Real-time conversations turn leads into customers
Conversational Marketing is the definitive guide to generating better leads and closing more sales. Traditional sales and marketing methods have failed to keep pace with the way modern, internet-savvy consumers purchase goods and services. Modern messaging apps, which allow for real-time conversations and instant feedback, have transformed the way we interact in our personal and professional lives, yet most businesses still rely on 20th century technology to communicate with 21st century customers. Online forms, email inquiries, and follow-up sales calls don’t provide the immediacy that modern consumers expect. Conversational marketing and sales are part of a new methodology centered around real-time, one-on-one conversations with customers via chatbots and messaging. By allowing your business to communicate with customers in real time - when it’s most convenient for them - conversational marketing improves the customer experience, generates more leads, and helps you convert more leads into customers.
Conversational Marketing pioneers David Cancel and Dave Gerhardt explain how to:
- Merge inbound and outbound tactics into a more productive dialog with customers
- Integrate conversational marketing techniques into your existing sales and marketing workflow
Face-to-face meetings, phone calls, and email exchanges remain important to customer relations, but adding a layer of immediate, individual conversation drives the customer experience - and sales - sky-high.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Shift from Supply to Demand xi
Today, Customers Have All the Power xi
Winners and Losers: Why Companies Need to Adapt xiv
Amazon vs. Borders xv
Netflix vs. Blockbuster xvi
Uber and Lyft vs. Yellow Cabs xvii
Why I Wrote This Book (and Why Now) xix
Part I: The Rise of Conversational Marketing and Sales 1
Chapter 1: your website is leaking revenue (here’s how to fix it) 3
58% of B2B Websites Are “Empty Stores” . . . Is Yours One of Them? 4
90% of B2B Companies Don’t Respond to Leads Fast Enough. . .Do You? 581% of Tech Buyers Don’t Fill Out Forms . . . Are You Still Using Them? 7
Using Real-Time Conversations to Achieve Hypergrowth 10
The Conversational Marketing and Sales Methodology 12
Chapter 2: The rise of messaging 17
The Three Waves of Messaging (and How the Third Wave Changed Everything) 18
Why 90% of Global Consumers Want to Use Messaging to Talk to Businesses 24
Using Messaging to Capture and Qualify Leads in a Single Step 27
But . . . How Does It Scale? 29
Chapter 3: the rise of chatbots 31
Chatbots: They’ve Got Our Backs 32
A Brief History of Chatbots 33
Chatbots and Humans: Finding the Perfect Balance 38
How Chatbots Enable a Better Buying Experience 41
How a Single Marketer Can Book Meetings for Dozens of Sales Reps Using Chatbots 45
Chapter 4: Replacing lead capture forms with conversations 47
The Problems with Lead Capture Forms 48
How the #NoForms Movement Got Its Start 52
Rethinking Our Content and Lead Generation Strategies 57
Replacing Marketing-Qualified Leads (MQLs) with Conversation-Qualified Leads (CQLs) 59
Chapter 5: Ending The Family Feud Between Marketing And Sales 63
A Flawed System: The Ongoing Battle Over Leads 64
Streamlining the Marketing/Sales Handoff with Artificial Intelligence 67
The End of Business Development Reps (BDRS)? 69
Sharing the Most Important Metric: Revenue 72
Part II: Getting Started with Conversational Marketing 75
Chapter 6: Step One: Add Real-Time Messaging To Your Website And Start Capturing More Leads 77
Replace Your Forms or Add a “Second Net” (Don’t Worry, It Takes Five Minutes) 78
Put Up a Welcome Message 83
Set Expectations with Online/Off line Hours 86
Show Your Face 87
Create Separate Inboxes for Sales, Support, Success, Etc. 89
Know Your Stuff (and Use Tools That Can Help) 91
Capture Leads (Without Using Lead Forms) 93
Chapter 7: Step Two: Give Your Email Marketing Strategy A Real-Time Makeover 95
Email Isn’t Dead (You’re Just Doing It Wrong) 96
The Problems with Traditional Email Marketing 97
A Few Simple Tweaks for Bringing Your Email Marketing Strategy into the Real-Time World 100
Why Replies Are the Most Important Email Metric 105
Chapter 8: Step Three: Master The Art (And Science) Of Qualifying Leads Through Conversation 109
So, Uh, What Do I Say? 110
The Best Questions to Ask Your Website Visitors 112
Use Data to Have Better Conversations 114
Score the Leads You Talk to (and Send the Best Ones to Sales) 118
Chapter 9: Step Four: Filter Out The Noise And Target Your Best Leads 123
Where to Start: Targeting the High-Intent Pages on Your Site 124
Targeting Visitors Based on Their On-Site Behavior 125
Targeting Visitors Based On the Sites They’re Coming From 126
Targeting Visitors Based On the Companies They Work For 128
Other Targeting Options for Increasing Conversion Rates 132
Chapter 10: Step Five: Build A Lead Qualification Chatbot (Without Writing A Single Line Of Code) 137
Coming Up with Questions and Responses for Your Bot 139
Deciding On a Call-to-Action (CTA) 147
Five Tips for Making Your Chatbot Conversations More Engaging 148
Part III: Converting Conversational Marketing Leads into Sales 151
Chapter 11: How To Put Your Sales Funnel On Autopilot 153
Set Up Routing Rules So Leads Always Are Connected to the Right Sales Reps 154
Use Chatbots to Schedule Sales Meetings 24/7 155
Have Your Website’s “Contact Sales” CTA Trigger a Real-Time Conversation 157
Have Sales Reps Create Digital Business Cards 158
Get Real-Time Notifications When Leads Are Online 159
Say Goodbye to Manual Data Entry 162
Chapter 12: How Sales Teams Can Create A Better Buying Experience With Real-Time Conversations 165
Ask for Permission Before You Start Asking Questions 167
Let Your Sales Reps’ Personalities Shine Through 168
Use Empathy Statements to Show You’re Listening 170
Show the Value of Your Solution 173
Use a Video Call to Personalize the Final Ask 176
Chapter 13: How To Send Sales Email Sequences That Buyers Will Actually Engage With 177
The Days of Spray and Pray Are Over 178
Using Artificial Intelligence to Unsubscribe People Who Aren’t Interested 184
Customizing Your Sales Emails with Calendar Links 185
Creating Personalized Welcome Messages for People Who Open Your Emails 188
Chapter 14: Conversational Account-Based Marketing (Abm) And Selling (Abs) 191
What Is ABM? (and Why Should You Care?) 192
How a Real-Time Approach Can Solve ABM’s Biggest Problem 193
Rolling Out the Red Carpet for Your ABM Prospects 195
Mining for New ABM Prospects on Your Website 199
Part IV: After The Sale 203
Chapter 15: Continuing The Conversation 205
Creating an Incredible Brand Experience 206
Staying Close to Your Customers (Through Continuous Feedback) 208
What to Do with Customer Feedback Once You Collect It 213
Chapter 16: a conversational approach To customer success 219
Overhauling the Traditional Approach to Onboarding 220
Opening a Fast Lane to Your Customer Success Managers 223
Using Real-Time Conversations in the Battle Against Churn 225
Conversational Upselling 101 228
Chapter 17: Measuring Conversational Marketing and Sales Performance 231
Sales Meetings Booked 232
Opportunities Added 233
Pipeline Influenced 235
Closed/Won 235
Conversation Metrics 235
Team Performance Metrics 240
Final Thought 242
About the Author 245
Index 247
