When most customer experiences and satisfaction are declining, an automated message solution can dramatically improve how you interact with your customers. Research shows 59% of customers say that they have higher expectations for customer support than they had a year ago. And did you know that $75 billion is lost by businesses annually due to poor customer service? 

Customers want better. Automated message systems help many companies improve customer experiences. Even better, if you increase your customer retention rates by just 5%, profit increases anywhere from 25% to 95%. 

We’ve all had an experience sitting on the phone while an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) moves us through a long list of questions and responses, putting us on hold, and finally moving us to a service rep who reads a script that has nothing to do with the actual problem we’re experiencing. Then when you finally manage to give them your info they aren’t able to help. It’s frustrating and time consuming. 

The problem of declining customer satisfaction is evident. By using automated messaging, your reps will handle 10:1 the volume they were doing previously and create improved customer experiences, from the IVR all the way to surveys after a closed conversation. 

Tips for Better Experiences With An Automated Message Solution

Implement Interactive Messaging Response

This acts like an IVR but uses text messaging. It’s simpler, allowing people to quickly respond in a preferred channel (no more listening on the phone forever, caught in loops etc). With IMR your customers can quickly respond and stay in your queue – as you dramatically shorten time in queues.  

• Begin by asking a few simple questions with keyword reponses to immediately profile the case and route it to the appropriate reps or team. No more listening to long-winded recordings and searching for buttons to press then ending up in a continuous loop.
• Analytics track key IMR metrics so you know where process improvements need to be made.
• You reduce abandonment rates with concise messages that quickly capture lead info and route to the right agent for immediate resolution. No more hold time!
• For new cases, ask 2-3 key questions for routing and for accelerating time to respond when an agent enters a conversation.
• Effectively package and send all insights about case and history to agents.

Increase Agent Knowledge

The number one complaint from customers is listening to scripts from agents who don’t understand their problem and who don’t have the skills to resolve said problem.  

• With automated messaging you can create rapid resolution templates based on responses that assure rapid case closure.
• You’ll automate messaging across all reps, learning best practices from the highest performing reps, so they can quickly find the best resolution response to deliver to the customer.
• Deliver an automated and simple way for managers to update and enhance templates with new content and new template categories.
• Reps will have faster time to resolution (TTR) and increased close rates even as they handle higher case volumes.

Automate Follow-Up for Customer Feedback

Only 1 out of 26 unhappy customers will make a complaint to the company about their experience. The other 25 churn and look for another vendor. People don’t want to respond to long surveys. Especially when they’re upset. 

• Immediate messaging with an automated escalation process for poor scores shifts the feedback loop from customer to your business. Survey questions sent immediately are highly likely to receive a messaging response, giving you the chance to act quickly to correct poor experiences, as you train agents to avoid this mistake again.
• You can offer simple clickable options for agents to send such as case follow-ups, customer service updates, relevant tips and tricks, and relevant resources such as webinars.

SetUp Analytics

Powerful analytics can track the effectiveness of messaging in real time, so that you can tune your process, understand where resolutions are effective and where they aren’t- all to improve your customer experience driving customer retention and revenue growth. 

The Bottom Line

With an automated message system, you’ll create better customer experiences leading to higher retention rates and improved customer satisfaction. 

• have a faster initial response that drives more conversions.
• see reduced time in queue and overall reduced abandonment rates.
• create personal conversations that increase engagement.
• Ultimately you will see a faster time-to-sale due to increased customer satisfaction and increased rep productivity.

Your customers will appreciate the thoughtful responses and conversations they receive from your company. And, you’ll close more business while creating a sustainable competitive advantage that keeps customers coming back for more.

Want to see how SMS-Magic Converse helps clients achieve all of this with text messaging? Reach out and we’d be happy to give you a personal tour and share examples from our clients!