Is your business setup to support the demand of consumers who want to interact with you through text and webchat messaging? There is no time like the present to get started on this form of communication. Why? Because studies have shown that nine out of ten consumers want to interact with businesses through messaging. There are several benefits to utilizing messaging as your main source of interacting with consumers:

Convenience: What could be more convenient than messaging the salesperson who came by about the pest control you need while you’re in a meeting? Imagine a customer who needs a quick question answered while you are chatting with another potential customer – how convenient is a simple text exchange in that situation? Convenience is a top priority for businesses and consumers alike, and messaging is the answer.
Speed: When a customer calls with a question that we don’t know the answer to, it’s not very quick or convenient to tell them you will call back after you find out. Instead, a consumer being able to send a quick text with a question makes giving the answer much more flexible and, in most cases, much more speedy. Over 6 billion text messages are sent every single day. If you aren’t already utilizing this means of communication with customers, it’s time to join the club!
Simple data collection: When a customer sends you a text, you instantly have their name, phone number and likely what needs they have right at your fingertips. Simple data collection is very important for business and sales growth, so this means of communication is very valuable. Collect the data you need from one quick message to make future communication easy and efficient.
Written communication for future reference: If you are like most people, chances are that you forget things from time to time. It’s much easier to refer back to a text message to recall the specifics regarding an appointment or customer need than it is to call them and have the conversation again. Written communication through text messages also helps in the unfortunate, but inevitable cases of unhappy customers. Refer back quickly to your conversations to ensure the information is correct and the problem is being solved appropriately.
Multiple conversations at once: Who wouldn’t want to make multiple sales at the same time? That’s kind of every salesperson’s dream, isn’t it? The first step to a successful sale is successful communication. Having multiple conversations at once helps move the sales process forward in multiple ways at the same time. Win, win!

Nine out of ten consumers want to interact with businesses through messaging. Using messaging to communicate with your sales prospects makes your job easier, while simultaneously making your customers happier.

If you are not sure where to start on your messaging journey with customers, let us help you!

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!