Do You Use Messaging Apps to Contact Customers?

Yes: 19%

• Facebook Messenger: we embedded a “message us” button on our website that is linked to Facebook Messenger so customers can ask questions online without having to use email. — Chris Wattsson, Wattsson & Wattsson Jewelers, Marquette, MI
• We use it to get responses immediately following a sale and reviews. — Joe Thacker, Thacker Jewelry, Lubbock, TX
• Sending photos and replying to inquiries. I don’t have email sent to my phone in a failing attempt at having some privacy. I actively stay after sales via email. I use WhatsApp mostly when communicating with suppliers as I chase merchandise that I no longer can afford to stock in my cases. — Eric Ohanian, Leon Ohanian & Sons, Boston, MA
• We send texts through The Edge software for completed custom and repairs. Our customers seem to prefer this for notifications. — Russell Criswell, Vulcan’s Forge, Kansas City, MO
• I use ManyChat, which is a “messenger bot.” The bots are the hot thing this year on Facebook. It has helped create a series of questions that can communicate with customers and send the customer interaction through my sales funnel. — Rita Wade, Wade Designs Jewelry, Rocky Mount, NC
• We’ve been using Podium since the fall of 2017. We text most of our repair customers now and they love it. Plus our Google reviews went from 4 to over 50 since using the app. — Travis Piper, Piper Diamond Co., Vincennes, IN
• My 14 year-old son uses Snapchat to show jewelry he makes. — James Stinson, Diamond Classics, McMinnville, TN
• I use Podium almost daily to correspond with my clients. From the request for an online review to sending images, quoting custom and/or repairs, setting up appointments or just a quick congratulations on an engagement, Podium allows us to communicate in one of the easiest platforms available: text messages. We have closed sales through Podium because of the ease and convenience of texting. I could talk forever about my satisfaction with Podium. — Erika Godfrey, Hawthorne Jewelry, Kearney, NE
• We just use a texting app that has a different phone number so we don’t have to give out our personal numbers. Everyone can access it and it looks like a regular text to a customer. — Gabi Mecherkany, Bernard Jewelers, Tewksbury, MA
• LiveChat on our website; it’s a great way to connect with people. Giving my cell number and texting customers personally (not autobot), we’ve turned into a sought-after concierge service while our store has been closed to move to a safer, more convenient location. — Jill Keith, Enchanted Jewelry, Danielson, CT

No: 81%

• I do email marketing and social media but no texts. I hate when I get them from random stores, so I don’t want to do this to my customers. I do use my cellphone to text customers more and more. — Michael Kanoff, Michael’s Jewelers, Yardley, PA
• One more thing I don’t have time to learn how to use. And I personally HATE being contacted by text or Messenger for business purposes, especially unsolicited. — Janne Etz, Contemporary Concepts, Cocoa, FL
• I do not want to be buried in the never-ending deluge of digital crap that is ongoing. — Mark Thomas Ruby, SunSpirit Designs, Loveland, CO
• We use Podium. It is a great multifunctional tool that allows us to ask for reviews as well as communicate directly with our customers. — Erica Lorenz, Michael & Sons, Reno, NV
• We’ve been using Podium since the fall of 2017. We text most of our repair customers now and they love it. Plus our Google reviews went from 4 to over 50 since using the app. — Travis Piper, Piper Diamond Co., Vincennes, IN
• Text. Especially our male clients love texts. It’s very efficient. — Valerie Naifeh, Naifeh Fine Jewelry, Oklahoma City, OK