A Complete Guide to Text Message Automation

Your phone dings to tell you a text has arrived. On an average day, how long does it take for you to look at it? For 90% of us, it is less than three minutes. Compare that to the fact that we open only 23% of our emails during the first hour of delivery. After 24 hours, the chances of opening an email drop below 1%. 

In this environment, text messaging is essential for your business - and text message automation can help you unlock growth.

Texting is the way we communicate most often these days. And those conversations are not just personal. Smart sales managers know that text messaging is conducive to a successful sales team. 80% of Americans say speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service are essential to a positive customer experience. In marketing and sales, it's necessary to be present where your leads are - and your leads are texting.

In other words, text messaging is critical to the success of any high-performing sales team. But the real-time aspect of texting can also be challenging to manage for a busy sales team. It can be cumbersome to nurture dozens or even hundreds of leads with an instant communication channel like texting. Your team needs business text messaging automation to streamline your process and ensure customer satisfaction.

What Is Text Message Automation?

Text message automation is the process of automatically sending individual text messages to the right lead, at the right time, from the right person, and with the right message. This results in a streamlined sales process and increased conversion rates.

Let's look at a typical automated text exchange at the beginning of the sales journey: 

• A shopper browses your website and is interested in your product. 
• They fill out and send a form asking for more information. 
• The automated system sends an instant text to the lead, thanking them for the inquiry and letting them know a salesperson will follow-up shortly. 
• The software then instantly sends a notification to the salesperson with the lead information for follow-up.
• The salesperson has a conversation with the prospects, via text or phone. 
• The conversation continues on either channel, based on the customer's preferences and needs.

There is no delay for the customer and no disconnect with how they want to communicate. That is the greatness of text message automation. You are meeting the customer almost instantly right where they are, delivering a convenient and exceptional customer experience along the way.

Download the free Guide to Text Message Automation here today!

The 5 Benefits of Text Message Automation

Text message automation will benefit your customers, but how can it help your business? Let's look at five ways.

1. Connect with leads and prospects before competitors:  As we mentioned, consumers read text messages much quicker than emails or voicemails. If your competitors have not embraced text messaging as a communication platform for their sales team, you have an incredible advantage by using text message automation. After all, studies show that 78% of all sales go to the vendor who responds to a sales inquiry first. Be the first in every lead conversation.
2. Respond to inbound leads quickly:  Instant response to inquiries is crucial to company sales. Sales staff who respond to leads within five minutes are 100x more likely to make a sale than those who wait to respond within 30 minutes. Rapid response matters.
3. Build a great customer experience:  64% of consumers think businesses should contact them via text messages more often. Give your customers what they want. A recent PWC study shows that consumers will pay 16% more for a good customer experience, which we know involves speed and convenience, both hallmarks of texting.
4. Make sure no leads slip through the cracks:  Manually following up on leads at various places in their buyer journey can be complicated and confusing. An automated text message solution decreases human error. Plus, automation create consistency in your sales process so every lead is touched with proven messages at the right point in their journey.
5. Spark a positive human connection:  Although we find our screens very convenient, human interaction also matters to us. 82% of American consumers want more of it in the future. Your sales team must find that balance between tech convenience and customer service to convert leads and retain customers.

Combining Live and Automated Business Text Messaging

There are times when manual texting is necessary. Your sales team shouldn’t be afraid to send a unique and personalized text to leads following up on a conversation or asking a specific question. Those individual one-on-one conversations are still important for building that human connection.

Both automated and live text messages have a place in your sales process. Automated texts are great for the more routine tasks like initial inquiry responses, appointment confirmations, review solicitations, or thank you notes. It is possible to leverage the best of both worlds with text message automation.

Combining Text Message Automation with Phone Calls

You may be asking yourself, “What about phone calls?” Good question. Some leads may prefer phone calls to texts, and there are certain times in the sales process when phone calls are necessary. Successful sales teams strive to make the customer experience as fast, personalized, and convenient as possible. So, phone calls are still important.

It's possible to do it all when your text message automation software is just one part of a comprehensive automated lead follow-up system. With this kind of solution, the beginning of the customer journey would look like this:

• A shopper browses your website and is interested in your product. 
• They fill out and send a form asking for more information. 
• The automated system sends an instant text to the lead, thanking them for the inquiry and letting them know to expect a phone call from a salesperson shortly. 
• Then, the software calls the salesperson, "whispers" the lead information to them, and connects the prospect on a call within 30 seconds. 
• The salesperson has a conversation with the prospects, if the call is missed an automated follow-up text is sent to the shopper.
• The conversation continues on either channel, based on the customer's preferences and needs.

That’s exactly how Calldrip Respond works.

Calldrip’s Response Text Message Automation

If you are interested in leveling up your sales team’s capabilities and streamlining your sales process, text message automation is critical to your success. 

Calldrip’s rapid lead response tool, Respond, is an all-in-one solution that includes business text messaging automation and phone call capabilities. 

With Respond, your sales team will enhance customer service and drive more sales by meeting your leads where they are and responding to them in the manner your customer chooses. Your competitors will not be able to match that service or that convenience. 

If you'd like to see how automated text messaging works - CLICK HERE