Effective Lead Engagement and Follow-Up

Lance Hood (FranPro) 0:01

H i everyone . I would like you to meet Dave Hansen , president of ClientTether . Dave , welcome to the call .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 0:09

Yeah , thanks a lot , Lance . Glad to be here with you .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 0:12

So , dave , for people who aren't familiar with ClientTether , can you tell us a little bit about what you guys do ?

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 0:19

Yeah , of course . Thanks for having me Lance . So ClientTether is a sales automation platform that was built by franchisors for the franchising industry . We are a CRM tool . Most CRMs are built backwards for franchising . They don't support multi-unit . They have the wrong data structure for the contacts leads , breaking into contacts accounts opportunities like five different data tables , complexity . Our dev monitors . If a dump painter can't use it , don't build it . So the UI is simple to adopt . It has automation tools built in to engage leads rapidly across text call email . You can put a box of brownies in the mail for you , send handwritten notes . It's a pretty robust platform , more robust than anything I've used in 15 years of managing sales teams in corporate America , which caught me off guard when I was chatting with the founder and he told me about the platform . So that's cut in a nutshell FriendEv . We're the fastest growing and top-rated tool in franchise development for franchise brands , fsos , consultants . We are again top-rated and very fast growing platform for unit level operations , which is what we originally built for eight and a half years ago .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 1:31

I guess what I was going to ask you is I just want to switch and ask you a little more content questions . I know we talked about lead follow-up . That was one of the big things that people have , because sales is oxygen . Right , you were going to go through lead follow-up , with lead engagement and follow-up , so I'd love to start by talking about that , dave , oh , please yeah , well , tell me what you'd like to know .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 1:55

How can I help you with that ?

Lance Hood (FranPro) 1:57

Well , I mean , you , as the expert had just had some really good stuff on it , and so I just want to see , if we were going to walk people through a process , what would that be ? What best practices and things that you've learned about engagement and conversion when it comes to that ?

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 2:16

Yeah , let's talk about it and I'll bring up chat GPT , because everyone's hot on that topic . But you want to automate what should be automated . Right , there are tools out there . I mean , I respect the heck out of them , but there are tools like Luminae , ai and some tools that have tried to automate the whole initial engagement process and then the rest of the sales process , with chatbots communicating with people , talk to a salesperson that uses that . They just don't work well . So you want to automate what you should automate . Then you want to as soon as the automation has done its job , and then ideal world . You want to be extremely fast to communicate with the lead . That's key .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 2:51

Speed delete has never gone away . It doesn't make people mad If I take the time to put my personal information in form , because I want to know more about what you got . I expect you to get back to me faster today than I did five years ago , and that timeframe was going to continue to get smaller as people are getting instantaneous data everywhere . If I have to you were having internet issues earlier today I'm tapping my toe If I don't have 40 megabits per second download speeds right . So just bear in mind that the world has shifted . There's an expectation that you get in touch with that , and also there's an expectation that you get in touch in a medium that's going to be useful or helpful for that person . So by age it changes . Like younger folks , let's say 35 and younger , you better be texting , and or you also want to stay in platform . So if you're doing Facebook lead gen , you want the form to be in Facebook so you can maximize the number of people that convert because they were on that platform in the first place . Don't immediately try to pull them out of platform to get them to a lead form on your website . That's marketing strategy , not sales , but you're going to maximize your lead flow . Then you want to immediately engage those folks with phone calls , with texts , with emails , and the reason why I recommend all three as soon as you can is because different people respond differently to different channels , and so most platforms can automate email drips . Guess what it's the worst ? It's the lowest conversion rate , lowest engagement rate . You can make it better with video , but it's not great .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 4:15

So don't rely upon your 2003 technology of email drips , like that's been around forever and people's inboxes are cluttered . So but use it to support the rest of the process when you synergize . Let's say I need to send a document , follow up with a text after I've sent the email . So hey , don't check your inbox , I just sent you that quote . A lot of people I can't remember what number , maybe a quarter of all quotes that get sent I'll just never get read because they went to a spam folder or somebody missed the email . But if I send a text two minutes after I send the email with the link to the proposal or heck , in our platform text , the proposal link but if I follow up with that , the likelihood that the email getting read goes up tremendously .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 4:59

So in the follow-up process of leads , multi-channel , you use nurturing . You have to nurture it because even as good as our platform is , you're not going to immediately book everyone . The highest conversion rate I've seen across our whole system is like 91% of all leads get scheduled . It's ridiculously high out of thousands and thousands of users . That's the top dog and a lot of his , and there's a long story there . But he's killing it For franchise systems that rely upon , let's say , like ANGIE thumb tech , more portals or a lot of digital . I see numbers as high as like 65% , 75% conversion rate into booked appointments because they're following the roadmap , the plan . Automation , quick , just speed , delete and then nurturing . So I'd say for lead follow-up , those are the key things . If you're not doing those , you're happy to coach you a little bit , even if you're not a client of mine . But you need to fix it because you're wasting money .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 5:52

Right , yeah , no , I think that what you said too about the texting I forget the numbers Isn't it something like the average text is read within three minutes , or something like that ? It's incredibly high and people see their phone . They may not check their email or see their email , but I have not seen a spam folder for text messages .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 6:15

So , yeah , there is Like how androids have one , I think Apple does to their blocks . They come kind of spam or blocked , but it's very small and they're known offenders . Those are the only people that go in there . So , yeah , it's 90% of all texts read in two minutes , two to three minutes and depending on the demographic , that number is even higher Between , let's say , 35 and 15 , 15 year old every text within five seconds .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 6:44

So that number is just going to again . It's going to shrink . Now there's more regulation around texting TCPA , things like that , so our platform keeps you compliant . As long as you've got a good opt-in statement , then everything else is pretty much automated on our end .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 7:00

Yeah , well , I can tell you that that's a big deal , because I was looking at exploring insurance and I thought I was going to get a call from one person but I got a call from like seven people that work for that company and they were all lighting up my phone and one guy texted me and I texted him back and he texted me back and I started working with that guy . The guy that didn't call me didn't blow up my phone , but just texted me because it worked in my schedule and it wasn't annoying . And so it's like having that what you say adding this thing in . You're going to find with each client what works for them .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 7:44

Some people call them , they'll respond to the phone call , some will respond to the text , some will respond to the email , and I really think it makes sense to stay within platform , because you know that they're using that , that it's familiar and they understand how to use it and they're currently using it and all that . Well ,

Follow-Up Strategies for Proposals and Quotes

Lance Hood (FranPro) 8:01

very good . What about what do you have for talking to people about proposal and quote follow up , because you know here we have the leads . But what about proposals and quotes ? Because that's where it starts to get real and turn into what is a deal .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 8:19

Yeah , there are three places I'm glad you brought that up Three places in the sales process , like the three buckets where people fail the most . Franchise , fran , dev doesn't matter . Every sales process , high-end systems management software , same problem . Initial leading conversion is problem number one , the biggest one . It's your biggest hole in the bucket where you got money just dumping out of your business . Number two , though , is proposals and quotes . So you just spend all that money and time to get to their house and do a quote . You drove there maybe it was a half an hour drive , half an hour back . So an hour of just killed human capital , an hour on site , two hours of invested time in this person , plus all the follow up before to get there . That's an expensive moment for your business . And then your person spends in our platform three minutes , doesn't matter . You build a proposal more human capital and you show it to him and they want to look at , they want to think about it .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 9:10

Right , most businesses and you can pretend like this is wrong Most of you like yeah , it's actually kind of true for us too they don't follow up effectively . Once they've delivered the quote , they're on to the next shiny object . They've only got one estimator and he's busy all day in estimates , you know , driving around doing it , quotes and there isn't a follow-up process . So that's a key drop-off point . We see a lot of businesses . They're just losing money that they could easily scoop up and put in their pocket . It is not following up effectively . So how do you do it ? You know , send him a quote . There should be an immediate text within , probably within a minute or two , of you sending the email . Or , frankly , in our platform , deliver the Proposal via the text as well , because a lot of people they just want to tap on that on their phone and look at it While they're in a boardroom meeting in the board I call them board , anyway , but that that's key .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 9:59

But you want to nurture more than that . You want to have an email the next day , set you and it's all value touches . It's not . Would you get the quote just following up ? If you use the word just as you're reaching out to your customers , you should shoot yourself , because it's like a red flag where people like okay , sales guy gives no value to give . But if every time you touch them , send him an email , send them a text , call them three days later , send him another text four days later , send him an email seven days after .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 10:23

You're like you should have a whole sequence to follow up With a bid and a quote . And it should probably be look at your buying cycle . If you say , dave , people make a decision to replace a roof within three weeks , then you should have a three week follow-up cycle with once you've delivered that quote , because you'll know at that point They've probably decided to go with somebody else . You might even have your first step .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 10:45

If you go through that nurturing sequence of the proposal , you should have it pushed to another one that goes into a hey , if you didn't buy from me , hey , it looks like you might have gone with somebody else . Yeah , let me know if you still need some help . And that's your next touch in the , the long-term follow-up sequence where you still , for 12 months , nurture them , give them tips , share advice about roof maintenance . If you're roofing company , whatever you're an expert at , that'll help you close more deals and keep them warm , even if they realize they can't afford your services . Then when they are ready , they're not gonna Google Roofer , they're just gonna call you , because you were the guy that stayed in touch with them for the last 12 months .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 11:22

Mm-hmm , that makes total sense . I really you know , gosh . I know we're running out of time , but I have a couple questions . One would be you know , language is important , right ?

Lance Hood (FranPro) 11:35

we communicate with words , and so I was thinking about retaining and engaging with people and not only the process is that , but what are kind of the words and , and and languaging that you've seen ? So when you're sending a text , you're sending an email and you're making a phone call , that is all an accumulation of words . What are the ? What are the things that are really working to connect with people in general ?

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 12:00

Yeah , so let's talk about medium appropriate communications . So we've all gotten the text message from like our grandma or or an aging relative . That's like five paragraphs long . That's a text that nobody wants to read . Businesses tend to violate that rule all the time .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 12:15

There's like this unwritten rule that should be as short and brief as possible . You're not gonna say hello , steven , I have always wanted to meet with you . You're gonna be like hey , steve , I've wanted to meet with you . Or hey , steve , let's set up some time . So when you're texting , the tone should be a little more casual and familiar , almost like you're texting one of your maybe not an old college buddy . We're not gonna use frat house or locker room language , but like it's gonna be .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 12:38

Don't abbreviate everything , but make it more familiar . Abbreviate words , use contractions , like stuff like that . Make it and don't say the dang word hello . That's like a marketing word and as soon as I see an email with hello in front of it , I'm like delete , like I know that . So that's a big one . Keep it familiar and pleasant , friendly Emails . You want to have a similar tone , but maybe you can be a little more formal .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 13:01

I don't think you need to be in home services , fran Dev . Nobody wants to talk to a stiff , so relax . Keep it brief and text usually about under 300 characters . It's my recommendation for all texts . If you can keep it under 150 , even better . Your response rate will go up a little , actually , if it's a little shorter , to the point , emails .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 13:21

You want to use video and but also you want to use don't ever say I'm following up Every message you send , either , whether text or email . You should be giving value , so send them something , that's it . Let me give you an example . You'll say something like hey , many of our customers have had questions about how to keep their windows clean after we stop by . Here are two tips you might want to know . Use your old newspapers , use , you know use Windex like whatever right , whatever your next product , you want to put your expertise on display every single email , without being salesy , because people don't want to be pushed , they want to , they want to , they want to pull themselves into the deal . Give them a reason to want to do that by helping them trust you .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 14:01

Right , answering any objections they might have before they're voiced or come up . Because if you can answer their objections in a video , then they don't have to hold on to that and get worked up about it and they also don't have to feel uncomfortable about asking you . So then you've cleared that out of the way . If they've watched that , you know , and that's a great thing to handle in those follow-up sequences , for sure . And another thing I think is if you teach people something they didn't know , that they didn't know , they've now learned something . Now they're paying attention to you , especially if whatever they learn is a value to them , right ?

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 14:39

Yeah , and you're the expert , right , if you're a roofer , a plumber , whatever , like you know a lot of stuff that they don't know . Your comment I was smiling big because I was just training someone this weekend on what are the top five objections that people have to buy in your service , the top five fears , and you should have a step that addresses each one of those in your nurturing sequence Because by the time they're done going through those , if they're opening those messages or reading what you send them , they're probably going to increase their likelihood to buy by double-digit percentages , just because you've eliminated these subconscious fears that they might not have even known they had . But when you service them like , oh yeah , that makes sense , yeah , okay , oh , there's financing options . Good , I don't have to get a second mortgage on my house right now . I can actually afford this . That's really smart . I'm glad you said that .

Lance Hood (FranPro) 15:24

Absolutely Well . I know we're running out of time , Dave , but I just want to thank you for joining me and I want to encourage everybody Go check out the link https://franpro . vip/GoClientTether and reach out to Dave at ClientTether and see where that goes , because it just seems like it's really very automated and when we've talked behind the scenes and here you're always learning and it seems like you're putting what you learn into the program to simplify it . Because some people , as they continue to evolve and improve , they add onto versus condense and simplify with new functionality . So you don't want to make something so big and cumbersome you have the Titanic that can't do anything but as you want to make it better and more intuitive and simple so that people can actually work and use it .

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 16:17

I appreciate

Appreciating User Feedback for Platform Improvement

Dave Hansen (ClientTether) 16:18

it . We spend a lot of time . We listen to the market . I wish I could say we were the geniuses . But the geniuses that drive a lot of our innovation are you guys . The people that use the platform say what , if , what , if , and we love that . But always in the back of our minds they're okay , but how do we make it usable ? How do we make that simple ? How do we make it so 95% of all franchises could deploy that resource and not get lost ? It's tough , honestly , balancing those things . But thanks for the shout out on that because we've been working hard at that Absolutely . Thank you , Dave . Thanks a lot , lance .