You’re a small business owner looking to improve customer service and experience because you know that customer retention and customer loyalty are far more valuable in the long run compared to mere customer acquisition. It’s why 88% of companies are placing critical importance on delivering stronger customer experiences.
You also know that omnichannel engagement is important, but you’re facing challenges related to limited time and resources. Your customer support team already has their hands full managing existing channels, and you can’t afford to hire more staff or purchase expensive digital platforms.
Here’s where communication APIs can help. Communication APIs, often available as communications platform as a service (CPaaS) offerings, are simple and cost-effective solutions that empower small businesses all over the world to transform existing customer engagement strategies and grow their customer base.
Here are some ways that communication APIs can help your team work smarter, not harder, while simultaneously improving both customer and employee experiences.
APIs replace manual processes with low-cost automation
Imagine being able to serve customers faster, even outside of typical business hours. Your employees spend less time on repetitive, manual processes, allowing them to increase productivity while spending their valuable energy on more complex service issues and providing highly personalized engagement that boosts customer satisfaction.
With communication APIs, all that is now possible. Yes, even for small businesses.
For instance, 8×8 Connect’s Automation Builder allows you to build automated messaging flows across multiple channels, such as SMS, WhatsApp, voice calls, and more. It gives you a quick start to omnichannel automation using pre-built templates, such as auto-replies or out-of-office notifications. Or, you can customize specific fields and your own communication workflow to strengthen that personal touch.
The best part: it’s a no-code, drag-and-drop solution that can be seamlessly integrated into your existing customer relationship management (CRM) tools. You can even connect your CRM to selected channels.
APIs help you manage multiple conversations with ease
One of the biggest challenges of implementing omnichannel communications is integration. Remember that multi-channel is not the same as omnichannel.
Omnichannel customer service means that customers are able to jump between channels without feeling like they’re starting a new conversation every time they switch between SMS, chat app, or voice calls. Without integration, your customer service team or contact center will likely find themselves being overwhelmed by the different conversation streams coming in from various channels.
Communication APIs allow for small businesses to consolidate and access all their engagement channels on a single platform. Therefore, you can keep the same team size, but double, triple, and even quadruple the amount of engagement. A centralized, two-way conversation dashboard, such as 8×8 Converse, makes communications management much more streamlined while empowering your team with the information they need, when they need it, to truly deliver next-level service.
APIs can kickstart omnichannel in an instant
Because communication APIs come pre-built, are easy to use, and can be integrated into any existing tech stack, small businesses are able to get their omnichannel strategies off the ground almost instantly.
Communication APIs in general require minimal integration, usually involving only a few lines of code to connect your communication channels to your business applications, whether that’s a CRM tool or an eCommerce platform. Even better, APIs allow you to embed chat directly into your own web or mobile app, so that customers can instantly click a button to connect with you without having to leave your owned platforms.
There are also messaging campaign management CPaaS solutions available, such as 8×8 Connect, for example, which require no coding. Simply add your chat app channels or SMS numbers and you can start immediately engaging with customers from the desktop app.
APIs can future-proof customer service communications
When you think of technology as an investment, you want to make sure that you choose a solution that’s not just right for now, but also right for the future.
There are many different types of communication APIs, including SMS, chat apps, voice, and video, depending on what works best for your business. Perhaps you’re only engaging on SMS and voice calls right now, but would love to incorporate more chat apps or even video calls into your communications mix in the future. Or maybe you’re thinking about eventually expanding into the Philippines or Vietnam, where Viber and Zalo are more popular.
For small business owners with ambitions to grow their presence, especially beyond borders, choosing the right communications API provider is instrumental. You’ll want a partner that can offer you the versatility and freedom to adapt and expand your engagement strategy along with your business objectives.
Having a CPaaS solution that gives you the flexibility for growth, while keeping data privacy and security at its core, will provide the strong foundation you need to continue thriving in the future.
The bottom line: Communication APIs help small businesses realize big dreams
Streamlined workflows, increased efficiency and productivity, cost savings, and top-quality engagement for longer-term, and higher-value customer relationships: these are just some of the benefits that small business owners can experience with the help of communication APIs. But don’t just take it from us—hear directly from small business owners like Alex Tan from the Recommend Group who managed to triple customer conversions and expand their marketing strategy in a span of a few months. Andrew Gonzales of A.B.C. Services managed to build customer trust, strengthen work-life balance, and continue growing, even in the face of new and emerging challenges.
Schedule a demo today, or learn more about how to use 8×8 Communication APIs to improve productivity and satisfaction for your customer service teams.
