We started with a one on one sales strategy and have now come full circle with the support of technology with Conversational Marketing a new trend.
How does conversation marketing really work?
Asking for an order prompts a response, however, asking at the wrong time also gets the wrong answer.
In the olden days, nearly all selling was one on one, however, with the advent of the internet, a lot of things changed.
Webpages were designed to sell directly to the client and this bought about action sites we called funnels.
Like a great wide-mouthed fishing net we were dragged into a funnel and twirled down in a spiral of compelling facts to be spat out in an order chain.
Emails demanded action and response through a compelling series of transactional material originating out of the autoresponder.
We can and still can buy without any real personal contact in the chain of events.
Conversational Marketing a new trend that is changing the way we think
What has changed in the marketing process
There is often a need for interaction in any process and that becomes obvious with a complete separation of voice over virtual.
You will have experienced this many times with customer support services where it takes days to obtain a reasonable answer. Something small that is blocking your whole project is held up trying to get a reasonable answer.
Being based in Australia, I found this particularly frustrating with companies advertising support hours such as 8-5 Monday to Friday in LA. a 12 hour time difference.
Customers want choice and sometimes in the virtual world that is not provided. Can I get a redshirt in size LM that is hard in a non-contact experience?
What changed with the buying experience?
The demand for more attention saw the introduction of chatbots using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and generating an almost real conversation.
Wikipedia covers this, explaining that it goes back as far as 1994 calling it Chatterbox as a business platform.
Similarly, we have seen the rise of many voice-activated devices like Google's Siri that can answer questions or execute commands with voice activation.
However, it has been reported that'
A 2017 study showed 4% of companies used chatbots. According to a 2016 study, 80% of businesses said they intended to have one by 2020.
Are chatboxes frustrating
We all find Chatboxes frustrating at times depending on the AI background if the deliverer.
A lot of CRM systems are now incorporating Chatbox delivery information to fully automate the operation.
At times it is hard to get the answers you need from AI, frustrating and time-consuming.
Conversational Marketing a new trend starting with Chatboxes
Are customers seeking a live chatbox?
Those results point out that we are in an era that demands personal attention.
What are the benefits of a live chatbot
- Reduced expenses. A good operator will handle 2-3 queries at a time
- Increased sales, reportedly 3 x more than any other method
- Better customer service and retention
- Increased competitiveness with opposition suppliers.
- Greater market reach and customer growth
- Great reporting and analytics
This would certainly indicate that a Livechat box would support the conversational marketing theme.
AI can only take things so far before the conversation falls apart.
Particularly when you are unsure of the right question or if you are going in the preferred direction.
Conversational Marketing a new trend
Why use conversational marketing versus one on one conversations?
You will find a lot of answers to this question and many that take off in the wrong direction.
As I use this a lot I have developed my own habits to get to the point with as few posts as possible.
Firstly I am not a fast typist so doing a long message takes time and thought but less time than any other method. My list of reasons are:
Conversational Marketing a new trend and when things slow down
- When things are running slower than I like I can continue on with my normal work. My aim is to get a result however the replies are often slow coming.
Therefore my hours are not wasted in a slow and painful one on one conversation with someone conversing in a different language or using English as a third language.
I am not being derogatory here but a lot of call centres are in areas of lower-cost labor. With written replies, many errors are corrected or covered. I will understand the Upsell cross-sell is very easy once the content of the call is completed.
Conversational marketing and Godaddy
- I had a situation recently when I needed to call Godaddy re a problem on a domain I had with them. I did not want to repeat that domain but they had taken my money for a two year period. They were very good and cancelled the service and issued a credit for about five days ahead.
Then what happened was he said you have another domain coming up for payment are you going to keep that. I replied yes I wished to keep it. He then asked If he would discount the payment by 30% would I do the payment now?
The answer was simple, yes let's do it.
The rules he followed here were very concise and really to be expected from a business involved in customer service
Conversational marketing and problems
- He fixed my problem as quickly as possible without a complaint.
- Then they pointed out a future occurrence, and provided an incentive to complete it.
This really shows some excellent training on behalf of GoDaddy. They may be leaders but they are also in a very competitive industry that strives for every sale
3. Competitive activity
I believe the above example shines very favorably on that company and the question we should all ask is “would we deal with them again?” My answer is absolutely. This has been a great customer service experience so why move away?
In saying that GoDaddy is sometimes a bit expensive on the first renewal after the initial period so maybe when the time comes I shall call and debate a price discount.
It would be worth a small percentage to retain my business.
Customer service and conversational marketing
4) Customer service determines the future of the business.
I run a business in the telecommunications area. I regularly need to contact carriers with faults and problems on behalf of my clients. There are half a dozen mainstream carriers are chasing the same business base. Service levels vary from good to downright awful.
I recently had a small problem so I called the carrier that I believed was the suspect. Forty minutes in the queue before I could speak to an operator only to be told it was not their problem.
Carrier Stitching and Conversation marketing
I then rang the second carrier and was attended to in just a few minutes and I had the issue fixed.
My client has witnessed this so when it was over I asked if they would like to change all the services to the good carrier so that future issues would be as easy.
I could lie and say it was that easy but in this case, the carrier one had them stitched upon a five-year contract.
When I am asked for advice I always suggest the carrier with the best customer service. Everyone has problems, it is getting them fixed that makes a difference.
I have probably diverged away from Voice bots within customer service but it is still within the framework of the discussion.
Can you get extra sales using conversation marketing?
Studies have shown time and time again that live chat helps to increase sales – and companies are reaping the benefits. It’s been shown that live chat can drive 3x – 5x more conversions and deliver up to 6000% ROI. The same report states that customers that use live chat are three times more likely to make purchases versus those who don’t.
Comm 100
Live chat benefits
The above is indicative of a real benefit in Live chat Bots.
It is really easy to program in trial closers without alarming a potential client.
You will know what the hot buttons are because the conversation can be planned that way. Is it a price issue, support, upgrades or other issues that are creating a block? This is easy training that can be followed by any reasonable service agent.
It must be considered that they, the callers, are ready to buy because we are having a conversation. It is just finding the inducement that turns on the YES answer.
The solution
Conversational marketing a new trend
In the above GoDaddy issue, the areas were never confused and this is really important in all roles.
They fixed my complaint first, they did not try to blend issues together, for example, they could have said, we will take your credit and apply it to the next purchase thus building a stumbling block. They then went hard on the sale as a separate item.
Analytics and reporting with conversation marketing
This is an important area to understand your figures. Each agent can be monitored on results against the average and early remedies applied to correct deficiencies.
This will bring down the cost of sales figures and really increase the return on revenue and the money-making area.
This can be done live, daily or any suitable period that can be used to adjust the results to what you want.
My conclusion
The importance of conversational marketing can not be understated for the areas mentioned.
As a customer, it is really important to deal with businesses that treat you with respect.
As a business, you have the ability to substantially increase your results and lead the industry.
Word of mouth is a massive influence on the market. More so on negativity than positivity.
We complain easily, however, the other side is to compliment slowly.
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