Your cell phone is ringing, but the caller is unknown. Will you answer? Many will certainly ignore the call, either because they don't recognize who is calling, because they assume it's a company trying to sell something they're not interested in, or because of excessive and negative experiences they've had with other institutions.
Unfortunately, poor communication between these businesses and the public is still very prevalent in the country, which not only damages their market reputation but also hinders their ability to achieve high sales conversion rates and retain satisfied customers. Consumers are not all the same, and to make them loyal and satisfied with your brand, it is necessary not only to have quality products and services but also to know how to communicate with each one of them in a personalized and assertive way.
According to a PwC survey, 80% of people consider speed, convenience, and helpful service to be very important factors for a good experience when communicating with brands. However, in practice, many companies face obstacles in achieving this result, mainly due to a very frequent reason: the lack of qualification of their contact base.
In another study by Opinion Box, as proof of this, 78% of people receive messages from brands to which they did not remember sending their WhatsApp number. Having an outdated contact list only brings negative results for companies, which end up spending large sums of money sending messages to users who may have changed their contact information and who, often, have no interest in their products or services.
Beyond the financial investment without return, organizations also risk being banned from certain communication platforms if they disregard their rules and fail to comply with the requirements set by regulatory bodies. Without proper cleaning and qualification of this database, companies will hardly achieve any success in communicating with their customers.
With that barrier overcome, the second challenge arises: where and how to communicate with your consumer. Some may prefer to be contacted via WhatsApp. Others may respond better by email or even a phone call. Each will have their preferred channel where they feel most comfortable communicating with their brands, and it is the brands' responsibility to conduct a profile analysis to identify these preferred methods for each of their users.
Each consumer is unique, and to communicate with everyone with the same quality and assertiveness, it is necessary, in addition to investing in tools for cleaning up your contact list, to develop a multichannel communication strategy with your customer, combining different messaging channels so that each person can choose which one they prefer to use to interact with your brand.
The content of the message is another essential focus for success; after all, it's pointless to contact the right person if the communication is excessive or inconsistent. Using debt collection companies as an example, instead of constantly asking the consumer to pay a debt, opt to highlight the benefits they will receive by settling the debt, such as having their name cleared, becoming financially sound, or being able to apply for a new credit card. A more positive approach that will certainly yield much better results.
While investing in this communication strategy inevitably requires a certain cost, this amount will bring enormous benefits not only in terms of profitability, but also in greater operational efficiency, relying on the right tools to contact the ideal people; and making the consumer's relationship with your brand much better and more memorable.
When each company does its part in this regard, the entire communication ecosystem will be improved, also fulfilling a social responsibility not only to aim for profit, but also to meet the demands and needs of consumers, creating a more positive, personalized and memorable relationship that attracts and retains more and more people.
