{"id":1394,"date":"2022-05-19T23:23:25","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T06:23:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/?p=1394"},"modified":"2022-07-04T15:47:14","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T22:47:14","slug":"the-genius-way-to-respond-to-an-inquiry-is-a-technique-you-already-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/?p=1394","title":{"rendered":"The genius way to respond to an inquiry is a technique you already know."},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the more depressing ironies about marketing and lead generation in the 2020s is that a great deal of money and energy is spent on systems and tech that are designed to build relationships, yet they fail utterly at the precise moment when they matter most \u2014 conversion to sales.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These systems are replete with emotional terms like “engagement,\u201d \u201cdialogue,\u201d and \u201cnurturing\u201d that imply human understanding and authenticity. And yet at the most critical and delicate moment of the\u00a0 <\/span>process, when the system that generates the lead is supposed to be concluded by human beings connecting with one another, it all falls apart.<\/p>\n

I could write a lot about the miseries of the modern lead-gen letter, and I probably will someday. But for now, let’s concentrate on an example that\u2019s easier and more cheerful: the response to an inquiry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Responding to an inquiry is easier than writing a lead-generation letter, because all you have to do is answer a question. It’s more cheerful, because the person who is asking the question already likes something about you \u2014 your product, your service, your coupon for 50% off. And yet this is where most sales organizations blow it, because they forget that relationships begin with conversations, and conversations involve two-way communication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In our example, we’ll specify that the inquiry is from someone who answered an open-ended question on your inquiry form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully you have an open-ended question on your inquiry form, and hopefully you\u2019ve asked it correctly to encourage respondents to tell their story. While \u201cQuestions\u201d or \u201cComments\u201d leaves the door open for someone to do that, it\u2019s not at all as effective as explicitly issuing an invitation, as in \u201cTell us about your project.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hopefully, too, you are in the habit of capturing those fields and prioritizing them. This is important, because only a small percentage of respondents will take the time to tell you their story. Those who do are extremely qualified leads, because it means that what they have learned so far leads them to believe you can provide a solution to their challenge or meet their need. They also have a positive expectation that if you asked the question, you\u2019ll respond with a specific answer. Moreover, pospects who answer this question are less likely to be motivated solely by cost and less likely to comparison-shop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In other words, if you respond to these inquiries correctly, it’s hard to lose that sale.<\/p>\n

The genius technique? It’s called “Reading”.<\/h3>\n

Here’s an example of such a letter. The text in blue is what was written; the text in red is the subtext.<\/p>\n

Name: Margie Ruiz<\/i>
\n<\/i>Subject: Cabinets
\n<\/i>Message: I\u2019m interested in your Elite line of cabinetry, especially the flexible drawer options.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

They seem like they would work perfectly for my great room. It’s a large area (about 500 sq. feet), and I want the cabinets in the\u00a0kitchen area and family room area to match. But when I try to use your configuration tool, I can\u2019t figure out how to make them work in two awkward corners and an area with a tall window. Also, it looks like the Elite line only comes in white or painted finishes. I need.a stained wood finish to match my decor and some bookshelves I\u2019m planning to buy. I’m hosting a large family reunion in six months and want this to be finished by then. Can you help?<\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I’m really struggling with this project, but now that I’ve spent some time on your website and read the promising content you wrote about your products and\u00a0<\/i>services<\/i><\/span>, I’m hopeful that you can provide a solution that will work for me and I can get this done.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Response #1: Someone (or some thing) only read the subject line<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Name: Margie Ruiz<\/i>
\n<\/i>Subject: Cabinets
\n<\/i>Message: I\u2019m interested in your Elite line of cabinetry, especially the flexible drawer options. <\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Hi, Margie,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Joe<\/span> and I only read your subject line. \u00a0Actually I didn’t read it; our system did. Although my job title is “sales rep” and my purpose is to connect with prospects and turn them into customers, we have determined that I’m far too busy and important to connect with anyone until you\u00a0have demonstrated a more concrete example of interest, like your credit card number. In the meantime, here\u2019s the template our sales funnel system sends automatically to everyone who selects the subject line \u201cCabinets\u201d\u00a0 from our very limited drop-down menu.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for contacting us about your interest in <\/i>CABINETS. <\/i><\/b>We have a wide variety of <\/i>CABINETS <\/i><\/b>for home, business, and industrial uses.<\/i> <\/i><\/b>Here\u2019s a <\/i>link<\/i> to the website you\u2019ve already visited three times, and <\/i>another link <\/i>\u00a0to the configuration tool you\u2019ve already spent two hours trying to make work.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

SPECIAL OFFER: <\/i><\/b>Our heavy-duty industrial steel utility cabinets are 30% off through the end of this month, so order now! Use code \u201cGARAGE\u201dwhen you check out to claim your savings!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

What Margie thinks when she reads this: (Sigh of disappointment and resignation). Never mind. That’s two hours I’ll never get back. (Reaches out to her friends on social media for a recommendation for a custom carpenter.)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Response #2: Only read the subject line and the first sentence<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Name: Margie Ruiz<\/i>
\n<\/i>Subject: Cabinets
\n<\/i>Message: I\u2019m interested in your Elite line of cabinetry, especially the flexible drawer options. <\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Hi, Margie,<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Joe<\/span> and I only read the first sentence of your message.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Elite cabinets are a great choice, and the flexible drawer options are very popular. You\u2019ll be happy to know that in addition to our standard white, gray, and eight-crayon-box colors, we\u2019ve added two exciting high-gloss paint colors: Screaming Lime and a Fuchsia Pink so bright you can see it from space.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Attached is a PDF of a brochure<\/span> that repeats pretty much everything that you\u2019ve already seen on the website.<\/span> And here\u2019s a <\/span><\/i>link<\/i> to the configuration tool. I\u2019ve never tried it, but you can tell me if it works.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Let me know when you\u2019re ready to order.
\n<\/span><\/i>Joe<\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

P.S. I noticed that you also wrote some other stuff. Judging by the multiple sentences, I\u2019ll bet you even put some time and thought into what you wanted to say. Sorry you went to the trouble to tell us your story when we specifically invited you to tell us your story. But it’s TLDR so to me it\u2019s just some random gray lines of text. Might as well be my dog talking.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

What Margie thinks when she reads this: They didn’t even read my whole message. I might as well be talking to my dog. My friend Jane and my sister-in-law Anna are looking for cabinets, too. Tomorrow I’ll go on social media and tell them not to waste their time on this company.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Response #3: Rep read the entire message<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Name: Margie Ruiz<\/i>
\n<\/i>Subject: Cabinets
\n<\/i>Message: I\u2019m interested in your Elite line of cabinetry, especially the flexible drawer options. <\/i>\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Joe<\/span> and I carefully read your entire message. I recognized that you told me a lot about your needs and gave me a lot of clues about how we can meet them. In fact, those are cues to me that if I answer your questions well, you might be the best and easiest sale I make this month.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ll be pleased to know that our new Forest line has the same flexible drawer options as Elite. It comes in 12 natural-wood stains, and we can even custom-blend a stain to match your decor. I\u2019ve attached a color guide. Did you know that we also make beautiful matching bookshelves? Here\u2019s a <\/i>link<\/i> to a portfolio of options.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry you had trouble with the configuration tool, but thanks for letting me know. I\u2019ll tell our web team so they can improve it. In the meantime, our cabinet planners are experts at figuring out the most challenging layouts. If you send us measurements of your rooms, and a few pictures of the area from your phone, we\u2019ll create some layout options for your approval.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Our usual time from order to installation on standard finishes is about ten weeks. Custom finishes and configurations take a few weeks longer, but depending on which options you choose and how soon we get started, we can almost certainly have your new great room cabinets installed in time for your family reunion.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

I look forward to working with you.
\n<\/span><\/i>Joe<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

What Margie thinks when she reads this: This is just what I need. I can stop looking for vendors and get this project done. Where’s my phone? Might as well send Joe photos right now, so we can get started.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Does reading work?<\/h3>\n

Why yes, actually, it does. If a prospect tells you a story, and you respond to it thoughtfully and specifically, you\u2019re much more likely to close the sale, to close it quickly, and to close it without haggling over price. \u00a0Best of all, it’s equally true for business-to-business sales as it is for consumer sales. One of our B2B clients uses this technique to close nearly two-thirds of leads that begin as open-ended questions, with an average sales of $50k each. The ones that don\u2019t close either can\u2019t afford it, can\u2019t get buy-in on their end, or aren\u2019t ready.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bonus tip: Even though only a small percentage of leads will fill out that general inquiry field, there\u2019a an advantage to just having it there. It signals to site visitors \u00a0that you are open to listening. As a result, our experience is that it can help boost qualified leads a bit even when people don\u2019t fill it out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s a cost to this technique, of course: about half an hour of your time reading, thinking, and responding thoughtfully. That’s practically nothing when that time nets you a higher close rate in less time. Try it, and let me know how it works for you.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow this one simple trick when responding to inquiries, and you’ll get more conversions and close more sales. Ignore it, and you’ll accidentally turn away business. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1418,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,46,29,1],"tags":[125,42,78,31],"class_list":["post-1394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-copywriting","category-customer-relationship-management","category-lead-generation","category-uncategorized","tag-copywriting","tag-email","tag-lead-generation","tag-sales"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1394"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1455,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1394\/revisions\/1455"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.c3advertising.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}