4 Texts to Send To Your Prospects
If you’re a legendary salesperson who uses Spiro, then you are in constant contact with your clients. But how do you communicate with them? Most sales professionals are accustomed to meetings, calls and emails, but what about posting comments on social media platforms, or sending text messages? Are these channels too casual? Do they make you look unprofessional? Based on our research, there is a time and a circumstance for everything. Below, I will share with you 4 times that texting your prospect works.
Most of You Do Text!
For starters, we performed a survey recently to find out how many of our audience members do text their prospects. Here are the results:
The good news is that only 30% of you, have never texted a prospect or customer. The cause for this may be a generational issue – either with you or your customer base – or something about your industry segment that might make texting less than desirable. For example, one person emailed me to say that in her regulated industry, she needs to log all customer interactions. In her case, there was no way to incorporate a text message into that process. (She must not have Spiro, which will automatically do your CRM data entry for you!) That’s understandable, however, not taking advantage of the direct and immediate nature of texting is a disadvantage.
When is it Appropriate to Text?
So for those who haven’t texted a prospect yet, you may be asking when is the right time? You want to get in touch with a client, but definitely do not want to intrude when it’s inappropriate. Here’s our thoughts on 4 good opportunities to send text.
Starbucks Run
When heading to a meeting and grabbing a coffee, it is a nice gesture to ask if your prospect would like something. It’s a nice ice breaker and opens up the texting line of communication. Recently, I was going to meet a former colleague and new prospect named Joe. I arrived a bit early, so I stopped at a nearby Starbucks. A few minutes before I left, I texted Joe and offered to get him something. That got an immediate response and let him know I was on my way.
Escalate the Sense of Urgency
Next, texting shows that you have a message you want the person to receive right away. When it comes to sales, it’s just a fact of life that sales guys have targets that get measured in months, quarters and years. I believe in making sure that your prospects know that you have deadlines that are important to you, and a text is a great way to convey this point! This can be done by sending a follow up text to ask if your prospect is ready to move forward with the deal. Be sure to send this during regular business hours.
Confront the Cold Shoulder
Another scenario is this: You had a great meeting, but no matter how many times you call and email, you’re not getting a response back. Before you give up, why not send a quick text “Hi Denise, hope you’re doing well. Just wanted to make sure that I didn’t do something to offend you in our last meeting.” This is sure to get a response which can help you get an answer. Many times prospects have an unanswered objection, have been busy or just aren’t interested but don’t want to say no. This text will help you identify where your prospect stands by putting a little pressure on them.
Running Late
Lastly, when you are running late a text is a must. While successful salespeople are rarely late, when we are, a quick text is much more helpful to a prospect than an email. This is simply because it’s likely to be noticed right away. Yes, it’s bad to be running late, but at least the prospect won’t be sitting and wondering if you will even show up.
So, if you have yet to break the seal on texting your prospects or customers, now you have some ideas on how to do so appropriately. Texting to offer a coffee is an easy one to start with, and eventually, you can start using texts to help you close deals and get the answers you need. As the younger generations fill the work place and technology permeates further into the workforce, texting looks to become more and more common place.
