Autoresponders in Open Leads are a very powerful tool to confirm your prospects submission, but even more so to begin to establish rapport with that prospect. In today’s economy it is very easy for consumers to gravitate to the least expensive product (I won’t use the term “cheapest” here – simply because I don’t care for the connotation of the word). And many companies feel that cutting the price of their goods or services is the key to success. However, often times the difference between a sale and a no-sale is not the price, but less quantifiable variables, like trust, and image and, yes, customer service and support.
Upon submission of your website contact form, a prospect should immediately receive an autoresponder email message (and be directed to a “Thank you” landing page, but we will cover that at another time). This autoresponder is a crucial part of your communication for two key reasons: 1) It confirms to them again that you have received their request, and are taking action, and 2) it serves to be your opportunity to make a good first impression – to begin to establish that rapport (relation, connection, relationship) with them, which will lay the groundwork for closing the sale.
With Open Leads you can personalize the message using our Tokens, so that the salutation is “Dear Mary,” or “Dear Bob” and not “To our very valued customer,” – it is pretty obvious which is more engaging to the person receiving it. Calling them by name envokes a level of familiarity, and personal attention that a generic greeting does not. How valuable is someone whom you don’t greet by name? You can further customize the message with the assigned user’s name and information using Tokens as well, or even embedding more information from the lead, such as the city the lead is in or the particular good or service they are interested in.
So, as you configure your Open Leads account and set up your Autoresponder, will its message be “Hey there random person – thanks for contacting us,” or will it be something more warm and personal that sets you apart from your competition, and puts you one step closer to the close?
