Most people don't answer the phone anymore. To avoid sales calls and calls from people they don't want to talk to, if someone doesn't know the number calling them, they will let it go to voicemail. Many people don't even bother listening to the voicemails. They don't know how valuable that call could be!
So how do people prefer to connect with others now? By text, of course. Text messaging allows people to communicate whenever they have time. They can also respond in situations where a phone call might not be appropriate. For this reason, it's a good idea to utilize business texting to reach out to customers and potential customers.
Here are five ways you can use business texting to increase your sales.
1. Engage with new leads via text messages.
One of the main aspects of running a business is getting people to buy your products or service. However, people need to know you exist before you can sell them something. When potential customers show even a small amount of interest in your company, ask them to sign up for text messages from you. Then, you can use SMS marketing to inform them of promotions, events and other important things going on with your company.
Put all of your contact information in your text messages, making it easy for customers to respond and ask questions. Then, if they are interested, they can call you. Crafting quality messages and including your contact information are important parts of increasing sales with business text messages.
2. Reengage with cold leads by sending a simple text.
Some people need to be reminded that they were interested in your company at one time. A text allows you to do this quickly and easily. Two-way business texting can even help you provide the customer with the information they need before they can move forward with your company.
Even better, your potential clients will not feel overly pressured to respond that very moment. If they are busy at work or spending time with family, they can get back to you when it's more convenient for them. When a customer can call at their convenience, they are not only showing direct interest, but they also have time to talk.
Try sending a simple text to your cold leads that says something like, "Are you still interested in [your product or service]?" Then watch the replies roll in.
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3. Reduce no-shows for appointments, meetings or webinars with SMS reminders.
We all have busy lives, and it can be easy to forget things, but when someone misses an appointment with your company, you miss out on revenue. Help your clients remember their appointment by sending them a reminder text the day before or of the event.
Sending a text is more efficient than calling people with a reminder, because you won't need to spend valuable time at the office making phone calls. This allows your employees to focus on other important tasks.
4. Send last-minute reminders before promotions end.
People don't like to miss out on a good deal. Help your customers avoid missing out on savings by sending them text messages that let them know when certain promotions are ending. It's a good idea to send a message a day or two before the promotion ends and then another on the last day. This information encourages them to take advantage of the promotion.
5. Qualify leads over text before calling.
Salespeople often waste time on the phone with someone who doesn't need or even qualify for the product or service. Send a text to the potential customer first, with information that will help them decide if they are a good candidate for your services or not. If you use two-way business texting, you can allow your customers to make certain selections to get more information.
While it's extremely effective to send out reminders and messages to your customers, make sure your texts include information that your customer will value or find useful. If you send messages that your customers don't want, they are more likely to opt out of texts from your business. For the same reason, you don't want to send too many messages. No one wants to be bombarded with advertising.
Benefits of business text messages
Business text messages are an exceptional tool to improve customer reach. Businesses are known for underutilizing SMS marketing despite the benefits of the technique. Business text messages have one of the highest returns on investment due to increased engagement levels. According to Smart Insights, text messages have open rates of 97% within 15 minutes of being sent. This is a much higher rate than email marketing messages, which have an average open rate of around 20%. Your text messages go directly into the hands of customers. Nearly half of all SMS campaigns generate revenue with higher ROI when combined with other promotional campaigns.
Customer satisfaction levels also improve with business text messages, because you're showing a commitment to your audience's needs by choosing SMS communication. SMS marketing isn't exclusively for promotional offer blasts; as discussed above, you can also use the tool to send reminders and announce important news or events.
You can work text messaging into your promotional events easily and at virtually no cost. Many businesses integrate text messaging with social media marketing. Like social media posts, text messages sent to customers tend to be straight and to the point.
Contact databases are easy to build if you decide to use text messaging as a marketing tool. You can use a simple opt-in and opt-out feature to determine who receives communications from your business. Within your database, you can save customer details and send targeted offers to those who have opted in to SMS. With the analytics these platforms offer, you can track just how effective your communications with customers have been. For instance, some software shows your campaign's click rate and how many purchases you've gotten through the text communications.
Overall, text message marketing is an easy and effective way to build customer relationships and share promotional information about your business.