Customer service changes and evolves on a regular basis. The mass adoption of social media has led to customers expecting service faster than ever before, and in the most convenient way possible. Gone are the days of sitting on hold to wait for a customer representative to solve your problems – customers now expect instant replies and quicker solutions to their problems. This is also true of the sales process. 

Nobody wants to have to call a business anymore to have their questions answered, and the hassle of having to do so can act as a real turn-off for younger audiences. Businesses around the world have adapted to these changes by looking to real-time communication (RTC) as a means to better satisfy customer needs.

Research shows that today’s customer prefers to use social media when online shopping, with 46% of customers choosing live chat tools over email and telephone. Companies have found that switching to real-time communication technology led to an increase in customer loyalty, sales, revenue, and conversion rates. In order to stay ahead of your competitors and capture the attention of younger audiences, it’s critical that your business adopts RTC technology to improve customer service, convert leads, and sell faster and more effectively.

How real-time communication technology has changed the game

The ability to assist customers and convert leads in real-time without needing an extended phone call or back and forth emails has proven to be a game changer. Real-time communication tools allow businesses to offer instant support to customers, answering questions, troubleshooting issues, and closing deals with customers who may be on the fence. Real-time communication is usually performed through live web chat tools on your website, SMS text message support, or third-party chat platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.

These tools let your support and sales teams reduce the amount of interactions needed to resolve problems and close sales, allowing your team to be more productive and efficient than they would be with traditional models of communication. While real-time communication has been around for some time, only recently has it become a proven, practical and easy-to-use way for businesses to communicate with their customers.

Why your business should adopt RTC tools

Real-time communication is a faster and more affordable way to guarantee that the needs and wants of your customers are met. It’s also a surefire way to grab the attention of younger audiences, who no longer want the hassle of having to sit on the phone in order to get the answers they need. If your business doesn’t have some form of RTC, you can say goodbye to younger audiences as they flock to your competitors. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t still embrace telephone-based customer service – older audiences still rely on this as a way to get in touch with your business for troubleshooting and sales. The key is to perfectly blend these two modes of communication in order to serve customers of all ages and technological literacy.

Integrations with Zoho make it easy to serve customers and close deals

It’s not enough to have an RTC tool on your website or social media page and leave it at that – the right strategy is to integrate RTC with Zoho in order to bring valuable data into your ecosystem. A Zoho Advanced Partner has the resources necessary to successfully tie your RTC tools into the Zoho ecosystem, giving your customer service representatives and salespeople a truly versatile communication tool. Integrations between Zoho and apps like Messenger and WhatsApp allow you to instantly log customer data into Zoho CRM and other Zoho apps, giving you a full history of customer interactions to help your team sell better, smarter, and faster.

You can also improve your customer support by tying SMS and Zoho together, offering the easiest support experience possible for customers and employees alike. Your team members can continue working on other tasks while they serve customers, and customers won’t ever have to worry about being stuck on hold. Without intelligent integrations, all you’re getting is a convenient way for customers to reach you while you sacrifice valuable data. By integrating RTC tools with Zoho, your service reps and salespeople will be far better equipped to troubleshoot, answer questions, convert, and build customer loyalty.

ion8 is a Zoho Advanced Partner with a full team of experienced Zoho consultants and designers, ready to successfully implement and integrate real-time communication tools and Zoho apps, giving you a well-rounded communication solution that will increase sales, enhance customer loyalty, and let your team work smarter and more efficiently. For more information about everything that ion8 can do for your business, contact us today.