How SMS Messaging Improves the Customer Experience?
"A satisfied customer is the best business strategy of all" --- true and what is the best way to keep the customer informed, updated & satisfied? A sweet, simple SMS.
SMS Messaging is one of the strongest marketing tools out there. It has provided businesses with invaluable opportunities to reach out to customers directly on their mobile anytime and anywhere. What makes it crucial for all businesses is its ability to alter customer experience.
SMS Messaging is one of the strongest marketing tools out there. It has provided businesses with invaluable opportunities to reach out to customers directly on their mobile anytime and anywhere. What makes it crucial for all businesses is its ability to alter customer experience.
- SMS has an average open rate of 98% which is higher than any other channel.
- People of all ages use SMS allowing you to reach out to a larger audience.
- SMS is delivered almost instantly. The average text is opened in less than two minutes of receipt, making SMS messaging an excellent channel for time-sensitive offers and flash sales.
- SMS messaging can be used for brand communications, signs up, tracking orders, announcements, reviews, surveys, and more allowing you to build better relationships with your audience.
- SMS campaigns aimed to inform people of special offers, events, and news that will matter most to them while catering to the in-the-know mindset can be used to boost customer engagement and loyalty.
75 percent of consumers are more willing to receive text messages from businesses. Yet it is surprising that only 35 percent of businesses engage in some form of texting with their customers.
Why Is Maintaining a Good Customer Experience Important?
A business cannot exist without its customers. This is why companies and marketers focus on providing a better customer experience because it brings satisfied and loyal customers.
Since the competition is increasing every day and there are a lot of options available in the market for everything, providing your customers’ good service and experience is what actually helps build your brand name, make you stand out of the competition, and most importantly retain your customers.
Since the competition is increasing every day and there are a lot of options available in the market for everything, providing your customers’ good service and experience is what actually helps build your brand name, make you stand out of the competition, and most importantly retain your customers.
Some reasons to make good customer experience a priority:
1. To Increase Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty
Today's consumers base much of their purchasing decisions on their overall experience with the brand. Hence, customer experience plays an important role in building a brand. Customer expectations and brand delivery must be aligned throughout a customer’s journey from decision making to purchasing and post checkout to provide a great experience. This boosts brand recognition and, eventually, brand loyalty.
2. Free Marketing That May Help You Grow Your Customer Base
Consumers frequently consult other customer reviews before making a purchase. Positive feedback from happy consumers has the potential to convert new customers. Treat your new clients the same way you treated your old ones, and the cycle continues.
3. Edge Over the Competitor
Whether you manufacture medical equipment or auto parts, in the beauty industry, or run an industrial plant- chances are there is a lot of competition, everywhere. Today, the customer experience is everything, and how you treat your customers, how you greet them, and how you demonstrate that you appreciate them as a customer can truly set you apart from the pack and catapult you to success.
4. Boost the ROI
Providing outstanding client experiences and accomplishing all of the above can raise your ROI dramatically.
By focusing on customer service and meeting and exceeding your target market's wants and needs, you'll be able to build a team of consumer advocates who will handle a considerable portion of your marketing for you.
By focusing on customer service and meeting and exceeding your target market's wants and needs, you'll be able to build a team of consumer advocates who will handle a considerable portion of your marketing for you.
Even though providing a good customer experience is a high priority, most companies fail to provide a good or satisfactory customer experience.
Just like good customer experience drives your team’s success, bad customer experience can set you back.
Just like good customer experience drives your team’s success, bad customer experience can set you back.
- 65% of customers said they have changed to a different brand because of a poor experience - Khoros
- 78% of customers back out of purchase due to a poor customer experience - Glance
- Only 10% of consumers say brands meet expectations for a good experience - SuperOffice
Some of the most common causes leading to a poor customer experience:
- Complicated purchasing procedure
- Negative customer support experience
- Compromised customer’s privacy
- Delay in responses
- Ineffective communication channels
- Ignoring customer feedback
Let’s look at some of the best ways to create a good customer experience:
1. Create a vision:
You need to devise a customer experience plan to articulate a clear customer-focused vision to your organization. The simplest way to define this vision is to create a set of statements that serve as guiding principles.
2. Provide superior customer support:
Consumer service should be centered on the customer, not the organization. To improve the customer experience, you must analyze every interaction your customer has with your organization.
You can enhance your customer experience by using digital mediums for providing effective communication & support through live chats, or personalized video chat for solving problems, etc.
You can enhance your customer experience by using digital mediums for providing effective communication & support through live chats, or personalized video chat for solving problems, etc.
3. Train your team:
The first people your customers interact with are your customer-facing teams. They play a major role in shaping the first impression of your brand.
Soft skills and product knowledge are two keys to providing good customer service. Regular training programs to enhance their skills and knowledge can assist your sales, support, and marketing teams in providing flawless assistance.
88 percent of high-performing organizations invest heavily in agent training, compared to only 57 percent of underperformers.
Soft skills and product knowledge are two keys to providing good customer service. Regular training programs to enhance their skills and knowledge can assist your sales, support, and marketing teams in providing flawless assistance.
88 percent of high-performing organizations invest heavily in agent training, compared to only 57 percent of underperformers.
4. Provide self-service option:
Having a dedicated customer support team is critical. However, reacting to your client’s requirements will only get you so far. Giving them the tools to be proactive can help you create an even better customer experience.
Customers want to be able to find the answers to their queries on their own and easily. 70% of customers anticipate a company's website to contain self-service options such as support content, instructional videos, case studies, and so on. This will save yours as well as your customers’ time, help them find solutions quickly, improve customer experience leading to a positive brand reputation.
Customers want to be able to find the answers to their queries on their own and easily. 70% of customers anticipate a company's website to contain self-service options such as support content, instructional videos, case studies, and so on. This will save yours as well as your customers’ time, help them find solutions quickly, improve customer experience leading to a positive brand reputation.
5. Leverage the power of AI:
Integrating an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot can assist companies in improving their customer service experience and achieving faster growth.
Chatbots are the best way of providing solutions to basic queries, assisting customers with their search, and interaction in real-time. They are available 24*7 even out of your working hours, easily scalable during busy hours, provide quality support without missing out or delaying any conversation.
Chatbots also help in saving up to 30% on customer service costs by ramping up response time and answering up to 80% of FAQs.
Chatbots are the best way of providing solutions to basic queries, assisting customers with their search, and interaction in real-time. They are available 24*7 even out of your working hours, easily scalable during busy hours, provide quality support without missing out or delaying any conversation.
Chatbots also help in saving up to 30% on customer service costs by ramping up response time and answering up to 80% of FAQs.
6. Implement customer feedback:
As a business, being able to understand your customers’ perceptions can help you enhance your customer experience. Thus it is crucial to collect, analyze and implement customer feedback for improving the overall experience.
This feedback will allow you to ensure that the final product meets customer expectations, solves problems, and meets their needs. This will also express to your customers that you value their opinions leading to more conversions and improved brand reputation.
This feedback will allow you to ensure that the final product meets customer expectations, solves problems, and meets their needs. This will also express to your customers that you value their opinions leading to more conversions and improved brand reputation.
Good customer service levels up customer satisfaction. Customer-centric businesses are 60% more profitable than non-customer-centric businesses.
7. Engage with customers:
Engaging customers across their whole lifecycle is crucial to enhance sales and improve customer experience. The six major stages of the customer lifecycle are as follows:
Awareness- Customers become aware of the existence of your brand, product, or service at the awareness stage.
Engagement- Customers examine what others are saying about your company as well as how you respond to service requests or complaints.
Evaluation- They compare and research options before making a decision. Providing digital self-service choices can assist customers in evaluating products.
Purchase- When a customer has made a decision. At this stage, providing assistance to clients is vital.
Product experience- Delivering a high-quality product and giving outstanding assistance assures success at this level.
Advocacy- The last stage of the customer life cycle. You may continue to offer regular assistance and transform them into brand advocates.
When discussing the customer lifecycle, we must evaluate the major steps that lead a buyer from the first encounter with your product or service to purchase, loyalty, and retention.
Engaging with your customers throughout their lifecycle will allow you to increase the lifetime value of your customers, improve conversion and sales rate, improve ROI.
Awareness- Customers become aware of the existence of your brand, product, or service at the awareness stage.
Engagement- Customers examine what others are saying about your company as well as how you respond to service requests or complaints.
Evaluation- They compare and research options before making a decision. Providing digital self-service choices can assist customers in evaluating products.
Purchase- When a customer has made a decision. At this stage, providing assistance to clients is vital.
Product experience- Delivering a high-quality product and giving outstanding assistance assures success at this level.
Advocacy- The last stage of the customer life cycle. You may continue to offer regular assistance and transform them into brand advocates.
When discussing the customer lifecycle, we must evaluate the major steps that lead a buyer from the first encounter with your product or service to purchase, loyalty, and retention.
Engaging with your customers throughout their lifecycle will allow you to increase the lifetime value of your customers, improve conversion and sales rate, improve ROI.
8. Provide omnichannel experience:
Providing an omnichannel experience is critical for businesses to deliver crucial insights into customers’ interactions across their life cycle. It enables the customers to connect with the company via their preferred channels. Multiple channels for sales, customer service, and marketing are part of the omnichannel strategy.
Customers want a consistent experience with your company in every engagement. It signifies that it should not be compartmentalized. A consistent omnichannel customer experience requires a seamless trip across all channels, both online and offline.
The goal of an omnichannel CX strategy is to provide a consistent customer service experience regardless of the channel via which customers contact your company. It unifies customer interactions on a single platform for enhanced team productivity and a better customer experience.
Customers want a consistent experience with your company in every engagement. It signifies that it should not be compartmentalized. A consistent omnichannel customer experience requires a seamless trip across all channels, both online and offline.
The goal of an omnichannel CX strategy is to provide a consistent customer service experience regardless of the channel via which customers contact your company. It unifies customer interactions on a single platform for enhanced team productivity and a better customer experience.
Business texting is a great way to enhance customer experience. SMS messaging orchestrates the omnichannel experience that customers expect from a brand and can greatly influence customer experience throughout the customer journey. The value of SMS lies in how it connects omnichannel experiences and assists brands in moving from monologue to dialogue.
Ways to Use SMS Messaging for Enhancing Customer Experience:
Send Reminders and Notifications
SMS is the perfect way to notify about things like sending reminders, upcoming sales, events, bookings, appointments, etc. It allows your clients to respond better and much more quickly to transactional customer service messages sent via SMS. Sending out reminders benefits both your clients by improving their experience and your business by reducing the number of no-shows, which cost time and money to your company.
This technique can be used mostly by businesses in sectors of banking, healthcare, e-commerce, delivery, beauty, fashion, etc.
This technique can be used mostly by businesses in sectors of banking, healthcare, e-commerce, delivery, beauty, fashion, etc.
Security and Alerts
SMS messaging is used for sending OTPs required for security purposes in online monetary transactions or to authenticate sign-ups on digital platforms. They are also used for changing the passwords of your digital accounts in case you get locked out of them
They are also used for sending out alerts for any unusual login attempts to keep your accounts and details safe. These are mostly used by payment apps and social apps. This is an easy and reliable way of providing a secure digital environment that enhances the CX.
They are also used for sending out alerts for any unusual login attempts to keep your accounts and details safe. These are mostly used by payment apps and social apps. This is an easy and reliable way of providing a secure digital environment that enhances the CX.
Discounts and Promotional Offers
SMS is a powerful tool for bridging the gap between a merchant's physical and online stores.
Do you remember receiving a text message about an ongoing offer at a nearby store and ending up buying when you never thought about doing so? Yes, that is the power of SMS messaging.
Marketing teams can utilize geofencing and SMS to send out timely and relevant promotions and discounts to customers who are close enough to a store. These messages can be one-way or two-way, with a sales representative answering if a customer replies.
73 percent of customers who signed up for Kiehl's SMS alerts purchased from the brand. In addition, 81 percent of customers recall receiving a text message. Hence, the messaging not only helps in conversions but also creates a memorable customer experience helping the company stand out from the crowd.
Do you remember receiving a text message about an ongoing offer at a nearby store and ending up buying when you never thought about doing so? Yes, that is the power of SMS messaging.
Marketing teams can utilize geofencing and SMS to send out timely and relevant promotions and discounts to customers who are close enough to a store. These messages can be one-way or two-way, with a sales representative answering if a customer replies.
73 percent of customers who signed up for Kiehl's SMS alerts purchased from the brand. In addition, 81 percent of customers recall receiving a text message. Hence, the messaging not only helps in conversions but also creates a memorable customer experience helping the company stand out from the crowd.
Create a Personalized Experience
The key to providing excellent customer service is personalization. You can send personalized messages based on a person's location, browsing history, preferences, recent purchases, and so on. For example,
You can send a message about your latest deal to someone searching for a product or service on a local business site or app.
You can send location-based messages to attract clients in your area if a mobile location is known.
Returning clients might be rewarded for their loyalty by receiving special offers and recommendations.
Sending greetings for anniversaries, birthdays, and other significant occasions along with a special offer can go a long way toward making a customer feel special.
You can send a message about your latest deal to someone searching for a product or service on a local business site or app.
You can send location-based messages to attract clients in your area if a mobile location is known.
Returning clients might be rewarded for their loyalty by receiving special offers and recommendations.
Sending greetings for anniversaries, birthdays, and other significant occasions along with a special offer can go a long way toward making a customer feel special.
- You can send a message about your latest deal to someone searching for a product or service on a local business site or app.
- You can send location-based messages to attract clients in your area if a mobile location is known.
- Returning clients might be rewarded for their loyalty by receiving special offers and recommendations.
- Sending greetings for anniversaries, birthdays, and other significant occasions along with a special offer can go a long way toward making a customer feel special.
You can get your hands on most of such user information by simply asking them when they sign up for your app/ website/ subscriptions, etc, and also by running a phone carrier lookup.
Delivery and Payment Updates
Providing a simple ordering and delivery service can really help in enhancing the customer experience. Aside from ensuring on-time deliveries, it's vital to keep consumers up to date on their order status, any delays (and why), and any other alerts that let them know their purchase is being correctly handled. Sending such communications by SMS messaging is a cost-effective method.
You may quickly transmit updates at any point of the delivery cycle, such as order placement, packaging, shipment, current position, delivery time, and so on.
Customers can also be notified when a bill has been processed or a payment has been received by SMS, as well as obtain transaction receipts.
You may quickly transmit updates at any point of the delivery cycle, such as order placement, packaging, shipment, current position, delivery time, and so on.
Customers can also be notified when a bill has been processed or a payment has been received by SMS, as well as obtain transaction receipts.
Automated SMS Messaging
Automated messaging can help businesses take their customer service to the next level. SMS turns out to be a wonderful customer experience mode by building automatic replies for specific keywords that help address difficulties quickly by providing website links, etc, and troubleshooting in simple ways.
Automated messaging can be used for a variety of events such as notifying customers about their ending subscriptions, lower stock updates, order placement status, content download success notification, and so on. Automated messages have a plethora of applications. In the end, how a company uses the ability in its offering differs from one company to the next.
Automated messaging can be used for a variety of events such as notifying customers about their ending subscriptions, lower stock updates, order placement status, content download success notification, and so on. Automated messages have a plethora of applications. In the end, how a company uses the ability in its offering differs from one company to the next.
Live Chat and Customer Support
Good customer support is the key to a good customer experience. Most customers don’t prefer calling customer service since it consumes a lot of time. Availability on messaging platforms makes your brand more approachable.
92 percent of customers feel most satisfied when using a live chat feature. By integrating customer service into SMS with the help of a two-way SMS feature, your agent can respond to customer requests in real-time and provide a superior customer experience.
Easier To Receive Customer Feedbacks
Soliciting consumer feedback is a regular source of frustration for businesses of all sizes. Customers rarely like to discuss their experiences unless they have something to complain about. When they do, they're usually sent a link to a website that might not be compatible with mobile devices.
Instead, businesses can employ SMS messaging to collect ratings and feedback in the seconds following a customer engagement. Customers will feel less inconvenienced and a more personable relationship will be reinforced by incorporating it into an ongoing conversation.
Instead, businesses can employ SMS messaging to collect ratings and feedback in the seconds following a customer engagement. Customers will feel less inconvenienced and a more personable relationship will be reinforced by incorporating it into an ongoing conversation.
Final Thoughts
Customer experience is the foundation of brand differentiation and it is evident that SMSs have the upper hand when it comes to providing a positive consumer experience. It is hard to overlook the power of communications and the powers it possesses to generate a great brand resonance for a digital firm that desires to become an essential part of its consumers' lives.
You may provide frictionless CX by reaching out to customers using SMS messaging , a medium they frequently use and are most comfortable with. If used correctly, SMS can result to be a wonderful customer experience advocate.
You may provide frictionless CX by reaching out to customers using SMS messaging , a medium they frequently use and are most comfortable with. If used correctly, SMS can result to be a wonderful customer experience advocate.