An automated text message can save you time—and help your business provide better customer service. You can create one for a during-hours response, after-hours response, and more.  Setting up an automated text message is a simple process. First, create an SMS template within your business text messaging platform. Then, create the conditions of your automation. Your platform will automatically send your text whenever it recognizes the designated trigger. While the automated text setup process is easy, there are a few missteps you’ll want to avoid. Let’s dive in.  Don’t Write Just One Automated Text Message It can be tempting to…

There’s a good chance you’ve got a company brand voice guide. But do you have one specifically for your business text messaging services?  Texting is so new to businesses that your company’s style guide probably doesn’t even mention it. But it’s fundamentally different from other business communication channels, and while you and your team members are probably comfortable using it personally, using it in the business world is an entirely different ball game. A business text messaging voice guide ensures that you and your team are providing uniform SMS service to customers. It also ensures that your SMS communications line …

If the COVID-19 pandemic proved anything in the business world, it’s that remote teams are just as productive as in-person teams. That being said, it’s a little harder to stay connected with your employees when they’re spread across a city—or the world. Enter business text messaging.  Business SMS is a convenient way to connect with your team for timely tasks and information. All of your employees have access to a native SMS app, and there’s a good chance they carry their phones with them all the time. That means they’re likely to open your messages. In fact, texting has an…

Eighty-nine percent of consumers say they’d like to use business text messaging to get in touch with their favorite brands. In other words, there’s a good chance your customers want to text you. But you don’t want your team to use their personal phones to connect with customers. Using personal phones for work can cause problems with data security and collection, professionalism, and work/life balance. Here’s how. Personal Phones Don’t Offer Data Security Your team members have the best intentions when they text customers. They just want to provide fast, convenient service. However, there’s a chance that they may accidentally…

The customer journey stages—Onboarding, Support, Retention, and Advocacy—probably inform your customer service strategy. They’re also a great tool to refer to when you’re planning how to use conversational customer engagement.  Conversational customer engagement is useful in the marketing funnel, and absolutely essential during the customer journey stages. It’s a strategy that focuses on building customer relationships through person-to-person messaging.  Read on to learn how to map conversational customer engagement to the four customer journey stages.  Onboarding Onboarding is all about communication. Depending on your product or service, you may have to introduce customers to your interface or teach them how…

There’s a good chance you like Zapier. It’s a powerful tool, after all. Plus, it can help your team enhance your conversational customer engagement strategy. How? Conversational customer engagement is all about building strong customer relationships through person-to-person messaging. With Zapier, your team can create cross-platform business text messaging automations that encourage customers to interact with your team.  Read on to learn three key ways to use conversational customer engagement with Zapier apps.   Ensure Order Satisfaction through a POS System There’s a good chance you have a point of sale (POS) system if you’re a retail or eCommerce business.…

There’s a good chance you’re acquainted with the AIDA model (Attention, Interest, Decision, Action), the classic marketing funnel. It’s a great marker when you’re planning out your marketing content. Great news: it’s also a powerful tool for planning your conversational customer engagement strategy.  Conversational customer engagement is particularly relevant in the middle and the bottom of the marketing funnel stages. The more present you are in those stages, the more likely you can engage with leads. And the more you engage with leads, the more easily you can sell your products or services to them.   Read on to learn how…

Conversational customer engagement is all about building strong customer relationships through person-to-person messaging. A CRM system integration can make it even easier for you to form those close connections.  You should be able to integrate your CRM system with your business text messaging platform. This critical step allows both platforms to share data and interact with one another. You can start using our tips right after the integration is complete. (Hint: Depending on your CRM system and how much contact information it holds, it might take just a few minutes to fully sync your data, or at most, a day…

Your SMS customer service team is already fast. They use business texting services to capitalize on efficiency features like shared inboxes, templates, automations, and integrations. So what good are additional conversational customer engagement strategies? Conversational customer engagement is all about person-to-person interactions between your customers and SMS customer service agents. It’s a strategy that aims to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.  Read on to learn how your team can use conversational customer engagement strategies.  Improve Customer Conversations Your customers already receive fast service through business SMS. But conversational customer engagement emphasizes the personalized, authentic aspect of business text messaging. Personalized…

Conversational customer engagement is a new and popular strategy for business text messaging. It focuses on person-to-person conversations between businesses and their customers. These conversations are meant to build strong customer relationships that last.   While conversational customer engagement is often used by customer service and marketing teams, it’s also a powerful tool for sales teams. After all, sales are all about prospective and current customer relationships.  Read on to learn three ways your sales team can use conversational customer engagement.  Encourage Prospective and Current Customers to Reach Out Conversational customer engagement focuses on inbound content. It offers strategies for answering…

Conversational customer engagement is taking the business world by storm. The strategy focuses on person-to-person conversations between companies and their customers that build strong relationships. While this strategy centers on human interaction, there are a few additional tools businesses need for successful conversational customer engagement. Read on to discover five must-have tools for conversational customer engagement.  A Business Text Messaging Platform Conversational customer engagement is a messaging strategy. Before anything else, you need to have a business text messaging platform. This platform will offer your team the features you need to successfully interact with customers.  In addition to those critical…

Conversational customer engagement is a new, comprehensive business text messaging strategy. However, some of its tactics may seem similar to strategies that your team uses every single day.  Having this familiarity with some aspects of conversational customer engagement is a huge leg up if your team decides to adopt the strategy (or if you already have), all you’ll need to do is amplify the tactics that you’re already using—and add those that you’re missing.  Read on to learn how you’re already using conversational customer engagement, and how to ramp it up.  Your Team Uses Conversational Customer Engagement if it Prioritizes…

Conversational customer engagement is a new strategy that focuses on person-to-person messaging sessions between businesses and their customers. It has two components: inbound content and outbound content.  The goal of conversational customer engagement is to establish strong relationships between you and your customers through these person-to-person interactions. This goal applies to both inbound and outbound content. However, there are a couple of specific tactics you can use for each type of content.  Let’s dive in.  Managing Inbound Content with Conversational Customer Engagement Conversational customer engagement is all about encouraging customers to text in. You should post your business text messaging…