You can use SMS to Retain your Customers!

FireText’s SMS platform can be used for several purposes, across all industries. For example, we all know that SMS is a great way to obtain new Leads, whether you work in the Retail Industry, Events Management, Hospitality and so on. However, what a lot of people don’t consider is that SMS is also the perfect way to retain your current customers.

Retaining your clientele is just as, if not more important, than obtaining new Leads, due to the amount of time, money and effort put into building your customer base (that I’m sure everyone has experienced!). Therefore you want to make sure you are able to reach your customers so you don’t lose them. With its sky-high open rate of 98%, SMS has been proven to be the ideal way to touch base with your consumers and when you compare this to the 22% open rate that an email receives, it immediately seems like a no brainer to make the most of SMS within your business!

We have provided some handy examples and guidance below, of how you can use SMS to retain your customers:

Follow up with customer queries:
If someone has called in with a question, issue or is need of assistance, the perfect way to show them you value them as a customer, would be to follow up and make sure their problem has been resolved. A text message would be great for this, as it’s personal, impactful and short. This helps your customer build a strong positive relationship with your company.

The follow up can be sent from your own dedicated reply number, therefore giving them the option to respond. Little touches like this are a great way to please and therefore retain your current customers, as it is improving their customer experience.

Win back your customers:
If you have a pool of customers that haven’t purchased from you in a while you could fire out a quick text which gives them insensitive to buy again. For example, you could send out a ‘One Time Offer’ which is available for a limited period of time.

The key thing to remember is that SMS is is still a personal point of contact, so by making use of our handy custom fields you are able to still efficiently send out a bulk SMS campaign while maintaining a personal approach. The custom fields allow you to write a generic message which will then auto-fill with the personal details attached to each number, such as their first name.

You could also include a trackable link to your website, that not only makes it really easy for your customers to purchase straight from their phone but with our link tracker you can also see exactly who has clicked, at what time and on what device!

From: LolasBags
“Hi Louise, ENJOY a 20% off discount on our new summer season of designer bags, using the code BAGDAY. Only available today, don’t miss out www.lolasbags.co.uk …

Reward your customers:
If a customer stays with you for the first time, then you could thank them by following up with a text message, including a discount code for their next visit.

By sending them this right away, it means they already have a reason to shop with you again, while also showing them you are grateful for their purchase.

Because of this instant act of gratitude, they have immediately received a good experience from your business, which will, therefore, build your customer loyalty. Also by having several loyal customers, you will find your business attracting new customers organically, due to word of mouth, which will help reduce your costs.

From BeachHotel
“Hi James, it was great having you stay with us this weekend, we hope you enjoyed your stay! As a thank you for choosing us, please enjoy 15% off your next stay with the code 15OFF…“

Support your customer service:
Effectively SMS can be a great resource for your customer service team, and this doesn’t have to include offers, you could use it to help build your customer relationships. For example, by simply sending out a friendly reminder that you are there to help if they have any questions, you are improving the engagement you have with your customers. They won’t feel pressured to answer a phone call, instead if they need anything, they could reply to arrange one that fits with them.

From: FireText
“Hi Jen, it’s Lola from FireText. I just wanted to drop you a message, to let you know I’m on standby to help. If there was anything you wanted to run through on your account, please just give me a call on 0800 08 5522”

Overall SMS is just a great way to keep in touch with your customers in both an efficient and effective way. The key point to retaining your customers is to make sure they have a great experience throughout their whole journey with you as a customer and to do that you need to communicate with them.

These are just a few of the many ways you can use SMS to retain your customers. We have a team of friendly SMS gurus on hand to help so don’t hesitate to get in touch if you wanted to talk through some ideas!

This article was originally displayed on the FireText blog