If you think automatic generic response emails can’t increase sales, think again!
Considering every sale begins with a lead, it’s amazing how many companies let leads slip right through their fingers. Why not tackle them with automated generic response emails? You can!
Let’s face it: Lead generation is hard…and/or expensive. If you’re doing lead gen by yourself, it can eat up your whole day – and the next – ad infinitum. If you’re buying your leads, they can be both pricey and worthless. If your company is supplying you with leads – even if you don’t have to put out the cost upfront – understand those leads are costing you big time on the backend of the transaction in salary or commission reduction.
So, if leads are so difficult to come by, wouldn’t it make sense to do everything you can to convert those leads once you get them into sales?
It’s All About Email Follow-Up
Oh, happy day! After using print advertising, radio, pop-ups, banners, landing pages, SEO, and social media, you’ve landed an online lead. Your lead is looking for information – and you’re out of the office.
If you’re in a business like real estate, the chances of you being in the office are pretty slim. According to one source, a good agent spends very little time working in-office…perhaps 5-6 hours per week.
This creates a devastating potential for lead conversion. According to an MIT study, the number one reason your leads aren’t calling you back is that you’re waiting too long to reach out to them (What’s the secret – automated generic response emails).
The obvious answer? Use an automatic reply. Because you’re not always available to reach out to a lead immediately, and that one step alone is so imperative to lead conversion, automatic reply follow-up emails are an easy and effective way to respond more quickly to your lead.
That seems simple enough, but if it were really that simple, you’d likely already be using them. Or maybe you’ve already tried generic response emails and were unhappy with their results.
If this is the case, perhaps you’re sending the wrong message.
Best Generic Response Emails
Today, when consumers choose a company to buy from, they are considering more than your product or service. They’re buying you, and every message they receive should tell them something about you.
Even if your automated generic response emails do nothing more than reaffirm your company name, say thank you for reaching out, and let them know your future availability, it’s also letting them know you care about them and that you’ll fulfill their needs in a timely manner.
Suppose you know you won’t be able to respond to emails for the next week. Whether you’re going on holiday, attending a company conference, or simply buried with work, you’ll likely want to set up an out-of-office response for your email account.
As you decide what you want to say in this message, remember: your absence – at the very least – is going to be a slight annoyance to the person trying to reach you. Show you appreciate their patience.
One way to do this is, whenever possible, let them know when you expect to get back to them. Studies show that known waits seem shorter. When people have to wait, if they’re given specific timelines – such as 48 hours – the wait doesn’t seem as long as it would if you simply say you’ll be back to them as soon as possible.
Also, if you plan to return from your trip next Monday morning, don’t promise they’ll hear from you first thing Monday. It’s so much better to underpromise and overdeliver. Say, instead, you’ll be back to them by Tuesday morning. If you can reach out to them on Monday, all the better.
One more thing…don’t share TMI. No one wants to hear that you’re cruising the Mediterranean while they’re stuck in a snowbank needing your attention. Ditto if you’re recovering from an illness or entertaining your in-laws. If you want someone to know where you are, tell them, but not in an automatic reply.
Best Auto Reply Messages are Fun and Friendly
I think we can all agree: out-of-office auto reply messages are seldom welcome, so be sure to make them sound human. The warmer and friendlier they are, the better. Thank the person for reaching out.
Also, if you have someone they can reach in case they can’t wait for you, be sure to include that person’s name and contact information.
And again, thank them for their patience and sound eager to speak with them when you return.
If you’re clever and funny and considering including some humor in your automatic reply, be careful. Before you use your funny line, run it by someone in your company you trust. Enjoy their laughter, and then you should probably delete it, anyway.
Follow Up Auto Reply Messages for Nurturing Leads
At Happy Grasshopper, one of our specialties is creating nontraditional automated real estate marketing tools that help start conversations, including something we call a Pro Account. With this program, we write messages individualized to our client and sent out automatically within a strategically designed timeline.
However, here I want to talk for a moment about our generic email drip campaigns that begin with an automatic reply email.
Once a lead has reached out to you, your automated response email will go right back to them. Then, until you connect with them, you’ll want to stay top of mind with emails that are proven to start conversations. Here’s an example of a generic email we made available for our clients to send to their leads:
SUBJECT: Look, Up in the Sky…
Who hasn’t dreamed of flying? Not in a plane. Not floating toward the earth in a parachute. Really flying. That’s just what Jetmen Yves Rossy and Vince Reffet have done recently in Dubai.
It’s captured in an amazing 12 minute film “Jetman Dubai: Young Feathers.” You’ll find the film here on YouTube. If you are able, watch this well-produced Hi-Definition video on the largest computer screen possible.
Enjoy your flight.
Signature
Definitely not your standard, boring email marketing automation…and highly effective.
As you can well imagine, it started a lot of conversations and cemented some great relationships, all as follow up to an automatic reply email.
