3 Non-Intrusive Means Of Updating Your Clients
There’s a strange paradox that comes with life as a customer, which most of us are in some capacity. First, we want to use businesses, and for them to service us, but with minimal friction, frustration or irritation. This often means we don’t want them to pester us, in any capacity. You don’t want to attend your child’s birthday party only to have a cold call from some local solar panel company, nor do you want your inbox stuffed with promotions and tiresome newsletters you have to sort through.
As a business, this provides a tricky problem. Where is the line between updating your customers, and frustrating them? After all, you may need to call them, and a newsletter might be something they’ve signed up for. Where do you strike the line, especially because everyone has their own tastes and considerations.
In this post, we’ll discuss some non-intrusive means of updating your clients and how to do it:with taste and subtlety:
Have A Clear Updating Timeline
The best way to be less annoying is to be predictable with your communications. A clear updating timeline means customers know exactly when they'll hear from you, so it's not a surprise, and they’re even expecting or looking forward to it, like knowing when their parcel will dispath.
Moreover, if a business sends out an email newsletter on the first Friday of every month, people will start to expect it, and it feels less like spam. This also helps you avoid sending out a flurry of emails all at once, which can be very annoying and cause people to unsubscribe. Setting a consistent schedule for updates shows you’re keeping yourself on a paced timeline and you don’t expect customers to think of you all day long. Try to avoid more than one a day at an absolute limit.
Consider Voicemail Drops
Getting a phone call from a business at an inconvenient time is a common annoyance for anyone, because we all have lives to lead, and we might be busy. A solution to this problem is using a technology that lets a business leave a message without the phone ever ringing.
These are called ringless voicemail drops, because they send a pre-recorded message directly into the customer's voicemail inbox, which they can then listen to at their own convenience. This allows a business to share important information, like a quick appointment reminder or a limited-time promotion, without interrupting a person’s day with a disruptive call. However, it’s best to use them for updates, only marketing when absolutely necessary.
App Notifications With Categories
If you have a mobile app, notifications can be useful, but they can quickly become intrusive if not handled properly. The best way to use them is by allowing customers to customize the notifications they get, which you can design in app updates.
This means you can break down your updates into categories, like "shipping alerts," "promotions," or "product updates," and let the user decide which ones they want to turn on or off. That way, they only receive information that is relevant and useful to them, and it puts the control in their hands and ensures that the notifications are helpful. You’re also not spamming their inbox with newsletters.
With this advice, we hope you can continue to update your clients with confidence.
As a business, this provides a tricky problem. Where is the line between updating your customers, and frustrating them? After all, you may need to call them, and a newsletter might be something they’ve signed up for. Where do you strike the line, especially because everyone has their own tastes and considerations.