Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of the small businesses in the United States had to, temporarily, close their doors. Now that businesses are returning to normal, things have changed for good. Keeping up with the convenience of curbside pickup, automated interactions and contactless communication will be what keeps businesses winning customers over. 

Whether people are still being cautious due to the pandemic, or whether they have just become accustomed to the convenience of social distancing when it comes to business interactions, it’s safe to say that some practices are here to stay. With social distancing came the rise of doing business through texting, web chatting and video calls for quotes. 

Just because businesses can go back to doing things the ‘old fashioned’ way, doesn’t mean they should, and here’s why:

• 85%+ of consumers prefer texting a business over other forms of communication
• 82% of consumers agree that instant responses when working with a business are very important to them
• 80% of customers who have used chatbots report the experience was positive
• 70% of consumers agree that speed and convenience are two of the most important factors in their decision to work with a business 

Times have changed, and life is getting easier for consumers. The good news is that it’s also making things easier on business owners. Through the use of webchat, your customers can reach your business and get answers to their questions 24/7. That clears up a lot of time for the business owner who no longer has to answer their phone to give out responses to common questions. 

With software like FreshLime’s Message Center, business owners can receive all of their messages from customers (webchat, text, etc) in one central location. Responding is easy because it’s done right from the same inbox. It’s a win-win considering customers want immediate answers and business owners don’t want to keep logging in to different platforms to find all of their incoming messages. 

Convenience and fast responses are the keys to customer happiness. Keep bringing customers back by retaining the practices that were put in place to make things quick and easy during the pandemic.

For more insights on marketing strategy that actually works for small business, connect with Jay Bean, Founder of FreshLime and Small Business Marketing Expert on LinkedIn and Twitter. If any of these tips have helped you or if you have anything to add, please comment below. We’d love to hear from you!