Why your customers want two-way personalized conversations and how to give them that
Customers find it most memorable when they’re treated as unique individuals. This is especially true when it comes to shopping customer care, where personalization goes a long way. Your customers want to feel special and feel like they are part of a community. They miss the days of knowing other people in the store and getting that personal attention from clerks and shop employees. Fortunately, in the time of online shopping and curbside pick-up, there is a way to help manifest that for every customer you have, with a little bit of help from technology in personalized business texting.
Customers want two-way conversations that are personalized
The number one reason to personalize your support conversations and make them two-way is that your customers want it. Numerous studies have shown that your customers prefer personalized attention and support. Offering that can help increase customer retention and in turn, their lifetime value as well as the frequency with which your customers refer you to their friends.
There are a few reasons why two-way personalized conversations are the solution to giving your customers what they want.
- Your customers want a human connection with brands. Studies show that 71 percent of customers are frustrated with impersonal shopping experiences. Those personal experiences and connections involve having their voices heard when it comes to their opinions and feedback. Not only do your customers want to have their support concerns heard and solved, but they also want to be connected to the company on a deeper level too. Using chat, phone support, and text support for two-way conversations with you can facilitate this.
- Customers are conscious and authentic consumers. They wanted to be treated as such. Each customer of yours is more than money in the bank. Your customers are thoughtful and spend their money in considered ways. Listening to your customers is one way to make sure your brand is one that customers want to invest in. Nearly half of your customers are paying attention to your brand’s social responsibility efforts. They want to know what your brand stands for, and if they don’t agree with it, 59 percent say they would likely stop shopping with a company that supports an issue they disagree with. Using your support channels to communicate and listen to your customers can go a long way.
- Consumers like to feel like they’re part of a community. Brands like Peloton, Airbnb, Nike, Harley Davidson, and Disney are examples of brands with communities. Shared values define most communities, and 64 percent of customers buy from companies that share their values. Their customers become, in a way, an extension of the brand. They wear logos, organize and host events, and more. These communities are usually strategic and can create more brand loyalty and make customers life-long buyers. Communicating with your customers through your channels about events, ways to get involved, and company values can all facilitate engagement within the community.
What makes good two-way personalized communication?
As with any time you use business texting, there’s no exact formula to use, but there is some essential guide to writing the perfect business text. The same goes for having two-way personalized conversations with your customers.
When we talk about good personalized and two-way communication, what do we mean? This communication generally hinges on treating customers like they’re human and responding humanly too. When your customers contact support, the last thing they want is to be treated as if they’re just a problem to be solved.
The most personal conversations in business texting happen when those involved are heard and considered. That means giving your customer the time to explain what they need support with, clarifying instead of assuming, and being sympathetic.
Personalizing conversations also goes beyond the visual ways of personalizing conversations. You might use a customer’s name or add an emoji to show you’re personalizing conversations, but it’s about more than that. Make your customer feel like they’re important and have a relationship with your brand.
What can facilitate personalized and two-way communication?
Your personalized two-way conversations with customers won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take some time to make sure your support team is trained for business texting to ace these conversations. You might also need to dedicate some time to create infrastructure for initiatives to promote these conversations.
Make it easy to contact support
One of the best things you can do to facilitate personalized and two-way communication is to make it easier. Your customers have preferences for the communication channels they prefer, and you can tap into the best one. There are of course pros and cons of using texting, phone calls, email, live chat, and more.
So you need to figure out which channel your customers prefer and which one is most convenient for them. Once you do that, you’ll know that your customers will easily be able to contact your support team. Remember, your customers don’t want to wait no matter which channel they use. Part of making the customer service process easy for customers is eliminating wait time. Customers expect a response within 24 hours for email, five minutes for live chat, and if you make your customers wait more than five minutes for a phone call, 89 percent of them will hang up.
Lean in and listen to customers
Once your customers successfully connect with you, make sure you listen to what they have to say. They want to be heard and know your support team, whether they’re contacted by text or by phone, is making an effort to understand their problem or concern. Your customers will know if support isn’t giving them their full attention.
Move to fix issues, find a solution
Perhaps one of the most important ways to make your customers feel listened to and considered is to fix whatever problem they’re having. When your customers can tell you’re working to help them, they’ll feel more cared for and considered.
If you can’t find a solution immediately, offer a temporary solution or updates on when a solution might be available. This is a practice widely used with texting and live chat. Set clear expectations with messages like, “I’m checking on that and will have an answer for you in roughly 15 min. Thank you for your patience!”
Customers prefer to have an overestimate and then a shorter wait time. The opposite though, an underestimate of wait time and then a long wait resulted in a significant negative impact on their customer experience.
Have a record
Lastly, you should make sure you have some record of the previous conversations with customers. That way, you can refer back to their loyalty, previous concerns they’ve voiced, past purchases, and more to help support them. A record like this is easy to keep if you opt to use business texting. But this record can be managed by companies that use phone calls or email as well. Just be sure to have your support team note their previous conversations and have those notes accessible.
Your customers will thank you
Your customers just want to be heard and considered when they’re purchasing with your business. Remember that in today’s landscape, they have numerous options and retailers they can work with. Make yourself stand out by offering your customers personalized two-way conversations every single time. If you can be one of the first to bring back that feeling of personal attention, you can be your customer’s top pick.
