Each customer prefers that you contact them a specific way. Some want to speak on the phone, others prefer you send an email, and still others who would rather be contacted by text message.
In order to amplify your customer experience, agents must pay attention to customer preferences. If an agent continues to call someone who would prefer to follow up via email or text message, they are less likely to respond. The lack of attention tells the customer that what they want isn’t important, creating a negative customer experience.
Sure, each form of communication has positive and negative aspects. Before a prospect becomes a customer, agents generally follow a common sales cadence to convert them. Switching between each avenue helps agents get in touch with them to begin the sales process.
However, as you convert these prospects, agents must learn how customers prefer to be reached. Find out whether they prefer a call, an email, or a text message for each step of the way. Sometimes it’s not possible to reach out to their preferred avenue every time. As long as you’re reaching out to them through that method on a regular basis, they will know you listened.
What are some of the positives and negatives of each communication method? When should each be used? Should agents guide customers in the direction of contact through a specific medium? Or should agents see customers as “always right”? Should they reach out through their preferred method regardless of the most beneficial solution?
Telephone
Phone calls are the lifeblood of the sales process. Agents make most of their first touches with prospects through a cold call. When a prospect answers the call, the immediacy of communication combined with the human interaction increases the effectiveness of calls for initially building rapport.
Many prospects find it difficult to completely cut a sales rep off when speaking directly to them. Agents should focus on building rapport the moment the prospect answers their call. If done properly, the quickly-established credibility allows agents time to make their full point before the prospect is willing to cut them off.
On the other hand, closed or long-term customers may not appreciate an interruptive phone call. Though they are effective for building rapport and communicating information quickly, they often interrupt the day of the person receiving the call.
Agents must find out if a customer prefers contact through email or SMS messaging before bombarding them with calls. Some situations may warrant a call but if they can convey the message through SMS or email and it’s what the customer prefers, send a text-based message.
Email also works well as the first touch for more qualified leads. Agents can send an email to introduce themselves and the product they’re selling. This passes the ball from the agent’s court to the prospect’s without requiring an immediate response. Email allows for prospects to respond on their own time and provides less pressure due to the lack of instant verbal interaction.
With the influx of email marketing, though, sometimes emails tend to get lost in the scuffle. This leads to missed messages and miscommunication which is inconvenient for more pertinent information. Depending on what the customer prefers, a more instant form of communication like a phone call or SMS message may prove themselves more beneficial.
If you plan to use email as a part of your ongoing customer retention plan, make sure to let customers know when to keep an eye out for an email from you. If they expect information and don’t receive it, they’ll get frustrated easily.
SMS Messaging
97 percent of adults in the United States send at least one text message per day. With such an active engagement on SMS messaging, it would be against your best interests not to incorporate it. You can increase your contact ratios by including SMS messages as a part of both your sales and your customer retention process.
SMS messaging assures your customers receive your message but doesn‘t put them in a position where they feel like they have to respond. If they do choose to reply, the nature of texting allows them to receive your message immediately and then get back to you on their own time.
Due to the non-interruptive nature of text messaging, please customers by incorporating it into your approach. This works even better if they prefer text messaging as their primary method of communication. With the development of SMS messaging capabilities integrated directly into the dashboard of call center solutions like CallTools.com, it’s easy to send texts directly from the platform.
Contact Center Software for Customer Experience
Place customer experience at the forefront of your priorities. Keeping the customers you already have happy is imperative for any long-lasting business. Make the job easy by choosing a contact center solution that includes each of these communication methods.
With advanced contact center software, you can make a call, follow up with an email, then send and receive text messages directly from the same program. Amplify your customer experience with a seamlessly-designed software intended for customer retention.
