Remember deciding between a new VCR or to make the leap and buy your first DVD player? Or when companies with websites were seen as exceedingly high-brow? Well, nowadays, the question for most consumers is: Why can't I just text this company with a question instead of calling or filling out some online form? Businesses that are debating the pros and cons of adopting such a service will look back on 2016 and either smile with nostalgia or grimace with the memory of a missed opportunity.
Well, our advice is: Don't be on the regret side of "staying the course" and invest further in existing communication channels. Instead, embrace the modern wave and be a part of a customer success revolution that's unfolding as we speak (or, more to the point, as we write). Here's why:
Let's be clear about one thing. No one is advocating that businesses drop traditional communication channels and dedicate all contact resources to text messaging. You have plenty of current clients who prefer to call, or send an email or even visit in person. But here's the thing – the majority of your customers would rather text you – especially millennials.
According to data compiled from RealityMine, texting comprises a third of millennials' mobile usage. Millennial women use SMS three times as often as they make phone calls. By and large, text messaging is the preferred method for communication compared to any number of other smartphone apps and functions.
As a result, businesses that allows customers to send and receive SMS messages will be speaking the language of the future. Think of it like an investment – SMS will only grow in popularity, and by opening that communication channel now, your business will be poised to make a seamless transition.
Let your customers text you whenever they need to… and be ready to respond.
Obviously, the Digital Natives are comfortable with texting and probably will be well into their future. That alone, however, doesn't necessarily make texting the better platform for business communication. After all, there are many other demographics to consider – so, what do they think about texting?
As it turns out, age groups are less divisive on this than some may realize. A recent Gallup poll identified text messaging as the go-to phone function for Americans under 50 years old. Even in the 50 to 64 age group, 26 percent said they used text messaging "a lot" during the previous day. After age 65 is where this behavior really drops, but as Gallup noted, those individuals are also less likely to communicate in general.
This is an important piece of information: The public at large has already decided how they prefer to communicate and there's not much debate. Two-way SMS messaging is the logical progression from calling to emailing to instant messaging and it is only becoming much more efficient than it already is. Communication technology has led to a ready-made customer relations improvement package – now it's on companies to embrace texting and make business personal.
It's a win-win situation. No one will complain about your business rolling out a conversational messaging platform to better address customer needs, but plenty of people will express their excitement about the new service. And when they want to tell you how much easier it is, they can just shoot you a text.