  • The order the questions come in: Do you have a first-in-first-out method?
  • Customer sentiment: Are they frustrated or neutral?
  • Urgent question vs. non-urgent question: What can wait?
  • The service or product they’re asking about: Are some more important? Are there certain team members who can handle certain questions?
  • Members vs. nonmembers: Do members get special priority if you have a special program?
  • Self-prioritization: Ask customers directly how urgent their request is.

The best method is to combine these factors to create a foolproof prioritization system. For example, how would you prioritize a frustrated member with a nonurgent question over a neutral, nonmember’s urgent question? Make sure your AI conversational platform and/or customer service agents prioritize according to your guidance.

Don’t be afraid to ask clarifying questions.

Text messaging is a short medium—but it also lends itself to quick back-and-forth communication. When one small miscommunication can derail a conversation and drive away your customer, it’s imperative that you ask clarifying questions.

Without understanding the problem, you can’t find a solution. If someone has a complex or confusing question, break the question down into parts or ask for clarification. You can send messages like these:

  • “What do you mean when you say [X]?”
  • “Do you mean [Y] when you said [X]?
  • “Can you give me some background on the issue?”
  • “Can you give me an example of when [Z] happened?

Since text messaging can be a limited medium, it’s important to follow up so you understand the problem as best as you can. If you’re still having trouble, don’t be afraid to move to a voice call.

Do make answers clear and understandable.

Communicating with consumers is all about being clear and concise. People come from all types of situations and educational backgrounds, so every customer support agent needs to know how to type a message that’s easy to understand and digest.

A customer who is engaged in the conversation will be more likely to seek help again. Instead of texting long, detailed messages, it’s best to simplify replies into one or two sentences that contain the necessary information. This helps drive more productive conversations and leaves more consumers satisfied at the end of the day.

Don’t forget to follow up with customers.

When a customer has an issue or question, they want to know they’re not just a number. One effective way to show this is by following up after addressing the issue.

Is the consumer satisfied? Do they have any more questions? Do they have any constructive feedback to offer? By asking what they can do to make the customer experience better, customer support agents show that they’re willing to listen and adapt as needed. This can go a long way toward building strong professional relationships.

Do use artificial intelligence to enhance customer service.

There are many ways to use artificial intelligence (AI) to make your business text messaging better. AI can make your agents faster, help serve customers when no one’s around, and even reduce your customer service ticket volume.

  • Predict customer sentiment: A conversational AI platform, like Quiq, can pick up on queues from customers to predict how their feeling so you can prioritize customers whose anger is escalating.
  • Help agents compose messages: Some platforms use natural language processing (NPL) to observe your agents’ responses and suggest sentences as they type. This will help agents stay on tone and write messages more quickly.
  • Respond to customers: Unless your message center is staffed 24/7, messages won’t get answered when no one’s available. That’s where chatbots come in. They can contain conversations by answering simple questions, automating surveys, and even collecting information to route questions to the right agent.

Build business messaging into your business.

Business messaging, whether for customer service, marketing, or even sales, is a great asset to your business—and a great way to engage your customers. But remember: don’t go in blind. Create a thoughtful strategy and see just how quickly your customers respond.

How to Improve Your Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Posted on The Quiq Team

Customer satisfaction has a direct impact on a company’s ability to retain existing customers and attract new ones. The level of satisfaction customers feel is largely defined by the experiences they have with customer service representatives. As a result, companies that succeed must monitor and improve call center and customer service performance continuously.

A customer satisfaction score (CSAT) is an essential metric companies use to determine how customer service teams are performing and how they could do better. This score is generated by asking customers to rate their experiences and provide feedback after interactions. A low overall CSAT score indicates a problem with the current approach to customer service. Even if a team has a high CSAT score, there is usually still room for improvement.

4 Steps to Improve Your CSAT Score

  1. Create a Customer-Focused Work Environment
  2. Conduct Customer Surveys
  3. Make Changes in Response to Customer Feedback
  4. Create Personalized Conversations With Customer Messaging

If you’re wondering how to increase customer service ratings, you are already on the right path. The following tips can help improve CSAT scores at your call center.

1. Create a Customer-Focused Work Environment

One of the best ways to increase customer satisfaction is to ensure agents put the customer first in all interactions. All aspects of workflow and policy should be designed to produce the most positive result for the customer. This includes giving agents the tools they need to serve customers efficiently in the manner they prefer.

To improve CSAT scores, companies should analyze the customer journey and consider how certain strategies may make customers feel. When the whole team places customer needs and expectations at the heart of operations, customer satisfaction goes up, along with sales.

2. Conduct Customer Surveys

Call centers struggle to make meaningful changes to the customer experience when they lack the data to back up their decisions. Unless you ask your customers how you are doing, you’ll never know exactly how they feel.

To make more informed adjustments to policy and show an active interest in your customers’ opinions, consider conducting customer surveys after every conversation. Just remember to keep it short and respect each individual’s decision whether or not to participate, as overly time-consuming surveys can backfire.

3. Make Changes in Response to Customer Feedback

Gathering customer feedback is only the first step toward improving customer satisfaction. Customers want to feel heard, so it’s important to listen to negative feedback and implement solutions designed to address the root cause.

To repair damaged customer relationships and further increase CSAT, consider following-up with customers. When you acknowledge the problem and explain how you are working to fix it, customers will be more willing to trust your customer support team in the future.

4. Create Personalized Conversations With Customer Messaging

While some customers may find phone conversations convenient, others would rather send a message using social media or SMS. People view text messaging as a comfortable, safe, and enjoyable form of communication. As a result, companies have the opportunity to significantly improve the customer experience and increase CSAT scores when they implement a business messaging platform like Quiq.

Our platform allows customer service agents to engage multiple customers in their preferred form of communication. Text conversations allow for more personalization, and rich messaging features enable agents to provide easy, direct, and actionable solutions. Agents can send and receive helpful pictures and videos to streamline the conversation, and they can even process secure transactions.

Get Started by Requesting a Quote

By reducing call volume, messaging systems allow call center employees to work more efficiently and ensure customers receive answers quickly. To find out how Quiq can help improve your company’s CSAT rating, request a demo today.

How Call Centers are Becoming “Text Centers:” Text Messaging for Customer Service

Posted on The Quiq Team

Internet and mobile technology have fundamentally changed how business is done. With more people working from home and consumers spending increasing amounts of time on their mobile devices, businesses are having to adjust to meet technological advancements and new consumer preferences.  There was a time when call centers only handled phone calls from customers. As customers have become increasingly digital, companies must find more efficient and effective ways to communicate with their customers.

Today, more than ever before, customer service has become one of the most important functions of the overall customer experience, and businesses are focusing on implementing personalized solutions rather than simply selling products. As a result, call centers have undergone a digital transformation — one that embraces the power of text messaging.

The Industry Follows Customer Preferences

Statistics show that in the United States alone, the average person sends and receives about 32 texts per day. What does this mean? In short, it means people like to text because it is easy and convenient. This provides the ideal opportunity to implement a digital customer service solution that supports messaging.

Today’s customer service is all about making the consumer experience as pleasant, personalized, and hassle-free as possible. Text messaging allows consumers to send questions and receive answers almost instantly. Better still is consumers get to drive the pace of the conversation, whether they are on-the-go or sitting on the couch, they can respond when it’s convenient for them, making text messaging the preferred method of communication over the phone for a vast majority of consumers.

Improved Satisfaction With Personalized Service and Dynamic Solutions

The issue with phone calls is they are a hassle for customers. that they tend to create an extra hassle for customers. Phone calls are a hassle because too often, they require the customer to sit on hold, repeat themselves, and interrupt their busy, on-the-go lives to have a voice conversation that can sometimes be hard to hear or understand. On the other hand, texting is fast and easy, with conversations capable of being on-the-go, and are aptly suited for our busy, digital lifestyles. 

That’s why many companies are now converting their call centers into innovative digital centers. With messaging, businesses are providing customers solutions for resolving issues more quickly and in more engaging ways, like with the use of photos and videos, or even by expressing emotion with emojis ? . Messaging is suited for every kind of inquiry, and can even respond to seemingly complicated questions that include:

  • Replacement product options
  • Troubleshooting guide links
  • Important documents or disclosures

Chatbots Help Improve Messaging Efficiency

While human-to-human correspondence is necessary at times, many of the most frequently asked issues can be easily managed by chatbots. Chatbots can help save time and resources, freeing agents up for more complex or higher priority concerns.

Digital transformation and customer experience are culminating with the advancement of chatbot technology being sophisticated enough that AI bots are having high-quality, human-like conversations with customers. With chatbots, consumers can get the information they are looking for much more quickly, reducing the need for phone calls and face-to-face interactions.

Call Centers Digital Transformation

While phone calls can be helpful in certain situations, they limit you and your customer to a single platform of communication. Messaging can be used across apps, social media, mobile devices, and more. This allows businesses to stay in contact with customers 24/7.

When customers have a quick question, they want fast answers, without any hassle. Texting with customer service is so easy, even grandpa knows how to do it. Text messaging for customer service is solving problems faster and with greater convenience for customers and agents.

Contact Us Today About Our Solutions

The importance of technology in customer service has become more important than ever as call centers steer away from single-channel communication. To learn more about how text messaging will enhance your customer service, request a demo today.

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How to Text Message Your Customers

Posted on The Quiq Team

First, to set the stage, we know consumers are shopping online more often than ever before — and they’re using mobile phones to do it. As of 2019, it’s estimated that 96 percent of Americans own a cell phone of some kind. While not surprising, for some of us, we remember when the phone was still connected to the wall, so the adoption and growth of cell phones in such a short time is astonishing. Then came along the smartphone, and while the possibilities for how we use these devices are endless, there is a reason we still refer to them as phones, and it’s not because we’re making more calls on them. Consumers are communicating more than ever with text messaging, Facebook messaging, and messaging through other apps.

If your company isn’t taking advantage of the ability to text customers, you’re missing out on an incredible opportunity. Communicating with customers through text is personalized, easy, and fast, making this method the way consumers expect to be able to find answers and ask questions to resolve issues with customer service.

Using Text for Customer Service

Today, phone support, email, and web chat are the norm in how businesses and customers communicate, but there has been a shift to using messaging and it won’t be long before all businesses are using text messaging as a part of their digital customer service. The reason businesses are moving over to text for customer care is because messaging is already the preferred method of communication for customers, as well as employees. Both parties are already comfortable with the channel because they use it themselves in their daily lives, and unlike emails, text messages have a near 100 percent read-rate.

Customers are on the move and when it comes to service, they want more options. By offering text messaging as an option for customer service in addition to web chat, email, and traditional phone support, your customers will be delighted when they are able to choose the contact method they prefer, particularly if they are on-the-go. Don’t be surprised when they don’t want to call you on the phone and would rather text message your business instead, at their convenience.

Best Practices for Texting Customers

If your business is exploring text messaging for customer service, you may be wondering how to effectively and appropriately text customers. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind as you build your company’s strategy:

1. Enable Two-Way Conversations

First and foremost, a conversation is not very useful if it’s only one-sided. With text messaging, customers expect to be able to reply back. That is why businesses considering turning on text messaging should enable two-way conversations so they can accept and respond to customer questions and continue to foster the relationship.

2. Be Professional, Yet Conversational

It probably goes without saying that representatives should avoid using shortcuts and text lingo (lol, brb, ttyl) — texting is still a channel for professional communication. At the same time, text messaging gives businesses more interesting and less stuffy ways to engage with customers, like using emojis. Emojis add personality and make conversations more fun. Businesses should also identify and approve which emoji’s are acceptable for their business (?may not be always appropriate ?).

Still, one of the advantages of sending text messages to customers is the potential for building personal connections. Messages should be conversational and friendly, and not overly formal. Take advantage of the opportunity to build real relationships with your customers in a format they also use to talk with their friends and family.

3. Provide Consistent and Timely Answers

Customers will text customer care for help with a variety of issues, so make sure your customer service team is prepared to help. Utilizing texts for customer service is only effective if the service is quick and helpful. One of the benefits of text messaging is the experience for the customer, as it is at their convenience to respond, but businesses should treat these incoming messages with the urgency they would any other communication channel.

4. Keep Personal Information Secure

A data leak can cause customers to lose trust in your company. Be sure to take preventative measures to keep customers’ phone numbers and any other personal data secure — and make sure customers are aware of your privacy policies.

When comparing messaging solutions, businesses should do their due diligence to understand their vendor’s security policies in how they handle customer information. To have more peace of mind, choose a messaging vendor that is SOC II compliant.

5. Make It Easy to Opt-In or Out of Texts

In addition to customer service, your company can send outbound text messages to keep customers in the loop about promotions, order status, and appointment reminders. Customers will find a lot of value in receiving these kinds of notifications, however, it’s easy to lose customers by bombarding them with excessive or unwanted text messages. Make sure your messages are relevant and not spammy.

Just like with email, customers need to be able to control the messages coming into their inbox and should be able to opt-out of unwanted messaging.  Businesses using text messaging need to comply with all rules and regulations of TCPA to enable applicable opt-in and opt-out capabilities.

Text Customers Easily With Quiq

Centralized platforms to handle customer interactions are extremely beneficial for improving customer service. At Quiq, we make it easy for you to text customers and build better connections.

Learn more about our business text messaging services. Better yet, watch this product video to see for yourself how Quiq is powering better communication for businesses.

See a Demo Today