One of our team members gets really grumpy when she gets clobbered with bad customer service. It’s understandable; no one likes dealing with a company that can’t or won’t help its customers solve their problems.

So we were surprised when she absolutely raved about an online retailer she used during the holidays last year. She wanted to send food to relatives, and the company didn’t have their favorite treat in stock. When she ordered everything else, the company recommended a substitution for the out-of-stock treat, and she sent it along to her family, but she wasn’t thrilled.

After the sale, the company sent her a one-second survey, and she decided to let them know how disappointed she was. She wrote in her survey response, “We are so disappointed that the Blackberry Farm sausage isn’t available. Guess the pigs got tired of giving their all for our breakfasts. Sigh.” She didn’t expect a response.

The customer service rep wrote back, “Thank you for your order. I too am disappointed that the Blackberry Farm sausage is no longer available. It was delicious. I will let our marketing team know since sometime stuff becomes available again. Have a great night.” Our team member was floored. This was either the best artificial-intelligence response ever or she was talking to a real person. She felt heard.

Fast forward many months. Our team member placed another order with this company. Everything went well, and again she responded to the company’s one-second survey. She gave them a “10” and wrote, “You guys rock! My interactions with you make me smile.”

Jane from the company wrote back, “Your email made me smile! Thanks so much for that.” She continued, “And thanks for answering our one-second survey. We’re glad you think we’re worth recommending! Please take 10% off your next order!” The message continued with a secret discount code, the expiration date and the note, “Feel free to share the love with your friends and family – forward the discount code to them. Feel free to like us on Facebook too, if you do that sort of thing.

What’s my point in telling you this story?

This company turned a grumpy holiday shopper into an advocate for their company with two orders, and one of them didn’t even contain everything the customer wanted. With a few simple interactions, they built a relationship with a single customer. And if they delighted one customer, we expect that they delight others, too.

The good news? You can, too – and conversational text messaging is a great way to do it. You can build relationships quickly using a format that allows you to send messages to customers using their preferred delivery method – text. And you can combine automated text messages with messages sent by individuals on your customer service team.

It’s probable that our team member triggered a personal response when she sent back more than the requested rating. If she had responded with just her rating, it’s likely she would have received an automated response, “Thanks for answering our one-second survey. We’re glad you think we’re worth recommending! Please take 10% off your next order!”

Because she added a personal note, however, it’s probable her response bumped her message into the “personal-response” queue and allowed a mail order team member to respond. Your CRM can help you sort customers and send messages that will build loyalty to your products and your brand.

But even automated texts can help build customer relationships. Your texts don’t need to sound like they’ve come from a robot, even if they’re automated. Here are a few ideas from this food retailor:

• You shopped, we shipped, how did it go? Take our survey and get 10% off!
• Our one-second email survey – this is not a tricky sales pitch, promise. If you have a second, we’d love to know what you thought of shopping with us. Our survey is low-tech, just like our food. Respond with a number from 1 to 10.
• We wanna hear about your holiday shopping experience. Tell us and get 10% off all the food you buy!
• Your order is totally confirmed!
• Thanks for your order! If you need to contact us, please reply or call. A real, live human will be with you promptly. We answer phones till 10 p.m. Eastern Time every day at this time of year.

It’s a competitive world and if you can help solve your customers’ problems, you earn an amazing competitive advantage. And if you communicate effectively using a channel your customers prefer, you can build relationships that will extend far beyond a single sale.

Being authentic in all your customer interactions is increasingly important in today’s business world. Staying in touch has become a requirement. SMS-Magic can help you reach out to applicants faster and with better results.

We offer a free trial so that you can get a feel for our product. If you’re as pleased as we think you will be, you can choose the level of service that’s best for your company.

Contact us to set up a demo or to start your free trial. Let us show you how you can engage applicants in new ways!