Sales in correspondence: how to build a long-term business relationship
24 / 06 / 21
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Chatting has already proven its worth as a sales tool. Look around. Feedback forms appear on each site. Instagram and Facebook have become B2C platforms where customers make emotional purchases based on visuals. Linkedin has become a B2B sales platform where sophisticated services can be offered to customers.
We can only accept and use the fact that more than 57% of all purchases are made on the Internet. And the first contact falls on private messages. But what is the right way to work with clients in this “territory”? Let's figure it out.
What are the Benefits of Selling Through Linkedin Chatting?
The easiest way to sell a product or service to a client is to meet with him personally, telling about all the advantages and benefits. This option allows not only to use standard sales and negotiation techniques, but also to rely on the non-verbal signals of the interlocutor.
The second popular option is calls. Everyone knows their advantages, but one drawback in the form of inconvenient call time can completely discourage the interlocutor for a conversation. With cold correspondence, everything is easier.
You can work with several clients in parallel. While you have two meetings or spend time talking on the phone, it can take an entire work day. Needless to say, during this time you can answer an unlimited number of chats?
Correspondence gives time for a response. Any awkward pause in a phone call or a manager's inexperience can disrupt a sale. Conversations in chats make it possible to build selling options for answers, taking into account objections and pains. Here comes that very time for thinking, which is so lacking for many.
A two-step communication format is available. In cold correspondence, you can form an emotional connection with the interlocutor and trust in you. In the future, this will allow using the "correspondence-call / meeting" links. First, in the chat you will find out non-obvious details about a potential client and only then make an appointment or a convenient time to call.
The disadvantages of cold calling are eliminated. Let's be honest: if you didn't get through to the client or called at the wrong moment, you lost him. Chat rooms solve this problem elegantly. You write a message at any time, and the client always has the right time to think and respond without imposing.
Now here's a simple question. How do you know the basic principles of building sales in correspondence? There are enough small mistakes to make your message read and left unanswered.
I will give an example of a chat dialogue
- How much is it?
- 1000 $
- Can you get acquainted with the description and technical characteristics in detail?
- Here is the link
- Will there be delivery to our city?
- Yes. 7-8 days.
It seems that we received answers to our questions, but the desire to make a purchase did not arise. Do you have such a feeling? The thing is that this is an example of 70% of chats where there is no personalized work with clients. Correspondence sales are not about sales at all.
Moreover, on Linkedin you work with people who have not yet created a demand for your product. This is building business relationships with the interlocutor, where the emotional component is important, working with objections and personalizing all answers, taking into account the interests of the interlocutor.
Here are some simple guidelines
Address by name. Always refer to the person you are talking to by name in appropriate situations. Impersonal responses create the effect that the interlocutor feels like one of the hundreds of clients the manager works with. Template answers, template approach. This is not interesting to anyone.
Try to give instant answers. It is best if the response time to the client's message is up to a maximum of 10 minutes. Nobody wants to ask a question about a product in the afternoon and get an answer to it towards the end of the working day. Lost interest and the whole essence of building business relationships. And with them - sales conversion.
Find out all the details in order. To bring a client to a deal, characteristics and bare properties of a product are not enough. You need to consistently sandwich questions to form a complete picture of the client's needs. Question-answer, question-answer. You need to determine the selection criteria of the interlocutor in order to emphasize each advantage of your product or service with accents.
Replies should end with simple questions. This is necessary in order not to simply lose the interlocutor. A bad example is the dialogue described above. The client found out the price and delivery, and then left to compare with competitors. Their managers found all his "pains" and offered concrete solutions. Your sale fell through. To prevent this and keep the dialogue, use clarifying questions in your messages.
Indicate price surebets. For any manager, work can be considered a failure if he mentions one number. The interlocutor will read it, make a decision silently and the dialogue will end. Always include upper and lower price ranges. This opens up new opportunities for dialogue with the processing of objections "Expensive" and "What will I get for this money?"
Finish your posts periodically with calls to action. You can spend an infinitely long self-presentation and talk about services, but what's the point if you're not getting close to selling. You are in control of the conversation. From time to time, offer to move to the next level in your business relationship. You can offer product samples, a free test audit, speak with a technician, or simply make an appointment. The main thing here is to smoothly lead the dialogue to the next stage of the sale.
And yes - sometimes it can take days, weeks or even months. It all depends on the complexity of your product and the cycle of the deal. Even if the other person isn't responding, remind yourself 24 hours later with specific benefits and calls to action.
