With the rise of both omni-channel communication and business texting, there’s no shortage of customer communication platforms in today’s market. So how do you choose the one that is right for you?
The best texting platform for any given business will depend on your industry, business size, business model, and more. And while we can’t speak to every industry, we can tell you what to look for if you’re in the home services or home improvement space.
Read on to learn the 11 most important features contractors should look for in a texting platform.
12 features to look for in a texting platform
For each feature, we’ll provide data-backed reasons for why it’s important as well as examples from our own texting platform.
1. Use cases across your entire funnel
Communication platforms have a wide array of specialties and sales funnel coverage. Some are largely focused on post-sale interactions (like appointment reminders, payments, coupons, and reviews), while others are better suited to provide pre-sale capabilities (like lead outreach, quotes, and booking estimates).
The problem is that consistent, quality communication can only be so if it’s present throughout every stage of the customer journey, so a communication tool that focuses on just one part of the journey defeats the purpose of having one at all.
Make sure your texting platform supports your communication use-cases throughout all stages of your funnel so you can provide personalized, in-context messaging throughout the entire customer journey and therefore maximize your ROI.
2. Sequence automation, not just message automation
Not every texting platform offers the same kinds of automation. In fact, many platforms only offer one-time automated messages based on a trigger or condition.
The problem with this is, in today’s world, it takes an average of 8 touches to get a homeowner to respond and 5-12 follow-ups to close a deal. This is why it’s important to make sure your texting provider has not just messaging automation, but sequence automation.
Sequence automation means you can build out a series of multiple texts, emails, and voicemails that reach out and follow up with your contacts over a set schedule.
With Hatch, you can automate multi-channel, multi-touch sequences that ensure higher response rates.
3. Truly automated lead outreach
Did you know that 78% of homeowners go with the business that reached out to them first? And that after five minutes, the likelihood of connecting with a new lead decreases by 900%? Needless to say, immediate lead outreach is crucial for home improvement businesses—but with the sheer volume of leads, plus the fact that people rarely answer on the first try—this is just not possible for every lead. Not manually, that is.
But not every texting platform offers truly automated lead outreach. In many cases, the automation doesn’t fire until the lead takes a second action after filling out a form. Essentially, this means the lead has to reach out first.
Hatch, on the other hand, syncs with your CRM and lead sources (Angi, Thumbtack, website forms, etc.) so you can instantly text new leads as soon as they enter your system (with the automated sequences mentioned above).
Head here to see Hatch’s automated lead outreach in action.
