I do not like sending text for business. I find them to be
too personal. I would send the text the same way I send
an email. I would start with whom it may concern, the body
of text, then sincerely , then my name and contact info
other. I would not use slang or abbreviations these are
unprofessional. This form of communication can be effect if you
stay professional and it is quickest way to get a reply of
people are busy. If who ever uses this form of communication
sets boundaries about texting their customers and the customers
texting them it can be effect and a great way to communicate.
I think more and more people will use this form of
communication in the future but I prefer email of a phone
call to keep a professional element. I also would not want
customers to have my personal phone number. If everyone has
your personal numbers it can cause issues for employees sometimes.
Business Communication should only use texting as a last resort
to give information, as the receiver of the information can
interpret the message in multiple ways and tones that could
reflect negatively on the sender. When communicating via text
message I believe it is important to begin the text with a
greeting as well as clear precise information so that it can
not be interpreted wrong lastly ending the text with an option
to follow up with a phone call or email will help let
them know that if the message wasn't clear they can have
options for guidance. I feel that the text message should include
the same elements as an email. A text message to customers
should contain a subject line to inform him or her of what
the text is concerning, a greeting that is formal but not too
casual, and the body of the text should contain the message
that is to be delivered, any meeting arrangements, and the
details about the meeting. A behavior that should be avoided
during a professional text includes slang and talk-texting. It is
definitely possible to remain professional and still communicate via
text however it is essential to always check for grammatical
errors, and never replying with a single word. I feel that in
the future, all employers will communicate with their customers
and employees via text. I think half the world already does.
While texting a message to a customer, it is necessary to
formally start the interaction with a greeting. It is necessary to
ensure that negative or sensitive questions are avoided. Similarly,
it is necessary to focus on quality content. Even if the
message is short, it should be valuable for the customer. Short
answer options must be provided to the customer as it will
ensure a faster reply.
In the text channel of communication, it is necessary to maintain
a cordial and friendly tone. While replying to the customer,
very short replies or one-word answers must be avoided as it
can imply that the service provider is not giving due importance
to the customer. In order to make sure that communication is
professional, it is necessary to respond in a timely manner 10
Best Practices for Communicating With Clients Via Text. (2015,
August 17).. Even if the degree of personalization is restricted
in the digital form of communication, it is necessary to be
sensitive to the customer’s knowledge and understanding. Similarly,
simple and understandable language needs to be used during
digital communication so that the lack of face-to-face interaction
will not hinder the engagement process.
The future of texting as a form of business communication
seems to be bright. But it is necessary for businesses to
focus on the quality and simplicity of the interaction process.
When it comes to talking to a customer you should first
introduce yourself and why you are contacting the customer along
with a nice greeting also. What texting behaviors that should
be avoided would shorting spelling like how nowadays it is
common to shorten words while texting like you to u. Things
like this should be avoided to have the conversation not be
misunderstood or seemed like you don't want to bother with
the conversation this can be a huge deal for a customer they
might feel disrespected or they might feel like you are wasting
time. So for me I know if I have an issue with something
and I communicate with an employee and they respond to me
in a sarcastic way or in way I don't expect to be treated
then I get mad and start giving more attitude and just make
things harder and a bigger deal. So having good communications
at all times lets the conversation get to the point and solve
the issues or come to an understanding about an issue. When
sending a text message to a customer, the elements that should
be included in the message should be an introduction of
yourself so that they are aware of who is texting them,
including a professional greeting. You should avoid using abbreviations
or internet slang, such as LOL (laugh out loud) or TTYS
(talk to you soon), these terms are not professional, and the
receiver may not be aware of what they mean. A text
message should be short, but gets to the point, the last thing
you want to do is send an extremely long text message,
which may be received in several different paragraphs and can
cause confusion to the reader when trying to piece the message
together. Text messaging can be a great form of communication,
as it allows the receiver the opportunity to read it and
respond when they have time. Texting is a good way to
schedule a business meeting with someone, or to follow up on
a business meeting to see if the person is still interested
and would want to further discuss any topics, texting puts less
pressure on the receiver than a face to face or phone call
follow up. I personally think that texting will become more
prevalent in the future for business communication, it allows you
to connect with anyone at any time, however, I don’t think
that everything related to business should be communicated via
text, I think there should be a mix of texting, emailing and
phone communication. As an example, if we are negotiating, I
would prefer to negotiate via email, face to face, or a phone
call, rather then a text message, and if I am sending a
contract to someone, I wouldn’t send it via text message
attachment, I would send it via email. I would like to start
by saying that as someone who has had the luxury of
technology growing up, I have had a hard time adjusting to
it. As a 26 year I do not have social media and my
phone is usually nowhere close by. With that being said I
do much better with face to face communication, and if
necessary phone calls will do. More recently a friend of mine
has given me his business, and the communication through texts
and phone calls is an adjustment. I have to call to set up
appointments, confirm, appointments, cancel appointments, and check
back to make sure they are happy with the service. When
I call to confirm I usually start with a Hello, this is Ariel
with (blank). I follow that with how are you today? I don't
ask for a name, but I do say "I was just calling to
confirm your appointment for (blank) at 12pm. After that I
give them my estimated time of arrival, whether that be 5
minutes early or late, and I say "I will see you soon,
thank you and goodbye". Usually it goes pretty smooth. I try
to smile when I talk to customers. Texting is a bit harder,
but in a text I say the same thing, adding that I have
left a voicemail on their answering machine, and my contact
information for questions. I use punctuation, and proper grammar,
as well as spell check. Professional, does not have to mean
rigid, with no personality, but there are little things we can
do to remain ourselves, and speak properly, and respectfully in
a work environment. When your employer asks you to send a
text to a customer you need to include professionalism and
formal vocabulary, avoiding slang terms. Being mindful of your
words is key to a successful professional text message. Emoticons
are the new way of expressing your emotions in a text
message. In a professional manner, it is best to avoid these
symbols of expression. Be short but informative in your professional
text message. Being direct helps your customer understand what
you want and need, including no more then two sentences. For
example, begin your text with a simple greeting and ending
with kind regards including your name or business. In my
opinion, I believe texting can be a great way of business
communication when done in a professional manner. It can be
a quicker way to receive a faster response when in hurry
of an answer. It can save company time and finish a job
faster. Receiving faster answers to your questions in regards of
your company also leads to success in the long run of your
business. If my employer asked me to text a customer I
would first want to get a few details of what expectations
my employer has in sending a message. Can my boss tell
me anything about what this costumer is like and what I
should expect in terms of what kind of communication that I
need to use? What message does my employer want me to
send and what type of information do I need to include to
be sure the receiver is able to understand and process the
content? I would introduce myself and who my employer is. I
am not texting or emailing a friend or posting a comment
on social media. I need to be mindful in that when I
type my message. I want to avoid being too casual with the
costumer and make sure that I am writing with appropriate
grammar and tone. I need to conduct myself as a professional
and write in that manner as well. I can be professional with
this form of communication by using a proper greeting or
introduction, knowing my research prior to writing my message,
learning what my target audience or person is about, and being
able to communicate my point in a clear and understanding
way. By knowing and understanding the message that my employer
wants to relay to the customer, it will allow me to properly
be effective when I write the message. By using effective
methods such as being practical, factual, concise, and clear, using
this channel of communication can still be effective. My thoughts
on the future of texting as a form of business communication
is that I would tend to disagree with this form of relaying
messages. Text messages to me already seem to be an informal
way of communicating already. For instance, I only use texting
to friends and family to send a quick message that I may
want them to see right away. If something is of importance
and I have to be sure someone understands what I am
asking for and need, then a phone call to me is the most
effective way. By calling someone I can quickly relay the
message I need to, get a quick answer, and most importantly
to me is to be able to read the tone in their voice and
be confident that my message was properly received. To me
in the work place, I believe calling their direct line or
sending an e-mail is the professional way to communicate. Also,
in text ,it is hard to pick up someone's tone and a lot
can be misinterpreted. The elements of communication that should
be included in the message (greeting) would be the verbal or
nonverbal content being conveyed in a communication encounter is
the verbal or nonverbal content being conveyed from sender to
receiver. For example, when you say "Hello!" to your friend
you are sending a message of greeting that ill be received
by your friend. The texting behaviors that I feel should be
avoided would be complaints, insults, explanations and apologies,
questions about the other person's behavior, bombshells, heavy topics,
private information, and secrets. I feel that you can effectively
communicate in this channel of communication yet still be
professional. I feel that some ways would be an open meeting,
emails, one on one, create a receptive atmosphere, communication
via training, display confidence and seriousness,use simple words,
and use visuals. My thoughts on the future of texting as a
form of business communication would be to make sure that
I always stay professional at all times in the workplace. I
feel that it is very important to make sure that I am
always stay professional no matter what the situation may be.
Your employer asks you to send a text to a customer.What
elements of communication should be included in the message?
The elements that i would include in the text message is I
would introduce myself first and say who I am writing on
behalf of. I would have a greeting, proper grammar, correct
spelling, important information only and most important a clear
closing. The texting behaviors that i would avoid are abbreviations
of words, incomplete sentence, improper grammar, and profanity,
etc. Those are some of the things that you shouldn't include
in a professional text. In my opinion you can effectively
communicate in this channel of communication by being strictly
professional. you have to keep a direct subject line and have
a clear closing, therefore the message would be clear on both
ends. What are your thoughts on the future of texting as a
form of business communication? In my opinion I don't think
that having a important professional conversation through text
messaging is a great idea. Because things can always get
misunderstood through a text message especially when it comes
to important business that should always be handle over phone
or in person. But far as a quick message just giving location
or meeting information is fine because its quick, simple and
straight to the point. If I was sending an email to a
customer I would want to be as professional as possible, I
would have a greeting with their name if it wasn't for
specific person I would make it out to whom it may concern.
I would want to make it just directly what the email is
regarding and to make sure not to go on and on but other
things that don't need to be in the email. Also I need to
make sure the way I'm constructing everything I am saying or
asking I don't want them to take it the wrong way or get
a different idea about what I am asking or letting them
know. i think in a text you can be professional as long
as you aren't carry on separate conversations while trying to
be professional as well. Also you need to make sure your
client or person you are reaching out to is comfortable texting
you about business or if they would rather keeping it over
the phone or just through email. When I send a text message
to a customer I would include a proper greeting. Also I
would add an introduction of myself and the reason for the
text message. If there are any additional information needed from
the customer or further information needed of the customer.
Finally end the letter with a way of contacting me or my
employer including extensions, email and business hours. What
should not be included in that text messages would be emojis
or internet slang, for example, OMG and LOL. Another behavior
that should not be used would be writing in all capital
letters. A client may take that as I am yelling, not in
excitement but in anger depending on the context it is being
used. I believe that a person can be professional using text
messaging. I communicate with my manager and district manager
via text messaging often. Now the company does have text
reminders for customers but we do not contact customer through
text, just by phone calls. I have seen that there are many
forms of communication that has stopped previous years prior, so
I will not be surprised when texting takes over. When sending
a text to a customer some key elements that should be
included in the message such as the greeting would be to
start off with introducing yourself and where it is you are
calling from. That is in your place of work. For example,
Good afternoon Philip. This is Nicole Girton from Great Clips.
I am calling in regards to your recent experience here with
us. Please feel free to call me back at 269.123.4567 at your
earliest convenience. Thank you! Again this is Nicole Girton,
269.123.4567 from Great Clips thank you and enjoy the rest
of your day. In this weeks video on the Do's and Don'ts
he brought up a few great pointers on how to effectively
and efficiently communicate via email or text and even video
chat. I do feel this way of communication will be quite
effective as we go on further because time is always a factor
in being able to get or give a job and so forth. In
effective ways of communication would be to use abbreviation
when communicating and any kind of e-slang. You want to be
able to come off educated and professional in that this is
your first impression. The elements of communication that should
be included in the text message are the sender, message,
receiver and the medium and the feedback. These are the basic
elements of the communication in which goes into of sending
a text message out to a customer. Some texting behaviors that
should be avoided when sending a text message to a customer
are abbreviations, and one worded responses this can come off
to the customer that your not professional and that your
uneducated. I would effectively communicate by sending the text
message out because I could obviously connect quicker and get
my answer much faster. On top of that it would save me
from all the junk inside of my email the clutter of single
word and single sentence emails and still be professional. My
thoughts on using texting in the future as a form of business
communication Is that i think its a great idea. I believe that
texting is appropriate for certain business occasions just as long
as it is kept professional its avoids being on the phone for
hours. If I was asked to send a text message to a
customer, I would make sure my professionalism is at the
forefront. My greeting would include a "Good Morning" followed
by an introduction and the company of which I am sending
the message. I would avoid using any type of abbreviations
and emojis. The message would be clear and to the point.
I would proofread to make sure all possible questions are
answered by my message if it permits. I think that text
messages and emails can be easily misconstrued. If the message
being sent is clear, this avoids misinterpretation. The Do's and
Dont's video expressed the importance of sticking to one topic
at a time. Texts and emails are easily confused if too many
topics are mixed. I agree with the points in the video
regarding text messages and this form of communication being a
temporary means until a formal meeting can be orchestrated. Text
messages are a good way to get a message over to someone
quickly. Especially when last minute changes need to take place.
This also depends on the nature of your job. For example,
it is very normal for us at my job to communicate via
text message because we are always on the go. I am a
fan of face to face interactions. The ways of the world are
changing, and it's up to us to adapt. I think it when it
comes to sending a customer a text message you should always
be professional and respectful. How you communicate also depends
on why you are texting a customer in the first place. I
would to think if you have the customers phone number then
you probably already know them on a personal level. You
should definitely leave out the normal way we communicate to
our friends through texting or even the internet. Make sure
your grammar and punctuation is perfect as well. I do not
think texting a customer is professional at all, it should be
done through the company's email, especially if it has to do
with the business. When your using your personal phone or
email anything you say can be deleted because that is your
own personal belongings. If it was done through a company's
email then they have records of everything you have said as
well as what the customer has said to. I think that is
very important because this type of situation can easily turn
into a he said she said situation. When addressing a customer,
you should always use Mr., Mrs., or Ms. as a sign of
respect. Some phones tend to be on the smaller side, which
means smaller print. Save your customer from straining their eyes
and leave the message, short, clear, and to the point. It is
important to avoid abbreviations and short hand writing, such as
"u" for you or "ppl" for people. Don't get so informal that
you forget to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Since texting is a relatively new way of communicating (and
depending when you were born, may seem informal or
unprofessional), it is always good to let the customer know
they have a way of opting out of text messages by giving
an alternate way of communication (i.e. email or telephone
number). Personally, when it comes to large businesses (business
with thousands of employees and customers across the board,
such as Comcast) I don't think text should be used as
communication. There are too many ways things could get lost
in translation among staff, and when it comes to contacting
customers via text, some may feel that it is an intrusive.
Many people use text messaging for personal use and don't
want to be bombarded by company texts (wanting to make a
clear line between personal and business). There may be a
small exception for a very small company if higher ups
(supervisors, union representatives) specifically request that you do
for faster communication, but for the most part, I think that
direct phone calls and email should be used for professional
communication. The future of texting to communicate with business
can be effective and ineffective because texting can get
misinterpreted real quickly. Everyone has their own style of
texting. Not every business will understand the problem , question
or concerns quickly if the text is not an a email form of
communication. Through email , words are spell out , punctuated
, and complete sentences. Text message , are abbreviated on a
lot of words. but does take days to get a reply back.
Through text , business will respond quickly and can assist the
problem quicker than a email. Although they can get flooded
with emails if they have an ongoing problems with services
they are providing to customers. Technology is advancing everyday
and communication is virtue on both side. Business and customers
goes hand to hand . Some texting behaviors that should be
avoided is using slang, improper english, and not using correct
grammar. How I can effectively communicate in this channel of
communication, and still be professional is by implementing these
proper ways of communication via text message in both my
professional and personal life. My personal thoughts of texting as
a form of business communication is, in general I think text
messaging is informal communication. If a business is communicating
with me I would prefer them to only contact me via email
mainly due to the fact that most of my text messages that
are sent and received from my phone are from friends and
family and I have grown accustomed to text messages being
informal. Even when my boss text messages me he is informal
in they way he communicates via text message as opposed to
when he emails me or my team. When sending a text to
a customer you should consider using elements of communication
it should include with the communication process which involves
understanding, sharing, and meaning, and it consists of eight
essential elements: source, message, channel, receiver, feedback,
environment, context, and interference.
There are many texting behaviors that should be avoided, they
consist of insults, complaints, heavy topics, private information and
abbreviations.
Ways to effectively communicate in this channel of communication
and still be professional. Messages is the most widely used
tool for business communication at the work place. When your
message is poorly written, unclear, misleading or ineffective could
leave a poor impression on the reader and does not look
good for yourself. It is best to organize your thoughts in a
logical sequence before writing the message. Always be sure to
keep your message clear and brief.I do believe the future of
texting as a form of business communication is a great way
to engage with your customer on the channels they prefer your
customer can easily get in touch with you, it is easy and
convenient.
