Skip to content

Who Answers When a Customer Texts Your Store?

Who Answers When a Customer Texts Your Store?

The holiday shopping season is here, and you need to be prepared for customers to reach out to your business in a number of ways. In 2017, 60% of customers reported reaching out for customer service at least once during a one month period – and a significant percentage accessed customer service repeatedly.

[Tweet “More than a third of customers use social media or in-app communications to connect with businesses.”]

What are the most popular customer service channels?

The most popular customer service channels are phone, email, and online chat. Roughly half of all surveyed customers identified one of these three channels when asked what was the easiest way for them to get the information they needed quickly.

It’s important for business owners to have systems in place to answer inquiries, during business hours and when your store is closed. Many business owners address this issue by having inquiries forwarded to their cell phone, but that only addresses part of the issue. There are other customer service channels to pay attention to, and they’re becoming increasingly relevant.

More than a third of customers report they use social media, texting, or in-app communications as their first choice to connect with businesses. This can mean any number of things. For example, on social media, a customer could make a customer service inquiry by posting on your page, leaving a comment on a post you’ve made, or by sending a direct message. Facebook lets customers know how responsive businesses are to customer inquiries, so it’s important to have systems in place to address them quickly.

Have a plan to handle the holiday surge in customer service inquiries

With the busiest shopping days of the year nearly upon us, it’s important to make sure you have a plan in place to cover all customer service inquiries. Forwarding everything to the owner’s phone can work – at least until you have more calls than you know what to do with. Take the time now to figure out what you’re going to do in that situation. Splitting the responsibility with managers and key employees can help alleviate everyone’s workload while ensuring every customer is being answered promptly and correctly.

Don’t forget that technology exists to solve problems. Chat bots can be used to answer routine inquiries, such as store hours or location, and will seamlessly transfer inquiries to a live person once they’ve reached their limits. Autoresponders can be used to acknowledge inquiries and let the customer know someone will be back in touch shortly – a smart solution for busy businesses who have limited staff.

Need more information on how to make your holiday customer service better? Get in touch! We’re here to help.

Share This:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Book FREE Trial

We know that getting back into fitness is tough! Let us help you achieve your weight boxing workouts.

Creative Director/Senior Designer

Tom DiGrazia

With over a decade and a half of professional design experience, Tom brings his knowledge of design principles and focus on user experience to every aspect of his contribution to TTG. Paying special attention to each client’s brand, personalized needs and individual interests, he strives to create compelling concepts utilizing intuitive and highly-refined design solutions. In addition to traditional and digital design work and oversight at TTG, Tom also boasts a wide portfolio of web development projects with the company, allowing him to stretch his CSS and HTML skills across multiple platforms and disciplines. He feels that being a designer in the digital landscape of websites, eCommerce solutions, email marketing platforms and social media, it is important to understand the code that goes into these areas as it assists his ability to tailor designs specifically targeted to achieve the best end result and further builds understanding and communication with backend development teams.

In his off hours, Tom is an avid pop culture enthusiast, staying up to date on the latest shows, films, comics and games. He can also typically be found taking part in a whole host of artistic activities that help him further stretch his creative legs. Regardless of the activity, Tom is always accompanied by his dog, Eli, and his cat, Tib.

Specialties:
Design, Photography, Illustration, Digital Imagery Manipulation, Wesbite Development

Platforms/Tools:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom, HTML/CSS, Wordpress

Analyst/Strategist

Courtney Dumont

As Senior Marketing Strategist & Analyst at Technology Therapy Group, Courtney is energized by the ability to flex both her left and right brain daily. Courtney discovered her passion for Marketing at Bryant University, where she spearheaded research on students’ perceptions of Social Media Marketing for her Honors Capstone Project. After graduating Bryant in 2012, she joined the Technology Therapy team, where she’s honed her skills in social media, search and social advertising, email marketing, SEO, and more.

Since joining the team, Courtney has created digital marketing strategies and managed campaigns for clients across the country, ranging from plastic surgery centers, to jewelry stores, to construction companies. With a cohesive, cross-channel approach and a focus on data-driven decision making, she has increased their leads by up to 217%. But Courtney doesn’t leave her zeal for social media at the office; she also runs a local foodie Instagram account with her husband to document their meals across Rhode Island and beyond. Check them out: @hoppilyfed.

Specialties:
Marketing Strategy, Data Analysis, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Social Media

Platforms/Tools:
Google Analytics, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Facebook Creator Studio, Instagram, Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Emma Mail, Google Data Studio, WordPress, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Microsoft Office