Do you do a lot of business on Facebook messenger and other social media messenger platforms?
If your answer is “No,” you’re missing out on a lot of sales. Social media messaging platforms—Facebook Messenger especially—are a GREAT source of high-quality, low-cost leads. Just look at some of the performance data from one of our clients below:
Over 400 messages at less than $5 per message? What a deal!
But receiving the message does not equal a sale – far from it, actually. Salespeople need to know how to work these messages to convert them into sales.
Here are five tips to help your team work deals in messenger, and convert more messages into sales.
Speed is your friend.
If you’re not first, you’re last, right?
That may not be entirely true, but answering messages quickly definitely pays off. In fact, according to a study from Podium, 78 percent of customers purchase from the first responder. Do you want to get 78% of the home sales in your region? Of course, you do! And the good news is that all you have to do is respond first.
If you’re worried about having to stay glued to Messenger, waiting to respond in the first three seconds, you may be in luck. According to that same study, only 37% of companies achieve a lead response time of one hour less. This means that your competition probably isn’t responding quickly either.
Don’t take this as a reason to move slow—because faster is always better. Even if it takes you 10 minutes to respond, you’ll likely still be the first business to reply, giving you a great chance of getting that sale.
Answer the question.
Have you ever seen a conversation go like this?
Customer: “How much is the XYZ home?”
Seller: “Hi Mr. Customer! Can I get your phone number to send you that info?”
99.99999999% of the time, you’ve lost that deal.
I understand the need to get the phone number. However, from the customer’s perspective, you don’t need a phone number to send the price – you can send it right through Messenger, where you both are right now. The customer doesn’t understand why you want their number, and people don’t trust what they don’t understand. And they are certainly not going to buy from someone they don’t trust.
Here’s a better way to handle it:
Customer: “How much is the XYZ home?”
Seller: Hi Mr. Customer! That home starts around $75,000, but can vary based on options and delivery costs. Would you like me to get that info here on messenger, or give you a call?
By answering the question first, the seller is building a trusting relationship, which will make it MUCH more likely that the buyer will be willing to give them more information.
Earn the trust, then ask for more. Do not ask for more until you’ve started to earn the trust.
Make Conversation.
For some of the more seasoned salespeople in our industry, communicating via Messenger is new and can feel a little intimidating. “I can’t communicate online, but I’m great in person” is something I hear a lot.
The good news? It’s a simple fix. Tell your salespeople to talk online just like they would in person—build rapport, ask questions, answer questions, and engage naturally. A good online conversation should look no different than a transcript of an in person conversation.
If you wouldn’t ask a question or phrase something in a particular way in person, don’t do it online either.
A picture is worth 1000 words.
Did you know that you can send pictures in Messenger?
This is one advantage that messenger has over a phone conversation. You can drag and drop a photo directly into the conversation. It’s a powerful tool to help the buyer visualize the home that you’re discussing.
Grammar, punctuation, and spelling all matter.
No, poor grammar, spelling, and punctuation do NOT make you seem relatable or real. In fact, all they do is make you seem unprofessional. Grammar matters. Punctuation matters. Spelling matters.
The average person reads around 60,000 words per day, and most of that is written with correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
Don’t believe me? Which one of these would you be more likely to answer? ⬇️
❌ “Are you looking for a 3 bed or 4 bedroom home.”
✅ ”Are you looking for a 3 bed or a 4 bedroom home?”
I’m betting that the second option makes you want to answer. Why? Because it has a question mark. The reader’s mind actually recognize the question mark first, signaling that there is something to answer. The reader is already thinking about a response before they ever finish the question. This doesn’t happen when there is a period instead of a question mark.
See? Those grammar school lessons really meant something. : )