SMS Improves Contact Centers Everywhere
Customers have less time and are less inclined to visit their bank’s branch. Thus why contact center customer service methods that include mobile messaging provide a better experience for the customer and, in turn, is more efficient for brands. 90% of all SMS are read within three minutes of being received. And since roughly 91% of the world adult population owns a cellphone, undoubtedly mobile is consuming customers everywhere. SMS rules the world because it stands for simplicity, and only requires a message and a recipient.
SMS has long been a missed opportunity for businesses in every industry. Today, only 7% of consumers use SMS to communicate with the businesses they encounter. Perhaps customers don’t necessarily welcome marketing texts from brands because they expect every message they receive to be personal, but to limit a business communication system based on fear of intrusion would have collapsed e-mail communication altogether years ago. What business executives fail to realize, however, is that customer support relations are one-to-one by definition, therefore texting could be a great alternative to the existing limited communication channels.
It has been proven that customer service via text provides a better experience for the customer and is more efficient for brands by the businesses that have already adopted this model. SMS implementation is perfect for all customers because it doesn’t require having the latest smartphone and, because texts are notifications with: a lot of information in very little space; usually little to no action to take; and the consumer still maintains some feeling of control. SMS also makes a positive impact on businesses because versus the average 22% open rate for emails, 90% of all text messages are read within three minutes of being received.
How to get started with SMS customer support
If you are really dedicated to making texting a new customer support channel, it’s important to find the right tool to track SMS interactions the way one would with emails. Cielo Mobile’s Platform components come included with customizable API that can be implemented into pre-existing contact center technology. We provide a centralized management of interactions to share the workload with fellow agents, indexing and search to build up valuable knowledge, and analytics to track key data. Your back offices will thank you, your customers will thank you, and your profit margin will thank you. It’s been proven in the few financial institutions that have implemented mobile and SMS strategies in their contact centers so now it’s time for you to reap the benefits!