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Communication

10 Ways to Engage with Your Customer on Slack

Paulina
Content Writer
July 15, 2022

Nearly 80% of Fortune 100 companies use Slack for internal communications and external collaboration with partners and clients. Slack is one of the most popular team-messaging platforms for business, and it’s easy to see why.

Slack eliminates the need to rely on emails to manage internal communications. In addition, it facilitates an easy search function within channels and seamless file sharing while integrating with just about any popular business application.

But the advantages don’t stop here. Thanks to Slack Connect, you can also quickly and effectively collaborate with your partners, contractors, and clients without needing to jump multiple platforms or drown in endless email threads. 

How to Engage Customers and Partners on Slack?

1. Introduce Your Customers to Slack Connect

First and foremost, you need to bring your customers on board by sending an invitation to a Slack Connect Channel. Once they join, you can start collaborating and getting the work flowing.

2. Be Strategic About Your Channels 

Stop and think about the projects and the work you’re going to do with a particular client. You will need more than one channel if you work on multiple projects simultaneously. So, don’t throw your customers and partners into one space, as it will quickly become confusing having to distinguish between different projects, responsibilities, and tasks.

3. Send an Introductory Channel Message to Communicate Expectations

Now that your consumers are on the channel, they are just as eager to get started as you are. But Slack Connect could be a new concept to them, so you’ll need to do some explaining to fully engage them and ensure that they understand how to maximize their value using the platform.

Creating and pinning to the top an introductory message will allow you to set the ground rules, such as the best ways to reach you and your team, the standard turnaround time for attending queries, ways to escalate pressing matters, and so on.

4. Establish Workflows With Emojis

Emojis are a powerful tool in Slack, as they can help effectively streamline workflows and bring visibility to customer requests. You can use emojis to indicate that you saw your customer's request and are working on a solution or to alert them that the request has been addressed.

Utilizing emojis will benefit you and your customers as they reduce unnecessary back-and-forth and clutter while providing easy status updates that your customer will appreciate.

5. Tap into Slack Integrations for Enhanced Engagement

It’s only natural that messages don’t always suffice when speaking to your customers. You might want to jump on a conference call via Zoom or Microsoft Teams to explain the new features of your product or share a bunch of documents via Google Drive—third-party integrations can help focus work in one place.

In addition, integrations remove friction and make it easier for your customers to engage with your team.

6. Triage Issues and Address Customer Feedback Using Conversational Ticketing

Customers dislike submitting a support ticket when they encounter an issue with your product or service. The dread that fills them when they have to explain all the ins and outs of the problem, when and how it occurs, and who it affects—it all causes a great deal of frustration.

However, Slack can be used as a positive channel for your customers to communicate issues and get them swiftly resolved without needing to provide additional context.

With solutions like Thena, it has never been easier to transform discussions into actionable tasks and route them toward the right people to be addressed. 

Thena features conversational ticketing that allows you to streamline Slack channels with your customers by recognizing customer asks in the messages and converting them into Thena requests. Think about it as a productive way to engage your customers when they need you the most, removing the necessity to follow up while giving complete visibility into the requests’ status.

Want to find out more? Click here for more information.

7. Create a Customer Community on Slack

One study found that on a 5-point scale, B2B buyers rate the importance of self-service tools at 4.41—an aspect you should capitalize on when engaging your customers in Slack. 

Slack has robust search capabilities, which can be utilized as a knowledge base. 

You simply need to create a Slack-based customer community channel where your clients can quickly use the "search" option to discover if their questions have already been raised and addressed. They can even look up essential files or dig up some context on a decision made a few weeks ago.

8. Encourage Your Customers to Use Slack’s Mobile App

People are constantly on the go, so it’s critical to find effective ways to engage with them via their preferred channels and devices. The good news is that your team and your customer can tap into the full potential of Slack’s Mobile App and keep the communications flowing no matter where.

9. Avoid Communication Overload

Keeping your customers in the loop is a good idea, but overloading them with all the nitty-gritty details can put them off. Constant alerts and status updates can make it hard to distinguish between what’s truly important and what messages are sent simply for the context.

Engaging your customer via Slack is about being concise and to the point. Your customers are busy, and so are you; thus, respect their time and watch their appreciation grow.

10. Don’t Shy Away From Building Deeper Relationships

Naturally, you spend a lot of time working one-on-one with your business customers, which leads to deeper conversations that might not always revolve around work.

We’re social creatures, so connecting on a more personal level can be a great way to build sustainable and trusting relationships with your customers. Since the platform supports real-time conversations, it's easy to have more personal talks, such as sharing vacation plans or humorous stories from daily life.

Even More Ways to Level Up Your Customer Engagement on Slack

  • Welcome Channel Creation: Establish a special channel to greet new customers. Offer them key details about your product or service.
  • Leverage Bots: Tap into Slack bots for automating everyday tasks, offering facts, or delighting customers with games and trivia.
  • Q&A Time: Set up routine Q&A meet-ups. It's a chance for customers to throw questions, share thoughts, and connect with your crew.
  • Spread the Word: Let your customers in on the latest by regularly sharing news on new features, product enhancements, and what's happening with the company through specific channels.
  • Offer Support: Ensure customer support is prompt and helpful. Create ways for customers to seek assistance or advice.
  • Contests and Giveaways: Amp up engagement with exciting contests, fun quizzes, or giveaways, rewarding customers who actively participate.
  • Gather Insights: Craft surveys or polls to capture customer feedback on their experience with your product or service.
  • Go Virtual: Dive into online happenings like webinars, workshops, or AMAs. It's your chance to engage with your audience live.
  • Spotlight Success Tales: Highlight testimonials or examples from happy clients. Inspire the crowd. Foster unity.
  • Mark the Moments: Acknowledge customers’ successes, birthdays, or anniversaries. It shows you care and fortifies bonds.
  • Promote User Contributions: Urge customers to share insights, advice, or top methods on specific channels to build a united community.
  • Share valuable insights: Offer useful industry knowledge, articles, or resources to inform and benefit your customers.
  • Build a Knowledge Hub: Set up a go-to source with FAQs, how-tos, and walkthroughs for anytime customer self-assistance.
  • Make It Personal: Use their names, answer their unique questions, and truly care.
  • Collecting Ideas: Source ideas or suggestions for features directly from your customers. Let them play a part in crafting what comes next for your products.
  • Survey Time: Whip up quick Slack polls or surveys. Perfect for collecting thoughts on fresh features, services, or tweaks. Great way to tap into what customers really want.
  • Add Emoji Feedback: Make it simple for users to share their reactions instantly. Add emojis as a quick response feature to messages for effortless interaction.
  • Organize AMA Sessions: Set up Ask Me Anything (AMA) events with company leaders or product specialists. They'll answer queries and foster clarity.

Elevate Customer Engagement With Thena

At Thena, we’re passionate about empowering organizations to meet customers where they already are while providing more rapid service, easing the burden on teams, and making everybody more efficient.

Acquire, Service & Grow customers in Slack
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