A business should always have standard operating hours to allow employees to work and rest when needed, but that does not mean your business has to stop completely. Even if you have a brick-and-mortar store with set business hours that close at a specific time, your online business will keep going. Online stores never close, and when your customers are up at 2 am shopping on your website and have a question, they need to get some form of response. These after business hours marketing tactics will help promote growth in your SMB.
Invest in a Voicemail Service
Phone systems for SMBs must be a little more sophisticated than just your standard answering machine message stating for the customer to call back during business hours. A voicemail service allows the SMB owner to configure the system to direct customers to the specific person they are trying to reach, along with an area they can leave a general message for the business. When configuring your voicemail message, including business hours and an email address directly to the owner. Although you may not directly respond to all emails, you can address the most critical ones showing your customers that they matter to you outside of business hours, not just when the SMB is open.
Chatbots Help on Social Media and Your Website
These days, social media is the way people get their messages to companies throughout the world, and chatbots are helping to make the ability to offer 24-hour service easier than ever before. These integrated additions to your social media outlets and your website help promote an immediate response to customer’s questions.
A chatbot is enabled with smart technology that can answer most questions to the customer's satisfaction. If the chatbot is unable to answer a question, they can direct the customer to the appropriate person that will be available during business hours. Chatbots help alleviates the strain of worrying about responding to every customer. It gives you the option of answering common questions without paying staff to do it for you.
Hire Someone to Respond
Some businesses need to have a live person available 24 hours a day for their customers. If your SMB tends to get a lot of out of business hours queries, investing in an individual or team to answer customer questions 24/7 might be the best option. When considering this avenue for your SMB, carefully weigh the cost of hiring someone against how much business you actually do outside of business hours. Sometimes it is worth hiring a team of at least an individual to content with customers, but ensure it is the most cost-effective solution for your business before committing.
Automate Emails for After Hours
Sending emails to customers to promote new products and services is a great way to keep customers in the loop and remind them of your SMB. Email marketing is among the top ways to improve customer interaction. Still, if you only limit your emails to business hours, you may be competing with an endless slue of other businesses doing the same thing. A great way to combat the competition is to automate emails for after-hours. Emails can be set up to go out at a specific time, so having someone sending them out every time is unnecessary. Email marketing with automated emails frees up your time and gives your employees the ability to reach customers still less competitively.
Consider when you clear out your own personal inbox. Generally, during the middle of the day or when you arrive at the office, you will have many emails. Unless one catches your eye, you generally delete everything to clear out the inbox. However, while relaxing in the evening, emails that come into your inbox tend to be more attractive as they come in one at a time. The same concept can be used for your customers, so automating emails for delivery outside of business hours is often more beneficial.
Your business can and will run after business hours, and these tips can help you get the most out of your SMB while providing ultimate customer service to your global customer base. Expanding your business to an outside-of-business-hour model does not have to be expensive, but in the instance, you need to pay a little more to increase business and customer satisfaction, it will be worth it.
