Chat, sell, retain, repeat: How messaging apps create effective customer conversations

If your customer experience is found wanting, or even if it’s good but you want to work on improving it, messaging apps are a valuable tool. Customers love them, and it’s not hard to work out why. They’re convenient, as customers already use them to message friends and family. They’re conversational, frictionless, and much less formal than email correspondence. And they give brands a direct, personal engagement with their customers. No wonder 65% of customers feel more positively towards companies that allow two-way messaging.

Here’s how messenger marketing can create more engaging, rewarding customer conversations, deepening the connection and instilling brand loyalty.

Getting personal: Integrate business messages with your CRM

How many times have you as a customer been asked to re-enter your personal details, again, so that a company knows who you are? It’s time-consuming and frustrating, and more to the point, completely unnecessary. Integrating business messages with your CRM or CDP will allow you to access customer histories including their personal details. No need for the customer to type it all again, nor for your brand to collate and file more data.

That means customers can just confirm their delivery details are the same as already on file, instead of re-entering them each time they order. It also means that when customers contact your customer service via business messages, you can address them by name as well as know which order they are referring to. It’s simpler for the brand, and frictionless for the customer. Which is far more likely to lead to repeat business – nearly two-thirds of people want businesses to use information they share in messaging conversations to improve the customer experience.

Respond immediately

In a world of social media and messaging apps, customers won’t put up with being kept on hold. They expect help when they need it. And if you don’t provide it instantly, they’ll find another brand that will.

Messenger apps let brands respond instantly to customer requests. This real-time response engenders goodwill, which increases a customer’s lifetime value, as they’re more likely to spend money with your company again in future.

With Rakuten Viber Business Messages, for example, brands can provide an excellent service from the convenience of a smartphone. Customers can get help finding the right gifts, with booking queries, with post-purchase inquiries and more. It’s all the benefits of a sales assistant with added convenience.

Conversational business messages – one tool, many uses

Business-customer conversations within messaging apps can cover all sorts of subjects – order management, delivery details, product promotions using bespoke offers, post-purchase assistance, to name but a few. More uses included:

• Help picking a product
  The downside to buying through digital channels? You can’t see products in the flesh. That makes sales assistance more important than ever. Customers might want to know which size of garment will fit their frame, or what a product’s features mean in plain English. The kind of two-way conversations enabled by messaging apps gives them instant answers from those in the know.
  
• Order management
  As well as keeping tabs on where their orders are, customers want to be able to specify the delivery time and location, as well as leave instructions if they’re not in (a safe place, or neighbor to leave them with). They can do all this and more through business messages on messenger apps. Which is as easy as it gets. Take Serbian company D Express. By using Rakuten Viber for Business it was able to deliver 15% more messages first time, which enabled the business to provide a better service and gave a real uptick in customer satisfaction.
  
• After-sales support
  Your job isn’t done once you’ve made a sale. Your next task is to provide enough after-sales support to convince the customer to become brand loyal. Messenger apps are a great way to do this.
  If a customer wants to know more about their new purchase’s features, they can message the brand through a messaging app. It’s simpler and more convenient than calling customer support, and can include visual content like tutorials and how-to videos. All at the customer’s fingertips.
  
• Get instant customer feedback
  Business messages allow customers to let you know what they think of your customer service. The good reviews can be used as testimonials in your marketing, while the bad will help you improve your service. You might not want to hear the bad ones, but ignore them at your peril.

The many pros of conversational business messages

• Simplicity – Customers already use messaging apps to talk to friends. That means they don’t have to install any new software or learn a new user interface. They also don’t have to enter all their personal information for the umpteenth time.
• Directness – Business messages are one-on-one, unlike social media, which is closer to broadcasting to the masses.
• Convenience – Customers can start and pick up conversations when it suits them. And they don’t need to repeat all their personal data every time they start a new chat.
• Attentiveness – When they’re asked for feedback, customers feel listened to and that their opinions matter. Making it easier to leave feedback – and to provide instant replies – only enhances the whole experience.

Rakuten Viber Business messages can supercharge the customer experience. By letting businesses communicate with customers through a convenient, always-on communication channel, it encourages meaningful conversations that cement the customer-company relationship. Done right, it will turn occasional buyers into lifelong loyal customers.

To learn more about the messaging solutions from Rakuten Viber for Business, contact us.