Why are Organizations Adopting SMS Customer Support?

When listing technologies that have shaped the way people communicate, it’s impossible to exclude SMS, or text messaging. 100% of U.S. adults surveyed between ages 18 and 49 say they own a cellphone. 

For organizations looking to improve their customer service and support operations, SMS is now becoming an essential channel alongside the likes of live chat, email and social media. While SMS has traditionally been solely used for marketing (and even then, only in recent years), more organizations are now recognizing the effectiveness of SMS customer support. 

In the blog we will look at key benefits of SMS customer support and understand why more customer service teams are adopting this integral medium, from increasing engagement to building relationships.   

1. SMS is the most convenient channel for your customers 

We know that nearly everyone has a phone so, it’s little surprise that messaging by SMS is the most convenient channel for your customers. Studies have also shown a strong preference by consumers for contact via SMS. 58% of people say that texting is the ideal way for businesses to reach them. Going even further, 64% of people believe that businesses should send them text messages more often. 

Compared to other communication channels that demand more time from customers, a text message can be read in just five seconds on average. This fast turnaround in communication ultimately means better CX for customers and improved customer satisfaction scores (CSAT). 

The best SMS customer support platforms like Comm100 Outreach are two-way conversational platforms that: 

• Let customers respond to SMS messages 
• Funnel messages into a unified inbox 
• Support ticking for prioritizing agent responses 
• Allow agents to easily respond in real-time 

With these SMS customer support features, organizations can reach out to customers on an individual basis and at scale. SMS messages also allow customers to conversationally respond to agents on their own terms, like with live chat, which leads us to the next reason why organizations are adopting SMS customer support. 

2. SMS customer support is not intrusive 

Many of today’s customers have grown up in a time when phone calls are uncommon, leading to anxiety around voice calls as a communication channel. 60% of Millennials and Gen Z now say that they “hate calling people”. 

Unlike phone calls, SMS support is not intrusive as it meets customers where they’re already communicating with friends and family. An average person today sends 72 text messages per day, making SMS by far a preferred communication channel compared to other methods of contact. 

Thanks to its non-intrusive nature, SMS support is a great way to boost CX without negatively affecting brand image. As Gen Z comes to maturity, customer preference for SMS customer support will only continue to grow. 

3. SMS customer support provides personalized messaging 

One of the key benefits of SMS customer support is the ability to offer personalization to customers. This is essential in today’s support and marketing worlds – 66% of customers now expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. 

Developing personalization in customer support begins with offering customers a variety of options. 89% of people agree that it’s important to have different options for customer support, with 47% of people saying that they believe texting could improve their overall customer satisfaction. 

SMS customer support platforms like Comm100 Outreach support personalization by enabling companies to send SMS messages to targeted groups based on detailed customer data. These organizations can also schedule SMS messages to be sent at specific times that are more suitable to the given audience. This personalization not only increases loyalty, but also engagement – which leads us onto the final reason why organizations are adopting SMS support. 

4. SMS customer support increases engagement 

While SMS support is primarily used for just that – supporting customers – it can also help brands increase engagement with their customers.  

Compared to email, with a 20% open rate, research shows that SMS open rate is approximately 98%. Even more surprising is the incredibly fast rate that SMS messages are read by their recipients. 90% of SMS messages are read by the recipient in the first three minutes, meaning that you can count on nearly every customer seeing your SMS with very little delay. This unrivalled level of engagement helps organizations provide their customers with all the support they need, while helping them to stay top of mind and build loyalty. 

Wrap Up 

With customers and companies alike now recognizing the power of SMS messaging for customer support, there’s never been a better time to adopt SMS customer support for your organization.

Conversational messaging at scale

Deliver bulk and personalized SMS messages to your customers, and engage in personal, two-way SMS conversations – all from one unified platform.

Find out more

Outreach