Delighting Your Customers With SMS

Delight? With SMS?

It sounds crazy, right? Much of the time SMS is an annoyance. Minding your own business and *beep* some company is spamming you with more junk. Why would it ever delight your customer?

Asynchronous

Unlike a phone call, text messaging is asynchronous. You don't both have to be on the phone at the same time. Your customer's phone can be off, or they can be in a meeting or driving. They still get the message.

That's different to voicemail. I'm not sure about you, but voicemails get unanswered all the time for me. If a company leaves a voicemail, there's a 50/50 chance I'll get to it. And it's annoying to have to listen and delete it. It certainly doesn't happen within a minute. Whereas if you text me I'm VERY likely to get back to you (at the latest) within 15 minutes, usually much faster. Voicemail damages customer service rather than improving it.

SMS' Superpower

So here's the secret. The best use of text messaging for customer service is when your customer wants the message, and by using text you're saving them time. They don't have to be interrupted, they don't need to call you back. You're indicating that you'd like an answer soon but you're not demanding their attention. Because it's so easy to respond to, you'll often find you get their attention but in a way that's respectful of their time. That's how you improve customer service.