With text becoming the talk of the town and taking over voice interaction, customers are choosing to communicate with contact centres via messaging apps rather than making a call.
Abhay Prasad, senior product executive at Ocular Technologies' partner company, Aspect Software, says most enterprises are aware and convinced that in order to stay current with today's consumer preferences, they need to be able to provide customer service over one or more of these mobile text channels.
For most consumers, text messages work better for fast-paced, multi-tasking lives instead of making a phone call to an interactive voice response (IVR) or to a live agent, he adds.
Creating an interactive text response (ITR) app is one thing, but how do you ensure it is well used?
In a blog, Prasad offers the following six ways to ensure a cost-effective widespread awareness of your ITR apps:
1. Have the IVR spread the word
When consumers call into to the IVR or are on hold for a live agent, suggest text service as an option.
2. Social media
Introduce ITR apps on your Facebook page and on Twitter and watch the shares and retweet count go through the roof. Research shows that repetition is effective and it is easy to do on social media.
3. An option on the "contact us" page
Customers may turn to the "contact us" page on the company's Web site for quick reference. Offer the option for ITR on this page. Display the SMS-enabled toll-free number prominently on the Web site - this is a great space to highlight the specific tasks users can accomplish on the ITR app.
4. Use snail mail to speed up awareness
Prominently announce the new ITR channels on any piece of snail mail the company's sends to its customers - monthly utility or credit card bills, healthcare statements, retail invoices etc.
5. An e-mail
For the 10% of customers who have signed up for receiving invoices and monthly statements electronically and actually open the e-mails, including the information about the ITR app can be a cheap and effective way of driving awareness.
6. Pilot everything
Before introducing the ITR to the masses, invite a small, logical subset of your customer base to try it out (such as consumers living in a particular set of postal codes for a utility company).
In conclusion, the writing should literally be on your wall.
Share