Digital Transformation and Marketing for Franchises: Fundamental Steps
In today’s business landscape, digital transformation is a crucial factor for the success of any company, including franchises.
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Learn how to use WhatsApp as an effective new sales tool. Click here!
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In this era of conversational marketing, WhatsApp has become one of the world’s most popular methods of communication. People of all ages how become part of this new trend that looks to be here to stay.
WhatsApp has completely changed the way that buyers and sellers interact.
In interviews with the Zenvia Conversion team, 85% of salespeople said WhatsApp is “very important to the sales process” (and that it would be much harder to close without it). This means that it is already making a huge difference for businesses’ sales performance.
This article contains techniques designed by salespeople and used by salespeople for selling on WhatsApp. If you find it helpful, I suggest sharing it with your whole team!
I’ll let you in on a little secret. According to a report by Zenvia Conversion, 95% of cell phone numbers that buyers give to sellers are already associated with a personal WhatsApp account.
That means that all your clients are already there.
Just as you strive to make a good impression in the room to close a sale, with these tools you can make an impression on your clients. And generate more sales.
The first thing you need to understand is that WhatsApp isn’t a sales method on its own. WhatsApp is a link in the chain of making a sale, and you need to use it in combination with the rest of your tools in the optimum way.
As we saw in How to Create a Perfect Sales Pitch, the best salespeople always take advantage of contact with the client to look for the SNS (Sales Next Step). The exact same thing happens in a chat.
Let’s try an example…
Suppose a client first goes to your business’s website, press the WhatsApp Button, and the salesperson response him back immediately. A few days later, the salesperson follows up via WhatsApp and talks to the client about financing. Later, the salesperson calls them again and is able to schedule a meeting. And finally the salesperson sends them information through WhatsApp to remind them of the appointment.
Let’s check this example of a car sales representative, we might see something like this:
Over the course of the sale, the salesperson made contact with the client 4 times in order to accelerate closing. On these 4 occasions, the salesperson found the Sales Next Step that moved them closer to the final resolution: the sale (and their commission, obviously)
This example helps us to understand how WhatsApp is the key that allows a salesperson to streamline the selling process and move forward to the final sale. The important thing is looking for that Sales Next Step that will move you toward your goal.
Okay, that was a lot of theory! Now we’ll look at how you can make sure clients prefer you.
There are details in style that will help your clients feel more comfortable, and on the flip side there are some mistakes to avoid. The goal of this section is to learn a few tricks to make clients see you as THE best option when it comes time to buy.
You can ignore any other rule. But not this one.
WhatsApp, like any other modern messaging service, is set up to detect and block anyone who sends mass advertising. If you send generic texts, visual promotions, or any other message that your client doesn’t want, they will consider you junk mail (also known as SPAM) and block you.
(This is how a client sees you when they you send a SPAM message. So they block you.)
Avoid sending unwanted messages to your clients via WhatsApp, or they’ll quickly block you and you’ll miss out on valuable opportunities to sell. Use personalized messages that add value for your client, and you’ll see the difference. Welcome to the real world.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take proactive actions to sell in WhatsApp! After all, that’s what this is all about.
A reminder about a meeting, information about a product, or a simple hello are all steps toward a sale. The important thing is for the client to perceive it as something personal.
And speaking of personality…
Chats are informal, transparent communication tools.
Consider this: Email was probably what you used to communicate with your professors when you were in school. WhatsApp was what you used to talk to your friends and classmates. See the difference?
This means you need to be warm and open with the client so they will see you as someone who will be helpful and add value during their purchase.
The best way to do this is to talk to the client like you would talk to any of your contacts, while always being respectful. Be friendly, but not too informal.
Also remember that people don’t want to read an encyclopedia every time they get a message from you! This is a conversation where the other person needs to feel that you are providing value. Just as you would with a friend, send messages that are short and to the point.
Oh, and I almost forgot…please, avoid rookie mistakes: use your real name on your WhatsApp (“MICHAEL SALES” or “YOUR BEST PRICE” will make your clients run for the hills). A real first and last name will make sure that your client doesn’t see you as a robot and knows who you are.
People buy from people.
Perhaps the most important factor in choosing one vendor over another is the image they present to the client. Just as you make a good impression when selling in person, the same applies in the online world.
Speaking of which…which of the following pictures do you think would generate better results when contacting a client through WhatsApp?
Your photo will show up on your clients’ screens every time you send a message. This means it is important to use a high-quality image that is friendly and real. Ideally smiling at the camera.
Another common mistake we see is using a picture of a car, a pet, or children. Although that’s sweet, if you are a salesperson please don’t do it. A person who is going to make a purchase wants to see your face so they can trust you.
Unless you want to lose your commission, you need your client to be able to recognize you, since when they get to the sales floor they will need to find you and not some other salesperson!
We have encountered some salespeople who type IN ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME. They do it for emphasis or for easy reading.
Please, don’t do it!
In the internet age, writing in all caps means that you are shouting. This will be very off-putting to your reader, particularly if they are on the younger side.
This is how your clients see you when you type in all caps
Avoid typing in unnecessary capital letters. If you’re worried about writing well, we’ll look at how to do that below.
Finally, something we see a lot of salespeople do to build rapport with clients is using emojis (just like we do on the Zenvia Conversion blog). That way you can express emotions and give your texts a warmer touch. As long as you don’t go overboard with them, this will help you stand out.
Some examples of emojis that salespeople have showed us:
Let’s look at an example of how to apply some of these suggestions for how to use WhatsApp for business promotion.
What not to do:
OK, maybe I exaggerated a little for the example… but I swear I have actually received messages like that on WhatsApp!
How to do it right:
See the difference? When we see that there’s a real person on the other end, we are more sincere and empathetic with people who contact us.
As always, some salespeople go one step further…true to our style, we want to show you how some people get up to 3 times better results when using WhatsApp for business marketing (speaking of which, if you’re also interested in tricks to use on your calls, we recommend some of our other posts).
Why are some salespeople up to 3 times more effective than others?
The best salespeople we interviewed who sell via WhatsApp take advantage of autocorrect to type quickly without having to worry about spelling.
Whether you use a computer or a cell phone to contact your clients, there’s no reason to waste time remember exceptions to “i before e.”
Using autocorrect will make sure clients see you as educated with minimal effort on your part.
(If you want to type even faster with less effort, we suggest you check if you have autocomplete in your keyboard options. With this function, your phone will suggest words as you type).
In case you need it, here are a couple of links to information on activating autocorrect:
Without a doubt, the best resource that chat masters use is templates. These are saved messages that are already ready to be sent to any client in any situation.
In the case of WhatsApp Business, there are certain restrictions with regard to sending templates. For both a first contact with a client and recontacts after longer than 24 hours since the last message exchange, the messages used must be pre-approved by WhatsApp.
Yes, you read that right. You can’t initiate contact with clients unless you use a template that has been pre-approved by WhatsApp.
Any technological attempt to avoid that restriction will be severely sanctioned by the company. There are only a few WhatsApp Partners in the world that manage these templates, but don’t worry, one of them is Zenvia Conversion.
(I’ve seen salespeople who use templates respond up to 5 times faster than their peers).
There are hundreds of examples of how to use templates to sell on WhatsApp. I want to show you a few examples of what we’ve seen so you can create your own:
For a template to be effective, you need to follow all the style rules we went over in Part 2. Remember to keep your messages brief and personal so they don’t seem automated.
If you’d like to apply these recommendations and take your performance to the next level, click here to talk with an specialist.
