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A Comprehensive Guide for Customer Service Messaging

Last Updated: March 2024

Do you know the click-through rate of messages is 98% whereas for email it’s only 22%?  This proves the importance of Customer service messaging through Short Messaging Service (SMS). 

SMS is a quicker and more personal way to reach your customers. Emails are time-consuming whereas not everyone prefers phone calls nowadays. 

Messaging customers through SMS or IM(Instant Message Service) can prove to be beneficial for your business as it is cost-efficient and highly effective.

If you are planning to leverage your customer service through SMS, then here is a guide for you. In this, we have covered all the necessary steps by which you can build a strong customer support service.

Goal Clarity

Goal clarity for SMS customer support

Selecting the right messaging channel and keeping clarity on why are you leveraging this service to your customers is important. Setting your objective of your can make this service more effective. 

Here are some objectives that you should keep in mind:

  • Employee Productivity
  • Cost reduction
  • Customer Satisfaction

Now coming on the different messaging channels then there are a lot of options available for messaging like Direct Messaging through social media,  SMS, and specialized platform for messaging. 

The best way to know this is by asking your customers what they prefer and then looking at the features provided by those apps you can choose the best.

Keep It Short and Sweet

Short message for SMS

Writing down a tone for messaging also plays a crucial role. If the message is too long then there are chances that it might break into different paragraphs or might not get delivered.

Following the guidelines of your email support won’t work as they are more illustrative and usually follow a theme.

Thus keeping the message short and full of information is necessary to make it more user-friendly.

Include automation with human input

Automate SMS with Human input

Fast replies are a must for your business as customers don’t like to wait. Quick replies can be enabled in with the help of automation tools. Though customers prefer personalized service and that’s why human input is important.

Customer support reps assess problems well and give solutions as per their understanding. Making it more reliable as compared to automated messages.  

Automated messages can be used to welcome a user, ask them to wait as your representative is looking for a solution, or ask for a review once the query is resolved.

Prioritize and categorize incoming messages

Prioritize and categorize incoming messages for your SMS

With the help of automation tools, you can prioritize and categorize incoming messages. For example, if a customer has asked a frequently asked question (FAQ) then they can be directed toward your knowledge base.

 This ensures that a quick resolution is given to your customer without consuming much time from your customer support representative. 

Now the other queries which are not related to FAQs can either be solved with the first in first out (FIFO) technique. However, if you prioritize your customers based on their profile then it can yield more effective results. 

Roll out SMS for customer reviews

Online reviews are important for any business to grow. They attract more customers, build trust, and also help you to generate more revenue. Thus asking for reviews can prove to be crucial for your business. 

You can roll out review requests for customers who have recently bought some sort of product or rendered service from your store. This increases the chances of receiving honest feedback and can help you build an impression of your product. 

Follow-up with customers/Send information about new events

To ensures that the service is not limited to only customer resolution you can use it to remind your customers that it’s been a long time since they have rendered your service. 

Sending out messages that say that we are missing you can make your customer feel prioritized. This may result in a new booking from their side for your service.

If you have events or discounts lined up then too you can roll out these messages to make your customers aware of it.

Be on point

Be on point while interacting with customers through SMS

Texting is all about short and informative sentences. Try to avoid big paragraphs while marketing your product or helping a customer. SMS should be a summary of the message you are trying to convey. 

Highlighting the key points is important as they easily grab attention. Keeping it brief, engaging, and insightful is necessary.  

If you are resolving a query then make sure to attach the most relevant helping articles and try not to transfer the case to some other agent. This makes a customer angry and shows that your employees do not carry the desired information. Leaving a bad impression.

Social Media

Social media for sms

Add the number/ID of your SMS on your bio. The customers that are trying to reach you on social media will read the ID on your bio and will message you there.

This will ensure that all the queries/problems are directed to a single platform for better resolution. 

Conclusion

SMS has the highest percentage of open rate which allows you to telecast your message effectively. It is a very personalized form of service and does not require long paragraphs. 

The queries of customers reaching you through SMS should be solved swiftly and in the most insightful way possible.

The script, tone, and strategies provided in this post will certainly help you to lay out this service plan for your business.

However, If you are looking for one place where you can avail of social media integrations, automated UGC marketing services, and automated customer support solutions for your store, then Saufter is the stop. It offers one-click integration with Shopify, Woocommerce, Bigcommerce, and many more providing you with effective automated solutions to save on your manual labor time by 50%.

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