Are you turning social media messages into new home sales?
If you’re not, you’re missing out on A LOT business.
Here at Bild Media, we manage a lot of social media accounts, and every day I see messages turning into appointments and sales. In fact, we have several clients who have dedicated sales people that (gasp!) don’t take walk ups or phone calls – they just work social media to get new home buyers.
If you’re messaging back and forth with leads, but not getting any sales, you’re in luck. : ) I’ve got a few tips below to help you get more traction with your messages and convert more messaging conversations into sales.
Give before you receive.
I see a lot of messenger conversations that go like this:
Lead: “How much is the XYZ home?”
Salesperson: “Hi [lead name], this is [salesperson]. What’s your phone number?
The logic is (somewhat) sound: the salesperson knows they can probably get more info, and a higher likelihood of a sale, if they speak to someone on the phone. So they ask for the lead’s phone number to give them a call.
The problem is that the salesperson has now eroded the lead’s trust. The lead asked for something, and instead of receiving what they asked for, they were asked for more private information.
The question in their mind is ‘why?’…Why does this salesperson need my phone number to give me a price, when they could easily type it right into messenger?
When you’re messaging back and forth with a lead, you have to answer any questions before you ask for more information. Gain the lead’s trust by answering their questions, THEN ask for them for more (phone number, budget, appointment, etc). Leads are not going to give up anything until you answer the question that brought them to the conversation.
Ask and you shall receive.
If you want to keep that online lead engaged, you need to ask questions. Lots of them. Asking questions keeps the lead engaged, shows that you’re interested in their needs, and it helps you understand the problem that a new home will solve. The more you know about the prospect, the more likely it is that they will buy a home from you.
Here’s the trick: Ask the easy and simple questions first, the questions that you KNOW the lead will be able to answer easily. This creates a sense of comfort in the lead. When it’s easy for them to answer your initial questions, they don’t feel put on the spot or uncomfortable in any way. Once you’ve got a good back and forth rapport with the lead, then ask the more complicated, in depth questions.
Go fast.
Answer messages on social quickly, thoroughly, and completely. As we all know, time kills deals, and if you take too long to answer a message on social media, that lead has moved on. If you can measure your response time in days, or even hours, you need to speed that up. Those are rookie numbers, and your competitor is answering in minutes.
Follow Up Again. And again. And again…
You’re probably tired of hearing this, but salespeople in the manufactured housing have to get better at following up with prospects. According to recent research, it takes an average of 5-7 follow ups to get an appointment. Don’t be the one that gives up after 1 or 2.
If someone reaches out to you, they are interested in what you’re selling and want to know more. It’s your job as a good salesperson to show that you will do WHATEVER it takes to get them the info that they’re looking for. Don’t worry about bothering them. If they’re really interested in the product, they won’t mind your persistance. If your persistence and dedication bothers them, they weren’t going to buy to begin with, and you’ve lost nothing.
Punctuation matters.
Which one of the sentences below seem more like a question? ⬇️
How many bedrooms are you looking for in your new home.
How many bedrooms are you looking for in your new home?
The answer, of course, is the second option. We can all agree on this because it has a question mark. The questions mark indicates to the reader that they need to take action to complete a societal norm – answering the question. In fact, our minds see that question mark before we even read the sentence, and we start thinking about the answer before we even finish the sentence. Without a question mark, the reader doesn’t know that they need to do anything to respond, and they are MUCH less likely to engage.
If you’re thinking using a question mark, or any other punctuation for that matter, is a given, you’re wrong. Go look at your business’s social media page, and read the messages through the lens of a grammar teacher. You will find A LOT of grammatical errors. These errors are causing you to lose business because 1) readers don’t know how to interpret what they’re being told, and 2) poor grammar is unprofessional, and all buyers (yes, even MH buyers), prefer a professional purchase experience.
