As we have previously discussed, text messaging can be a valuable tool for your customer service team and your entire company. From the convenience to the low cost to the flexibility, texting has made its way to the mainstream when it comes to communication between customers and businesses.
With all that being said, there are situations where we would advise against using text messaging and use alternative forms of communication with your customers. Let’s take a look at a few.
When you don’t want personal information floating out there forever. If something is sent via text, there is a strong chance that the information will be stored somewhere indefinitely (particularly if storage of text communications is something you have set up on your business side, but also with regards to information that is stored on a customer’s device). This is great for you to review customer contacts, track commonly asked questions and research customer history. But what about personal information like social security numbers and passwords? It is best if that type of information is not stored in more places than it has to be. For situations where a customer will have to communicate personal information, it is better to stick with more traditional methods.
When you don’t trust your staff to reply with sound responses. What if you are not confident that your customer support team will be able to communicate in a professional tone over text? Some new hires or disgruntled employees may fall into this category. A well-formulated script can always be developed that staff can copy/paste to use while learning the ropes. But with humans there is a possibility that they go off script and react to a nasty text from a customer by sending something that could be used against your business (i.e., the customer screenshots it and posts everywhere).
Sensitive conversations that require a certain amount of empathy from the staff member. Sometimes the tone of a text can be lost by the person reading it. Is the sender joking? Being sarcastic? Downright serious? And often responses from businesses to customers stick to the facts and lack emotion. Knowing that, it’s easy to see there may be times when texting just isn’t enough for your customers, and a phone call or video call be in order. This could circumstances involving an account of a deceased family member, issues arising after a disaster strikes someone’s home, or when an issue has persisted after more than one complaint.
Still have questions as to whether or not texting is a viable solution for your business? Give us a call. We’ll be happy to explore your current set-up and discuss ways incorporating texting into your customer communications could improve the quality and productiveness of your business.