Remember 1994? The Shawshank Redemption first hit the cinemas, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, and people walked around with pagers.
Recognizing this last trend, businesses invested significantly in the technology, excited by the opportunity to communicate with customers in new ways.
While these soon fell away shortly after the mid-90s, consumers’ enthusiasm for short, sharp text did not – they just didn’t need the intermediary of an operator.
Instead, text messaging soon started to take over. Back then, people could send messages to others on the same network. Nevertheless, the channel achieved instant popularity among students – who started using “text speak” (lol).
Fast Forward to 2023
Now, people of every generation send and receive SMS messages, and despite the rise of messaging apps, businesses do too.
After all, through the channel, they enjoy average open rates of 98 percent, compared to email, which achieves just 24.8 percent.
Moreover, the channel sits natively on every smartphone, and its functionality does not depend on an internal signal – allowing for greater reliability.
Yet, perhaps most notably, businesses can harness many excellent use cases to improve customer experience and boost revenues.
Many of these hinge on a CRM integration, including the three below.
1. Send SMS Campaigns to Customers
Whether a business wishes to alert customers of a flash sale or share some last-minute discounts, SMS fosters a welcome sense of immediacy.
A CRM system bolsters this by allowing businesses to personalize their messaging and target customers most likely to respond positively.
As Andrea Giacomini, CEO at Mitto, says:
“Integrating SMS into a CRM platform allows brands to tap into the wide amount of customer profile data available in their database to send loyal users discounts on their favorite products or keep them up to date with the latest trends.”
Consider another example of a business that segments its customer base within the CRM, isolating those who recently left good feedback. It may then leverage this goodwill by offering them a discount via SMS, turning a good experience into one that sticks in the memory.
An SMS tool like Mitto integrated with a CRM paves the way for businesses to execute on such tactics, as the following video illustrates.
2. Build Automated SMS Workflows
“Customer support teams can leverage SMS via CRM to send important notifications and updates that might go missed if sent via email,” adds Giacomini.
These typically include reminders of events, deadlines, and upcoming payments.
CRM systems support these initiatives by enabling workflows that automate these SMS messages once a customer has taken a specific action.
For instance, if a customer completes their MOT, an automotive provider may schedule an SMS through the CRM to be sent in 11 months’ time, giving customers a timely reminder.
Such use cases aid their experience, as 83 percent of consumers prefer to receive appointment reminders by text. Moreover, it lowers agent workloads.
3. SMS-Based Customer Service
Instead of implementing large-scale CCaaS solutions, many SMBs now communicate with customers via their CRM system.
Vendors like Mitto layer over the communication channels to enable back-and-forth conversation and make this possible. SMS is one of those channels.
Through the channel, agents may engage with customers as they would on email, chat, or social media – although they may employ a different tone of voice.
These reps may also engage in more proactive service. So, if the CRM indicates a customer has left a low satisfaction score, the agent can kickstart an SMS conversation, attempt to turn the situation around, and retain their business.
Finally, the service team may trigger a post-contact automated SMS follow-up – which perhaps includes confirmation details – to streamline after call work.
Maximize the Cost Efficiency of These Strategies with Mitto
According to recent research, businesses that have taken a mature omnichannel approach to implementing SMS have achieved the following results:
- 2X more likely to respond to customers in real-time or in less than an hour
- 3X more likely to report extreme revenue growth over the past year
- 4X more likely to deepen customer loyalty
Employing the three SMS strategies above will help businesses increase their omnichannel maturity. However, there is a whole lot more to it than that.
To get up to speed and engage with the experts, visit: www.mitto.ch
