SMS is starting to be widely used as a tool for customer service. But, have you wondered why? Let’s start with the basics.
What does SMS customer service mean? SMS customer service is any type of support provided by a business to a customer via text-messaging to the customer’s mobile phone. It is completely virtual and requires no face-to-face interaction or verbal communication. The support can be live via text-message, or can be an automatic response for the most common issues faced.
Sometimes, access codes and verification links are sent via text-message to clients for them to create or access to their accounts in different applications, social media pages, or even banking.
To speak about the importance of SMS in customer support nowadays, we need to understand how the mind of customers has changed during the last years.
It is widely known that phone calls are strongly avoided, mostly by millennials and the generations that followed. We are now a society of texters: more than 8 billion text-messages are being sent daily, in the U.S. alone! This translated to a personal level, means about 26 text messages, per person, per day. So, if phone calls are avoided at all cost… you can clearly see what is the preferred way to contact customer-service nowadays. Recent studies confirm it. Clients prefer to text with brands for specific needs instead of reaching them on their social media. And reaching them by phone calls comes in as the last resource according to their preferences as studies show 72% of consumers would prefer to text a business instead of having support-related phone calls.
Bearing all these facts in mind, it is logical to start thinking about SMS customer service. But, providing excellent customer support via text is not that simple. Having a successful SMS customer support is not just about enabling SMS as a communication channel for your company, it has its perks. For example, you just started sending access codes to your website to your clients for better web security, as they make purchases from your site. You’re showing them you’re concerned for their security, that’s a good start. But, what if the access codes never reach the mobile phone of your client? Another example: you send a text message with a promo code to give a 10% discount on the next purchase. Your client immediately wants to make a new purchase, but when entering the discount code, the discount is not applied. What do you think will happen next? Logically, they will try to reach your customer service by other means if, and only if, the desired action is really important to the client. But, considering that nowadays no one wants to make phone calls unless absolutely necessary, you’re risking losing clients and sales if your service is not essential in their eyes, or you’re risking to make the customer support job to one of your agents even more difficult.
As you can see, having an SMS customer support service enabled can be a double edged sword if the support service is not handled properly, as you’ll be adding an extra load of work to your support specialists; or if the SMS texts fail to reach the final destination, you can lose the clients’ interest and trust for your business.
Make sure to think and plan carefully your SMS customer service strategies, as well as the content you’ll be sending. Ensure everything is prepared, and functional before sending promo codes or special sale offers. To make sure that your text messages deliver in a timely manner, it is of vital importance to count with a reliable bulk SMS provider. And that’s where SixFive can help you the most. We have the infrastructure, technology, and experience to provide a timely delivery of every SMS you’re willing to send, at the best prices in the market. Contact us now, we’ll be pleased to help you start building your new SMS customer service channel.
