Between phone calls, email, live chat, and now text messaging, there are seemingly limitless ways to get in contact with customers to provide support. With other modes of communication already in place, do businesses really need SMS text support? Although the customer service process would certainly go on without it, text support can actually provide added efficiencies and benefits. Here’s how:
Keep Customers Informed
SMS text is an easy and effective way to get product information to customers. For example, customers who purchase a new appliance can opt in to receive text messages that explain best practices for product use, or describe features that are commonly underutilized.
Provide Accurate Wait Times in a Customer Service Queue
Although live chat and SMS text are great ways to to get answers quickly, sometimes more complex problems are difficult to communicate on these platforms. For a customer who decides they’d be better served with a phone call, it can be frustrating to have to wait in a queue. SMS text can provide real time updates, which means the customer doesn’t have to wait on hold. This way customers know when they’re nearing the front of the queue, and can expect a call from a customer service representative, which makes the process more efficient for both parties.
Better Instructions
Walking through step-by-step instructions over the phone is a tedious process for both the customer and the service representative. Either the customer needs guidance through the entire process, or the service representative has to wait while the customer takes notes on each step so it can be performed at later date. However, a customer who receives a set of instructions through text will be able to refer back to the list at any time, and should they have a question they’ll be able to able to get a response much more quickly.
More Customer Feedback
Feedback following a customer service interaction is extremely beneficial for any business. Many customers are reluctant to provide feedback unless they have had a very positive or very negative experience. If everything went as expected, why bother taking additional time to provide feedback? With SMS text, a customer can provide feedback in seconds, which makes them much more likely to complete the task. As a follow up to any customer service interaction, the representative can send out a quick text asking the customer to rate their experience 1 – 5 (1 extremely dissatisfied to 5 extremely satisfied), and all the customer has to do is press one button. It’s that simple!
So does your business really need to include texting as a customer service option? Although it won’t replace other features like live chat, phone call, or email, it works in conjunction with these tools to enhance the customer service process. SMS text is a great tool to include in the customer service process to enhance efficiency and provide a greater value to your service capabilities.
For more information on customer service tools, check out our blogs about web chat.