Should You Text Your Prospects?

There’s a lot of irony when it comes to texting. It feels extremely personal (and highly intrusive if you don’t have a certain rapport with someone) and yet when you consider that most people check their emails on their mobile phones, what makes texting any different? Is it because one uses an email address and the other uses a phone number? But some of the commonly used messaging apps allow you to text message to both a number or email address.

In any case, let’s answer the question — “should you text your prospects?” The short answer is “Yes…but only if you have permission.”

Text Messaging Use Cases

Provide requested information

Prospects often request additional information during their initial call with a rep. When it comes to simple questions that are asked, a quick way to provide the information post-call is via text messaging. Texting the information makes it easy for prospects to access and prevents it from getting lost in their email inboxes.

Again, reps will have to exercise their best judgment here. One good way to go about this it to put the option on the table. Reps can simply say “I can always text you if you’d like. Customers usually find this easier and quicker to reply to.” By doing this, you’re communicating a few things here:

1. The prospect’s permission is important
2. Sets the precedent that other prospects and customers text you and it isn’t a big deal
3. Texting is a benefit to the prospect since it may take less time to read and respond to

There’s certainly a theme — reps should always focus on the prospect in all aspects of communication, but especially when it comes to texting.

Share relevant content to nurture leads and provide value

We all struggle with emails getting buried in our inbox, so why not have your reps nurture their leads and provide value via text message? Sending case studies, articles, helpful tools, and eBooks to stay connected with prospects and nurture leads is standard practice. It strengthens your reps’ relationships with their prospects and customers, while building value and advancing sales through the cycle.

Reminder or confirmation of a previously scheduled event

It’s always a good idea for your reps to confirm their calls, meetings, and demos. Doing so helps minimize unexpected last-minute cancellations and helps your team members maintain a productive schedule. Plus, their prospects will appreciate the consideration.

Demo or appointment follow-up

After a demo or appointment, text message is a great way for your reps to check in with prospects to find out if they have any more questions or require additional information. It only takes them a moment and it’s easy for their potential customer to respond.

Reactivate or resolve a “Ghost”

When a lead goes silent and isn’t responding to your reps’ calls and emails during the sales process, texting them is a great option to consider since its response rates tend to be so high. A text message in hopes of scheduling a call to learn what happened may prove more effective in this case.

There are plenty of use cases for text messaging in sales, but the content of the text is crucial. Stay tuned for our next post on creating effective text messages.