While Only 23% Of Emails Get Read And 33% Of Voicemails Are Listened To…
Text Messages Have A 99% Open Rate.
Here’s How MarketSharp Texting Helps Ensure Your Prospects And Customers NEVER Stand You Up Again.
As a remodeler, has something like this ever happened to you?
You have an in-home sales appointment scheduled at 12pm with a customer. You pull into their driveway at 11:55am. You’ve got your sales materials organized, all the samples to showcase, and your presentation down pat. You’re locked, loaded, and ready to make that sale.
You stroll to the front door and knock.
Thirty seconds goes by. No one answers.
“Maybe they’re in the bathroom or something,” you think.
You knock again.
And again…
And again…
Nothing.
You do one of those half-sneaky peek-through-the-living-room-window maneuvers. Not a soul is stirring. All the lights are off.
You call the prospect on your cell…
Prospect: “Hello?”
You: “Hi, Mrs. Smith. This is John from XYZ Remodeling. I’m at your home right now for our 12 o’clock appointment.”
Prospect: Oh, no! I completely forgot! I’m at a work conference out of town. Can we reschedule when I get back? Thanks, bye.”
::Click::
Maybe the situation has played out differently for you. Maybe it was a 3 o’clock appointment. Maybe the prospect was at a spin class. Maybe you rang the doorbell instead of knocked.
The whats, whens, and wheres don’t matter. The bottom line is the prospect missed the appointment… causing YOU to waste your precious time and money.
- It doesn’t matter that you sent three reminder emails—studies show only about 23% of emails ever get opened.
- It doesn’t matter that you called and left voicemail confirming the appointment—studies also show only 33% of voicemails from businesses are listened to.
- It doesn’t even matter if the prospect DID get your emails and voicemail—they probably forgot about your voicemail or email within 5 seconds.
So… how do you stop getting stood up by prospects?
Simple—send them text messages.
While most emails are never read and the majority of voicemails are never listened to, texts have a 99% open rate. Not only that, but 95% of texts are read within three minutes of being sent and have a response rate 209% higher than phone calls!
The reason why people read and respond to texts is simple:
- Texts automatically show on a person’s cellphone, even if the phone is “locked.”
- Most emails aren’t interesting. Sales promotions, spam, newsletters you don’t remember signing up for… the list goes on. As such, people either don’t check their inboxes all the frequently (especially when compared to their text messages) or don’t pay attention to an email’s content before sending it straight to the Trash folder. Texts, however, are almost always sent by people you WANT to hear from—friends, family, and so on. With texting, you “cut through the clutter” so common in email.
- Studies show that people prefer to communicate with companies via text as opposed to a phone call. This is because texting is quicker and more convenient—the average response time to a text is a mere 90 seconds.
Sure, texting works. But remembering to text every single prospect and customer can in itself be a huge chore.
What remodeler has time to thumb out dozens of texts per day in addition to their 184 other daily responsibilities?
That’s where we can help.
At MarketSharp, we’ve integrated automated texting into our Customer Service Management (CRM) software. We call it MarketSharp Texting, and you can use it to DRASTICALLY cut down on “no-show” appointments.
With MarketSharp Texting, you can send manual or automated one-off reminders and notices to alert your prospects when their appointments are. Since text messages have such high read and response rates, your prospects WILL see them and be much more likely to notify you if they need to reschedule.
Not only does MarketSharp Texting help reduce missed appointments, but it also improves your communication with current customers and your employees. Instantly communicate important company news to employees. Remind customers of their installation dates. Follow up with automated post-project “thank-you” messages to increase engagement and satisfaction. And much more.
Texting seems so simple—but it’s a POWERFUL tool that will help you boost efficiency, improve communication, and save money. For more info about what automated texting can do for you, visit our MarketSharp Texting page or book your free Live Demo. We would love to “show you the ropes” of MarketSharp during a pressure-free, pitch-free virtual tour of the program.
Thanks for reading.
AUTHOR
Michelle M. Nowlan, MarketSharp Co-President
Home Improvement Industry Enthusiast since 1992. Proud River Rat. Extreme Dog Lover.