What makes your product unique? The best companies have actionable customer-centric data within their products. This feeds critical marketing, lead generation and sales automation workflows. SaaS platforms can integrate multi-channel and omnichannel communication. This includes both traditional offline channels like SMS and online channels such email.
A complete, omnichannel, customer-centric data strategy today includes:
Physical retail locations
Websites & Mobile Apps
Email
Social
Phones and Call Centres
Online chat
Text messaging
Despite its widespread adoption in every sector of our consumer lives, the last one, text messaging was not included for too long. But no more.
Text messaging has become more than a marketing tool. It is now a popular two-way communication channel, which is preferred to phone calls and email. Software platforms are now allowing virtual phone numbers to be added for text messaging, as well as email, social networking, and chat.
Reason #1: Mass Adoption. Text messaging is for everyone… everyone.
According to Nielsen and Pew Internet Research, texting is more common than any other activity on phones. Pew says that 81% of cell phone users text messages, compared to 52% who use their phones to email. According to USA Today’s sports blog For the Win, the SMS button is used for sharing 3-4x more than the Twitter button.
What is the deal with SnapChat, WhatsApp, and Over-The Top (OTT) messaging services?
Are businesses in this area? Text messaging would tell you, “The reports of me dying have been greatly exaggerated.” Despite the threat to wireless carrier revenues due to text messaging via OTT mobile apps to text messaging, text messaging is still a popular form of communication. Why? Which other communication method works across iOS or Android? None. They are the reason texting is widely accepted and readily available, despite the fact that texting plans with all-you can eat pricing may not be good for wireless carriers’ revenues.
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Reason #2: Mobile Engagement Without “App for that” Consumer Fatigue
You can get it all with an app! You might be one of the 95% who never use their apps if you ask customers to download, update, and install your mobile app. Mobile communication and engagement should be fast and easy.
Let’s take an international hotel as an example. We will discuss the products they use to market, reservations, concierge services and check out. Many of these systems today use email, phone calls, and the web as their primary channels. While that is good for confirmations, it doesn’t work as well when we travel. The average email is read within 48 hours of being sent. However, the average SMS reads in just 4 minutes. Texting is more efficient than email, and it can be used before, during, and after check-out. It’s not surprising that the hospitality industry integrates text messaging at an alarming rate. QWASI, a Bandwidth customer has developed workflows that allow clients to enable room ready notifications, check-in activation, and Concierge Chat via text messaging. This is exactly what the Four Seasons did.
For customer service and sales, auto dealers use texting to communicate with customers. Managers in the automotive industry must be able to track and manage communication between customers, their sales and service teams. This can happen via email, phone, or text messaging. A survey found that over half of car buyers prefer text messages to receive service information, such as recall notices or maintenance information. It is therefore crucial that auto dealers integrate their CRM systems with text messaging.
Industry applications are not limited to the United States. All industry applications, including insurance agents, home improvements services, real agents, healthcare, financial service, and others, benefit from the ability to communicate with customers via text messaging. They can also track, manage, and align with CRM data.
Reason #3: It’s easy to integrate & manage
It’s now easier than ever to integrate and manage texting using cloud-based API platforms. The “hosted VoIP service”, which we used to think of as running on our computers, has given way to the next generation “virtual phones for applications.” This has made it possible for CRM systems to add voice and texting services just like traditional VoIP phone systems. Bandwidth offers a platform for developers, the App Platform (ap.bandwidth.com), that allows CRM providers to access cloud services and a direct-to carrier pricing model, just like large VoIP companies.
Integrating local or toll-free virtual phone numbers into software products like CRM systems can bring back offline communications, such as text messaging, online. These channels are now easy to track and manage, which improves businesses’ ability provide better customer service. This is like moving SMS text messages from your smartphone to your CRM platform. It works across all devices, not just your smartphone. Give your users the following:
Notifications for new messages
Information organized by customer threads or search history
Ability to lead a group conversation
Ability to reroute messages based on time of day, employee schedules, or customer type
It is as simple as connecting with a few web APIs. This allows any type of CRM or marketing software to add these features, rather than using specialized platforms.
Reason #4: Toll-Free Texting
The unexpected new channel for customer service is toll-free texting. Because of this simple technical change, texting is now more widely available. Toll-free numbers can now text. This is a new technology that most people are shocked to hear. For decades, many businesses used toll-free numbers to contact their call centers or integrate with CRM. However, these national brands preferred to use short codes. These codes are five to six digits for texting and not phone numbers. Short codes, however, are primarily used for marketing and cannot be used to receive phone calls.
With the availability of toll-free phone numbers that can handle both phone calls as well as send and receive SMS messages, many marketing platforms, sales automation, CRM software, contact centers, and contact centers are now integrating new features for text-in and click-to-text. This allows businesses to process orders more efficiently, remind customers of appointments, answer customer queries, and so much more.
Reason #5: Texting Converts Easily into Phone Calls
To provide a customer-centric experience, it is essential to be able to switch between communication channels in this ever-omnichannel world. Customers prefer texting. Customers prefer texting because it’s quick and convenient. However, texting can often lead to a call in their personal lives as they cannot explain the last minute details over text. We pick up the phone, and we call.
Texting provides customers and businesses with the same cross-channel context. Text conversations can be converted to phone calls if necessary on the same virtual number that the text is being sent to. After the call, the conversation will revert to text. Even in the digital age, this seamless transition between channels is uncommon. Although the transition from web to mobile app, phone call to email and phone call to voicemail is complex, it is easy for sales software systems to use text to phone calls.