Asynchronous Messaging: How It Drives Customer Engagement
If you are a business owner or operations manager looking to improve the efficiency of your contact center process flow, the chances are you will have come across the term ‘asynchronous messaging’. What exactly is asynchronous messaging, and how can it help you to increase agent productivity and customer engagement?
Communication Business Avenue has been helping some of the world’s largest companies to integrate call center systems and digital communication tools for the past 16 years, and will now explain this topic.
What is Asynchronous Messaging?
Asynchronous messaging is a type of communication technology that allows users to engage in conversations via messaging platforms without both parties needing to be present and active in the interaction. In the world of conversational marketing and customer support this is a powerful advantage, as it allows participants to start, pause and resume conversations with a brand at their convenience.
What is Synchronous Messaging?
Synchronous messaging is a communication method that requires the participants to be live and talking or chatting one-on-one, continuously at the same time. Participants have to begin the conversation and end it after the conversation has run its course.
We usually experience synchronous messaging with customer service agents. When you call a hotline or send a message to a customer service help desk, you talk to an agent via call or chat but this conversation closes after the communication engagement ends.
Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Messaging
Asynchronous and synchronous messaging are both popular communication methods used by companies and businesses, typically to communicate with workers, teams members, clients, customers.
The following webinar excerpt covers the key differences between synchronous and asynchronous messaging:
| Asynchronous Messaging | Synchronous Messaging |
|---|---|
| *Real-time | *Real-time |
| The customer responds in their own time | Chat closes when the customer logs out |
| Easy and quick access in sending a message on a messaging app. | Needs to log in to a browse and on the website. May not work on mobile platforms. |
| The customer can use different mobile phone apps | Applicable in web or a specific app |
| The customer doesn't need to provide the same information given to the previous agent. | The agent will need to ask the customer for the same information each time the restart the conversation. |
| Agents are able to help customers no matter where they are and what they are doing. | Needs to log in to a browser on the website |
(*In this context, when we say real-time, we are referring to the fact that messages are sent in the actual time they are delivered).
As you can see from the table, other than the fact that they are both forms of real-time communication, synchronous and asynchronous communication methods differ on many points.
In asynchronous messaging, a customer can respond to or send inquiries at his or her convenience because messages are stored in the chat box that is accessible at any time. But with synchronous messaging, when the chat closes, the conversation ends and if something comes up in the customer’s mind later on, he or she needs to do the same cycle from the beginning.
Conversation History
While asynchronous messaging gives us the whole conversation history and we can go back to read the previous messages, in synchronous messaging, the customers need to provide the same information that he or she has provided on the previous chat engagement with an agent.
Accessibility
Benefits of Asynchronous Messaging
Asynchronous messaging outperforms synchronous messaging when dealing with complex situations that require more than one session or agent to resolve. As stated, there’s no perfect agent that has all the answers . Sometimes they have to ask a member of the support team, especially if the queries are more technical in nature and require expert knowledge to answer.
In the below webinar excerpt, some of the unique advantages of asynchronous messaging are explained:
Efficiency and Productivity of Customer Service Agents
Agents can cater to more customers at the same time. They can manage more conversations with less time, resulting in high customer satisfaction.
Agents can focus on issues that should be prioritized. With asynchronous messaging, there could be a time gap for answering questions. Agents have more time to consider the best option to solve a particular query or problem or to decide whether to escalate the issue or not. This leads to better quality communication between the agent and the customer rather than trial-and-error mechanics.
Time-saving
Agents can field other queries while waiting for the response of the customer. Aside from catering to other customers, agents can also make the best use of their time doing other tasks like researching answers to further customer queries or locating resources that can help fix the customer’s problem. Also, if the problem reoccurs then the agent will easily know what to do and what kind of solution applies.
On the other hand, customers can also make better use of their time by not having to give information that an agent should know because it was already in their conversation history or it was asked by the agent in the previous conversation.
Flexibility
Saving time by using asynchronous messaging relates much to flexibility. Not all customer care services are online 24/7. Some go offline depending on the type of work, time zones, business or store hours. The customer can just leave a message on a messaging app, and then the agent can answer the query when they are back online.
Creates Customer Rapport
When the agents do not need to ask the same questions again, like verifying identity, this helps with building rapport between the customer and the customer representative. Since the conversation is continuous, for the customer it can become as though they were talking to a friend looking for advice. The chat can be opened and answered at the customer’s convenience just like talking to a friend or a family member.
Profit Increases
When customers are satisfied with the assistance that they have experienced, they are much more likely to use as businesses products again and may even advocate it’s services to other potential customers via word-of-mouth. This can naturally lead to more sales and can be very useful in growing your business in the long-term.
If asynchronous messaging is used internally, then profit increases for the time saved by the employee to accomplish the task. The employee will have more time to do the other task assigned to them because they have easily get the help they need from other team members.
Gadget-friendly
Asynchronous messaging is gadget friendly. You can use a desktop, laptop, tablet, and phone. For example, you accessed a messaging tool on your computer but ended up the conversation on your phone. You can take the conversation anywhere and reply to it at any time.
Asynchronous Messaging Tools
There are many tools for asynchronous communication. The range varies from messaging, video, audio, boards, and collaboration apps. The main feature is the accessibility of the messaging history and being able to continue the conversation at your convenience. Here are some examples of tools that use asynchronous messaging.
Emails
Emails are stored in your inbox and you can make a thread on an email by replying to it. The recipient can answer anytime at their convenience. Most businesses rely on email communication on a day-to-day basis. Email allows for attachment of files and integration of appointments into calendars.
Asynchronous video or audio communication
These kinds of apps make it possible to create a simple video that can be sent to co-workers, team members, or friends. The recipient can access the video any time after it was uploaded. This is a valuable tool when someone from the team or a co-worker is living in a different time zone. Advantages of these types of communication platforms is that users can understand the nuances of communication, simply due to the fact that they can observe facial expressions and tone of voice in a video message.
Collaboration Apps
Many apps are available today for asynchronous collaboration. Examples include slack, Trello, Twist, Teams, Asana, Monday.com, Click up, etc. Updates and comments from the messaging boards of each task are also considered asynchronous communication. Once a task is created, members of that task can comment, ask questions about the task and send updates. Asynchronous messaging on collaboration apps is a good way to facilitate the efficiency of communication when the team has lots of tasks ongoing and they are living in different parts of the world.
Social Media Messaging Apps
Conversation, knowledge sharing, and collaborations nowadays naturally occurs in social media apps. They are usually classed as asynchronous messaging. Social messaging apps can improve communication between co-workers and teammates, teams. You can send audio and short videos aside from the traditional chats and messages.
Omnichannel
Omnichannel is known for synchronous communication but now it can also be asynchronous by connecting the channel into a third-party messaging app. Omnichannel is used by companies and businesses in engaging and supporting customers or workers.
Examples of an omnichannel messaging platform for business are the Microsoft Omni Desk and the Live Assist for Dynamics 365 Omnichannel. They are omnichannel solutions that both work with Microsoft Dynamics. If you’d like to know more about how these omnichannel solutions leverage asynchronous messaging, and how they can help you improve customer engagement, then feel free to get in touch with our contact form.
Asynchronous Messaging Resources
7 best chat commerce platforms for 2022 – Take a look at this detailed round-up, evaluating the features and strengths of the top asynchronous messaging platforms.
11 Tips for Responding to Chats, Including Essential Etiquette and KPIS –With chat support becoming increasingly common, it’s important to know exactly how to operate and manage this channel successfully. We discuss 11 pro tips regarding chat etiquette that once implemented can significantly improve customer satisfaction rates with your asynchronous messaging channels.
Messaging vs Webchat – Which Is Best for Customer Support? – To the uninitiated, the differences between messaging and webchat may not be so clear. While the two terms are often used interchangeably, in the world of convesational commerce, there are definite differences. Find out the key feature that distinguish the two methods of communication, as well as the advantages that each approach can bring to your company.
Basic knowledge of managed Live Chat – While asynchronous messaging is considered the next generation of chat, there are still some advantages and use cases for manned chat solutions. This article defines exactly what manned chat is, and some of the features and benefits of using this type of customer service channel.
What is an AI chatbot? – Along with the use of asynchronous messages, in recent years, many companies have started implementing ai chatbots to field customer inquiries. Find out the differences between the various types of chatbots, as well as the advantages, disadvantages, and best practices of using them.
The role of Chatbots in Conversational Commerce – Learn how asynchronous messaging technology along with ai chatbots, can be leveraged to increase customer satisfaction in your companies’ conversational commerce strategy.
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