How SMS is the real MVP for contactless customer service

During a global emergency, being contactless keeps your employees, customers, and communities safe.

When it comes to maintaining a good customer service experience, this may put businesses in a bind. That’s why SMS has emerged as a tool to maintain the standard while being contactless.

What contactless customer service looks like

SMS enables contactless customer service to be carried out in a few different ways.

• Ordering at restaurants
  Many cafes and restaurants are now encouraging customers to place their order online or with SMS to avoid queueing in close proximity to others. Da Kitchen in Maui is a fantastic example—customers join a virtual queue by providing their number at the front counter and receive an alert when their table is ready.

• Picking up orders

  Restaurants are also asking customers to text in with their name and order number for pickup. This allows customers to stay outside the restaurant and distance themselves from other guests.

  

• Contact tracing
  Some state governments also require cafes and restaurants to obtain the contact details of every customer they serve. An SMS system allows your customers to text you their details directly from their phones, as long as you have a virtual mobile number set up to send and receive SMS.

• Receiving food from a delivery driver
  Food delivery services like Doordash have beautifully adapted to recent challenges by using SMS for easy contactless delivery. Customers now have the option of having their food delivered at their front door or in another designated spot, eliminating the in-person hand-off. Some delivery services even have their drivers send an MMS to the customer to show where exactly their order has been placed.

• Communicating with hotel guests
  SMS can also make the hotel experience largely contactless, using texts to deliver instructions to guests ahead of time. Hotel managers can send a series of messages to guide guests through check-in and check-out procedures at the right time, from signing the hotel policy form to collecting their key at reception.
  SMS can also be used to promptly respond to guest queries, reducing the need for face-to-face communication while maintaining high levels of customer service.
  The Bode hotel chain in the United States has found great success with this strategy, being able to offer contactless check-in, keyless entry and a digital concierge service via text.

Why SMS is the tool your customer service team needs

Clear and timely communication is more important than ever, with SMS allowing you to:

• Reach the customer faster
  SMS open rates hit a whopping 98% while only 20% of emails are actually read (Campaign Monitor). When fast communication matters, SMS is the right choice.
• Provide personalised customer service
  As SMS marketing can be highly personalised, you will be able to maintain a high standard of customer service without risking any face-to-face interaction.

SMS stands out as a powerful tool to provide a personalised, contactless customer service experience no matter what challenging global circumstances you find yourself in.