Today we chat with David Pitts, Founder of Off Day Trainer, who shares how he got a 36% click through rate with text message marketing. David also shares his best tips on why text messages can lead to more sales, how to successfully collect phone numbers, and how to leverage those contacts.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 1:43 – Introduction.
• 4:19 – David says that first and foremost, you will have to get everybody’s phone number because text messaging is the number one form of communication that exists today and people are more likely to reply to a text than to answer your phone call. So you must collect cellphone numbers of everyone in your network whether they are your prospects or your clients and if you are speaking to your prospects, make sure that you follow up with every one of them within twenty four hours of acquiring that lead because studies show if you wait past 24 hour barrier then most likely you would have missed the opportunity to close the deal.
• 6:10 – According to David, 98% of text messages are read in 5 minutes or less so when you send somebody a text message, they are definitely going to see it and so it is important that we understand the power of this deliverability and craft your message to show the leads how much you care about them and how much you want to help them.
• 6:29 – Step # 1: Collect everyone’s phone number.
• 6:32 – Step # 2: Call your prospects and if you end up leaving a voicemail, text them and say that you left a voicemail and you would like to connect with them so that you can learn how to help them.
• 7:10 – To collect phone numbers, if you are talking to someone or if you get a referral simply ask them for their phone number. The second method is if you are running ads on social media or you have a website, you must place an opt in form to collect phone numbers
• 9:51 – So many people in most industries are so obsessed with lead generation and looking for new money and they lose sight of the solid client list that is willing to pay them forever if they deliver their services with their experience. So you must focus more on your current clients and deliver a world class experience by serving them and connecting on a personal level, this way your retention will improve and you will make more money through them. This builds your reputation and you get referrals.
• 12:25 – The first text message that you send could start with, ‘Thanks for your interest in my services, I would love to learn more about you’ and ask them how you could help.
• 13:51 – David puts a link in the text message asking the prospects to spend two minutes and submit a form that would help him identify their goals and how he could help them.  In this manner, you are finding a way to overcome objections before they present themselves so that you can get them excited about working with you because you are providing a solution to them.
• 15:39 – The next step is to schedule a phone call or an in-person meeting depending on the business model to allow you to position yourself as the expert and the solution to the problems and make the sale.
• 18:04 – One of the biggest value propositions of email marketing is the automation and the drip marketing that you could apply to prospects and if you just reapply that to a more effective form of communication, you are going to get better results.
• 19:29 – David says that if you put a link in the text message, the average click through rate on that text messaging link is 36% as compared to 4% in an email campaign. So people will click on your link if you craft the right message to get them excited about what’s on the other side of that link.
• 20:19 – According to David, people are hesitant to embrace this model and they feel that from a business standpoint, texting is personal. But David says that the only way this model is going to be invasive or seem annoying to the recipient of your messages is if you are only pitching your product and saying buy my stuff. Before trying to sell anything you must provide some value.  So when David sends a message to people and they want to receive that message, it’s a completely different perception.

Resources Mentioned:

• Business Growth Strategies – David Pitts's video which explains branding your business, marketing and engagement. For US listeners, to get access to the video by texting the word Podcast to 56955.