How your local business can benefit from messaging
According to a survey of PWC nearly 40 percent of consumers make purchases at a physical store at least once a week. But only 27 percent do the same online. That shows the power and relevance of local businesses even in our digital age. But they can not rely on that position because also for them internet will continue to change the conditions. Customers are reaching out to local businesses based on the information they find online. A simple and convenient approach of starting a conversation between a company and a customer immediately online is messaging.
#1 Messaging enhances customer experience
Have you ever called a company? Even if it’s a small one, it is likely that you are being put on hold. Then a catchy tune starts playing and you have to wait.
This is one of the reasons, messaging is much more convenient for connecting with a business. Just type your message, put your phone away and get notified when you get an answer.
That’s why messaging enhances customer satisfaction, which is more important than ever: 64% of people think that customer experience is more important than price.
With messaging you are also able to spontaneously get information out to your customers. Gyms or schools can e.g. inform course members easily about any changes regarding the schedule. It is much more likely that your clients will see that message before they make other plans, because messaging has an open rate up to 95%.
#2 Messaging is a big time-saver
You are busy all day – and then a customer calls you or sends an e-mail. If it’s a phone call, you have to answer it right now and get distracted from what you are doing. And let’s be honest: phone calls just take up too much time. If it’s an e-mail, you still have to find the time to answer it, and many times the mail gets lost in a pile of others.
Messaging replaces phone calls and e-mail. If you get a message from your customer, you can answer it whenever you have time. It’s also really fast to answer, because it is less formal than e-mails. Besides that, you have the context of the conversation always available in your message history!
#3 Messaging makes local businesses surpass online retailers
In a world, where more and more people tend to shop online, a survey amongst Canadians tells us the main reasons why customers still buy in-store: They can feel and try the product, buy it immediately and can be sure it suits them.
But because it is stressful walking from shop to shop to find the right product, 87% of customers look up information online before visiting a store. The graph shows, what kind of information shoppers would like to get in their online search results.
With messaging, all of this information is being made accessible on demand for your customer. It doesn’t need to be integrated in a search engine (which would be complicated and expensive for local businesses), it is just a click away from your customer.
thismo messenger: Messaging with one click
Our thismo messenger is a bridge between the offline and the online world. Using a messenger, customer support is fast, reliable and always has a human being on the other side to communicate with.
When you register, your company gets a unique web link that can be put on your website or shared in social media, in print or elsewhere. By just one click on this link, your customer can start messaging you right away, he doesn’t need to register. thismo messenger works in any web browser on your PC or phone and as mobile app for Android and iOS smartphones.
Learn more about thismo messenger for business on www.thismo.com
You are running a hotel? Learn more about messaging for hotels!