Cell phones ushered in a new age of communication for the world back in the ‘90s. The ability to send SMS messages to your contacts supercharged our telecommunications networks into the next millennium. As great as SMS is, recent advances in communications technology threaten to usurp this standard, as more and more people communicate straight through the internet.
Does this change signal an end for SMS? Not if you look at the data. According to The Next Web, 90% of SMS messages are read within the first three minutes. When it comes to customer experience, speed and timeliness is key. Even though call centers have many advanced technologies available today to improve operations, SMS is still important.
Contact center efficiency is at its best when you combine all the major touchpoints with the consumer. Those key channels are voice, email, chat, website, social media, and finally SMS. A study from eMarketer places SMS as the third most used channel between customers and businesses. Further, 98% of all SMS messages are read, meaning it’s easier and more reliable to get your point across.
Today, call centers can make use of various software solutions that integrate SMS into the experience. Customers are looking for ways to simplify their customer experience, and today’s powerful SMS features give you just that.
First contact point for customers - a study from Ovum found that many customers prefer to contact a call center through text instead of calling. It was less frustrating and more convenient. Call center software can acknowledge the message, send one back with an automated reply, and schedule the customer for a callback.
Use SMS for customer care - some customers prefer using SMS over voice or chat. It’s less obtrusive and works at the customer’s pace. It can help improve customer satisfaction while taking care of the user’s concerns. Agents use call center software similar to chat, but the replies go straight to the customer’s SMS inbox.
Send notifications and notifications - customers can get very busy and forget things. SMS notifications give them a friendly reminder that lets them know you are keeping their best interests in mind.
Send ads, updates, verification codes, discount coupons - reminders for due dates are great, but you can also send other things like discount codes, or let them know of new features your company has. As an added security measure, some customers may also opt to have SMS One Time PIN security enabled on their accounts, which gives them peace of mind that their account can’t be compromised without their phones.
Integrates into CRM - call center efficiency is linked to a powerful CRM system that manages all customer information in one place. SMS integrated into CRM as one of the channels a customer is available for contact, and a modern CRM system will even designate which channel a customer prefers. It’s just another tool to improve the overall customer experience.
Work with mailing lists - SMS messages can be sent out to targeted customers as well with the help of mailing lists that are maintained by your software’s CRM systems. This allows you to quickly get in touch with a wide swath of your customer base.
Quickly get customer satisfaction surveys - the mailing list power of SMS can be used to send short customer satisfaction surveys. Since customers are more likely to respond to SMS messages, you can conduct surveys quickly and efficiently. The data is collected automatically by your system’s software, giving you valuable insights to what your customers feel and need.
In the end, the ubiquity of SMS means that it’s still relevant in today’s customer service landscape. It’s a messaging system that your contact center can use to reach out to any customer instantly, around the globe. Unlike other channels, they are also read almost instantly.
While modern call center technologies advance further and become more and more sophisticated, SMS will always remain as the communication channel that reaches every customer fast, and gets responses in short order.