Getting leads and prospects to respond is like herding cats. They filled out a form, they're qualified leads, so why aren't they picking up the phone??
This post covers the six reasons why they're not responding and what you can do to change that.
You spend too much money on marketing to reach only 20-30% of the leads you're paying for. Here's how you can improve that number to 70-80%.
If you’re only using one channel, your chances of getting a response are going to be slim at best. Some people neglect their inboxes, others avoid phone calls at all costs. And yet others forget things easily.
When you reach out to a prospect or lead across multiple channels, you:
All of these advantages not only increase the chances of reaching a lead, but also of getting a response.
Most, if not all, of our customers are hesitant about business texting at first. After all, phone call has been the industry standard for years. But once they start seeing the results, they’re kicking themselves for not adopting text sooner.
If your multi-channel strategy doesn’t include text, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. Think about it:
And if you’re not yet convinced as to why you should use text, let’s go over the numbers:
The most successful call centers are using texting today. No reason you can't be one of them.
So maybe you are using text in your strategy. But it’s manual, or a one-off, as-needed or depends-on-the-rep kind of deal. This is not doing you any good. You won't reap the full benefits of text messaging for your home improvement business.
The key stat above is that 90% of texts are opened and read, and 99% of those opened and read texts are responded to.
The entire sales process does not have to happen over text.
It’s just the response that you’re looking for. Then you can establish their preferred method of communication from there.
Rather than calling first and then following up with text and email, text first and accompany that text with an email and ringless voicemail. People really don’t want to converse on the phone with someone they don’t know yet. These methods make it easy for them to respond to you in a way that’s comfortable for them.
When a person becomes a lead for your business, you have 5 minutes before your chances of converting them decrease drastically.
By 900% actually...
This is for many reasons:
So how do you increase your speed to lead?
It takes an average of eight attempts to reach a contact. But no, this does not mean calling them eight times in a row (and hopefully you are taking my advice and staying away from real-time calls anyway). It means reaching out over the course of several days (across those multiple channels we covered earlier).
For example:
This way, you’re being persistent, not pesky. Diligent, but not disruptive. Attentive, but not annoying. I could keep going here…
This is just an example—what works best will depend on your business and channels. But the bottom line is, it takes several attempts to get a response. But it's well worth the persistence if it means more revenue.
So maybe you are using multiple channels and reaching out multiple times. But you’re still not getting responses. Let me ask: Are your messages:
If you’re bombarding them with enough text to go on a landing page or your about us page, you’re turning them away. Don’t make work for them.
Communicating with new business leads is an art.
No:
Yes:
An example of a good outreach text or email looks something like this:
Hi [Name], it's [Name] with [Company]. I got your form and wanted to get you scheduled for an appointment. When is a good time for you? Or do you have any preliminary questions?
It’s short. Easy to read. Focused on the customer. It invites a response.
The one-call close is just not a thing anymore. Customers aren’t going to pick up a phone call, but they will respond to messages—the right messages at the right times, that is. Use the tips in this guide and you’ll be seeing a lot more responses (which means higher ROI)!
Here's a recap: