The phone call is going the way of the dinosaurs! The reality is, people just don’t make phone calls any more. It used to be if I wanted to find a company to fix my air conditioner or order a pizza, I went to a phone book, opened the yellow pages, and found the business that met my needs. Let me ask you a question. When was the last time you opened the yellow pages? It was the 1900’s for me :).
The internet has changed how we get and gather information. But, not only has it changed how we get the information, namely searching a search engine like google. It has also changed the way we interact with that information. There is an entire generation coming up that DOES NOT want to use the phone to make contact. They don’t want to be stuck in a conversation with someone who may ask for information they are not interested in giving out or would waste their time. They prefer to do everything via a text format – whether email or texting. This is why it is VITAL to the success of your organization that you come up with ways to engage your users in the environment they are connecting with you – namely, the web.
I have heard over and over again how companies and leaders prefer to talk over the phone to their customers. I get it, you can be more personable. You can represent your company or organization in a way that shows your personality. But the reality is, your end user is more and more looking for a different format to engage you in and if you don’t figure out ways to do just that, you will miss them.
This means, if you are a restaurant and looking to get new customers – you need to consider doing online ordering. We have built restaurant website and successfully integrated these kinds of features as well as menu’s and other avenues for your customer to engage with you. These kind of features are not beyond the capability of a small business, you just need the right developer. This may mean that doctors offices need to be able to have a mechanism to take appointments over the internet. Wordpress can accomplish this with ease through the use of plugins.
One simple plugin to accomplish this is
Boxy Studio’s Booked Appointments – Appointment Booking for WordPress
This is a premium plugin (which means you pay for the use of it) but it provides some slick functionality.
Engaging your user may be as simple as just using social sharing icons and some great contact forms.
Our church is using Facebook Live to broadcast the service and communicate with people via the comments during the service. There are tons of creative ways to engage your user. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but you do HAVE to figure out ways to meet your customer where they are, with the tools they prefer to use.
How are you finding your industry changing? If you need help figuring out the very best way to engage your audience, don’t hesitate to contact us!
What are some useful plugins you are using to engage customers?