Digital Transformation and Marketing for Franchises: Fundamental Steps
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Do you struggle with what to say to convert conversations into sales? We interviewed some experts to find the most effective techniques.
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Do you feel like you’re not maximizing your potential when you talk to clients?
Do you wonder why some salespeople are as much as four times more effective than others when using WhatsApp?
Are you trying to figure out what to say to clients and what to message them to generate visits and sales?
Then this post is for you!
We’ll show you the best WhatsApp conversations to apply with your team as soon as you finish reading this post.
First of all, I want to tell you that you’re not alone.
Whatever type of sales team you have (call center, showroom team, telemarketing, internet sales, etc.) this is a very common problem for businesses. In fact, in a survey we conducted in December, 73% of business owners and managers in Latin America admitted they have trouble converting communication with clients into sales.
In the era of conversational marketing, it is vital for salespeople to know how to direct clients. They arethe voice of the company, the main representatives, and everything that happens in their conversations, for better or worse, impacts the sucess of the business. We all know how to use WhatsApp, but not everyone knows how to get the most out of it to improve sales.
It is important to follow up once you learn these tricks so that all your sales staff can learn them. Zenvia Conversion and our integration with WhatsApp Business can help with that.
To help you start maximizing your results, we decided to interview the best salespeople in the countries where we work in order to understand what they do to turn their conversations into sales sucesses.
We set out to find the secret formula…
The sales secret for turning conversations into sales.
During our weeks of research, we learned so much that we want to share it all with you. We’re not holding anything back.
So buckle up, here we go!
The first thing we noticed when we started talking to high-performing salespeople is that most of them have their own “recipe for success.” Depending on the country, they call it a script, a speech, or a pitch… but in the end we’re talking about the same thing.
Every salesperson wanted to sell us on their personal technique and show us why it was the best in the world, cell phone in hand (what else would you expect from salespeople, right?). We don’t think there is one single formula for success, but we did notice three commonalities that repeated over and over.
The best salespeople choose their first words very carefully when they begin a conversation with a client. They know that whether or not they move forward depends on them. If they fail here, they lose their chance to make a sale!
First, they introduce themselves by name, ask permission to start the conversation, and try to build trust by explaining the reason they are contacting the client (as applicable, when the client reached out). This way, the client sees them as helpful.
For example:
—Hi Ray, how are you? (…) My name is Matt and I’m contacting you from World Autos to thank you for taking the time to contact us via our website (…) I also wanted to get a better understanding of how we can help you with your purchase of…
Second, they evaluate the client’s specific need and how “hot” they are (if the client is an internet lead they can use the product the client used to contact them or the question they asked).
With certain questions, you can quickly get a sense of what stage of the process the client is and move them towards making a purchase. In this part of the conversation, the salesperson is a detective looking for clues.
For example:
Finally, the best thing successful salespeople do is…close the sale!
A conversation that just tapers off without a defined next step (whether positive or negative) is useless. Even knowing that the client does not want to be contacted again is better than not knowing anything.
Salespeople brought this up so many times that we decided to create an acronym for it: introducing NSS: Next Sales Step.
Successful salespeople value their time and that of the client, so they always look for a concrete NSS via WhatsApp. They don’t go around in circles leaving coversations open. Like a hunter, they have a target and…they take their shot.
This depends on the type of sales you do. If it is an in person sale (for example, selling new or used cars), the NSS is the client’s visit to the showroom (with a specific date and time in the near future). If it’s not possibe to schedule a visit during the first conversation, an alternative NSS is to set up a time for the next call with the client.
To make the sale via WhatsApp (for example, selling savings plans, goods and services, or in situations when you can make a reservation via credit card), the NSS can be the sale itself: take the client’s payment details in order to close the transaction.
Let’s take a look at some examples:
Without an NSS:
—Please send me the information via email and then we can discuss later.
— Great! I’ll email this to you and wait for your reply. It has been a pleasure talking with you!
It’s very difficult to get a positive response out of this, or to find a time to contact this person again when they will be available and interested in continuing the conversation. It’s possible that another salesperson will message them on WhatsApp or otherwise contact them, or that the client will just forget about the conversation. This sale is almost lost for multiple reasons.
Let’s look at that same conversation with an NSS:
—Please send me the information via email and then we can discuss.
—Great! I’m emailing you now so you can take a look. I’ll schedule a call to see how I can best help you with your purchase. Tomorrow would you prefer I call you in the morning or afternoon?
Much better, right? The salespeople who get the best results on WhatsApp don’t leave their results to chance. They always look for an NSS.
The most successful salespeople include the following in their conversations:
TIP: having access to recorded calls with clients or previous chats can help improve the quality of your teams’ conversations. For this it is important that the CRM you use has VOIP functionality, for example.
But how can some salespeople get as much as four times as many sales as others? It can’t just be because of that!
Without a doubt, there must be something else that makes successful salespeople unique, beyond their charisma when it comes to sending WhatsApp messages…
It’s true. The best salespeople use certain tricks to influence their clients and increase their chances of finalizing sales. In the examples below we’ll see a variety of those tricks.
As you no doubt know, theory is worthless on its own. Practice is what makes the real difference. Let’s get started using WhatsApp! We want to show you a few examples of real conversations between salespeople and clients.
Let’s learn alongside the greatest teachers of phone and WhatsApp sales!
Note: below, we’ll see transcriptions of real WhatsApp conversations between salespople and buyers. We’ll use fake names for the businesses and people involved. The salespeople’s statements will be marked with an S, and the clients’ will be marked with a C.
S —Hello, is Richard Baez there?
C —Yes, speaking.
S —Hi Richard, my name is Matt Quintans and I’m calling from Chevrolet World Autos. Do you have a moment to talk? (Introduction, Permission, and Context)
C —Yes, of course.
S—Richard, the reason I’m contacting you is that we received your message via Mercado Libre asking about the 2017 Chevy Cruze. Is that correct? (He repeats the person’s name and tries to get the client to say “yes” again, creating a domino effect).
C —Yes, I sent that message a little while ago on Mercado Libre. Actually I didn’t ask anyone to message me.
S —I understand Richard. I’d like to help you make the best purchase possible as easily as possible. Sometimes I find it’s better to just reach out to clients rather than going back and forth via email. (the salesperson avoids the problem of the client wanting to communicate via computer by showing him that this will save time. He sells his service and makes himself stand out from other salespeople.)
C —OK, that’s fine, we can talk here.
S —While I verify our stock, I wanted to ask you… are you just interested in the Cruze, or are you also open to other models? In particular I wanted to ask because I might have a model in stock that would save you a little money…(he sells his service and puts himself on the client’s side and starts to qualify the client without discussing price)
C —Yes, actually I’m deciding between the Cruze and the Focus…
S —Fantastic. Both are really great cars. We just work with the Chevy line. In fact, did you know that wehave one of the highest customer satisfaction rates in the state? (He avoids the issue of not having one of the models the client is interested in while also arguing that this is the best place to buy from)
C —Oh, I didn’t know.
S —So about the Cruze… do you prefer automatic or manual? (He continues to qualify the client while he kills time because the dealership’s system is not working and he can’t see what they have in stock)
C —Manual is good.
S— Any color preference?
C —I like gray, although I could also go with blue.
S —Excellent. The switchblade silver is one of my favorites! And you’re planning to buy the car sometime around…(He does several interesting things here: he mentions the technical name of the color to show that he is an expert on the product and he also says it’s one of his favorites to generate empathy. Finally, he asks the most important question to understand the purchase timeline, allowing the client to simple complete the sentence rather than asking outright. Brilliant.)
C —I was thinking of putting the downpayment in at the beginning of February, and financing the rest with my bank.
S —Sounds good…all the Cruzes start at about $18,000 dollars. My suggestion would be to take advantage of the end of the month. We have serveral manufacturer’s discounts that expire at the end of the month (He creates scarcity and narrows down the NSS to avoid losing the client).
S—I see that we have three Cruze LTZs in the colors you mentioned still available for delivery. Speaking of availability, let’s schedule a test drive so you can get to know the car and get all your questions answered. Could you come by the showroom today around 5pm, or early tomorrow?
(Once again, he does several things at once: by saying that he has three cars he creates scarcity and a need to visit. He immediately sells the Next Sales Step, without asking. He closes by offering two immediate options for the client to choose between, known as the two pills technique.)
C —Um… I can’t today. Tomorrow I can step away from the office for a bit and come by around 11…
S —Perfect Richard. I’ll expect you and have the car ready. I can schedule your test drive for 11:15, or if not then the other option is 12:30. (He once again calls the client by his name, generates a commitment and offers exact times as if it were a doctor’s appointment. He made up those times and in fact doesn’t have any other appointments that whole hour.)
C —Okay, I can do 11:15.
S —Perfect. Richard, do me a favor. Write this down… (He stays quiet, waiting for the customer to answer)
C —Yes, I’m listening…
S —We scheduled an appointment for tomorrow, January 10th at 11:15 AM. My name is Matt Quintans. The address for our showroom is Rivera 1236, right next to the subway station. So I’ll expect you at…(He lets the client finish the sentence so he will commit it to memory and to be sure that he knows the time).
C —Quarter after 11. I may get there just a little after 11…
S —Great. I’m going to send you an email with my information to the address you gave us. If you are delayed for any reason I’d just as that you let me know here.
C —Don’t worry, I’ll be there at 11:15 or a little before. Thanks for your help Matt.
S —See you tomorrow Richard! I’ll be expecting you with the coffee ready! (He sells the NSS, calls the client by name, and creates a sense of obligation so the client will show up).
This conversation on WhatsApp, with the familiarity of this popular app that everyone uses, made me understand why there are some salespeople who are so much better than others.
Matt is disciplined and uses various techniques to improve his chances of a sale. But above all, he defines a clear NSS and uses solid arguments to convert threats into opportunities. That allows him to transform an internet lead who wasn’t planning to come to the dealership and who was deciding between two models into a visit that ended up turning into sale. And all via WhatsApp!
But that’s not all. As I interviewed salespeople, I also met George, a brilliant salesperson at a Toyota dealership. We’ll see how George manages a conversation.
S—My name is George Serafini, how can I help you?
C —How’s it going? I wanted to ask whether you have the new 2017 Corolla in stock…
S —Of course! That’s an excellent car. Actually we’ve already had a few people contact us today about it. What’s your name? (He builds trust with the client.)
C —Mariana.
S—Nice to meet you Mariana. Let’s do this so I don’t waste any of your time. We’re just going to check on the availability of the vehicle right now. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes. (He calls the client by her name, generates empathy, and sells his service to the client).
S—First of all, just because sometime I can lose service, you know how it is–are you contacting me from a work phone or personal? (The salesperson wants to take advantage of the contact to get some client information. He uses the two pills technique so the client will respond positively and he can andvance toward the NSS).
C —I’m on my cell phone.
S —Your last name is… (He doesn’t ask, he just lets the client fill in the blank)
C —(Mariana gives her last name).
S —Thanks Mariana! So let me tell you: there are several options available for the 2017 Corolla. Are you looking for a manual or automatic? (He starts to qualify the client).
C —I’d like an automatic, but it depends on the price.
S —Automatic, okay. Yes…that’s better, much simpler to drive! I see in my system that we have a dark gray option in the showroom that’s really nice. (He avoids the issue of price on the phone, encouraging the client to think about the product).
C —What’s the price for this model?
S —The final price depends on the configurations we decide on for your Corolla. We’re going to choose the color, drive type, acessories… but to give you an idea, the list price for a new Corolla starts at $21,000 dollars. (He gives her an initial idea of the price so he can set aside the issue).C —Uh-huh…
S —But I don’t want to overwhelm you. The most important thing is to first get to know the product, see which model you prefer, then we can come up with a quote together. (The salesperson understands that the client is a little confused, so he empathizes and uses that moment to work toward the NSS: the visit).
S —And Mariana, just so you’re aware, the Corolla has rebates of up to 5% right now… (He uses a logical argument to calm the client).
S —Have you already had a chance to drive the new Corolla?
C — Yes, I’ve driven my dad’s car a few times, I’m familiar with it…
S —Ah…but have you driven the 2017 model? We update the line every year and improve the features, you won’t believe what this car is like. I’d like to invite you to come in and have a coffee in our showroom and drive the new model in person so you can feel the difference yourself. (The salesperson sells the visit by making it sound like a VIP experience).
C – Great…can I come by this weekend?
S – Absolutely, Mariana. But you know what, if you can I’d suggest coming by sooner. On the weekends the showroom gets really busy and I’d like you to have the time to get all your questions answered. How does tomorrow at this same time sound? (It’s Tuesday and the salesperson doesn’t want to lose the opportunity. Waiting more than four days for a visit risks losing the client and having them not visit. He proposes a closer date).
C —Sure, I could do that.
S—Great. I’ll schedule that now. You know how it is, at a certain age your memory just isn’t the same (he laughs). Tomorrow at 3:30 PM I have a space available, I’ll mark that down now. (He proposes a specific upcoming time for the visit).
C —Sounds good.
S —Fantastic. I’ll expect you tomorrow at 3:30. You’re not going to stand me up, are you? (He creates a sense of obligation so the client will show up, doing it with humor so it won’t come across poorly.)
C —No, no! If I say I’ll be there, you can be sure I’ll be there…plus I already know where the dealership is because I always take my car there for service.
S—Great. I’d like to send you a little more information and my details. What’s your email, mariana? (The salesperson takes advanatage of the domino effect–the client has already said yes several times and he has her full confidence– to complete Mariana’s information in the system).
C —(Mariana gives him her email).
S —Perfect. And I’ll send you a personal WhatsApp right now so you have my number. Save my contact info, I’m George Serafini. (The salesperson knows that this is one of the best modes of communication, better than email, so he moves the conversation there).
C —Excellent, George. Thanks, see you tomorrow!
This salesperson, unlike the previous example, didn’t use as many tricks or tactics to schedule a visit. Although he followed a similar structure, the main difference-maker was the warmth of his messages and his cordiality toward the client.
And that may be the most difficult thing to replicate, right? That personal touch that the great masters have, even through WhatsApp.
