With today’s ability to connect and communicate with customers, it’s also true that people can become so inundated by businesses that they stop responding to any kind of contact.
The success of any business depends on how the customers are treated and how they prefer to be contacted. Some businesses use almost nothing but email, and while email remains an effective tool, often the sender runs the risk of getting lost in a full inbox or even the spam filter. While there are some rare customers who read each and every email they receive, it’s not uncommon to have less than a one percent open rate for your business emails.
Although a business might believe that the only cost-effective option to reach their clients is email, there are actually a variety of available options. The following are five ways that a business can use to reach their customers.
As mentioned previously, email can have lower open rates than a business would like. However, there are some tried and true ways to increase the possibility that a customer will open and respond to an email. These include:
- Asking the customer to whitelist the business’ email address
- Personalizing the subject line with the customer’s name
- Offering special coupons, discounts, and bonuses for purchasing a product or service
- Providing relevant content that interests the customer
- Avoiding the temptation to send spam or emails that are useless to the customer
- Always responding to emails that a customer sends
Provide outstanding customer service
One of the most powerful ways to reach a customer is by providing exceptional customer service when they reach out to your customer service department. If the company has integrated omnichannel software into their customer service department, they can easily switch between a variety of ways that the customer might prefer to be contacted (via phone, text, etc.).
And since it’s much more expensive to find a new customer than it is to retain a current one, integrating software such as omnichannel software might be an excellent option for a business who wants to reach out to their customers. When comparing call center pricing to individual software packages that don’t integrate and are difficult to learn, call center software can turn into a bargain for a customer-centric business.
Call the customer
Often a short phone call can solve a myriad of problems and turn an irritated customer into a satisfied one. Additionally, a phone call to let a customer know about a sale or discount could motivate them to make a purchase. If a business doesn’t want to take the time to make dozens of phone calls, there are ringless voicemail and straight to voicemail platforms available.
Social media
There are so many social media platforms available that often a business has a difficult time deciding which platform is the best for their business. Again, asking customers which they prefer, or using a variety of the most popular ones will allow a business to contact their customers, as well as potential new ones.
SMS/text messages
While many customers might not open their emails, or they might send an unknown phone number straight to voicemail, most people conscientiously read their text messages. Businesses can easily use omnichannel software to send SMS or text messages that will reach and be read by their customers a majority of the time.
Since businesses can reach their customers in a wide variety of ways, it’s important to discover how their customers prefer to be contacted. A short customer survey will give a business the tool they need to understand how often and by what means their customers prefer to be contacted.