How Incorporating SMS Will Improve Your Call Center Customer Experience

A faulty communication system can cost a lot of money by wasting both the employee's time and the client's trust. "PwC surveyed 15,000 consumers and found that 1 in 3 customers will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience, while 92% would completely abandon a company after two or three negative interactions." Frequent down time will cost money that could have been saved if a quality assurance safeguard was deployed. Having business operations that run smoothly is paramount in optimizing profitably.

Smartphones revolutionized the way we communicate and have now become common necessities for people around the world. Since the release of the first Apple iPhone in 2007, many millennials became early adopters of new collaboration modes. This generation - born between 1981 and 1996 - now make up a large segment of the workforce.

Older generations also began following the lead of the millenials, adopting SMS later. "A Zipwhip survey found that 73% of consumers want more businesses to text them. Customers of all ages, from Baby Boomers to Generation Z, like the ease, convenience and privacy that texting offers." Companies often get a better response rate with instant messaging because, unlike email or phone calls, people are more likely to send out a short response than spend time formulating a reply email or scheduling time to call you back.

SMS solves a unique pain point for both consumers and call center agents. Picture a scenario where a customer has a quick minor question and does not need an in-depth answer on the phone. The customer can be immediately acknowledged with an automated text. Then, a customer can be serviced much more quickly. For the customer, the main advantage is convenience. They don't need to set time out of their day waiting to speak to an agent to get the same information.

Call center agents are able to service multiple people at the same time via multiple text channels. They will have a record of all the details of a conversation so they can look up history at any time and avoid having the customer repeat themselves to different agents. Agents will also be able to efficiently manage general questions freeing up time for more complex inquiries. In fact, many call centers are building AI-infused bots that can respond to general SMS inquiries and if necessary, elevate the customer to a live agent.

Incorporating SMS in a call center gives a consumer even more ways to interact with your business. Servicing customers through various channels, offers more options, provides more satisfying experiences, improves productivity and strengthens the relationship with your customer.

Rito Salomone is the President of Resource Software International Ltd. (RSI). He has been in the field of communication management since 1990. RSI employs 30 people and is internationally recognized for their communication management solutions including call accounting, hotel billing and computer telephony integration. Rito Salomone is a regular contributor to various trade magazines, ezines and speaker at events. To contact the author, visit http://www.telecost.com or email rsi@telecost.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rito_Salomone/17833

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