Just a few years ago, text messaging was a very private conversation – you only texted with people you knew well because it usually cost data or actual dollars.
As texting has become more commonplace, your customers send out dozens, hundreds, even thousands of texts a month – are some of those from you?
Even though customers do send and receive millions of text messages, they may not be prepared to receive a text from your shop. It’s important to have that conversation up front and inform them that this is how your shop will operate.
Having this conversation in person and then texting them so they see an example of a text from your shop will help put the customer at ease that communication from you via text is genuine.
If they know upfront that you will be communicating this way, they will be more likely to respond to you quickly.
Studies show that texting your customer allows for easier appointments to be set up. Reminder texts can be sent a week before the appointment and the customer can easily change the date via text if it no longer works for them.
By having these conversations your customer now knows about upcoming appointments and to respond to your shop ASAP.
Of course – and this is hopefully obvious – businesses should never ask for sensitive information via text.
Assure your customers that you’ll never ask for sensitive information like credit cards, banking information, or social security numbers over text messages. If any sensitive information is needed, inform them that it will be asked for in person, face to face.
Something else that is important to mention to your customers when it comes to texts, is that your business might not be able to answer right away.
If your shop offers customers the opportunity to ask questions via text message, provide them with an estimated time to expect a response ahead of time.
If a text is sent after regular business hours, make sure your customers understand that they will most likely need to wait until the next business day to get assistance.
By making sure that your customers’ expectations are set ahead of time before they receive their first text from your shop, you’ll be able to maintain customer loyalty and get the job done with ease.
This video is sponsored by BOLT ON TECHNOLOGY.
