In today’s connected world, people have become used to getting instant responses and answers to their issues and queries. It’s become such a standard expectation that businesses that don’t usually offer instant responses lose out on customers.
If a customer hears about your business for the first time, their first reaction would be to Google it more often than not. Google, in this case, becomes the first point of contact between your company and the customer. Generally, the customer would then go to your website, learn about what your company does, and find out more information through your website. With Google Business Messaging, though, you can add another instant line of communication between yourself and your potential customer.
Think of it this way - usually, when a customer Googles your business, they get instant information about your business, like directions, office timings, as well as an option to instantly call your business number. It’s pretty standard nowadays for users to prefer to chat with a business rather than call, and with GBM, that’s what users can do. You can set up GBM, so users get a chat option as well in the search results. Besides just having human agents handle conversations and answer queries, you can even have a chatbot in place to manage conversations. As your company grows, it becomes the most logical thing to do because you’re not only improving discovery, but chatbots can also handle hundreds of queries at the same time without getting bogged down.
Let’s think about this in a real-world scenario. Consider a business that deals with software. A potential client hears about your company, and the first thing they do is to Google, the company. Now, a user would usually find your website, go through it, and figure things out from your website and come to their conclusions after some research online. In some instances, the potential client may call you with the listed phone number.
In another case, let’s assume the company has Google Business Messenger up and running. In this case, once a client Googles your business, they see the option to chat with your business, and they’re able to instantly chat with a bot or even with a human agent. Why this works for you as a business is because:
In the second case, the potential client is more likely to go with that business because they’re able to get instant responses and information that helps them figure out if and why they should go with your business almost instantly. 46% of Google searches are for local businesses. According to GuestTouch, 67% of customers would instead message a business rather than speak to them. So having GBM set up to allow potential clients to chat with your business essentially instantly means that you’re able to convert leads better and more effectively.
