How To Have Conversations With Leads, At Scale

FranFunnel is all about initiating a real conversation between our users and their leads, so that our users can do what they do best -- sell.

We know that once a FranFunnel user gets a lead on the phone, they are empowered to close that deal. The trouble is, of course, getting the leads on the phone to begin with. This (as you probably know if you're reading this) is where FranFunnel pays the bills.

In order to best help people like you achieve your goals, the FranFunnel team is constantly doing research. And recently we re-promoted this question: How do we help our users induce a response from their leads?

So far, in 2019, texting still seems like the best bet for most leads*. But what should you say in your texts?

Texts can include all sorts of things! For the most part, we stand by the advice we gave a full year an a half ago.

• Keep it simple, casual, and pointed.
• Introduce yourself, state your purpose, then ask a question to move the relationship along. (Recently we got lucky and stumbled our way into great evidence demonstrating the value of asking a question at the end of the message. The same message, worded slightly differently, can double response rates!)

Doing our homework

Last week, we decided to peek under the hood of FranFunnel from a new angle. We dove into our database, and looked at every lead that came into FranFunnel in the past 14 days. Ultimately, we wanted to see which users were getting the best responses, and why.

Here's a look at contact rate by user:

The first thing you might notice, is that we had a few users with a true 100% contact rate! If only that were possible at scale.

What we wanted to know, so that we can better help all our users, is how to write a text message that induces as many responses as possible. What are these users doing right?

What is the difference between these two?

And what are these users doing wrong?

Small differences make a big difference

One of our most productive users, one with 227 leads, and a 52% contact rate, sends exactly what we recommend during on-boarding:

This user is working exclusively leads from a lead portal. They are able to get in touch with so many and have real conversations because the messaging is clear and effective.

That message is not so different from what our highest volume user is sending:

This user, however, is decreasing the efficacy of their text messaging by bloating the message with "thank you for requesting more information." It's hurting their sales. As we've said time and time again, there is no need to thank your leads! You are helping them find information, and it may transform their lives. Ultimately, they will be thanking you.

And what about a user that worked over 200 leads but only heard back from 21% of them? The messages are predictably sloppy:

This is, quite frankly, a terrible text message if you value your leads. Each lead represents an opportunity for you to close a deal, and this user has self-sabotaged, making the leads less likely to engage.

So where do you measure up? What sorts of messages are you sending, and how many of your online-generated-leads do you have real, meaningful conversations with? Let us know!

And if you're looking to jump-start your engagement, and you don't use FranFunnel, what are you doing? Leave your contact details under "Get started today" and, well, get started today!

*But not all leads! You should still call and email the leads who do not text you back, if you can. Some leads are still partying like it's 1975.

Eli Rosenthal is the Platform Lead at FranFunnel. He sent his first text in third grade.

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