SMS is one of the most popular communication channels today—even among businesses. In fact, 89% of consumers would like companies to use business SMS to communicate. With so many channels available to consumers, personalized aspects of texting are clearly what sets it apart from other traditional forms of business communication such as email and phone calls.
One of the reasons that texting seems so personal is that business SMS platforms track key customer information or can integrate with CRM software to access it. With this information readily available, employees can easily add personalized content to messages. And although customized content appeals to customers who appreciate the personal touch, it takes little time for businesses to implement it with SMS.
Read to learn how to capitalize on the valuable customer information in your CRM by integrating with a business texting platform.
Use Prior Interaction Notes to Provide Attentive Customer Service
Your business SMS platform should allow agents to record notes from current chats as well as the number of interactions customers have had with your business. These notes and statistics will include text and voice or email channels, if you have access to other customer service app integrations. With access to these notes, customer service agents can:
Choose the tone of their conversation. If an agent reviews past customer notes and it’s clear that their current customer has expressed problems in the past, the agent can start out the conversation on an especially conciliatory note.
Immediately refer to past interactions. Access to past interactions gives agents a chance to show that they are aware of a customer’s past history. For example, if a customer recently asked about a return, the customer service agent can start the conversation like this:
Hi, {{customer name}}, good to hear from you again! Did you need help with the return of your {{product name}}?
Ensure their own notes refer to these past interactions. Additionally, with access to past notes from various channels, agents can leave notes that include references to past history and ongoing trends.
Use Purchase History to Offer Tailored Service
Even if customers haven’t contacted your customer service department before, you can still show them that your company cares by reviewing their purchase history. With purchase history—and a previously obtained opt in—your business can:
Send tailored check-ins. If an employee notices that an active customer has gone quiet, recent product purchases give him or her a great reason to check in through business SMS—if, of course, the customer has opted in as per federal regulations. For example, if a customer purchased a bouquet a month ago for an event, the agent can ask how the event went. If a customer called in to get help fixing an issue with a new product, the agent can ask whether the solution is holding up.
Provide relevant tips. One of the best ways to increase customer engagement is by offering customers continued advice to ensure they know that you care about the entire customer experience and not just their purchase power. These tips can be tailored based on past purchases. For example, if a customer purchased a pair of leather shoes, you can send them a list of leather care tips. If a client recently came in to your salon for a haircut, you can send seasonal texts about hair care.
Offer a VIP experience. Finally, purchase history empowers you to offer a unique VIP experience to recent purchasers of your product or services. For example, if your customer recently purchased an article of clothing, you can let them know about a new item from that designer. If your customer came in for an oil change, you can send them a reminder for the next recommended oil change.
Use Onboarding Information to Ensure Your Customer Is Caught Up
In many industries, like law and health care, paperwork is key to starting the customer relationship. However, sometimes they can forget about key paperwork or forms. Reminders sent through business SMS are a great way to reignite the relationship and ensure that they can fully onboard. This is also a great opportunity to ensure that the client doesn’t have additional questions or concerns.
Team members can review client profiles and send reminder texts for items like:
- Document requests
- Appointment confirmations
- Event reminders
- Special VIP events or offers
Customers will appreciate the reminder and, in most cases, complete the applications that they started.
Use Personal Information to Create Customized, Attention-Grabbing Messages
Personal information like birthdays or hobbies is especially useful for engagement campaigns via business SMS. For example, customer service agents can:
Text holiday wishes. Everyone likes to feel special on their birthday. By monitoring birthdays in your CRM and sending timely birthday wishes to your customers, you’ll both flatter them and help bring your brand to their attention just when they might be receiving gift cards. For example, sending a simple text saying “Happy Birthday from the team at Denver Books Inc!” can remind them of one of their favorite places to spend birthday cash.
Offer interest-specific tips. If your business records personal interests or hobbies in your CRM, you can create unique lists based on interest category and send out interest-specific tips that also relate to your industry. For example, if you run a salon, you can send sports fanatics some tips about sunscreen. If you run a stationery company, you can send teachers back-to-school deal information.
Customer information, whether it’s pulled from your text messaging platform or your SMS CRM integration, is incredibly useful for customer communications, bringing yet another level of personalization to business SMS.
Ready to harness the power of your customer history with business SMS? Try our platform for free.
