Keeping in touch with your customers is a must – it is today, and it has always been. First, because you need their valuable feedback about the products or services you offer, no matter if they’re free play casino games or industrial equipment. Second, because if customers know that they can reach out to you every time (and get a response), it grows their trust in your company. Especially if you are responsive and helpful.
The traditional ways to keep in touch with existing or potential customers are phone numbers and email addresses – or web forms, which are basically the same as email. But with the development of new technologies and the spread of mobile broadband internet connections even these ways seem obsolete. Especially since the modern customer base tends to become global when you reach a certain level. Maintaining dedicated phone numbers for every country is costly, and often inefficient. But there are online alternatives, which can help your customers reach out to you at a fraction of the cost – and without any boundaries.
Skype
Skype has been around for quite some time, as an alternative to both instant messaging clients and phone lines. The basic package is completely free of charge, and allows your company to be contacted by instant messaging or free device to device voice calls over the internet. Skype can also be used to initiate calls to landlines and mobile phones, after you purchase Skype credits. With so many smartphones capable of running Skype, having such a contact method listed on your website can provide your customers a quick, easy and free way to reach out to you online – right from their smartphone, if they like.
Originally intended to be a replacement for text messages, WhatsApp has grown into a full blown communication method online. It can be installed on virtually any phone, from older ones capable of running Java apps, to the latest handsets with sophisticated hardware and software. It can be used to send and receive text and voice messages, and lately it has also added support for voice calls. The best part is that it can also be used in a browser window. Voice calls are not supported by this version yet, but they might be implemented soon.
iMessage
This Apple-specific protocol is used by iPhone users all over the world. And you can use it on a desktop computer through Messages, Apple’s own instant messaging client. This allows your customers to send you text messages that you will receive on your desktop Mac, and reply to them quickly and easily. And since iPhone users always prefer their own established methods, offering them a way to contact you through iMessage might mean some more sympathy.