Old Ways of Customer Engagement Are Gone

As few as two decades ago, the world of business and customer service was a completely different place. Company agents and representatives used forms of engagements like trade shows, promotional emails, letters, and phone calls to promote their products and services. Today, while these methods are still used in a wide range of industries, many companies are finding new ways to maintain customer loyalty.

According to the Pew Research Center, about 96% of Americans own a cell phone of some kind. Text messaging is a highly popular form of communication in people’s everyday lives. As such, it only seems natural that companies would use texting as a service, sales, and marketing tool — and the results have been astounding.

Capabilities of Digital Customer Service

While sending text messages to customers may be a new frontier for many companies, businesses are finding the personal and casual nature of this medium are a part of the qualities for why it’s so effective. Some of the benefits that come with digital customer service include:

• Hassle-free customer service access: Consumers love instant messaging because it’s easy and allows them to engage, ask questions and get information without having to make a phone call or meet face-to-face.
• Timely responses and service: Few things turn a customer off faster than when they send an email or make a call and then have to wait days for a response. With text message customer service, you can stay connected 24/7 and provide timely responses and solutions.
• The personal touch: Customers are more likely to stick around if they believe you care about their personal needs. Texting will allow you to take a more individualized approach, communicating with customers in the same way they might communicate with friends.
• A dynamic variety of solutions: Text messaging provides unique opportunities for marketing, sales, and customer support. For example, you might use texting to help troubleshoot a product, promote new sales, send coupons, and more.

Why This Matters

These benefits matter because 64% of Americans would rather receive a text than get a phone call. It’s clear what the consumers want, and it’s the business’s job to deliver. Because text messaging can help you engage with customers on a more personal level, it can increase customer loyalty and even lead to more conversions.

By satisfying more customers, you’ll increase profits and make room for business growth over time. Texting will also provide your agents with more flexibility, allowing them to manage multiple customers at a time. As volume increases, you can even use chatbots and automated processes to connect with customers, which enhances efficiency and saves time.

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