Why Aren’t You Texting For Sales?
Why Aren’t You Texting for Sales?
You’re already calling, emailing, LinkedIn’ing (I know that’s not a word), video messaging and some of you are even direct mailing. So why aren’t you texting?
Texting is one of the least adopted technologies by sales reps who responded to surveys by HubSpot and others, but I can argue it’s one of the most effective...if done correctly.
Did you know:
95% of text messages are read within three minutes. source
The average response time for a single text is 90 seconds.
90% of all mobile users open and read text messages within the first 30 minutes of receipt source
Texting is the most used mobile app; 97% of Americans use it at least once per day.
80% of professionals currently use texting for business and about 70% of employees favor it for internal communications. Source
According to SmallBizTrends, 54% of consumers want text messages from marketers. But only about 11% of total businesses are sending them out.
And the stats go on and on. Texting in B2B and B2C works and is highly effective to build and maintain your pipeline and get deals moving in your funnel.
Should You Send Cold Texts?
Absolutely not. Please don’t do it. If you were already thinking about doing it prior to getting to this point in the post, smack yourself for me. Sending text messages to a sales prospect before you’ve had any other means of interaction (email, phone call, form completion, request for info, etc) will NOT work.
However, it’s been proven that using texts to communicate after that initial interaction dramatically increases both, communication back and forth as well as your odds of closing the deal.
How Often Should You Text?
After your initial interaction with your prospect, work to move your communication to text if and when you can. Sure, you can email your 27 page PDF sales brochure (God, I hope not) or you can text a link to it where it lives online.
You want to be where your customer is, but don’t over do it either. Once you start you’ll find that using texts instead of emails, even just to check in or set up your next call or meeting is liberating. You’ll also find that it’s more effective and that you get a significantly better response rate.
Did you know that sending three or more purposeful texts after having initial contact and interaction can increase conversion rate to 328%?
The 4 Best Ways to Use Text to Sell More
Don’t be intimidated or afraid to implement texting into your daily routine. It can work. It can also go horribly wrong so be mindful of the best ways to use it. Here are four that have worked for us.
Reaching Out
If you know me at all, you know I absolutely hate the emails that include anything that looks or sounds like, “Hi John. I’m just reaching out to follow up with you.”
That’s not what we’re doing here. If you want to use texts to reach out to someone that you haven’t had much of an initial interaction with or none at all, be very careful and make sure you’ve got a good reason to do so.
You sent them a gift (check out Sendoso - no, I’m not an affiliate, just a fan)
You sent an article that you thought they’d be interested in (one that your company didn’t write)
You cold mailed them a one page letter or handwritten card (I recommend the card for cold outreach to your dream clients)
Follow up with a brief text asking if they received it, and maybe schedule a quick call to explain why you sent what you sent. These can be tough to get movement on so I recommend reserving these for those clients that maybe you have no shot at reaching without really standing out. Sending a gift, handwritten letter or card and following up with a text or two can help you really stand out, so you may want to consider it.
Call & Meeting Reminders
This is a no-brainer. You have a call or meeting scheduled. You probably set that up via phone and or email, so once it’s locked in, just ask if they mind if you send a reminder text the day before and/or day of the appointment. Some scheduling systems (Acuity - again, not an affiliate) offer texting by default, but you can do it manually as well.
Follow-Up Reminders
You’ve had the call or meeting and it went well. Congrats by the way. Now is a great time to send a follow-up text message to your prospect. Be sure that you outline a clear call to action and next step so it’s brief and effective, but just sending one to thank them works too.
You can also use the text after the meeting just to let them know that you emailed them the follow up information they requested or that you promised. Lots of options here for following up.
The Nudge Text
Nudging a prospect is sometimes necessary when they promised you that they’d get back to you about this or that and haven’t yet. It also works when you are waiting on something from them, maybe a next step, but haven’t heard anything.
Send a quick text message asking how things are and schedule a quick call to discuss what’s next.
Nudging is necessary sometimes. Our clients and prospects get busy too. They can get distracted just like we do, so use it as needed since we know they’re more likely to respond to our text nudging them compared to an email nudging them.
Texting as part of your sales and marketing isn’t a foolproof method. Be smart and don’t overdo it. Here are some common mistakes we’ve seen salespeople make:
Inappropriate timing (starting to text too early or too late in the interaction)
Using abbreviations and jargon (keep it simple, clear, concise)
Using GIFs and emojis (if at all - match your prospect or client’s texting style)
Sending loooooonnnnnnnggggggg texts (Shoot for 160 characters or less)
I strongly recommend that you implement texting into your sales and marketing processes as soon as you can. Customers will tell you if they don’t want to communicate that way, but we’ve found that more times than not, clients appreciate it, expect it and are more likely to do business with you when you do.
Now go sell somethin!
