Messaging with Customers on Google My Business

If you are looking for a better way to communicate directly with potential customers, your Google My Business page may have the perfect tool!

Google has recently begun rolling out a new method of lead generation for business owners who have verified and published Google My Business pages. With this new tool, leads can now come in the form of text messages from potential customers or clients.

Google’s newest “Chat” option offers businesses a way to provide direct contact information to customers, given them instant access to find out more information about the businesses they are interested in.

As a business, your ability to chat with your customers will be displayed directly under the business information on your Google My Business card with a message that reads “This business is available to message.”

If customers are interested in your business or the services you provide, all they need to do is send you a message. This message will then go directly to the mobile phone number you have used to setup your Chat with and there you have it – leads delivered straight to your cell phone inbox!

To turn on the “Chat” option for your Google My Business page you will need to:

1. Login to your Gmail account that is associated with your Google My Business page
2. Navigate to business.google.com
3. If you have more than one location, select “Manage Location” under the location you want to setup first
4. Find “Chat” on the menu under your business information on the left side of the screen, or scroll down to find the “Chat” box where you can select “Turn on Messaging”
5. Input a phone number that can receive text messages (this number does not have to be the business phone number you are using for your Google My Business page)
6. In most cases, you will need to verify your phone number with a text code

You will have the option to setup a welcome message, which Google will send out automatically to anyone who initiates a Chat with your business.

After you complete these steps, the Chat will be setup on your Google My Business page and customers will be able to message you directly.

It is important to note that Google does keep track of your responsiveness and they will relay that information to your potential customers. Once you have begun messaging with your customers and there has been enough data collected, your average response time will be advertised to users. As long as you are staying on top of your messages, this can work to your advantage.

If you ever change your phone number or wish to transfer the messaging responsibility to another member of your business team, you can always change your phone number by following the steps above to login and access your chat, and then selecting “Edit number” on the right side of the chat box. Simply enter the new number you want to use and select “Submit.”

You can also turn off the Chat feature for your business by opting out at any time. You can do this in the same place you would edit your phone number.

Check out our next post to find out, even more, options for messaging your customers with “Chat” on Google My Business!