Bulk SMS for Call Centers – Why is it Working?

Call centers are increasingly using bulk SMS text messaging to improve customer satisfaction. What are they doing that you can use in your business? Here’s the rundown…

While the amount of time we have in a day remains the same, our days have become shorter, with  more to focus on and do, thereby leaving us with precious little time to spend with loved ones and friends. And if that’s true for you and me, then it’s true for your customers, too. This means that the average doesn’t have the time anymore for lengthy telephone calls around products, services and/or sales, which means businesses will have to come up with shorter, more effective ways of communicating with their customers. Call centers have realized this, which is why they are increasingly employing bulk SMS text messaging as part of their communication solutions.

In the United States the number of landlines have been surpassed with mobile phones. Texting has also surpassed voice calls in usage, which serves to prove that the average man walking the street prefers timeous efficiency, instead of a showy spectacle with all the bells and whistles, but little value.

Case in point are call centers that have employed SMS text messaging in a number of ways to not only get ahead of the competition, but to preserve that most fragile of contemporary commodities, customer loyalty.

Bulk SMS IVR

Perhaps the most notable of all the call center ‘type’ messages, is the SMS IVR, or bulk SMS text messaging interactive voice response, which essentially provides customers with a self-service option via SMS, instead of – or in conjunction with – its voice-based counterpart. Even hotels have caught onto this trend, with the Hard Rock Café group being the most recent. The benefit to the customer is that they save money, and are able to complete their query at their own pace, whenever they have a minute to spare.

Outcome-based Bulk SMS

Similarly, outcome-based bulk SMS text messages can save both the user and the call center operator a huge amount of time and improve efficiency. Outcome-based SMS text messages are employed in conjunction with other communication media, such as voice, and refer to messages that are automatically sent, such as ‘confirmation messages’ when appointments are made, moved or cancelled as well as when specific types of information are requested. This feature can either be employed in bulk, or on a per message basis.

Can your company employ outcome-based messages? Let us know by commenting below!

Keyword-based Support

One other message type currently in use in call centers that could be employed in virtually every other business is inbound keyword-based support messages. This message type allows the customer to send an SMS to your short code for assistance on specific issues that can be resolved via SMS – again, saving both the call center agent and the customer valuable amounts of time and money.

While a number of other message types exist, the above represent those that most other business can implement to improve the customer experience, and thereby customer retention. Naturally it doesn’t mean that the one should be substituted for the other, as some customers still prefer voice-based interaction, but employing an efficient bulk SMS text messaging communication alternative is a great start toward customer satisfaction.

Read more about the available solution to implement text messaging into your business by visiting out bulk SMS text messaging page today.

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