How to Improve Response Times with SMS Workflow Automation

In today’s fast-paced environment, time is a dwindling resource.

With entities competing for individuals’ time and attention, businesses play the two-pronged role of respecting customers’ time while also staying in touch – and enriching the overall experience. Such a balancing act requires swift, efficient, and intentional communication.

SMS response automation can be a much-needed piece required to complete an omnichannel customer service jigsaw. Here’s a look at how you can use it to streamline operations and cut short response times.

Need for Speed: A Business’s Race Against Time

Here are a few facts and figures to illustrate how these wise words apply even more in this time and age, especially for businesses.

• 83% of those contacting a company expect to interact with someone immediately.
• Not just at first contact, faster response times are crucial in determining the customer experience for 9 out of 10 consumers.
• Such demands of immediacy and rising impatience are more commonly observed in the younger generations – the new-gen spenders. For instance, Gen Z consumers are 60% more likely to hang up if a call is not answered within 45 seconds.
• At the same time, consumers are not ready to compromise on quality for expeditious service, as speed and quality are equally important for 6 out of 10 consumers.
• 65% of high-performing service organizations that use automation for response time optimization noted “excellent” customer satisfaction levels – versus 41% of laggards that don’t.

SMS Response Automation: The Harbinger of Instant Connectivity

When time is of the essence, automated messaging can come to the rescue and offer the following benefits:

24/7 Direct Contact

Text messaging is already popular as an instant and direct form of communication. With SMS response automation, businesses bring down latency to a minimum. Whether it is acknowledging a ticket or addressing a query, automated messaging can instantly get to the task with zero manual intervention. Most importantly, it makes businesses accessible 24/7 without any additional resources (or associated costs)!

Efficient Triaging

SMS response automation can engage customers in two-way communication for quick triaging. It does so by “reading” incoming message contents based on keywords or responses chosen from a menu. These inputs set finetune SMS workflow efficiency that directs these messages to the appropriate agent or department. As a result, businesses no longer have to waste resources in manually sorting and redirecting messages!

Prioritization and Escalation

In addition to acting as an SMS exchange, SMS workflow automation tools can also identify the importance and urgency of matters. By ascribing higher priority to pressing matters, automation platforms ensure that critical issues receive the attention they deserve without getting drowned out in routine stuff. At the same time, it works as an escape hatch by escalating conversations to human agents if the customer struggles with navigating SMS-based communications.

Consistent Responses

Service consistency and reliability are key characteristics of automation. With SMS response automation, businesses can ensure that they convey consistent and accurate responses, which reduces liability, miscommunication, or the risk of error. SMS bots also eliminate any kind of bias that may seep into manual interactions.

Personalized Experiences

Automated messaging platforms can be configured to embed personalization in responses. It could be by incorporating the customer’s name or other account information. Such personalization not only improves customer experiences and quickens responses but also lends humanness to the interactions. As such, customers can see beyond automation and enjoy faster response times.

Omnichannel Communication

Text messaging is a vital component of the omnichannel stack. Businesses can seamlessly integrate it with other channels like phone calls, email, chat, social media, and more while aiding and assisting customers. Such integration allows the benefits of automated messaging to spill over to other channels as well – as seen in how EZ-BDC used automated texting to achieve 70% response rates on their ad campaigns across channels.

Response Time Optimization

SMS response automation platforms are a wealth of invaluable data that can be used for response time optimization. From tracking metrics like Average Handling Time (AHT) or Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores to identifying bottlenecks or scalability issues – businesses can leverage data analytics for deploying comprehensive SMS workflow efficiency.

Supercharge Response Times With SMS Workflow Automation

In summary, SMS response automation can effectively combat disjointed and delayed communication.

With tools like JustCall, you can deliver exceptionally fast response times that elevate customer experiences and take them to new heights. JustCall integrates with your business’ existing communication stack and attracts the benefits of automated messaging, like 24/7 availability, smart triaging, message personalization, faster response times, and much more.

Empower your teams and delight your customers with JustCall.