Here at Skipio we’ve deemed 2021 to be the year of conversations. (This year and every year in perpetuity probably…) It’s conversations that help people build relationships and trust, and in business those relationships result in sales.
But the best sales professionals love talking to other people not just because they want to sell. They love it because they enjoy making connections and solving problems. Even a conversation with a lead that doesn’t end in a sale right then isn’t a failure or a waste of time to the best sales pros. It was yet another opportunity to learn from someone else and connect with a real person.
Here’s how to make your company a place where conversations thrive and give every team member what they need to engage in productive conversations.
Adopt a Faster Outreach Method Than Email
Conversations won’t happen easily if you don’t use conversational methods for communication. That means ditching email at least some of the time. Email totally has its place in sales. But email isn’t great for conversations. You don’t want to go back-and-forth with multiple messages over email in quick succession and neither does anyone else. That’s not efficient or convenient.
What is efficient and perfect for conversations is texting. People want you to text them and they want to text you. So let them!
Get your team set up with a platform like Skipio that specifically prioritizes helping you start and continue conversations. Each member of your team receives their own unique 10-digit number to be shared with customers and leads. They can add this number to their email signatures, customer-facing documents, wherever, to ensure that people know you’re open to hearing from them.
Start Conversations Immediately With New Leads
Sales reps get more responses when they reach out faster. So instead of just emailing and calling, send every new lead personalized text message within minutes. By starting conversations through texting, you benefit from a shorter sales cycle and leads benefit from individualized attention and help.
When using Skipio for conversational messaging in the lead nurturing process, our users see a 54% average increase in close rates. The immediate start of conversations goes a long way!
Reply Fast and Reply Often
Prove to people that your company values the customer experience by setting a standard of quick personal responses. Allow yourself and team members to set communication boundaries, such as not responding immediately on weekends, but within those boundaries reply as soon as possible.
When you do, you not only present a superior customer experience but also demonstrate to everyone that it’s an easy way to communicate. When people know that they can count on you for help through texting, they’ll use it.
Reach Out When It’s Not About Sales
If you only reach out when you want people to spend money, they likely won’t stay customers for long. Of course your team needs to spend the majority of their time on revenue-generating activities, but checking in to genuinely find out how people are doing keeping up with relationships is never time wasted.
For instance, follow up with people to see how things are going with their purchases and ensure they get further training or help if they need it. For those in the B2B space, take the time to learn about the businesses of your prospective and current clients. Really try to make connections with people regarding their jobs.
It certainly doesn’t take long to shoot off a text asking about any of those things. And when there’s a contract and renewal at stake some time in the future, actions like those won’t be forgotten.
Get the Right Tools to Start and Continue Conversations
Skipio helps individual reps and entire teams get more responses, more appointments, and more sales. The platform includes all the best automation and personalization features to make conversations productive and easy.
Start your team’s conversational messaging journey today.
