Last updated: July 31, 2021 Mobile customer service: SMS tools, chatbots, and global social platforms

Mobile customer service: SMS tools, chatbots, and global social platforms

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Do a quick Google search for ‘mobile customer service’ and you’ll see an onslaught of mobile carrier service URLs about their customer service, and how it is different and better than their competitors. 

It’s a slight –– if short lived –– Google algorithm misunderstanding. Because mobile customer service isn’t about the mobile carriers at all. It’s about text message SMS, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, chatbots and more. 

Mobile customer service is about helping the 48% of US consumers that browse the web from mobile devices at any given moment. 

What is mobile customer service?

Mobile customer service is a focus on customer service for the experience of a mobile device. 

Whereas on desktop, customers may be able to more easily find FAQ sections or browse through what are often called a “knowledge base,” on mobile devices, screens on smaller and consumer attention much more diverted. 

Here, help needs to be even easier to find, and more so to use. For this reason, mobile service is often adapting to various tools and platforms as consumers shift from a heavy preference on Facebook to Instagram to TikTok. Here, these platforms and their comments and messaging solutions become top of funnel ways into a mobile customer service funnel. 

The same is true with a preference toward text on a mobile device versus call or email. Brands must be ready to communicate with consumers, answering their questions no matter where or how they are asked.

What are examples of mobile customer service?

There are a variety of mobile customer service examples, and they vary based on the method of communication and platform choice for the customer. Here are a few examples and how various brands use them. 

Facebook: For many, Facebook comments are an easy way to ask a question related to a certain post, video, or ad on the platform. Some brands will answer these questions right there in the comments. Others will direct you to Facebook messages where answers can be more in depth.

Once in Facebook Messenger, the communication between brand and customer becomes 1:1, and brands can work with a customer to get their phone number (so as to text or call), or their email. The goal here is to send them more information, and to add their information to a CRM (customer relationship management) dashboard and store what is now first-party data. The same process above is often used for Instagram and other social media platforms. 

Text message: As consumers comfort with text increases, it is becoming the mobile customer service tool and platform of choice for brands. Tools like Postscript  allow you to send order confirmation, shipping confirmation, and delivery confirmation all via the phone. You can also put customers into a drip stream similar to email, where you answer questions and build brand affinity through text. 

Chatbots: Chatbots are incredible tools for mobile customer service. These tools allow customers to ask questions and be directed either to a rep, or if the question is a frequently asked one, go through a stream to get the information they need without having to rely on a customer service rep.

These tools save the brand time, and help customers get the information they want. The biggest key to making this product work is planning! If your bot stream and cadence isn’t set up properly, it can annoy customers and turn them off from using your brand. Spend time on how your bot works. Think through a variety of scenarios, and make sure that your bot is putting the brand’s best foot forward. 

What are some of the best tools?

Mobile customer service tools are constantly changing, and are heavily reliant on other tools and platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Google, Shopify, and any new up-and-comers like TikTok. 

That said, there are service and retention tools that are keeping up with changes in consumer preferences, and make it easy for brands to keep track of all the work they are doing to keep customers engaged. 

Here are three of the top mobile customer service tools:

  • PostScript: PostScript is the leading mobile SMS provider, allowing any brand on Shopify to quickly integrate with the tool and begin using it to increase customer service and retention ASAP. Beyond that, they are building out SMS functionality similar to services provided by MailChimp or Klaviyo for email. Many of their customers see 35% open rates and engagement to the SMS messages, versus 2% on email. 
  • Drift: Drift is a chatbot tool used by hundreds of brands across the web. It is mobile responsive, and has a fantastic UX (user experience) for both consumers and brands. On the backend, you can set up a variety of scenarios and streams to answer questions, lead customers down preferred paths, and help everyone find the information they want as quickly as possible – no matter their device. 
  • Slack: Slack is a messaging tool for brands, and while this tool isn’t necessarily helpful on the front end of mobile customer service, it is for customer service managers and sales reps. You can use Slack to send notifications to employees based on customer conversations or actions, alerting the right people to any issues so they can be resolved immediately. 

Conclusion

Don’t let a Google search on mobile customer service stop you from pursuing this path. It’s not just for the carrier providers, and isn’t a way to differentiate anymore – it’s a table stake – and a good one at that. 

Consumers engage more and better with services and tools made for them on the device they’ve used to find your brand. Whether that be Facebook or Instagram, text messaging, or a chatbot, your brand needs to be ready to get customers and potential customers what they need, when they need it. 

With service at the heart of your business, everyone wins.
Discover the future of customer service HERE.

 

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Tracey Wallace

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