Published : September 23, 2019Where to begin?
Let me first tell you the real reason behind penning down this article. Whether a service-based company calls or sends text messages to its customers for anything on earth, the main motto behind doing this based on protocols is to ensure the task of customer retention by the company. Now we need to know what exactly does a customer wants in order to select a particular company over its competitors.
According to a survey, it has been found that more than 96.89% of customers focus mostly on the factor of appropriate customer service while choosing a particular company for any service. Due to the missing bonus of customization, nearly 35% of consumers chose to abandon a business. By reading through the reviews from other customers, more than 70% of customers find it more beneficial to go for a company with the best customer service. However, before jumping to any conclusion as to know what is the best mode of communication with the customers, we must focus on analyzing the consequences before following any particular guideline. And, in order to bring forth the best and most authentic solution to this query without hampering the business growth, we must look at things from the customers’ points of view.
Recognize the Problem
Before going for any solution, we must be well aware of the problem. First, we need to know the possible reasons for customers leaving the company. To do so, we must go through a good number of case studies and real-life statistics available from the market. After a quick study of past records across different companies, the possible reasons can be narrowed down to the following:
1. Negligence towards the customers: Even if we don’t intend to hurt or sound rude to our customers, our behavior during peak hours might not satisfy all of them every time. It is then when they start to believe that we are neglecting them. But sometimes, faults lie at our end as well. We sometimes fail to deliver the right service at the right time, and faults in communication are also not an extremely rare condition.
2. Lack of prompt service: Employees of the company responsible for direct interaction with the customer must be given the best training possible—both in terms of communication or other technical and non-technical aspects. Customers should not leave the company due to the lack of good service.
3. Pressure due to competitors: In this market of extreme volatility and a high surge of competition and rivalry, everyone fights to be the best. In such cases, the customer from one company can shift to another company due to better offers. But that doesn’t mean that the companies will sit back and enjoy the show. Every customer is precious and should get equal attention. So their shifting to other companies providing the same service should not be taken lightly. This is one of the most important points that help in customer retention.
Completing the Cycle of Communication
In order to ensure that there is no loophole left in the process of effective communication with the client, one should remember that the mode of communication must be chosen wisely for proper business growth. Statistics reveal that the cause behind the degradation of business is mostly due to violation of the untold guidelines pertaining to effective communication.
It is needless to say that with the popularity of social media and the ease the social platforms provide; people hardly use text messages for communication. Social media doesn’t exclude emails. Most of the employed individuals have more than one email id, one for their official work and one for their personal use. Thus, bombarding one’s email with promotional emails, notices regarding new offers is not at all a wise idea. Sending text messages, on the contrary, can be formal and effective at the same time as the working hours of companies tend to match in most cases. So, the company that is calling the customer and the company in which the customer is working are most likely to have common working hours. So, in that case, the customer might not be able to take calls from the service company. But, on receival of a text message, he or she can at least know in which regard they have received the same. This process of exchange of text message has become very easy through different SMS websites which feature the provision of an online phone number. By availing of this lucrative option, companies can generate phone numbers that will have their extensions, and customers using their service can instantly recognize from where the message has arrived. This is one of the best methodologies that can be implemented by companies of different genres for expanding their business online. Most significantly, as per the statistics in the country of the United Kingdom and other nations across the globe, there is quite an increasing surge in the adoption of online phone number by numerous organizations from small to big. It has to be kept in mind that the profit of the company is also dependent on how cost-effective the process of adoption of online VoIP phone numbers is.
Summary of the reasons for the adoption of online numbers
It is needless to say that the best advantage of using text messages as the first mode of communication is that it enables the establishment of a personal relationship with every customer under the cocoon of a formal touch. This is a very crucial factor in the maintenance of good customer-company relationships. Many relationship managers from different companies across the globe have agreed to this matter. Many companies use chatbots before connecting customers directly with customer care relationships. In that case, it has to be made sure that the chatbots provide a very good response and are able to solve the queries from a noticeable chunk of the customers of the company.
Segmentation is another important factor that has to be kept in mind. The company should be familiar with the grouping of customers who have recently opted for a service from the company and also those who have recently interacted with the customer care executives. This has to be done to ensure a good and swift feedback generation system via which the company can chase the sun of success in a better way. But, one should see that the feedback is unbiased.
Based on a survey last year, nearly 60% of the total time that people spend on digital media is on mobile phones. So, it is quite evident that people connected to the system of SMS received from the company, respond to it swiftly, or forget less to respond to it. Although internet connection has become one of the most important ingredients in the recipe of life, one has to keep in mind that in some cases while traveling or residing in areas of poor data connection, text messages are the only best option for communication. This point requires special attention as it directly explains the basic need for communication of companies with customers through text messages. In addition to that, companies can also design a standard format, which can suit the requirement. Statistics show that in comparison to thousands of unread emails crowding the junk folder of one’s email id, one finds more comfort in reading short, crisp to-the-point text messages with necessary links and a personal touch. This personal touch can be brought about by addressing each customer by his or her name. Technological advancements have made such processes easy and automatic these days.
To ensure the best mode of communication through the exchange of text messages, the company should focus on bidirectional communication in this regard. The customer should also be able to send queries in writing to the company authorities via text messages to numbers specially allocated to the company, for example, SMS XL <QUERY><NAME><CONTACT NUMBER> to 66666 (toll-free). In this way, the company’s workload also gets dispersed, and a separate section of employees can be there to handle the task of this text message management.
Thus, it is very well evident that prior to phone calls, the use of text messages can function as one of the best modes of communication with the customers.
Updated : November 11, 2024
Supriya Bajaj is a senior content developer with immense experience in the VoIP telephony domain. With a deep knowledge of VoIP systems and emerging technologies in the field, she provides insightful and targeted content. Known for simplifying complex topics and her thought-leadership articles, Supriya delivers actionable content for both technical and non-technical audiences.
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