Only
20 years ago, customer service was defined along the lines of giving
customers a discount if they are unsatisfied or allow them to return
an item that is damaged. Occasionally, a company would send a “thank
you” note or rewards card for being a loyal customer.
Then,
the internet and social media were born and corporate strategy for
customer service was turned on its head. Imagine the confusion caused
in C-suites across the globe when suddenly “loyal customers” were
posting comments about how the company should improve their products
and respond to complaints.
Imagine the genuine horror that these
executives have endured as they have watched mom-and-pop business
turn into mid-level corporations into direct competitors that are
stealing their customers’ right from under their noses.
Mobile
marketing
and apps for smartphones seem trivial matters to these C-suite old
timers who cling desperately to the business model that died on the
vine a decade ago. As a matter of fact, even the term “customer
service” no longer applies to what successful companies are doing
to keep customers returning to do business with them.
Wesley Yuhn of Tampa suggests that the
most successful mobile apps are interactive and utilizing click2call
advertising
that allows customers to connect directly with your business to make
a reservation, ask for additional information or purchase a product
through mobile pay systems.
As
WesleyYuhn,
one of the leading masters of digital marketing, points out every
company should have mobile apps for their customers. Not only does
it increase customer loyalty, but a self-service app allows customers
to handle the way in which they do business without having to hang on
a phone line waiting for a call center to respond.
Financial
services that offer credit card processing systems could send an
immediate notification to cancel all credit cards immediately if they
are stolen or lost at sea. With the holidays on the verge of taking
over sales and birthing thieves, this instantaneous ability to
protect their identity is a service that is sought by the majority of
people.
Facebook
is developing a new Messenger app that allows users to make payments
through their mobile payment system directly from one person to
another. Currently only debit cards are supported by the app
transfer. If you have used Square, then the similarities will not
escape your attention. Each payment is cleared for transfer through
ACH systems and deposited within 24-hours of hitting the send button.
Unlike
PayPal which requires each party to have an approved PayPal account
or Google Wallet that transfers payments through email attachments,
the Facebook messenger app takes a more direct route and the money
reaches welcoming hands faster.
In
this age of “faster is mandatory”, Facebook’s innovative tweak
to sending money from one person to another even across international
borders is going to fill gaps that have been ignored previously.
Often,
smaller businesses are duped into believing that they do not have the
ability to fill the gaps that bigger businesses are unable to fill.
This is a mindset not a valid truth. Setting up a mobile app that
corresponds to your business’ mobile marketing scheme only puts you
ahead of the game.
