Why SMS should be part of your feedback strategy

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Why SMS should be part of your feedback strategy

EmilyEVC, Avatar

By Anthony Link, CEO, The Connections Group

Historically, companies have relied on phone and email for customer engagement and obtaining feedback and surveys.  However, text messaging is today the fastest growing contact channel for customer service and feedback. This is simply due to its convenience, ease of usage and reliability. 

The data speaks for itself:

  • 81 percent of the population own cell phones;
  • 50 percent + of customers prefer contacting support through text;
  • 95.3 percent of consumers said they would respond to an SMS survey*;
  • SMS has a response rate that’s 7.5 greater than email;
  • 98 percent of all text messages are opened; and
  • 90 percent are responded to within three minutes.

Compare these statistics to email, which only has a 21 percent open rate, a three percent response rate and an average response time of 90 minutes.

Jay Conrad, president of The Connections Group, says,  “People communicate via text more frequently these days.  With conversational marketing we see higher engagement rates, higher cost satisfaction and greater ease of problem resolution.  People are more apt to text or access a web app than to, for example, call housekeeping for extra towels or contact the concierge to book a dinner reservation spontaneously and even when not on-site.“

For businesses today, utilizing texting for survey delivery and responses is an easy and quick way to obtain feedback information. It empowers and engages customers, who might not otherwise respond to email or telephone surveys, to provide feedback on their experiences.

And they will definitely appreciate the convenience of doing so via SMS. Using a text messaging system allows customers to interact with a business without long hold times or delayed responses. After all, the faster a problem or issue is solved, the greater the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty.

Connections SMS survey

Benefits of SMS survey deployment:

  • Cheaper than over-the-phone or face-to-face surveys
  • High response rates
  • Quicker response rates
  • More accurate responses
  • Easy setup
  • Cost effective

At The Connections Group we work with CustomerCount®, a premier provider of world class, enterprise-capable, guest experience measurement tools. By integrating with our SMS text platform, CustomerCount is able to delivery surveys for their clients via text messaging. And the results have been amazing.

CustomerCount’s omni-channel approach expands the traditional communication methods and provides customers the preferred channel to initiate their feedback through text messaging.

Bob Kobek, president of CustomerCount, explains: ““We’ve seen a change in the way that our surveys are accessed. Mobile device popularity continues to grow. A year ago, 45.7 percent of our responses came from mobile devices. Today it’s 51.87 percent and growing.

“Our clients love SMS survey deployment and their customers really appreciate the ease of accessibility.”

SMS surveys provide a holistic customer communication experience and are an instant way to evaluate and ensure customer satisfaction and continued growth. It provides invaluable real-time data and analysis businesses need to create superior customer experience that skyrockets satisfaction and growth!

We believe it is the future for customer feedback survey delivery.

If you agree and want to find out more, contact Anthony Link at 561-414-4302 or Bob Kobek at 317-816-6000.

*Ipsos MORI

About CustomerCount

CustomerCount is a feature-rich, cloud-based survey solution providing intuitive real-time reporting, fast turnaround on requested updates, and detailed and dynamic data gathering capabilities to support process improvement efforts, build customer loyalty and improve your bottom line.

Developed and managed by Mobius Vendor Partners, CustomerCount was initially designed for the timeshare and contact center industries and is now used by organizations across numerous different vertical markets and industries.  For more information call Bob Kobek, president, on 317-816-6000 and follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

About The Connections Group

The Connections Group are experts in the development and implementation of conversational marketing solutions. When deployed within a client’s online marketing strategy, it drives leads that want to have a conversation through the text – their chosen communication medium. Customers can now contact you directly via text with our patent pending technology and book rooms, order services, answer surveys and much more. This guest communication lead to higher engagement and higher customer service.

To qualify you must comply? We take a look.

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by Bob Kobek, RRP, President CustomerCount

Reprinted courtesy of Resort Trades, Volume 33, Number 1, January 5, 2020; ResortTrades.com.

Well, not necessarily, but maybe. In any case, it pays to pay attention when it comes to legislation compliance.

Chances are your competitors are not as aware as they should be.

It is important to note here – I am not an attorney – I do not, nor have I ever played one on TV. The ONLY legal opinion that is represented here, by me, is simple: Call a qualified attorney.

Let’s take a look: First some definitions, as you will notice in the paragraphs below, there are a lot of ways to get into trouble. I promise all of them contain legislation compliance that will impact your business in a bad way, or if you are smart, very often in a good way because they can offer a competitive advantage.

  • World Wide Web Compliance (W3C);
    • Your websites, all of them, need to be ADA compliant (are surveys included? Absolutely, every last one of them)
  • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG);
    • Strict adherence is critical
  • Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI-A);
    • Staying current is equally as critical
  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);
    • The EU is fining heavily here, and borders offer no protection
  • California Privacy Act (CCPA);
    • Modeled after GDPR – to take effect in 2020
  • The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) including Do Not Call (DNC);
    • The umbrella law that has long reach and will sting or bite
  • Canadian Anti-Spam Law (CASL);
    • Better not solicit or market without permission
  • and the last time I looked there were 30 different pieces of state anti robo call laws either proposed or passed dealing with TCPA issues

NOTE: All legislation compliance here falls under the umbrella of “consumer protection”. Most all of them work with the premise that you must gain prior express written consent.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the Do Not Call rule was passed and signed into law that was to be the destroyer of the call center. But smart marketing people figured out how to capitalize on it – use it, don’t call people that don’t want to be called. It also created an industry made up of companies that manage your DNC lists.

In timeshare, there were also those companies (I suggest they still exist) that ignored the DNC treating is as a part of their risk management.

Legislation compliance

And, today, check these instances:

Scenario 1: Government

Google and its subsidiary, YouTube agreed to pay more than $170,000,000.00 for alleged violations of Children’s Privacy Law*.  https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2019/09/google-youtube-will-pay-record-170-million-alleged-violations. 

Scenario 2: Class Action

Meanwhile, Treasure Island (yes, THE Las Vegas Treasure Island) was the victim of an SMS (text violation) and TCPA class action law suit over the use of a virtual concierge service because embedded in their system was the opportunity to submit a review on Yelp! Note the reference to “class action”. Civil suit. http://www.kleinmoynihan.com/hotels-use-of-artificial-intelligence-leads-to-sms-tcpa-class-action/

You might think these two companies are smarter than that – but alas, not to be. (In the case of Treasure Island, the suit against Yelp! was dropped, the one against Treasure Island was settled.

How a Legislator might think

I recently met with a Member of Congress (MOC) about a robo call bill he was introducing. My take was/is there are two very distinct types of robo calls: legal and illegal. Just about everyone I talk to about this agrees, and it is the position of the Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE). I love the debate and there are very intelligent solutions being engineered. But this is about that one single bill.

It seems the gentleman from a state that will not be mentioned here for fear of some retribution, came up with the initiative when his mother called to complain about all the robo calls.  Yup, his mother. When he found out that is was a politically palatable effort – he went for the fences.

All calls, even the ones some very unfortunate parents might get if there is a lock down at their child’s school or their doctor needs to tend to an emergency and can’t make the appointment with you.

This one will fall under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

According to the Professional Association for Customer Engagement (PACE) as of December 1, 2019, there are 30 separate proposed pieces of state legislation and four proposed federal pieces of legislation, all dealing with TCPA consumer protection issues.

Then, there is this one – on the Compromise Bill currently working its way through Congress, in an article written by Eric J. Troutman of Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLC and published in the National Law Review: “Breaking News: Don’t leave for Thanksgiving just Yet! Text of New Compromise “Robocall” Bill just released, and its huge!” Wednesday, November 27, 2019.  Can be referred to as SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pallone-Thune Tele-2 phone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act’’ or the ‘‘Pallone-Thune TRACED Act’’. https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20191202/BILLS-116s151-SUS.pdf

Notice the word “criminal” in this one?

This is all about the robocall, but one of the more intriguing ones is “No new criminal enforcement provisions but it requires certain reporting to the DOJ about fraudulent calls for possible prosecution”.

Not being a lawyer is not a deterrent for me to interpret what this means. It means that any government entity, Attorney General, County Sheriff, can refer fraudulent calls to the Federal Department of Justice for prosecution. They are the ones with the gold badges.

And, there is still no definition of an Automatic Telephone Dialing System. And, keep in mind the next big wave of anticipated legislation compliance that will turn to regulations will surround the issue of privacy. This one is just getting started in the states, the federal legislators and the global regulators.

Stand by – this is a moving target!

Marketing vision for 2020 and the new decade

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By John Heffernan, WRAP Partner and associate of EVC Marketing

With 2020 just around the corner, we’re looking forward to not just a new year but also the start of a new decade.

In recent weeks, influencers, specialists and writers have taken us back to 2009/2010. They’ve made reminiscent observations of where we were, how far we have come, and the difference the last decade has made to both our personal and business lives.

Over the past 10 years, we have moved into a more mobile and social world. We are told Facebook is losing users, Twitter is falling out of favour and Google wants to control everything. New apps and services are launched every day. Everything that has worked in the past to market and promote our businesses – search engine optimisation (SEO), content marketing and PR for example – is dead or dying.  

There may be some truth to the doom and gloom. However, in reality, business marketing has simply continued to evolve over the years. It’s moved with the times and trends. And adapted and offered opportunities to those prepared to embrace change.

2020 marketing

The year 2020 is apt to accompany a new vision for the new decade.

Rather than look 10 years ahead (after all how many got this decade right?), the immediate year ahead should be the focus of our business planning, strategy and implementation. This will then provide a solid foundation for whatever the decade brings.

And to start 2020 correctly, we need to remember that traditional marketing is not dead and digital marketing is just marketing using digital tools and systems.

The future of marketing in 2020 and beyond dictates a cross-channel approach that includes all the elements necessary for your business to succeed. Let’s be honest here. Content marketing is NOT a one-size fits all approach. The focus starts with your clients and potential clients.

The brutal truth for many businesses is that quality counts. And simply churning out sound bites, poor quality images/video and one-liner social posts will never improve your brand authority.

marketing 2020

Yes, videos, images and infographics are a must-have for any content strategy in 2020. But quality blogs, articles and long-form content will still remain the most shared and most commented-on form of content developing both authority and trust.

This is especially so if that content is educational, informative and provides the reader with real added value.

Although this is not new, 2020 marketing must involve a more holistic approach to cross-channel marketing. It needs to embrace website design, speed and structure and mobile-first content, video, images and content distribution to your targeted client channels.

Be where your customers are and deliver the content in the style and format they want to receive. Understand that you need to take a different approach for who and what you are marketing.

Marketing B2C?

You’ll need to consider the short attention spans and the buy-now, selfie-obsessed focus of your target market.

Marketing B2B?

You’ll need to understand your target market’s need to research, learn and understand your products and services.

So, what is needed for 2020 marketing?

The start of a new decade should perhaps allow all businesses to take a short step back and review:

  • Where are you now?
  • What worked in 2019?
  • What has failed or held you back?
  • Which content and channels are worthy of your time?
  • All your competitors activities?
  • How are they evolving (if at all)?

Review the review and decide how you can move forward more efficiently, effectively and successfully.

The new decade still needs an old marketing approach:

  • Review;
  • Plan;
  • Create;
  • Implement; and
  • Measure.

Marry old style planning to new style strategies and this year will move your business from solid foundations to on-going success.

But what do Bok Kobek, CustomerCount president, and our fellow WRAP partners think will happen in 2020 and beyond? We asked them for their thoughts:

2020 marketing

Bob Kobek – President, CustomerCount

2020 will bring about incredible advances in technology that at this point we can’t even fathom. The emergence and always increasing sophistication of AI alone will bring the need to constantly adjust processes and attitudes. All while doing whatever we can to avoid unnecessary distractions.

Combined with the knowledge that our prospects and clients will face similar numbers of distraction we will be required to be much more precise in our messaging, meaning the need for us to understand whatever data we can collect, to make our messaging even more targeted – we can never forget, people buy from people.

Marketing is marketing – the technology pushes it to be more targeted and faster.

Georgi Bohrod – Principal, GBG & Associates

Words matter.  Pictures matter more.  In the next decade, according to my crystal ball, our attention spans will shorten even more.  Few will want to read lengthy blog posts, wordy social media analyses and lengthy articles.  Video and live stream broadcasting already dominates marketing communication and in the next decade I predict it will take over nearly entirely. 

This evolution is going to happen without you even noticing.  If you want to communicate with your customers, choose the platform that speaks to them, in their language, doesn’t bore them and assures you of their attention.  You’ve got about 10 seconds to capture them.  Ready-set-go.  Oops they’ve clicked on something else.  Mastering the quick connection is going to be paramount. Good luck!

Howard Bendell – Principal, Bendell Resort Consulting

One of the most daunting challenges facing today’s resort developer is being able to augment the ownership message to appeal to the millennial consumer.

Recognizing that this target demographic will soon represent the greatest proportion of the purchasing economy will create distinct separation in the marketplace along with competitive advantage.

This consumer is fundamentally different from the baby boomer that helped to build the timeshare industry, as we know it. Millennials are far more experiential and demand credibility and validation – not by the strength of the brand promise or name recognition, but rather through personal reviews and references provided by other consumers who look and act like themselves.

Being able to anticipate the demands this will place on existing marketing and sales infrastructures will drive where we go as in industry…and as industry, how we react will pave the outlook for the next decade. 

Emily Collins – CEO, EVC Marketing

At this time of year there are many ways to look forward to the New Year challenges:

  1. Doing exactly the same as the year before (and hoping for better results);
  2. Waiting to see what the New Year brings before deciding what to do;
  3. Randomly checking your competitors and what they may or may not be doing; OR
  4. Reviewing your 2019 performance, customer feedback (good and bad); and
  5. Strategically planning your 2020 future success.

Yes I know, you’ve heard it all before. But, experience dictates that even if you know that options four and five are what you want to do or must do, they all too often fall into the round-to-it trap and the enemy of round-to-it is time.

Consider this.

From January 1st we will all have the same number of months, weeks, days, hours, minutes available. How we allocate our time is the issue, not time itself.

If you want to succeed in 2020 you need:

  • A plan.
  • A strategy
  • To be organised
  • To be ready.

Plan for success. Have real 2020 vision.

CEP Award nominations deadline extended

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Still Time To Nominate A Customer Engagement Professional

Nominations Deadline Extended for CustomerCount®  Customer Engagement Professional Resort Trades Award

CustomerCount® and Resort Trades magazine announce that nominations for the 4th annual CustomerCount Customer Engagement Professional (CEP) Resort Trades Award (CEP) will be extended to January 15, 2020.  The individual winner and the winner’s company will be announced in January and featured in Resort Trades in March 2020.

The coveted award recognizes outstanding leaders who exemplify customer engagement within the timeshare resort/hospitality industry. Qualified people most likely will be resort managers, assistant managers, front desk folks and customer service team members who are in daily contact with members and guests.

Nominations for Customer Engagement Professional CEP Award
Nominations deadline extended to January 15, 2020

Bob Kobek RRP., president of Mobius Vendor Partners, which created CustomerCount and also initiated the CEP Award says: “As Oscar nominees often say, being nominated is an honor in itself.  We encourage our timeshare/hospitality colleagues to recognize those team members who deal with members, guest, owners and exchangers one-on-one every day and show appreciation for their most important role.”

The nominations process includes completing an online nomination survey to measure the nominee’s qualifications and qualities. The survey is powered by CustomerCount’s software system which measures and reports customer feedback through branded, customized online surveys. Along with specific quantitative data, narrative descriptions with anecdotes and stories to support the nomination will also be taken into strong consideration.

To submit a nomination, you can complete the online form.

About CustomerCount®  

CustomerCount is a feature-rich, cloud-based survey solution providing intuitive real-time reporting, fast turnaround on requested updates, and detailed and dynamic data gathering capabilities to support process improvement efforts, build customer loyalty and improve your bottom line.

Developed and managed by Mobius Vendor Partners, CustomerCount was initially designed for the timeshare and contact center industries and is now used by organizations across numerous different vertical markets and industries.  For more information call Bob Kobek, president, on 317-816-6000 and follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

About Resort Trades

Resort Trades is distributed monthly to every resort in the U.S., as well as to a subscriber-base of senior-level executives at development, management and timeshare-related travel companies. Resort Trades offers display advertising, classified advertising, directory listings, as well as monthly industry news and press releases, global analysis articles and in-depth interviews with industry professionals and business leaders. For more information visit www.resorttrades.com.

The business benefit of customer service awards

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By Yuri Duncan – WRAP Partner and CEO of Buchanan Creative Services

Much has been written about the overwhelmingly positive results of using customer service awards to recognize your employees. However, what are the positive and negative impacts to your organization when your employee wins that award? Let’s take a moment to examine just a few positive impacts you can anticipate when an employee has been publicly recognized for their service.

Brand Promotion

Simply put, when your industry recognizes your employees, the industry recognizes you. Receiving an award, or simply being nominated for one, increases your brand awareness throughout your industry. Press releases, public announcements, award ceremonies, etc. are all common elements of the award-winning process and costs you nothing but the time taken to write and submit the nomination itself.

Attracting Talent

When an organization is recognized within its industry, it sends a message to future potential employees. It says that you not only employ some of the best the industry but care enough about your employees to participate in the recognition process itself.

Retain Talent

When one member of the team is recognized, all staff benefit. The industry recognition from both peers and competitors increases your employee morale. It reconfirms that they made the right decision when choosing your company as a place to build a career. When a peer is recognized, it also creates a healthy sense of competition among staff who seek recognition themselves.

Industry Endorsement

Industry awards are typically judged by experts within that industry. The awarding entity is recognized by your peers and when an award is given, that recognition and respect is extended to the winner. Award winning organizations win more than an award, they earn respect.

Customer-Service-Awards

Turn Losses Into Wins

If you participated in an award process and found yourself without an award, don’t fret. The author John C. Maxwell once said, “A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.”

Examine and compare the elements of a winning nomination to identify opportunities where your organization should focus your improvement efforts. Perhaps the winning nomination contained key performance indicators missing from your internal measurement and evaluation processes. Or, did the winning nomination contain details missing from your documentation practices? Be humble enough to recognize how the competition won the award, how you lost it, and the improvements necessary to win the next time around.

Social Media Content

Win or lose, simply participating in an award process provides a fount of social media source material. Walk your followers through the process from nomination, to submission, and to the conclusion. Take the time to speak positively about the award, the judges, the nominated employee, and your sense of graciousness to be a part of the process. Bring your audience with you along the process and you’ll earn benefits beyond the award itself.

These are just a few of the high-level benefits to participating in an industry award process. It would be fair and worthwhile to dedicate time and examine some of the negative results of participation. However, there are no bad reasons to nominate your staff for an industry award.

Considering the overwhelming evidence to support customer service awards participation. Inaction is somewhat unacceptable. Here’s your investment:

  • Research and locate an industry recognized award
  • Identify the employee to be nominated
  • Prepare and submit a detailed and sincere nomination
  • Enjoy the benefits

It really is that simple. If you operate within the timeshare industry, then we’ve made it even more simple. CustomerCount and Resort Trades are looking for the most valuable customer engagement professional within the timeshare resort/hospitality industry.

Whether they be resort managers, assistant managers, front desk folks or customer service team members who in regular contact with members and guests. These outstanding team members exemplify the highest standards in customer engagement and service. Their interaction with members and guests shapes the entire guest experience.

The nomination process includes completing an online nomination survey to measure the nominee’s qualifications and qualities. To submit a nomination, fill out the online form.

Show the industry that your organization is vital by participating in the customer service awards process. It’s one of the few no-cost processes that pays you back with interest.

About CustomerCount

CustomerCount is a feature-rich, cloud-based survey solution providing intuitive real-time reporting, fast turnaround on requested updates, and detailed and dynamic data gathering capabilities to support process improvement efforts, build customer loyalty and improve your bottom line.

Developed and managed by Mobius Vendor Partners, CustomerCount was initially designed for the timeshare and contact center industries and is now used by organizations across numerous different vertical markets and industries.  For more information call Bob Kobek, president, on 317-816-6000, complete the contact form or follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

About Resort Trades

Resort Trades is distributed monthly to every resort in the U.S., as well as to a subscriber-base of senior-level executives at development, management and timeshare-related travel companies. Resort Trades offer display advertising, classified advertising, directory listings, as well as monthly industry news and press releases, global analysis articles and in-depth interviews with industry professionals and business leaders. For more information visit www.resorttrades.com.

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