In today’s highly competitive sales arena, generating a qualified pipeline that leads to consistent conversions is paramount. Sales professionals constantly grapple with meeting quotas and optimizing the sales process—challenges that were highlighted in a recent HubSpot study. The struggle for efficiency and effectiveness is further exacerbated by traditional communication tools like phone and email, which are increasingly yielding low engagement rates. With these pressing challenges in mind, this guide seeks to introduce a simple, yet transformative solution—leveraging SMS in your sales strategy.

Generate More Pipeline and Drive Sales Efficiency with Texting for Sales

Did you know the average reply rate for cold emails tops out at only 5%, and cold calls convert to booked meetings at a dismal rate of less than 2%? It’s no wonder sellers are constantly seeking ways to improve their communication and drive more pipeline.

While current consumer communication preferences favor SMS, it is a relatively untapped channel within the sales process. Text messaging drives superior engagement over traditional mediums, leading to a more robust pipeline and improved buyer journey. In contrast to the stagnant engagement rates of phone or email, SMS boasts an average read rate of 98%, with a median response time of 11 minutes. Incorporating texting for sales into your toolkit is a game-changing strategy that allows sellers to overcome communication hurdles, improve conversion and ultimately, close more deals in less time.

Effective sellers know that timing is everything and speed to lead can make or break a deal. The immediate nature of SMS makes it a more efficient means of communication. Where emails might sit unread in an inbox for hours or days, and phone calls often go straight to voicemail, text messages are typically read within the first 3 minutes of receipt.

Moreover, the brevity of text messages works in favor of sales professionals. In an age where time is a precious commodity, the succinctness of a text message often appeals to customers more than a lengthy email or a time-consuming phone call. This is reflected in the response rates, which for SMS stand at a staggering 48.5%, dwarfing the 6% response rate of email, and the even fewer number of returned phone calls.

The ‘Rule of Seven’ in sales states that buyers require a minimum of seven touchpoints in an 18-month period for them to remember you, let alone make a purchase from you. With that in mind, the efficacy of SMS becomes even more pronounced as it is a real-time medium that can support other communication methods as part of a holistic sales strategy. Incorporating SMS lead generation into your sales workflow allows for a higher frequency of touchpoints without overwhelming the customer. Text messaging gives you an opportunity to stay top of mind with your prospects, gently nudging them down the sales funnel, without being intrusive.

With that in mind, here are some ways to leverage text to aid in driving the sales pipeline and move deals more quickly through the sales cycle:

1. Use SMS to follow up with new leads on a 1:1 basis to quickly engage buyers at their highest points of intent
2. Leverage rich media in one-to-many SMS campaigns to generate higher levels of engagement and response
3. Continue to move buyers along the sales funnel by moving prospecting text message campaign responses to 1:1, conversational text messaging to better qualify opportunities

Interested in learning more about how SMS drives more pipeline? Download our eGuide, The SMS Advantage: A Guide to Driving More Pipeline and Accelerating Sales, now or stay tuned next week for Part 2: The ROI of SMS.

State of SMS Engagement 2024

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