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Imagine you’re in sales.
You’re fairly new to messaging automation, and you’ve been struggling desperately to get leads to respond to your texts. (Or maybe you’ve been using messaging automation for a while, but the latter part of the sentence still applies.)
You’re only seeing a 10% text back rate.
Is this because texting doesn’t work? Is it because your lead providers are terrible at doing their jobs? Is it because the world is upside down?
Well, the world is upside down sometimes. As of writing this we are in the midst of the COVID-19 catastrophe. If you are in a position to help fix the world’s ills, definitely do that before reading on.
But for most of us, if we want to take action to solve our sales struggles, we should look closer to home. The truth is, who your leads are, and how they relate to your brand, are the most important factors to catalyze responses (by text or any other medium). If your leads are zealously passionate about being a part of what you are doing, getting them to respond will be trivial.
But you’re in sales, not marketing. At this moment, your brand is exactly as good as it is. In this blink of an eye, you’re probably not changing your brand’s identity. So does that mean that you can’t do anything to increase how responsive your leads are? No.
You still have a fantastically powerful secret at your fingertips: What you send matters.
Even if nothing changes but the words you send in a text, that can make all the difference.
We’ve had many customers over the years stuck with unresponsive leads. Recently after years of research, our suggestion has been something like this:
"Hey Nigel, I saw you were looking for franchise info, where are you located?"
People like to answer easy questions that they already know the answer to. Even if you already have the lead's location data, it's just a good hook.
Recently, a FranFunnel user started taking this tactic a step further. We're now dynamically inserting the lead's zip code into that intro message, and confirming the location. Here’s a sample text:
Look what happened to that previously 10% contact rate --
The lessons here are like the best parts of FranFunnel: Simple and Powerful.
Lesson 1:
Ask the easy questions. Everyone knows where they are located, and this version of the question literally lets your leads text back “yes” or “no.” Most of the answers are “Yes.”
Sample Reply #1
Sample Reply #2
Lesson 2:
Build on your first yes to get another. The secret to selling anything, franchises or otherwise, is earning a series of yeses, escalating in commitment level and content. People stick around and continue to chat via text, we noticed. Even when it's a no!
Lesson 3:
Persistence pays dividends. If you’re a salesperson whose text back rate is hovering around 50%, a good chunk of your success will be due to following up. If you’re willing to send just one more text back and forth, that will lead to more deals closed.
If you want to send texts that close deals, follow this formula. Ask questions they already know the answer to. Build on every yes. And be willing to follow up.
Are your texts working for you? What are you sending now? Do you have solutions to the world’s problems?
Let us know @ support@franfunnel.com
Eli Rosenthal is Platform Lead at FranFunnel. When it comes to text automation, he knows the answer to every easy question there is.
