Bert Swope
Texting and chat are effective tools for communicating with customers, but adhering to some simple best practices is essential. Doing so guarantees the intended recipient reads and understands your messages.
First and foremost, always ensure to ask permission before texting someone. Doing so can help avoid violating the law as well as your customer’s privacy.
1. Be available
You can use a few strategies to make your text messaging and chat campaigns seem more genuine and human. One of them is addressing the recipient by name — this makes your message sound more personal, creating an atmosphere of one-on-one conversation.
Another essential trait when texting someone is being accessible. This is particularly pertinent if you communicate with customers and prospects via text. Don’t bombard them with promotional messages or sales offers that negatively affect their experience and perception of your business.
You should also be able to respond promptly to their texts, without waiting for them to send an email back. Doing so can feel intrusive and reinforces the impression that you’re not a priority to them.
Leave people hanging for days is never a sign of being available. It can put strain on your relationship and indicate you may be feeling overwhelmed and overloaded with tasks.
Make plans with your partner, but don’t be overly eager. Being too available may give the impression that you don’t have a life of your own and are just waiting for them to do something with you. To prevent this from happening, be sure to say no occasionally; otherwise, you could feel taken advantage of and exhausted by the experience.
2. Be professional
When texting for business purposes, your communication must be professional. Not only will this demonstrate that you value and respect your customers, but it can also make your company appear and sound more trustworthy.
Professionalism should always be the goal when texting customers or sending direct messages to employees. One of the best ways to accomplish this is by including pertinent information in your messages – like employee schedules or weekly updates – in a short, concise message so staff members can quickly respond and take appropriate action.
Another essential element in communication is your tone of voice. While employees may be delighted to hear from you, a friendly tone can go a long way in making sure that all communications feel personal rather than just business-related.
As a general guideline, stick to plain English without using abbreviations or shortcuts that aren’t widely known, and limit the use of emojis. While they can help convey a message more effectively, they can distract and appear unprofessional. When creating texting or chat-related content, utilize tools that automatically check for spelling and grammar mistakes. These services like TopEssayWriting or Grammarly can help identify misspellings and improve readability by automatically correcting them.
3. Keep the conversation going
Texting is an effective way to stay in touch and communicate, but conversations do have their natural ebbs and flows. If it seems like the other person has run out of things to say during your conversation, keep the energy high by steering the conversation towards something they’ll enjoy discussing.
If you’re unsure what to discuss, think of an event from your life that they might find interesting. If you’re feeling particularly creative, add some personality to your messages with emojis or GIFs.
The conversation is usually best accomplished through curiosity and asking questions about someone’s life. Showing interest in them, their thoughts and opinions is usually the best way to keep the conversation moving forward.
A thoughtful question will allow her to open up and reveal some of what matters to her, while encouraging you to build a closer bond. Alternatively, if she’s mentioned an interest or hobby you both share, take this as an opportunity to learn more.
Don’t be shy to ask lots of questions. She will appreciate the effort and that you’re trying to build a relationship through communication rather than just casual conversations.
Once she answers a question, be sure to follow up with more questions that take it further. Doing this will allow you to get to know her better and encourage her to invest more in your relationship.
Always maintain a polite and respectful demeanor while being mindful of your tone. Avoid leaving an unpleasant impression or turning a potential date into a frustrating experience for your crush. When it’s time to end the conversation, be respectful and provide them with a concise explanation of why it must end.
4. Know when to end a conversation
Knowing when to end a text messaging or chat session can be invaluable regardless of who initiated the conversation or was leaving it. Not only will it save time and effort if you can conclude things on your terms, but it will also ensure a successful conclusion.
People often give subtle cues that they are ready to end the conversation. You might notice someone looking away, checking their phone, or backing away from the table. If you know someone’s personality well enough, it will be easy to tell when they’re ready to depart, and politely saying goodbye won’t make them feel rude.
If you are conversing with a friend or family member, setting an end time for it may be beneficial. You could even schedule it, so you both know when to end the chat.
Researchers have noted that conversations rarely end when the speaker and listener desire them to. In two studies, 932 individuals were asked when they had wanted their conversations to end and when they estimated the other’s desire for them to stop.
They found that the average discrepancy between desired and actual duration of a conversation was half its total length, suggesting humans struggle with determining when to end a conversation.
The study also discovered how a conversation ends can shape our perceptions of its quality. If there’s excessive emotional disclosure (like an argument), people might assume it was worse than it actually was; conversely, if there’s much back-and-forth, people may conclude it was much better than anticipated.
