Leads vs. Referrals
CRM Overview
Lead Follow-Up Routine
Calling Recycled Leads
Typical Results
On average, we get a hold of 60-80% of the leads we call. This represents the total percentage of people who get back to us in some form or other, whether they text back, call back, or answer the phone when you call. Keep in mind, it’s not 60-80% of the first phone call - personal friends don’t even answer the phone at that rate! It’s 60-80% you should hear back from after you’ve completed the entire follow-up schedule below.
Keep in mind, your results will vary drastically on a day by day basis and sometimes even on a weekly basis. Some days it seems like nobody is answering the phone, other days almost everyone answers and books. This average is based on a stretched out time frame.
Smile Before You Dial
When you're talking to someone over the phone, you can typically hear the smile (or lack of one) in their voice. To help give yourself a pleasant tone, take a deep breath and put on a big smile before making the call. It can be hard to get used to at first, but with enough practice you’ll start doing this automatically.
Follow-Up Schedule
Note that, if there is a weekend in between the days, just keep going at the day you left off. For example, if Friday is “day 1” follow the schedule for Monday being day 2, Tuesday being day 3, etc.
Before you call leads, click on their card in the CRM to open their opportunity window. If they don’t respond, add a note to the lead that you called and/or texted and whether you left a voicemail.
DAY 1
Call 2X
Text
“Hi John, Peter here getting back to you from ABC home remodels. I saw that you reached out to us on Facebook about a kitchen remodel. Is there a good day & time this week for us to come by and do the estimate?”
DAY 2
Call
Text
“Hey John, please let me know if:
1) you’re not interested in an estimate anymore
2) you want me to call back some other time
3) you want to schedule through text instead”
DAY 3
Call
Voicemail
“Hey John, it’s Peter with ABC remodels. I just wanted to make sure I got a hold of you. You reached out to us on Facebook for an estimate on a bath remodel project. When possible please give me a call back at (717) xxx-xxxx. Thank you, talk to you soon!”
Text
“Hey John - just wanted to make sure I got a hold of you so I can get your estimate scheduled. Are you still interested in an estimate for your bath remodel project?”
DAY 4
Call
Voicemail
“Hey John, it’s Peter with ABC remodels. Just wanted to try you one more time since you reached out about a bath remodel estimate. If I don’t hear back I’ll assume you’re not interested at this time. Thank you and good luck with your project!”
Update
Move lead to Recycle column.
Appointment Setting Script
- Greet: "Hi John, it's Peter getting back to you from ABC Remodels. How are you today?"
- Set Agenda: “I’m just calling because I saw that you reached out to us for a kitchen remodel estimate on Facebook. I just had a few questions for you so I can go ahead and schedule that appointment.”
- Engage & Qualify: “Tell me about your project, what can we help you accomplish?”
- Reassure + Restate: “Well, we can definitely help you with ___________________”
- Gather Info: “Confirm address, phone, etc.”
- Pick a Day & Time: “Awesome, let me go check my calendar to see what we have available. Alright, looks like I could have an estimator out on Friday at 2PM. Would that work?”
- Set Expectations: “Great! Bill will come out to take measurements, and he will put you in touch with a designer who will work with you on the finer details of your project. After you talk to the designer, we’ll have a 3D design and quote ready for you within 72 hours.”
- Conclude Call: “Thanks John! We look forward to meeting and thanks for reaching out to ABC Remodels. Take care.”
Script Breakdown
Greet
Cheerfully greet the lead by name and let them know where you’re calling from. One thing that is very important to note about the script is to say “this is Peter getting back to you from ABC remodels.” This automatically lets the customer know that you are responding to them and not cold calling them. It typically takes people a few seconds to remember that they filled out a form.
Set Agenda
After the initial greeting, take charge of the conversation by stating the purpose for the call - which is to schedule their measurement / estimate / consultation appointment. If you put the ball too much in the customer’s court by starting the call with “are you still interested” or something similar, customers will start interviewing you and asking for a ballpark price etc. Confidently take charge at the beginning of the call to help you set as many appointments as possible.
Engage & Qualify
At this stage, you accomplish two things.
First, you make the customer feel listened to by asking questions about their project and letting them explain. Often customers have an idea of what they're looking for, but aren’t able to fully communicate it or even visualize it for that matter. They want to know that you understand. Actively listening will help you build trust with the customer from the start.
Second, you want to find out about their project to make sure that it’s something your business handles. You will need to ask your manager to give you some parameters, but you may not want to book customers who have a small handyman project, or otherwise who have some type of work that is outside of your realm of expertise.
Reassure & Restate
Once you’ve heard them out about their project, you reassure the customer by confidently stating that you can help them. Repeating it back to them also reassures them that you understood it, considered it, and know that your business can handle the job.
Gather Info
It’s time to get the customer’s address. Listen carefully, write it down, and repeat it back to them to make sure you have the correct address. Confirm their email address and make sure that the number you called them on is their best phone number.
Pick a Day & Time
Work out a time for the salesperson to visit with the customer. If possible, try to steer the customer towards scheduling an appointment that is sooner or rather than later. If your appointment is booked for 2-3 weeks out, for example, the customer might barely remember who you are by the time the salesperson arrives at their home. Always suggest the soonest available days that you have open on the calendar.
Set Expectations
This is your chance to help ensure the salesperson has a smooth experience with the customer!
If the salesperson will be arriving during a time window (e.g., between 1-2pm) make sure that is clearly communicated with the customer. Also, if appointments typically take 90 minutes, but customers aren’t expecting it to, that’s another thing that you’ll want to communicate. Anything that is unique about your process should be clearly communicated so that the salesperson has a better chance of winning the deal.
If applicable, you can also let the customer know about the qualifications of the person visiting. E.g., “Ryan is super knowledgeable and has been doing this pretty much his whole life. You’re in good hands with Ryan!”
Conclude Call
Confirm the day & time of the appointment with the customer and cheerfully end the call.
Text Conversations
If leads answer by text before they answer by phone, try to schedule them over text. Instead of going through the whole qualifying process, focus on getting their address and setting up a time. Attention spans are limited, and you’ll have a much higher booking rate if you keep it simple.
Example Conversations:
“Hi John, Peter here getting back to you from ABC home remodels. I saw that you reached out to us on Facebook about a kitchen remodel. Is there a good day & time this week for us to come by and do the estimate?”
(prospect responds with time)
“Great, what’s the property address so I can confirm availability?”
(prospect responds with address)
“Great. You’re all set for 2PM on October, Friday the second for a bath remodel. We’ll see you then!”
Keep in mind that a lot of times, texts back and forth will be spaced out. Try to respond to customers as soon as you can while they are in a texting mood. That being said, sometimes it will take them a few hours or longer to respond.
Moving Leads to Working
After you make contact with a lead, it may take some back and forth before you are able to settle on a time for a salesperson to visit their home. If you talk to a lead, but they need you to call back later, or in general if you make contact without immediately scheduling the lead, move them to the “working” column and continue to follow up beyond the initial schedule.
Recycling Leads
If you’ve gone through the initial follow-up process, and you still haven’t received any texts or calls back from the lead or anything, move them to “Recycle.”Make a plan to call the leads on this list again every 2 or 3 months. For a call-through, I recommend calling each lead 4 times and sending 2-3 texts over the span of a few days.
Taking Notes
Before you call a lead, open their card in the CRM and go to notes. Sometimes there will be a note with some information like address and what the lead is looking for.
Setting Appointments in the CRM
To set appointments in the CRM, go to the “Calendar” tab on the left hand side. Click on the “+ Appointment” button in the top right corner. This will open up a window to book the appointment.
On the right hand side of the window you’ll see the option to add a contact. Add the contact that you’ve set an appointment for. After filling out the day & time for the appointment, you’ll notice at the bottom it says “meeting location.” By default, it should say “Customer’s Home” or something similar. Click on “Custom” and put in the customer’s address.
Conclusion
Thanks for reading through this training. If there is anything else you need instruction on when it comes to using the CRM, setting appointments with leads, or follow up strategies, please send me an email at peter@serviceallies.com and we will add to this training as we are able to.