One would think that communicating with customers would be easier now than at any other point in history. After all, there’s just so many different forms of communication these days; so many different ways that you can advertise and publicize your business to ensure that customers are always reminded to return to use your services or buy your products. Yet somehow, communication is actually harder.
Nowadays, customers are relentlessly bombarded with information, to the point where there’s so much they begin to struggle to comprehend it all. All of the noise, the ads, the emails… they all just begin to blend into one large mass of digital noise that has no distinguishing characteristics. Despite the numerous ways you can now reach out to customers, it’s more difficult than ever to actually be heard.
So what can you do about it?
1. Choose the right communication method
As a general rule, the key components of the “right” communication method are:
- A method that is personalized
- Something that goes directly to the customer’s mobile device rather than requiring a laptop or desktop access
- A method that allows for direct communication with the customer on an individual basis
OneLocal’s QuickConnect tool was specifically created to meet all of these needs. The messages are accessible on mobile devices via SMS; they are highly personalized, and they allow for a direct interaction between the customer and customer service agent. This allows for a bond to be built with the customer, which helps to increase engagement with the brand as they develop more of a personal attachment. It makes the communication easier for both you, the business owner, and for the customer. And if you need more convincing that this is the most effective way of communicating, check out these facts:
- 90% of all text messages are read within 3 minutes
- 75% of millennials would prefer to text if given the choice of format
- The number of monthly texts (worldwide) has increased by 7700% over the last decade
2. Only prime customers on things they actually want to know
If you’re launching a whole new range of services, that’s a great reason to reach out to your customers. The same is true of discount codes and various other things that are genuinely beneficial for your customers to know.
What customers don’t really need to know about is a minor change to your product line; stock announcement for established products; changes to staff; and so on and so forth. This information might seem important to you, but to your customer, it’s just noise that makes them feel overwhelmed. Reserve your customer contact efforts to only genuinely important information and you should see your response rate increase.
3. Keep the frequency of contact low
Let’s say you have a week in which you announce a new product line, offer a discount code, and place a number of popular items on sale. By the rule above, you should reach out to your customers multiple times to inform them of this… but you shouldn’t, at least, not individually.
Your customers can only tolerate communication from your company infrequently. If you contact them three times in a week (or more), then they’re going to quickly feel overwhelmed and less inclined to actually do anything with the information you’re providing. This applies even to things that customers want to know about.
Managing this can be made extremely simple through the use of a business to customer text messaging software. This will allow you to effectively track recent communications, so you can be sure you are not overwhelming individual customers, and all the text messages you send to them will thus be happily received.
4. Allow for rapid communication and responses
If a customer wants to ask a question, book an appointment, or check the status of an order, they’re not going to be happy to wait to do it. They’re going to want a response; we live in an age where customers being happy to spend an hour on hold, or waiting three days for an email, is no longer acceptable.
This is another area in which QuickConnect can help you, so it would definitely be worth checking the service out if you’re looking to increase your response times. It’s incredibly easy to send, receive, and manage your text messages with the services, and you are able to keep a continual dialogue with your customer in the most efficient way possible.
To conclude
By keeping the above points in mind and electing to use an online software such as QuickConnect, you should be able to create a customer contact strategy that delivers returns and hugely increases engagement. Enjoy!
