SMS for Customer Service: Unlocking the Full Potential

Customers expect quick and efficient support. Enter SMS customer service, a game-changer for businesses looking to enhance their customer experience. By leveraging the power of text messaging, companies can provide instant, personalized assistance, ensuring customers feel valued and heard. 

In this post, we’ll explore how integrating SMS into your customer service strategy can revolutionize your approach, boost satisfaction, and foster lasting relationships.

Table of Contents

• What is SMS Customer Service? 
• Benefits of Using SMS for Customer Service
• How to Kickstart SMS Customer Service for Your Business 
• 5 Tips for Efficient SMS Customer Support
  
  

What is SMS Customer Service?

SMS customer service is a method of providing support to customers via text messaging, leveraging the ubiquity and convenience of mobile phones. This approach allows businesses to offer quick, personalized assistance, often resulting in higher customer satisfaction. 

Common use cases include order confirmations, appointment reminders, troubleshooting and handling simple inquiries. For instance, a retail company might use SMS to update customers on their order status, while a healthcare provider could send appointment reminders or follow-up care instructions. 

Here are a few real-world examples that demonstrate the effectiveness of SMS customer service: 

Example 1: Retail Order Update

Customer: "Hi, can you tell me the status of my order #12345?"

Support: "Hello! Your order #12345 has been shipped and is expected to arrive on July 10th. You can track your package here: [tracking link]. Let us know if you have any other questions!"

Example 2: Healthcare Appointment Reminder

Support: "Reminder: Your appointment with Dr. Smith is scheduled for July 8th at 2 PM. Please reply '1' to confirm or '2' to reschedule."

Customer: "1"

Support: "Thank you! Your appointment is confirmed. We look forward to seeing you."

Example 3: Hospitality Booking Confirmation

Support: "Your reservation at Hotel Sunshine is confirmed for July 15th-18th. Check-in time is 3 PM. Reply 'Yes' to confirm or 'Help' for assistance."

Customer: "Yes"

Support: "Great! We look forward to your stay. If you need any special arrangements, please let us know."

Benefits of Using SMS for Customer Service 

SMS marketing allows businesses to send promotions, transactional messages and notifications to consumers via targeted text messages. 

Additional Reading: A Comprehensive Guide to SMS Marketing For Business

Companies can use SMS to engage in customer service activities that would traditionally take place over the phone or email, such as: 

• Sending order confirmations 
• Providing shipment tracking information
• Scheduling and confirming appointments
• Responding to FAQs  
• Managing support tickets

SMS for business customer service has some significant benefits over more traditional communication methods.

SMS Is Convenient to Customers 

SMS allows for more efficient, convenient communication – essential in an age where attention spans are rapidly shortening and consumers have little patience for time-consuming resolutions. Unlike a phone call, SMS allows consumers to respond when it’s convenient, putting them in the driver’s seat. 

 Additionally, SMS support often provides quicker resolutions, as messages are typically concise and directly address the customer's concerns.

SMS Customer Service Saves Time

Did you know that brands that use text messaging for customer service are more likely to experience faster resolution times and higher customer satisfaction scores? Businesses can set up automated responses to common questions, freeing up support reps to focus on more complex requests. 

SMS is Cost-Effective 

SMS is one of the most affordable customer support channels. One study found that a customer service phone call can cost around $16, whereas a text interaction can cost as little as $1.

How to Kickstart SMS Customer Service for Your Business

Customer service is a worthy investment. But like any new business strategy, SMS for customer service should be deployed with some best practices in mind. Here are our top tips for providing top-notch customer service via SMS:

Select the Right SMS Platform

On top of keeping your customers happy and building brand loyalty, the right SMS platform can make integrating texting with your existing customer support channels a breeze. 

Choosing the right SMS platform is crucial for effective customer service. Start by identifying your specific needs—do you require features like automated responses, integration with your existing CRM, or detailed analytics? 

Look for platforms that offer a user-friendly interface, ensuring your team can quickly adapt and efficiently manage SMS communications. 

Scalability is also important; your chosen platform should grow with your business, handling increasing volumes of messages without compromising performance. 

Consider the platform’s reliability and security features, as protecting customer data is paramount. Additionally, seek out platforms that provide robust customer support, ensuring you have assistance when needed. 

By carefully evaluating these factors, you can select an SMS platform that enhances your customer service operations and meets your business goals.

Automate & Streamline Your SMS Customer Support 

Automating FAQs alleviates the need for your customer support agents to answer the same questions repeatedly. Instead, customers can get fast answers to their most pressing questions, and reps can focus on more complex support tickets.

For example, you can give customers the option to text a keyword to your business number to obtain your store hours or return policy. 

Just remember to provide an easy way to connect with a live customer service rep if needed. 

Pro-tip: Automation doesn’t have to stop with FAQs. Depending on your type of business, you can automate appointment reminders, order notifications,  product refills or re-orders, invoices and more via SMS. 

Synchronize SMS With Other Support Channels 

Research shows that brands that offer high-quality customer service through multiple communication channels will retain 91% of their customers. 

In other words, SMS shouldn’t be your only customer service support outlet. Deploying an integrated, omnichannel strategy using SMS, voice, chat and email allows consumers to communicate with your brand in whatever format suits them best.

5 Tips for Efficient SMS Customer Support 

Promote It 

To maximize the benefits of SMS customer service, your customers need to know it exists. Here are some tips to promote your new customer service option:

• Add clear callouts on your website, particularly on the contact and support pages. 
• Highlight SMS support in your email signatures and newsletters to reach a broader audience. 
• Utilize social media platforms to announce and remind customers about the convenience of SMS support, including engaging posts and stories. 
• Incorporate SMS support information in your onboarding process, ensuring new customers are aware from the beginning. 

By strategically placing these callouts, you can ensure that your customers know they have a quick and efficient way to reach you via SMS, enhancing their overall experience with your brand.

Be Proactive 

Customer service shouldn’t be strictly reactional. With SMS for customer service, you can proactively keep customers informed on upcoming appointments, orders, promotions and updates. 

Most consumers appreciate upfront communications from brands – it keeps them informed on products and services they may be interested in, which increases their average order value and retention. 

Texting is an effective way to keep customers in the loop without interrupting their day with an intrusive phone call or email that gets buried in their inbox. 

Collect Feedback

When someone has a negative experience with a business, they’re far more likely to switch to a different brand than provide constructive feedback. 

Businesses can break the cycle by offering a fast, easy method of leaving feedback via SMS. 

Periodically send a brief feedback request to your opted-in contact list to encourage users to leave a review. You can automate texts to go out after a customer makes a purchase or interacts with your brand so they have a chance to leave feedback when it’s fresh in their mind.

By allowing customers to send feedback via SMS, brands accomplish two things: 

• They gain visibility into areas for improvement
• They earn a chance to make things right and win back unhappy customers

And, for customers, offering feedback via SMS can be as painless and easy as submitting a one-word answer. 

Keep It Short and Sweet

Texting is meant for short, concise communications, not long-winded novels. Even though some text message services, like Textedly, don’t cap you at 160 characters, it’s important to get your message across quickly and clearly to capture and hold your reader’s attention. 

As a rule of thumb, any outbound customer service SMS should:

• Highlight 1-2 key points
• Include a call to action
• Include a link or phone number customers can call for more information 

Personalization and Tone 

Personalized messages make customers feel valued and understood, fostering a stronger connection with your brand. Address customers by name and reference past interactions to create a more tailored experience. 

Maintaining a friendly yet professional tone is equally important; it ensures that customers feel comfortable and respected while interacting with your support team. A friendly tone can make the conversation more engaging and approachable, while professionalism assures customers that their concerns are being taken seriously. 

Implement SMS Customer Support With Textedly 

On top of keeping your customers happy and building brand loyalty, the right SMS platform can make integrating texting with your existing customer support channels a breeze. 

SMS marketing platforms like Textedly offer user-friendly customer support features for businesses in any industry. Textedly supports two-way text messaging, extra-long messages (300+ characters) and unlimited users, so your entire customer support team can manage SMS conversations in one place with ease. 

Ready to level up your customer service strategy to retain more customers and increase profits? Sign up for a free Textedly trial now!