Since people spend increasingly more of their online time, businesses have to be aware of the future and where their customers and potential customers are also. If a company is struggling to be able to communicate and respond to the needs of its customers could risk losing them.
However, this doesn’t have to be the situation! With a range of web-based communication instruments and tools, businesses can reach out to clients as well as potential customers online world. It will also aid in increasing your brand’s visibility and is the right choice!
There are many ways to connect with your clients online So keep going to the next page for some practical strategies you can implement now for your company!
Think Ahead
Customers expect their questions to be addressed immediately and any doubt about their purchase could lead to loss of the sale. To provide top-quality customer service Employee Experience, and to facilitate continuous communication with customers through all channels of communication the first thing to do is to create a plan of action for your company.
Here’s how you can help:
You should think about how you’ll react to customers with regard to common request or change in the policy, and also what other options you have available (i.e. product delivery, taking payments online and so on.)
Be sure that all those in charge of customer communications understand the return, refund, and cancellation process.
Take the most frequent questions you have received previously from your customers along with the answers you have provided. Create a database that contains each of them (for everyone on your team to access). This will ensure consistency in messaging regardless of the person managing the customer’s communications.
Once you’ve established a strategy in place and you’ve got your plan in place, you can start the decision and establishing your online channels of communication.
Evaluate Your Online Presence Needs
There are a myriad of channels and communication tools available to you. The problem is finding one that meets your needs and requirements. Or, more importantly the needs of your customers and needs.
Before you start establishing an online communication channel you should take the time to study the behavior of your customers and their preferences for communication channels.
What is the best way for people to would like to get in touch with your business?
- Do they prefer to call you?
- Perhaps using text messages or WhatsApp?
- Would it be beneficial to create more interactive and interactive communication (maybe even 1-on-one video calls)?
This will allow you to choose the best channels to communicate with.
Let’s suppose you’re operating a business that sells physical items. Customers might want to reach directly. This is why you should have a reliable communication tool that will allow your customers to promptly get answers to their questions and quickly place orders. Try an online chat plug-in.
If your customers tend to be professionals, you could discover LinkedIn and Twitter the best option. If you own the business of a store or restaurant, Facebook and Instagram might be more appropriate. It’s all dependent on the profession and age of your clients, as well as the particulars of your business.
Budgeting ahead of time
There are a variety of tools available that are both free and paid. If you’re on a smaller amount of money, then there’s no-cost options to get started. If you’re searching for communications tools that offer many options, you might think about investing a portion of your money here.
With this to be in mind let’s take a look at the tools you could utilize to connect with your clients, customers, and employees within your business.
Tools to communicate online with Customers
Before you begin the creation of personal (one in one) channels of communication for your customers, you’ll initially need to work on expanding your existing public communication channels , and making it simple for your customers to locate your contact information.
Check Your Website Communication
If you don’t have a site it’s the perfect time to determine whether it’s the right time to start one. If your company already has a site or an online store There are a few things you could consider doing to enhance your customer’s experience:
1. Update Your Contact Us Page
Your site should have an contact page which provides your primary communication channels. You should simply include your contact information, like:
- Number for phone (preferably Whatsapp enabled)
- Email Address
- Link to your social media profile.
2. Add Live Chat to Your Website
41 A majority of customers utilize live chat to interact with businesses. Live chat has also the highest levels of satisfaction among every customer-service channel. Include it on your website and those who are interested in your services or products can reach your business immediately.
If you’re in need of a basic live chat option and you have an existing WordPress web site the WP Live Chat service by 3CX is a good option. If you’d like to use live chat that is more robust and has more features, here are a few alternatives:
Intercom
Helpscout
ChatBot.com – for live chatbot software
If the live chat feature is enabled on your site the customers will be able to see an attractive text-box in which they can write their questions and communicate with you in a jiffy.
3. Add Booking Functionality to Your Website
If you offer a product or service that requires you to reserve time-slots ahead of time, you should think about adding a booking feature on your website. This will allow customers to make an appointment on their own without calling your office.
There are plenty of alternatives to think about and for a more in-depth study, take a look at our entire guide. This allows customers to make an appointment online without calling your office.
Enhance the Quality of Your Online Communications with Social Media
Social media is a fantastic method to stay in touch with your clients. Many people use social media sites to receive assistance , ask questions and stay in touch on what’s happening at their favourite businesses read more. If you’re still not using Facebook or Twitter, then here’s how you can begin:
1. Start by Creating Social Media Profiles
There are a myriad of platforms to pick from. Find out where your ideal users are most active, and the places they’d be interested in discovering your company. Another way to look at is take a look at the places how your competitors are communicating with their customers. The most well-known social media platforms are:
The above options aren’t the only types of profiles you need to build. For instance, if you have a restaurant in your portfolio then you must consider creating an Yelp! or TripAdvisor profile, too.
After your social media accounts are up and running and you have your profiles set up, you must be sure to add your contact information in addition to:
- Number for phone
- Email Address
- Other profiles on social media
- Link to your site
The next step is to create a content strategy. This is when you decide the content you’ll post via your online social accounts. The posts could be announcements in text or hyperlinks for the product and news images or videos. Visual posts can be easily made using tools such as Canva.
2. Opt-in to Social Media Messaging
Social Messaging is now increasing in popularity for businesses due to the fact that it allows prospective customers and customers to reach them quickly. If you’re not connected to your target audience you can set it up and encourage them to get in touch with you at any time they have queries.
The next step is you’ll have to determine who will handle every Social Media messages and comments.
This can be accomplished by your team or in the event that your customers frequently contact you to inquire about similar questions and you’d like an automated solution (for Facebook for example) then you could use chatbots.
If you’re thinking about how you’ll reply to emails, make sure to stay true to the tone of voice your brand uses and keep it consistent with your overall communications. When people contact an organization, it’s helpful to know that there is a person behind the brand. So make sure to be friendly, with some humor when it’s possible.
If you choose to use chatbots on Facebook Messenger, let’s say that you’ll need to do a little amount of effort to set it up, including an FAQ database. Mobile Monkey offers a chatbot that is coding-free builder, and also numerous templates to choose from. Remember to consider your chatbot as an individual and make it appear more human.
Create A Forum/Online Community
Are you looking to take it up by a few notches? Make an online community that is active and engaged. People are drawn to the feeling of exclusivity, and they may be more inclined to join your group of interest.
- What can you make of it?
- Enhance customer relationships,
- Enhance the level of engagement as well as retention,
- Find the brand ambassadors that are eager to spread the word about your brand
- Add value and establish your company as an industry leader.
There are many alternatives to choose from:
Facebook Groups on Facebook:On Facebook it is possible to create groups using your profile for your business or invite clients to join! Facebook groups give you the chance to have more personal communications, as well as additional support to your clients. There are many possibilities for the ways to make use of your Facebook group, so think outside the box in your approach!
Slack:If you need a more robust Group services (and have the money to pay for it), Slack is a excellent option. It is compatible to Google Docs, CRMs, and various other workplace software. In order to use Slack, you need create a channel and invite users to join by providing them with an email. Anyone invited will have access to the most recent 10,000 messages, which will allow for an extensive communications.
WhatsApp:WhatsApp Business was designed to cater to small-scale businesses in mind, making it an ideal option. You can display your goods and services , and interact to your customers. The app provides the ability to use specific software for automating and sorting which allows you to respond quicker.
Reddit Its primary goal is on social news aggregate. Although users on Reddit typically make use of the site as a forum online but its primary function is to allow users to submit material that is eligible for voting (upvotes for good content and downvotes for fake or boring stories or uninteresting stories, etc.). Popular threads are the ones that rise to the top of the list. It’s completely free, which makes it worth considering however, you’ll have to be a valued member and tell an interesting story!
Create A Google My Business Listing
If you run an established local business, or offer your products or services locally, the creation of an Google My Business listing is the best way to start. Many people in the area could be looking for the services or products that you offer.
Your GMB will appear whenever someone does an Google search on your company (or in the event that they’re searching for similar businesses in the area that are similar to yours).
Include specific details regarding how customers can reach your company, such as your website’s name as well as your contact number and your social media profiles and much more. You could even set up an online messaging system that allows users to contact you directly via you Google My Business listing.
How to Make Announcements to Customers and Prospects?
If you’re making major changes to your business that will affect your customers, think about making a public announcement to inform current and potential customers of the changes.
Examples of these types of modifications include:
- Making your services available online
- Big discounts or sales
- Modifications in your delivery time/policy
- Changes to your product offerings
Temporarily removing products/services and/or closing the shop
Your clients want to know the latest developments There are many methods for effectively communicating these types of changes.
Announcement on your site:If you run a website, you may announce the announcement on your site or on the News section, or in the home page.
Make sure to refresh all relevant pages on your site:Check your knowledge base or delivery policy as well as the your FAQ pages in accordance with the modifications you’re making.
Extra tip: If customers inquire questions about these subjects they can be quickly directed them to relevant webpages.
Send an email: If you deal with clients on a personal basis or have an email subscribers’ list, you can easily update them by sending a quick newsletter/notification. Customers appreciate a brand with all the essential details.
The drum beats on social media.Evaluate whether your changes can also be made public through social media. This could be more efficient in spreading the message to your clients.
Enabling Remote Communication With Employees
When you are drafting your communication strategy be sure to include your team! If your team members are working remotely, you should take the time to ensure that they are using the best tools for communication, since this will allow the company to offer its customers with the most enjoyable customer experience. Here are some options to think about:
- Slack, Hangouts or Microsoft Teams to communicate in a variety of ways
- G-Suite and Dropbox Paper for document-based collaboration
- Zoom as well as Skype for video and audio calls and conferencing
- Trello or Basecamp to manage your project
For more information about remote working, take a look at our blog post on productivity tips on remote working here and the tools that you can use on our website!
Practice Makes Perfect
Communication online may initially seem like a daunting task, but it’s actually much easier than you imagine. Begin by taking the simplest step to create your social media profile or a Google My Business listing or publishing your first public post. Things will become easier since you’ll be able to identify which tools will work best for your target audience. You’ll be able to improve your online communication method.
