Today’s guest blog was provided to Nationwide Marketing Group by Podium. Click here to see the original post.

Customers don’t just want instant results; they expect them. Podium Webchat and Feedback platforms allow you to deliver on this. The platforms offer real-time messaging so your business can connect with customers within seconds.

When customers have a time-sensitive question, they expect immediate answers. They are no longer willing to wait days for a response or spend what-feels-like a decade on hold. In fact, 82 percent of customers expect a reply in under 10 minutes. Are you set up to field these real-time questions?

With Webchat and Feedback, you can drive new business by communicating with customers at the speed they expect. Why? Because businesses can no longer answer questions at a leisurely pace.

Be the Hero When Your Customer Needs You the Most

Urgent questions require immediate replies. Customers might need to schedule a clinic appointment, find a locksmith, or learn how quickly they can have a tire repaired. Customers with pressing questions are not in the mood to wait. If they feel their questions are being ignored, they will quickly move onto a competitor.

For customers under stress, there is only a critical window of time for you to engage with them. When response time is of the essence, Webchat’s real-time messaging lets you quickly ease customer anxiety. Your customer will see you as the hero and trust your business for future needs.

Bring in Immediate Business by Answering Last-Minute Questions

These days, business owners don’t have the luxury of replying to customer questions at their leisure. Customers are no longer tethered to landlines at home or tied to their desks; they can now ask last-minute questions while on-the-go. Perhaps they are just around the corner from your business, confused about where to find parking. They may ask about your closing hours as they are leaving a nearby meeting or want to stop in while rushing to pick their kids up from school.

In these types of situations, you’ll lose the customer if you don’t answer within a small window of time. You don’t want to miss questions from customers that are “on the way.” Ignored customers will bypass your business or push the visit to the following week. By that time, they have likely forgotten about you altogether. With Webchat, you can significantly increase your walk-in business by communicating with customers on their schedule.

Find Out Customer Attitudes in Real-Time

Have you ever received a survey from a company long after doing business with them? By that time, you’ve likely forgotten the details of your positive experience. Even worse, you’ve already spread details of your negative experience to friends and family.

With Feedback, you can send immediate surveys and hear back within minutes. Surveys live right in the text message and do not require clicking off to separate or lengthy pages. With this convenient method, customers are far more likely to reveal their opinions, so you can capture customer enthusiasm or quickly fix a problem.

Reach Customers when the Time is Right

Take advantage of real-time communication by treating your customers to delightful, unexpected experiences. Imagine a customer vacationing at a resort with questions about the happy hour menu or pool hours. While an offer sent via email might get read days later, 90 percent of text messages are read within three seconds. With Webchat, you can follow-up with personalized, exclusive offers like free poolside appetizers or upgrade reservations to the best seat in the house.

Perhaps a customer reached out with a question while wandering a trade show or convention. With an ill-timed reply, the customer might already be home or back in their hotel room. With a real-time reply, you can answer questions on-the-spot and invite a customer to visit your booth for a special giveaway.

Get Podium Webchat and Feedback

Missing customer questions can lead to lost business and unhappy customers. With Webchat and Feedback, you can capitalize on these time-sensitive opportunities. Real-time messaging empowers you to drive new business to your brick-and-mortar, or offer tailored promotions that improve your customer’s experience.

Elsy Discount Tire Pros knows how important speed is when repairing someone’s sole way of getting around. They noticed customers were constantly on their phones checking for updates and saw this as a great vehicle for delivering critical service updates. Using Webchat, the company sends out repair statuses and brings in new customers by answering urgent about location and business hours. Leveraging immediate, real-time communication, customers now view Elsy Discount Pros as a reliable, dependable repair shop.