Ever had difficulty scheduling Facebook leads for sales appointments? You’re not alone. Here’s what’s probably going on:
You might be trying to use a hammer on a screw.
See, for a long time now, marketers and sales experts alike have been fervently preaching the speed-to-lead approach.
They give detailed stats on how much less likely you are to win the lead as each minute passes by.
Here’s the thing:
For a long time, before social media advertising for home improvement became popular, this might have been true. Because most home improvement leads were reaching out to you only when they were in the mood to talk.
Whether they found you on Google, or were a referral, by the time they called or submitted a form they were in “get it done” mode.
But when do people use Facebook and Instagram? Usually it’s when they’re winding down for the day.
They may be very interested in what you’re offering - but that doesn’t mean they’re in the mood to talk right then.
Because of this, social media leads require a completely different approach to follow-up.
So in this article, we'll talk about 5 tips to help you book more social media leads.
Tip #1: Set Up Automated Responses
The first thing to keep in mind when working with these leads is that it’s very easy for these prospects to forget who you are.
Susan may have reached out to your company with the full intention of booking an appointment with you. But that was last night when she was winding down. Now she has to take the kids to soccer practice, make preparations for a dinner with friends that evening, and do lots of paperwork for the school board she’s a part of.
When you call her, there’s a good chance she won’t remember you immediately.
What can happen in that case is that you call, she tells you she doesn’t remember filling anything out, and then the conversation ends.
A few minutes later it dawns on her that she did in fact submit her information on Facebook - but now the conversation is over. She tells herself she’ll get back later, but there are a lot of other more important things vying for her attention.
So what can we do to help with this?
It’s important to help Susan remember that she submitted her information, and who she sent it to. That way, when you call her, you’ll already be near the top of her mind.
Automated texts and emails are a fantastic way to accomplish this!
Plenty of CRM systems (such as Builder Prime, Hatch, and HighLevel) allow you to set up automated responses. When a home improvement customer submits their info, they will automatically get a text and email back without a human on your team needing to do anything.
This is extremely valuable with Facebook and Instagram leads, because so many of these leads come in late at night.
Now, when you call Susan, she is much more likely to remember who you are. Meaning, you’ll be more likely to set the appointment and win the sale.
Tip #2: Follow a Calling and Texting Routine
When it comes to social media leads, lots of business owners are confused when their team is calling back immediately - but not getting a whole lot of answers.
Again, this is due to the nature of social media leads. At the time they submit their information to your Facebook ad or Instagram ad, they may not be in the mood to talk.
Calling back right away is fine, it won’t hurt anything. It’s just not what makes the biggest difference.
What does make the biggest difference is having a routine that’s a mixture of calling and texting.
At Service Allies, we recommend calling at least 4 times over the 4 business days after the lead comes in, and texting 3 times in the same period.
Voicemails and emails aren’t as critical. So I recommend leaving a voicemail on the final day of follow-up only, and leaving emails to the automations.
With this process, you should get in touch with about 60% to 80% of your leads.
I can’t emphasize enough how important texting your leads is. Many business owners tend to see it as an extra, or a nice-to-have.
But let me ask you something: would you rather set appointments with 20% of your leads, or with 40% of your leads?
In many cases, texting is responsible for half of booked appointments. Meaning, if you didn’t text, you would lose them.
Not only that, but texting helps you stay fresh in your customer’s minds. In my experience, even when I follow up by phone call later on, customers are more receptive because they’ve seen my texts and already know who I am.
Now you may be asking - can’t you just use automations for text?
Yes and no. Automations are a great supplement. They’re great for auto responses, meeting reminders, and similar things.
But at the end of the day, it seems people much prefer talking to a human than responding to automations.
Think about it - when you get a cold call, is it easier for you to hang up on a pre-recorded message, or on a human being?
Text follow-up is most effective when it’s sent by a human and manually typed out.
The best way to text is from a personal cell, or business cell, that uses a different number than the number that sends automations.
If you want to learn more about a good initial follow-up routine, check out our appointment setter training.
Tip #3: Use an Intentional Script
The first few seconds of getting a prospect on the phone will make or break the deal.
Seriously.
Let’s start off with the fact that a lot of people won’t remember you immediately. If you start the conversation with “Hi George, this is Peter calling from Best Remodelers Inc” - and George doesn’t remember you - his first instinct will be to think you’re a cold caller.
If George is particularly busy that day, he’ll probably just tell you he’s not interested and get off the phone as quickly as possible. Not what you want.
Now what if we start that off differently? What if we say “Hi George, this is Peter getting back to you from Best Remodelers Inc.”
Now in George’s mind, he’s thinking “Getting back to me? When did I reach out to them?”
From there, he might ask “wait, where did you say you’re calling from?”
Now you can continue the conversation and get him booked. “From Best Remodelers Inc. You reached out to us on Facebook about getting a quote on your kitchen remodel, so I’m just calling to get that appointment scheduled for you!”
This small difference can have a huge impact on the amount of leads you schedule.
Also, note that in the second part of the script, you should clearly set the agenda “I’m calling to get your appointment scheduled.” Without a script, what tends to happen is things get left open ended with questions like “Are you still interested?”
Prospects will then use this opportunity to start asking about price, about the company, and try to get all the information so they can “think about it and get back to you” without scheduling an appointment.
A good introduction, confidently setting the agenda, and focusing on getting the appointment is key to scheduling your social media leads.
Tip #4: Please, Please Rehash Your Leads
I’m convinced that most remodeling companies who have been in business for 5+ years have millions of dollars in revenue in their old remodeling leads list.
Our brains are wired to pay attention to things in motion. What’s new, what’s happening right now, what’s going to happen.
We focus on the new leads that are fresh. We wait expectantly for them. And we give little thought to the growing pile of old leads.
What’s unique about social media leads is that a lot of them are reaching out with a need that’s important, but not necessarily urgent. Their AC system might be getting old, and they will need a new one, but they may still get another year out of it.
Or, they may want to get their deck installed this year. But they don’t necessarily have to.
This means that a significant percentage of your leads are probably still “in the market” - even months, in some cases years after you reach back out.
A remodeling client of mine was coaching his hesitant salesperson on calling back old leads. The sales person was a bit unsure about the process. But finally they sat down and decided to just pick up the phone and start calling.
Within 3 calls, the salesperson got in touch with someone who said yes, they’re looking to have some more work done and would like a quote.
He looked at the owner wide-eyed - wait, did that just work?
Yes - it did!
Occasionally, I’ve helped some of my clients follow up with their leads, and the same thing happens all the time. One of my clients sold a $120,000 project to a 6 month old lead, that I helped schedule by following up.
To maximize your returns from leads, I highly recommend you deliberately recall (and maybe text too!) all your old leads every 3 months or so!
Tip #5: Your Facebook Ads Should Talk to the Right People at the Right Time
Your Facebook ads should talk to the right group of prospects. Not everyone is at the same point in the buying journey.
While every person is unique, there are a few stages of the buying cycle that your audience generally falls into. Here’s what that might look like for prospects who are interested in remodeling:
- Some are just starting to consider a kitchen remodel.
- Some are designing, planning, budgeting.
- Some are looking for a contractor to give them a quote within the next week.
What’s important for your company is to make sure your ads talk to the right people at the right time.
You may be an absolute rock star at getting in early, helping customers plan their dream kitchen, and building a relationship with them. If that’s the case, you’ll want to talk to the customer who is designing, planning and budgeting.
To do this, your ad could be an offer for a free design consultation. Or, a discount on the full price you charge for the design consultation.
If you are better at closing deals with customers who already have a plan in mind, and just need someone to execute the plan efficiently, your ad might instead focus on the fact that you have immediate availability, and how quickly you can get kitchen remodels done.
One way isn’t necessarily better than another. What matters is what’s right for your business.
By focusing on your ideal type of customer, and talking to the customer that’s in the right part of the sales cycle, you’ll help yourself draw in the right type of leads for your business. This makes converting them to sales much easier!
Is This Something You Should Implement?
If your company relies on social media leads, or it’s a source that you want to properly utilize, it’s important to understand and accept that these leads require a different approach.
This applies whether you are using social media to get interior painting leads, mold remediation leads, renovation leads, or any other type of lead for non-urgent home improvement services.
Taking the time to implement what we covered in this article will help you scale your social media ROI by leaps and bounds.
Is this something you should implement? If so, time to get after it!
