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4 out of 5 customers regularly experience difficulty getting in touch with businesses. But if your clients can’t even reach you, how can you expect to retain their business? In this session, Daniel Fox of CloudCall discusses how staffing firms can reinvent the art of conversation with Ceipal CloudCall.
Presenter: Daniel Fox (Channel Marketing Director, CloudCall)
In January 2020, CloudCall received an external commission to research how businesses were conducting conversations with their customers. The results were shocking.
- Studies showed that 4/5 customers regularly experience difficulty getting in touch with businesses.
- Up to 16% of consumers went as far as to say most companies deliberately make it difficult to reach them.
- 46% of customers say they talk about their complaints to other potential customers.
If 46% of unhappy customers talk to their network about their complaints, that rapidly expands to a larger and larger network (see above). And that network is full of potential customers who are now turned away from your product.
Clearly, poor communication with customers can significantly harm business opportunities. So how can companies combat this trend and rediscover the art of conversation?
Medium is Key
Where we have our conversations determines what our conversations are like. Today, business conversations take place in one of three places: phone, email, or texting. Each of these mediums caters to a specific audience. For example:
- 75% of those under 40 want to do everything over their smartphone
- 60% of Gen Z report discovering jobs directly from their mobile device
- 50% of those under 25 prefer an intelligent machine to a friend human
- 42% of people don’t like using email because they don’t know when they’ll get a reply
These statistics, and others like them, confirm one major trend: the younger a person is, the more comfortable he / she is with chatbots and mobile processes. The older a person is, the more likely they are to eschew outreach conducted via text.
For recruiters, this maps on to job seniority. When recruiting a senior professional, it’s safe to assume that email and phone are the best way to reach out. When recruiting a younger professional, however, it’s the best time to use immediate forms of communication to get the conversation started.
What’s Preferred Versus What’s Effective
69% of people state they are happy to be contacted by email with offers of new roles, products, or services. Texts, however, are only welcomed by 24% of CloudCall’s respondents. Based on this alone, you might assume that emails are the most reliable medium of communication.
And yet, a text message (unlike an email) is likely to be read within the first 3 minutes of being delivered. And their response rate is 209% higher than email, phone, or Facebook.
This discrepancy between what’s preferred versus what’s effective is a tightrope staffing firms have to walk. Maybe texting shouldn’t be part of your initial outreach campaigns—mass emails and social media promotion may be enough. But once you’ve identified the perfect candidate—or a client you know you can land—texting is an effective way to take the engagement to the next level.
Conducting a Good Conversation
Once you’ve strategically selected the medium, it’s time to actually have a conversation. And that is the biggest challenge yet. In general, successful conversations must be:
- Personal. This seems obvious but it’s worth mentioning. Conversations must be tailored to your interlocutor. By personalizing each interaction, you enrich their experience while building consumer loyalty.
- Objective-driven. Don’t waste your conversant’s time. Have a clear objective and purpose for every interaction, so every conversation counts.
- Informed. For this, rely on CRM technology. The more you know about your interlocutor—their skill set, work history, preferences, etc.—the better your conversation is going to be.
And finally—at risk of contradicting what we said above—don’t be afraid to use the phone. If you’re serious about engaging a candidate or client, the reality is that mobile is the best way to make a long-lasting connection. Text, chatbots, and emails are good at getting your foot in the door and following up—but speaking is still the most intuitive form of communication. So, when it really matters, pick up the phone.
Ceipal CloudCall Partnership
An industry-leading communication platform, CloudCall specializes in facilitating better conversations for businesses. Integrating with Ceipal and any other major CRM, CloudCall streamlines communications through advanced telephony, SMS, and instant messaging features.
To learn more about Ceipal CloudCall, visit here.
