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Text messaging is changing the way we communicate

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By mGage

Long ago, when streets still had pay phones, and every home had a landline, software programmer Neil Papworth sent the first text message. The date was December 3, 1992. Two decades later, around 23 billion SMS messages are sent daily around the world[1], both from person to person and through mobile engagement providers.

In 20 years, text messaging has become our primary method of communication. It has grown from being a simple way for secretaries to page their managers to the backbone of many applications that rely on text messaging – voting on reality shows, tracking packages, and confirming appointments, just to name a few.

Conversation Changers

The way we consume information and how we communicate is ever-changing. We’re more visually orientated than ever and have shorter attention spans due to most people being time-poor. The humble ‘like’ now suffices as a full response in most scenarios, and the word “emoji” even made it onto the approved list in Scrabble.

We saw emerging trends like contactless payments and curbside pickup accelerate in 2020 with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes were facilitated by mobile phones and, in many cases, text messaging. In fact, 34% of businesses surveyed adopted SMS because of the pandemic[2] — many brands invested in text messaging to maintain a close relationship with customers and facilitate safe shopping. While many of these brands were slow to try text messaging before the pandemic forced their hands, they most certainly saw the benefits. 77% of the businesses that adopted text messaging this year say they’ll continue post-COVID[3].

This tide of change has been in progress for many years, but COVID-19 added fuel to the fire. The influence of trends, including social integration, social media sharing, and group messaging, has massively impacted how we communicate. Many enterprise companies are taking note and trying to understand how to adopt SMS for customer service, marketing, and operations.

The Rise of the Messenger App

Messenger apps (also called OTT Messaging Apps) are arguably the most popular smartphone apps. The 10 biggest collectively boast more than three billion accounts. WhatsApp, the leader, has 700m, and the number of WhatsApp messages sent every day now exceeds the number of standard texts. Last year it handled more than seven trillion messages – that’s about 1,000 per person.

These mobile-first social messaging apps create a new ecosystem for communication, but despite the growing popularity of instant messaging among consumers, OTT messaging apps have downsides for businesses. So, what is the best platform for marketers to communicate with their customers?

SMS Messaging Making a Comeback

SMS messaging is one of the most reliable and immediate ways to reach people. Whether the consumer has a smartphone or a basic mobile phone, they can receive SMS text messages. 95% of texts will be read within 3 minutes of being sent, with the average response time for a text being a mere 90 seconds[4].

Marketing channels many brands previously relied on are quickly becoming oversaturated. Around 98% of all SMS messages are opened, compared to just 20% of emails[5]. The average organic Facebook post only reaches 5.2% of the brand’s followers[6].

With text messaging, on the other hand, consumers are much more likely not only to read your message but appreciate it. Consumers opt into mobile programs and make a careful decision on which text campaigns they choose, meaning they’re a much more engaged audience. Because users limit themselves to brands they truly care about when opting into SMS promotions, brands can market more directly to a captive and loyal target audience.

SMS also allows consumers to reply instantaneously to a promotion and engage with the brand through two-way dialogue. By opening the doors of conversation between brand and consumer and creating customer engagement, marketers ultimately create a stronger relationship and build brand trust.

The Effectiveness of SMS as a Marketing Strategy

With more than 5 billion people who own a mobile device, the SMS marketing audience is vast and underserved. Customers want simplicity, and SMS is one form of digital communication that makes their lives easier, not more overwhelming. SMS text messaging is a simple, cost-effective way to retain customers, deliver excellent customer service and is proven to be a very effective method.

If you’re ready to try text messaging for your business, contact us today.

[1] TechJury

[2] ZipWhip The State of Texting 2021

[3] ZipWhip The State of Texting 2021

[4] Worldwide Texting Statistics

[5] Worldwide Texting Statistics

[6] How the Facebook Algorithm Works in 2021

Why text messaging should be part of your omnichannel customer service strategy

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By mGage

Americans spend about five hours a day on their phones, according to TechCrunch. Consumers expect customized and genuine engagement in real-time, across all communication channels. This trend toward personalized conversational messaging isn’t going away, particularly in the business world. As a result, SMS has become a popular platform among businesses for customer service. As part of an omnichannel strategy, text messaging for customer service can lower costs and facilitate more convenient and engaging relationships between brands and customers.

What is Omnichannel Customer Service

Omnichannel customer service enables interactions between a consumer and a business through multiple touchpoints.

There is some confusion surrounding the difference between “omnichannel” and “multichannel” customer service. Multichannel means having multiple channels for customer support.  Omnichannel, however, describes delivering a seamless customer service experience across all of those channels by collecting additional data about the customer with each interaction. With omnichannel, you have a complete view of the customer, which facilitates delivering an excellent customer service experience.

In a siloed approach to customer service, customers often have to answer the same questions multiple times. It may be difficult to transfer discussions from one channel to another. Worse, agents may not have a complete record of prior communication, resulting in communication mishaps.

When text messaging is integrated with an existing CRM system through APIs, conversations can flow easily between online channels, phone calls, and SMS. More than 60% of customers interact through multiple channels, and regardless of time, place, device, or medium, they expect consistency[1]. By adopting an omnichannel approach to customer service, brands give customers an improved experience and more ways to reach them and, in exchange, get more information about the customer.

Consumers Want the Option to Use Text Messaging for Customer Service 

Did you know that 62% of companies report that customers like using chat options over voice? In fact, 58% of customers have attempted to respond to a missed call from a business with a text message. Customers are also four times more likely to respond to a text message than return a phone call after receiving a voicemail[2]. Yet less than half of companies surveyed offer text messaging for customer support[3].

There are many reasons to consider offering text messaging as a customer service channel, including…

  • Ubiquity
    96% of Americans own a cellphone that is capable of receiving SMS messages (Pew Research).
  • Immediacy
    Morgan Stanley reported that 91% of Americans keep their mobile devices within arm’s length at all times, and 90% of all text messages are read within 3 minutes of being received (2019 Mobile Usage Report).
  • Accessibility
    Text messaging does not require an internet connection and can be used by people with various disabilities, including those with hearing impairments. Offering multiple channels helps ensure that customer service is accessible to everyone.
  • Customer Preference
    Consumers show a preference towards text messaging, particularly for urgent notices. In fact, 67% of people said they would rather a business send them an appointment reminder via text instead of an email or phone call.
  • Efficiency
    Text messaging is usually a faster and less expensive way to resolve customer concerns. The average customer service phone call costs about $16, whereas an interaction via text can cost as little as $1, including the cost of the customer service agent’s time (Campaign Monitor).

Brands that add text messaging as a customer service channel will quickly realize both ROI and customer satisfaction benefits.

Adding Text Messaging to Your Customer Service Strategy

While companies sometimes view customer service channels as “competitors” of one another, the customer does not consider it in the same light. The customer sees a brand that is delivering a top-tier service experience. This is important, when you consider that 64% of people find customer experience more important than price when making a purchasing decision[4].

Omnichannel doesn’t just improve customer experience—It also delivers significant ROI and lowers costs thanks to improved customer retention and efficiency. Businesses that adopt omnichannel strategies see 91% higher year-over-year customer retention rates compared to businesses that don’t[5].

If you’re ready to learn more about how text messaging can improve your omnichannel customer service strategy, contact mGage today.

[1] Deloitte

[2] MessageDesk

[3] eMarketer

[4] Gartner

[5] Aspect Software

Lower Costs and Improve Customer Service with Text Messaging

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

By mGage

When it comes to customer service, consumers expect speed, convenience, and flexibility. By leveraging text messaging for customer service, you can be available when and where your customers need to reach you.

Top companies use text messaging for many customer service applications, including…

  • Fraud Alerts
  • One-Time Passwords (OTP)
  • Balance Checks
  • Payment Reminders
  • Payment Confirmation
  • Appointment Management
  • Customer Surveys
  • Package Delivery
  • Shipping Receipts

…and more! Keep reading to learn why texting is such a popular choice for customer service and how it benefits companies and consumers alike.

Your Customers Want to Reach You Via Text Message

Texting is a fast, convenient platform that customers already have access to and use daily. A May 2020 Dimensional Research survey found that offering text messaging for customer service is still relatively uncommon, with only 43% of survey respondents indicating that they offer this channel.

This is surprising because customers and brands alike have positive sentiments towards text messaging. The same study found that 73% of internet users rated their last experience text messaging a customer service agent as good or excellent, and 58% of companies said it has reduced costs.

Customers may have once hesitated to let companies reach them on a channel they typically use for personal communications, but not anymore. Data from Omnisend shows that the engagement rate of text messaging continues to climb on an annual basis. Consumers clicked on links in SMS messages an average of 9.8% of the time. This is impressive, considering the average click-through rate for emails is 2.5%[1]

With texting, you can integrate automation with human-touch for faster response times and higher customer satisfaction while also lowering costs.

How Does Using Text Messaging for Customer Service Improve Satisfaction?

Consumers increasingly seek out fast and easy messaging options in their interactions with companies. Two-thirds of people said they’re only willing to wait on hold for two minutes or less, and 13% said that there’s no acceptable amount of time to wait on hold[1].  With messaging, customers can reach your company immediately on their own terms.

With text messaging, you can take the following actions that are linked to higher customer satisfaction…

  •  Personalize your messages based on contact data
  •  Know your customers by collecting information throughout the texting process
  •  Integrate with your CRM and other providers using SMS APIs
  •  Enable Self-Service with automated responses and workflows
  •  Send Automated Reminders about automatic renewals, upcoming charges, and more
  •  Get Feedback with interactive, customizable surveys

How Does Using Texting for Customer Service Lower Costs?

Offering text messaging as an option for customer assistance reduces costs in many ways, some more obvious than others. The average customer service phone call costs about $16, whereas the average text thread costs between $1 to $5 per interaction[1] (including cost of the care agent’s time).

Text messaging can also significantly reduce missed appointments, which are a massive expense for many industries. For medical providers, missed appointments cost $150 billion annually in the United States alone[2]. Text message appointment reminders have been shown to lower no-show rates by 38% and reduce rescheduled or canceled appointments to less than 5%[3].

Automation can be used to address common concerns, like account balances or shipping status, which saves on cost and improves customer satisfaction because answers to time-sensitive questions are immediate.

Companies save money by using texting to…

  •  Decrease inbound calls
  •  Reduce missed appointments
  •  Enable automated updates and account management
  •  Offer real-time status on mobile orders, deliveries, bills, payments, issues/outages, and more

Case Study: Financial Services Company Delivers 80 Million Customer Messages Annually

One of the world’s largest financial services companies needed a way to deflect low-priority requests from around the world away from their busy call center. They hoped to also reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

The company implemented text messaging to enable payment confirmations, request one-time passwords, send critical account alerts, and more. By leveraging mGage’s SMS APIs, they have generated a 10 percent decrease in call center services costs with at least 80 million customer experiences handled via text annually.

Integrating Text Messaging with Other Channels

Omnichannel customer service is quickly becoming the norm. Customers prefer to use different channels for different questions. A quick question about where their package is, for example, might be handled via chat. A more complicated scenario, like a stolen package, might warrant a phone call. By allowing customers to select the appropriate channel, organizations give them more options to interact on their preferred channels.

Companies that invest in messaging as an option for customer service now will be ahead in years to come. A Dimension Data study showed that less than 30% of people born after 1990 prefer to get help via phone, compared to almost 60% of Baby Boomers.

A messaging platform that enables integration with your CRM system and other customer service channels is the best way to deliver a customer service experience that is easy and consistent across channels. By collecting data across channels, you can also personalize interactions.

Consumer preferences are constantly and rapidly evolving. Companies with a flexible, scalable solution to serve customers via multiple channels, including text messaging, will be well-positioned to compete on customer experience, a critical point of brand differentiation.

If you’re ready to get started, contact us today! 

[1] Forrester

[2] SCI Solutions

[3] Klara

[1] Arise

Mobile Learnings for 2021 to Increase Customer Loyalty

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By Pinder Takhar​, Director of Marketing, mGage

2020 was a significant year for business messaging as we saw an upward trend in its usage. It quickly became an indispensable communication channel for brands to stay connected with their customers, keeping them engaged, informed and updated.

Along with an increase in two-way messaging, more businesses started to deploy mobile chat services and automation in line with consumer demands. It proved vital for enterprises to send key and relevant messages to their audience, enabling them to provide a better customer experience during the pandemic.

Taking our learnings from both business communications and consumer behaviours, we found that there were three significant areas of change that are likely to stick in 2021 and something all organisations need to think about.

  • People shopping online (no surprise here)
  • More cost-conscious consumers
  • Digital product discovery

Thinking about the changes, it raises the question what should brands consider in 2021?

  1. Being multi-channel

We know that the use of mobile messaging for one-way and two-way interaction has increased, however there are many more channels out there like Rich Messaging (RCS), WhatsApp for Business and Apple Business Chat, that brands can adopt to make themselves more available to their customers. Allowing consumers to easily reach them or engage in a two-way dialogue, its increasingly important to be where your customers are. According to Edelman, 65 percent of consumers will base their future purchasing decisions on the ways in which a brand communicates with them at this current time. This highlights that customer needs and requirements are more important than ever before.

  1. Use mobile messaging for customer service

Consumers are looking for convenient ways to engage with brands, as 69 percent[i] of consumers prefer communicating with brands over text messaging rather than traditional phone calls. Many businesses have had to adjust over the last year and adopt mobile chat services, however this is an area that is still largely underutilized for customer support. Enabling mobile messaging channels presents various routes for consumers to effortlessly connect with brands: whether it is to receive product support, request information or to resolve an issue. It empowers mobile users to easily initiate a conversation with businesses and provides a customer first approach.

  1. Consumer reach – best time to send messages

It is important to highlight that people’s routines have changed significantly and they are not the same as they were a year ago. Working patterns have changed considerably, flexible hours are more of a norm, socializing has shifted online and many of us are no longer commuting. Before the pandemic, the best times to engage were typical commuting hours and lunch times. However, recent research has shown that there are now spikes around 9am, after lunch between 2-6pm, with engagement then seeming to decrease until the following day. So, it’s important for businesses to review data and try different times if you have not already done so.

  1. Convenience and transparency

Make it simpler for your customers to engage with you, to navigate and find information. With services such as click and collect provide customers with clear instructions, as to where they can collect this from. Set expectations, if there will be delays, be open and honest and make it effortless to change appointments or delivery times. Customers today expect fast and timely responses to their enquiries and a delayed response can often be the basis for a negative review or cancelled service. A report from Forrester Research found that 63 percent of customers will leave a company after just one poor experience and almost two-thirds will wait no more than two minutes for assistance.

To learn more about the emerging new technologies and use cases for mobile messaging, watch our webinar recording to pick up some key insights.

Watch Recording

To find out more information about mGage’s Mobile Messaging solution please contact us.

[i] consumers-prefer-communicating-brands-over-text

Why Mobile Chat Services are Key to Boosting Customer Experience

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By Pinder Takhar, Director, Marketing, mGage

This year businesses have had to adjust the way they operate and communicate with their customers. Not only has it been vital in keeping customers informed it has also been just as important to ensure customers can easily reach the brand. With the increase in customer engagement, this has meant many businesses have had to utilise existing and embrace new technologies to cope with the demand.

According to Edelman, 65 percent of consumers will base their future purchasing decisions on the ways in which a brand communicates with them. This highlights customer needs and requirements are more important than ever before.

It’s apparent that today’s consumers are looking for simple and convenient ways to engage with brands as 69%[i] of consumers prefer communicating with brands over mobile messaging rather than traditional calls. Furthermore, a study by mGage revealed that 61 percent of consumers aged 25-34 years and 56 percent aged between 18-24 favour a messaging service over picking up the phone to contact a business.

Many brands are facing challenges with call centre resourcing, customer loyalty, retention and struggling to quickly implement the latest technologies. Therefore, for many businesses, mobile messaging has become a crucial part of their customer service function to deliver an advanced customer experience.

Mobile Chat Services Enable Operational Efficiency

Customer service centres are an essential but costly function for businesses.

By implementing a mobile chat service, this enables businesses to easily answer routine customer service enquiries swiftly and deflect traffic from its call center to improve the customer service. With agent driven applications businesses can become more efficient as you can have multiple mobile chat sessions. Most importantly it helps save costs and in fact, it is reported by IBM that integration of chatbots can lead to a 30% decrease in operational costs.

Invest in Mobile Chat to Enhance Customer Loyalty

Customers today expect fast and timely responses to their enquiries and a delayed response can often be the basis for a negative review or cancelled service. A report from Forrester Research found that 63% of customers will leave a company after just one poor experience and almost two-thirds will no longer wait more than two minutes for assistance.

By incorporating an automated chat service a brand can provide the immediate and time sensitive responses consumers expect, therefore improving the customer experience and average call handling time. This is reflected in research by Chatbot Magazine that shows 69% of consumers prefer chatbots because of their ability to provide quick replies to simple questions.

Businesses can also reallocate agent resources for more complex and delicate services that may not be suited for automation.

Lead with Smarter Messaging to Increase Customer Satisfaction

Smartphone users have access to a range of channels including SMS, RCS, Facebook messenger, WhatsApp and more. In the digital era, businesses no longer operate on a set time as websites and social apps are always available 24/7, meaning that customer engagement is a constant. This is where mobile messaging technologies become essential to support this level of customer/brand engagement.

The implementation of new technologies such as RCS (Rich Communication Services), will allow brands to build interactive and engaging chatbot flows for different stages of the customer journey. Whether that is to amend a delivery, track an order or request customer feedback, by combining the rich media and interactive chat features it offers a unique capability for consumers to engage with organisations like never before. It’s also a strong incentive for brands to deliver exceptional customer service and loyalty reward programmes.

Final thoughts

As consumer attitudes shift and technology advances further, companies that incorporate mobile chat services will be able to offer a far more personalised experience that fits in better with the ever-changing demands of consumers.

We know that mobile chat services have been around for a while, however, given the technological advances in making this a more “human” experience by using A.I technology, it will continue to be a vital part of any business looking to better their customer engagement.

To find out more information on mGage’s Mobile Messaging solution please contact us.

[i] consumers-prefer-communicating-brands-over-text

5 ways to grow your SMS subscriber list

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By mGage

Launching your first SMS campaign is exciting! In order to get started, you will need to build a list of SMS subscribers who have opted-in to being contacted by you. Fortunately, there is plenty of opportunity. More than 5.19 billion people now use mobile phones, up by 124 million over the past year[1]. Read on for 5 ways to grow your SMS subscriber list and start seeing results!

  1. Leverage Existing Followers and Subscribers

Email subscribers and social media followers have already shown interest in getting updates and offers from your brand, so they are a great place to start when building your SMS subscriber list. Be sure to mention the additional value they will get by opting-in to SMS, like exclusive deals and timely updates.

  1. Add to Website Forms, Pop-Ups, and Footers

Providing a way for people to opt-in to receiving messages from you via SMS should become part of your regular website workflows. Add a field for phone number and an opt-in checkbox to all website forms. You can also add a keyword and short code to your website footers and even create a pop-up. Make sure CTAs are clearly visible and easy to find. This way, anyone visiting your site will also have the opportunity to receive SMS messages from you.

  1. Run Digital Advertisements

Advertising online through LinkedIn, Twitter, banner ads and other platforms expands your reach beyond those who are already aware of your brand. One huge advantage of digital advertising is targeting, which enables you to show ads to a very specific audience. You can tailor ads to specific demographics, like age, location, and even interests. This enables you to share offers that feel more personal. For example, if you’re running a promotion to get more women aged 25-35 to opt-in to your SMS campaign, you can feature products or offers that might appeal to that group alongside an exclusive offer they can redeem via text.

  1. Don’t Forget Traditional Media

Signs and mailers may seem old-school, but they are a good way to stand out and reach an additional audience that may be less active online. In fact, 42.2% of direct mail recipients open the mail they get[2]. Many brands promote their SMS list by using in-store signage or even product packaging, which are effective strategies to engage with people who already have purchase intent.

  1. Have a Contest

Contests are a fun way to get customers engaging with your brand while simultaneously encouraging them to opt-in to your SMS subscriber list. Offering the chance to win a reward in exchange for subscribing is incredibly effective. We recommend making the contest unique enough to catch their attention.

We hope these suggestions are helpful as you begin working on building your SMS subscriber list. If you’re ready to get started, get in-touch today with mGage.

[1] https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2020-global-digital-overview

[2] https://www.smallbizgenius.net/by-the-numbers/direct-mail-statistics/#gref

SMS Surveys – Vital to gathering valuable customer feedback

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

By mGage

For businesses looking to continually improve their customer service and experience, the need for thorough feedback cannot be underestimated. Without a true indicator or picture of the consumer experience, there is no way organisations can ensure that they are supplying the best service possible. Hence, SMS surveys are a vital tool in the ongoing relationships between brands and consumers to further develop and enhance services or products.

With Gartner predicting that 89 percent of businesses are facing competitive points based primarily on customer experience, it is imperative that brands make customer satisfaction their priority to remain engaging and relevant.

By initiating surveys brands can have access to a continual feedback loop to make the necessary changes to their business. Therefore, it is important that they listen to customer comments and learn from their suggestions to ensure the continual upgrade of products or services are in line with customer expectations. Research by Kolsky found that 70 percent of companies that deliver best-in-class customer experience use customer feedback.

Further research suggests that one happy customer can lead to nine referrals, whereas one unhappy customer can result in 26 other unhappy people; this highlights the implications that negative customer experiences can have on current and potential consumers.

Why use SMS for surveys?

SMS surveys are a quick and efficient tool for any business wishing to gather valuable insights and essential feedback to improve their customers’ experience. As mobile has become an integral part of our connected lifestyle and with people checking their phones 58 times a day on average, it is an easy way to reach your audience. In return it allows your customers to respond any time and from any place. While email may cost less, SMS has proven more beneficial as it has a 7.5 times higher response rate than email, an average 90 second reply time, and a 98 percent open rate.

By launching SMS surveys, the sender can look forward to receiving higher response rates and increased customer engagement. Here are some great examples of how you can collect feedback from your audience:

  • Customer service feedback – when a phone call has ended you can send an SMS survey to your customer asking them to rate their experience and the advisor
  • Delivery feedback – ask your customers to rate a recent delivery to see if the service met their expectations
  • New purchases feedback – find out how a customer got on with a recent purchase and how they found the overall experience.
  • Update contact details – allows a customer to update these to ensure your records are up to date

How to integrate SMS surveys

Using a mobile campaign management tool like Communicate Pro, brands have the ability to quickly and easily launch a SMS survey campaign. Brands can create interactive surveys using decision tree functionality and receive open ended responses to collect the most useful data for them. All messages can be personalised and automated and can include features like emojis.

It is important for brands to use tailored questions to ensure that they ask the right questions to the right people to increase engagement and ensure that the questions are relevant. With the data collected through SMS surveys, brands can quickly understand what their customers want and allow them to take on board any constructive feedback in order to grow as an organisation and curate better satisfaction in the future.

Final thoughts

To continue to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction it is critical to collect consumer feedback via SMS surveys. By incorporating it into your multi-channel communication strategy it offers your audience a choice of response.  With more people now on their mobile phones for longer you can expect high response rates via SMS – highlighting its capability as a highly engaged channel and a great way to connect with customers to gather valuable insights for your business.

Improving Contact Centre Performance with Mobile Messaging

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By mGage

With 89% of consumers willing to switch to a competitor after a bad customer service experience[1], the importance of good customer service cannot be overstated. In the recent climate, increasing pressure has been placed on contact centres across various industries. Contact centres are costly, not just because of the resources required to operate them but also because of the impact they have on the customer experience. Therefore, it is crucial that businesses explore new channels that can help improve the contact centre performance – which is where mobile messaging solutions come in.

Why Mobile Messaging for Contact Centres?

There are currently 5.2 billion[2] mobile subscribers across the globe and with increasing time spent on mobile phones – the average person’s screen time is 3 hours 15 minutes a day[3],   messaging has become the leading form of communication. Public affinity for mobile messaging has led to 9 out of 10 consumers[4] preferring to message businesses as opposed to calling or emailing them.

Businesses are already seeing the benefits of mobile messaging such as increased customer loyalty and a reduction in operational costs, with 97% of companies finding they communicated more efficiently with consumers after launching texting initiatives[5].

Different Mobile Messaging Channels to Consider

SMS (or texting) Messaging

SMS, often deemed a more traditional form of messaging, is still a widely used and valuable tool in customer engagement, consisting of 160 basic characters ideal for a variety of uses. In fact, SMS has a 20x higher engagement rate than Email, Voice & Facebook[6].

With 98% of SMS messages being read in less than two minutes [7], SMS can be a very effective way of providing customers with the timely customer service updates they want. They can also utilise the SMS chat feature for two-way engagement where a consumer can ask a brand a question. A text can also be sent alerting the customer of when they are experiencing high call volumes with a call-back option. This helps alleviate some of the pressure on contact centres.

Rich Communication Service (RCS) Messaging

RCS is the next generation of SMS messaging. It brings the familiarity of SMS and adds rich media and interactive functionality which has led to RCS having a 14x higher engagement rate and 13x With the added interactive features such as suggested responses and actions, images, carousels and more, RCS creates a conversational and seamless experience for end-users, similar to that of an app.  Rather than the user having to text back a response to the brand they can tap a button from the suggested responses to navigate to the information much quicker.

Push Messaging

Push Messaging are notifications that can be delivered to the mobile device. The app does not need to be open for messages to be received therefore the message will be displayed on the smartphone’s ‘homepage’ until the user taps or deletes the notification, maximizing the messages visibility. With a 90% deliverability rate and a 7x higher click rate than email [9], push notifications are proven to improve engagement and customer retention.

How Mobile Messaging can help Contact Centres  

Streamline post-purchase customer service

72% of customers blame their bad customer service experience on having to explain their problem to multiple people[10]. This highlights the importance of gathering as much information as quickly as possible regarding the customer query prior to a call with a live agent to ensure that the query is directed to the right team with the required knowledge.

An SMS chatbot can act as the first point of contact by using a pre-programmed list of questions that the customer service team can gather before the call. Using SMS allows customers to send quick messages with the key details.

Another way to improve engagement and reduce contact centre strain is by offering call-back requests via SMS. This reduces the number of customers being left on hold which directly affects the overall customer satisfaction with the service.

Offer viable alternative calls

As we know, customer service is essential but can be a very costly function for businesses. Mobile messaging has now become a more viable option to replace the need for calling contact centres with the introduction of more interactive messaging solutions as well as helping reduce the strain on contact centres due to the high volumes of incoming calls.

A messaging option like RCS can use suggested options and image carousels to automate simple inquiries that would be costly for contact centres to process instead. The image below shows how RCS can be used to make changes to a scheduled delivery in seconds.

Increase engagement, reduce wasted time  

The most significant benefit of mobile messaging solutions is the ability to send messages in an instant, providing real time updates and resolutions to customer inquiries. This reduces the number of customers calling contact centres for updates on existing cases and allows customer care agents to better prioritise and manage queries.

Push messaging is a great way to provide updates and reminders to customers, as they appear as notifications immediately visible on phone screens, making customers feel informed and valued.

Final thoughts

Messaging solutions can be a cost-effective alternative that can support contact centres and improve the overall customer experience. These are just a few of the options available to businesses today. To learn more about messaging solutions you can use in your customer engagement strategy, get in-touch today with mGage.

References

[1] Customer thermometer

[2] GSMA Mobile Economy

[3] Rescue time blog

[4] Agility PR

[5] mGage.com

[6] Mobile xco

[7] adobeblog.com

[8] mGage.com

[9] e-goi

[10] Salesforce

 

Millennials and Next Gen are driving a message-focused future

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By Nick Millward, Vice President Europe at mGage

In recent years, smartphones have become the standard and with 95% of smartphones being used daily, coupled with the innovative capabilities and growing impact on our lives, it is a trend that businesses across all sectors need to pay attention to.  In turn, Over-the-Top (OTT) applications, or ‘social messaging apps’ such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and SMS text messaging have enabled brands to start conversations with consumers more directly and personally than ever before. However, the format and content that brands share with consumers is crucial to the success of the customer engagement.

As technology advances, smartphones continue to evolve and customer attitudes shift, brands need to consider methods that provide not only rich and engaging content via messaging but conversational commerce as a way to interact with consumers. With more than half of 25-34 year olds and 18-24 year olds favouring a messaging service or chatbot over picking up the phone to contact a business, it is evident that brands are facing a growing demand amongst the younger generation for rich conversational messaging that is not set to subside.

Despite the new technologies entering the market, text-based SMS is a communication channel that is highly unlikely to ever be replaced. This is because text messaging is still widely used and remains the preferred platform for brands to communicate with their consumers for critical applications like one-time passwords, reminders and balance updates. However, for brands to get the most out of their communication tactics they need to listen to what their consumers want. Sadly, more than half of consumers say they find marketing messages boring and would much prefer messages that are well targeted and well designed, using images and video content to bring the messages to life. This is where Rich Communications Services (RCS), the latest development in the evolution of mobile messaging, can really hold its own.

With the capability to provide a richer experience for users and the ability to encompass multimedia that incorporate offers and coupons, brands are able to open up their communication channels to consumers and offer alternatives that are personal to them. Consumers today, particularly among the younger generation, are more willing to engage via messaging that is interactive and delivers a much rich media experience. This is good news for brands wishing to expand their consumer experience.

Our latest whitepaper unearthed some interesting statistics with perhaps the most telling being that consumers of all ages wants brands to do better – to bring engaging and exciting offers and content to them in an easily-accessible format that makes them confident to buy more.   The best way to do this is to utilise rich content messaging and multimedia for marketing communications to attract the attention of consumers. RCS also brings a more conversational and interactive messaging experience in line with the demand by the younger generation to text a brand rather than pick up the phone. Utilising chatbot elements and the functionality of suggested actions and responses, brands are able to direct their consumers to the information they require more quickly and easily than trying to navigate through a clunky Interactive Voice Response (IVR).

With technology continually advancing and customer attitudes shifting towards more message-focused platforms, brands worldwide have access to innovative solutions that have the capability to transform the way that they communicate with consumers. Driven by the demands of millennials and next-gen, brands need to consider solutions that are in line with the expectations of future generations and adjust their communication strategies to meet these, if not they could see a huge impact on the success of the business.

As the adoption of more interactive and rich media messaging platforms become more prevalent, brands will be able to communicate directly with their consumers, target likely prospects more effectively, gain better campaign analytics and offer unparalleled customer service through instant responses and notifications to ensure that they give the consumers of the future the communications that they not only want but come to expect.

Click here to download the Mobile Messaging State of Mind whitepaper.

RCS: Conversational Messaging Assists Customer Service

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With brands searching for innovative and new ways to engage their end-users they can now unlock the benefits of RCS (Rich Communication Services) business messaging. RCS is truly a conversational channel that is transforming the messaging landscape as it speaks to the need for customers to receive more personalised, richer, and engaging messaging.

RCS compliments customer service functions as its fast, efficient and an effective channel which is less resource intensive and helps reduce the strain on call centres. Using the interactive features such as suggested actions and suggested responses allows businesses to quickly respond to customer enquiries. The carousel and rich card features create a visually more appealing message that helps navigate users to information.

On top of this you have the verified sender and personalised branding that provides familiarity and trust which makes customers more likely to interact with your RCS message.

Automating Customer Experience

By enabling RCS messaging, brands can create automated conversations to make the customer experience seamless and efficient.

Click the image below to see a video example of how RCS is used to perform a simple task like updating a delivery:

Can’t see the image? Click here to view the video!

Other RCS use cases include

  • Gathering customer feedback
  • Schedule a call-back
  • Enquire about an order/delivery
  • Re-schedule appointments/meetings
  • Get account updates

Successful businesses stay up to date with current and future customer demand by adapting to new technologies in the digital era.

To learn more about how you can incorporate RCS into your customer service operations then please get in-touch with mGage today!

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