How to Close Deals Faster With WhatsApp: A Sales Manager’s Guide
In today’s fast-paced digital world, businesses are always searching for ways to close deals faster and shorten the sales cycle. One platform that has proven invaluable for sales managers is the world’s most popular chatting app – WhatsApp. The benefits of WhatsApp when it comes to establishing direct contact between customers and a business is well known. In an age when customers expect to be able to message a company and get prompt replies, WhatsApp has become a key tool for brands looking to offer this benefit. However, the advantages of WhatsApp go far beyond simply answering customer queries. This tool offers a unique combination of speed, personalization, and ease of use, making it ideal for accelerating the sales process itself. Here are some top ways in which you can use WhatsApp to shorten the sales cycle.
1. Leverage WhatsApp Status to Share Time-Sensitive Promotions
One often overlooked but powerful feature of WhatsApp is the Status option. With WhatsApp Status, you can post product-related updates, promotions, and limited-time offers that are visible to all of your contacts. This feature is especially useful when trying to drive urgency in a deal. By sharing time-sensitive promotions, you can create a sense of scarcity, which can nudge a hesitant prospect into making a quick purchase decision. As an example, if your company is offering a discount on a service or product for 24 hours, posting it on WhatsApp Status will ensure that all your contacts are immediately informed. Since people check their WhatsApp multiple times a day, it’s more than likely that they will view the status updates and notice your message too.
2. Add Prospects to Contacts to Avoid Getting Banned
WhatsApp takes spamming very seriously, and if you are sending messages to numbers that are not in your contact list, you risk getting banned. To maintain your account’s integrity, ensure that all your prospects are added to your contact list. Additionally, by saving your prospects’ numbers, you can offer a more personalized experience and build stronger relationships, which leads to faster deal closures.
3. Create Group Chats with Other Sales Managers for Faster Coordination
For larger deals, multiple stakeholders may be involved. This is where group chats come into play. By creating a group chat with your fellow sales managers, you can easily share updates, strategies, and progress reports in real time. Group chats allow everyone involved in the deal to stay on the same page, making coordination smoother and faster. Moreover, when dealing with high-stakes deals, having multiple sales managers in a group chat ensures that every aspect of the deal is handled promptly and there are no gaps in communication, resulting in faster resolutions and deal closures.
4. Provide Final Call Summaries in Follow-Up Messages
One of the keys to closing deals is clear communication, especially when wrapping up calls or meetings. Instead of just thanking the prospect after a call, send a concise final call summary as a follow-up message on WhatsApp. This can include key points discussed, action items, and deadlines. Summarizing the call helps ensure that both you and the prospect are on the same page, reducing confusion and helping to close the deal faster. The final summary also gives the prospect an organized list of next steps, which can lead to faster decision-making on their end.
5. Use the Voice-to-Text Feature for Quick Responses
Speed is critical when it comes to responding to prospects. The voice-to-text feature in WhatsApp allows sales managers to dictate their messages rather than typing them out. This is particularly useful when you’re on the go or juggling multiple conversations at once. Voice-to-text is not only faster than typing but also allows you to respond to more queries in a shorter amount of time, keeping the conversation moving and helping to close deals faster.
6. Use WhatsApp Payments (If Available)
In regions where WhatsApp Payments is available, it can streamline the closing process significantly. Customers can make payments directly within the chat, eliminating the need for external payment gateways or tedious bank transfers. If a prospect is ready to commit, sending a payment request directly via WhatsApp speeds up the transaction process and removes friction, allowing you to close deals on the spot.
7. Pin Important Demo Chats for Easy Access
During a sales cycle, it’s common to juggle multiple conversations at once. To stay organized and never miss a follow-up, take advantage of the pin chat feature. Pinning chats of prospects currently going through a product demo ensures that these conversations stay at the top of your WhatsApp list. This allows you to quickly access key demo conversations, ensuring you follow up in a timely manner and keep the momentum going, which is essential for speeding up the sales cycle.
8. Create Saved WhatsApp Messages for Quick Sharing
Save frequently shared resources such as demo links, video tutorials, and important documents in your WhatsApp profile. This way, you won’t have to search for these files every time a prospect requests them during or after a demo. Having quick access to these resources makes the process smoother, ensuring that you can respond to requests promptly and keep moving the customer ahead in the sales funnel.
9. Archive Non-Essential Chats
Keeping your WhatsApp chat list organized is essential for maintaining productivity. Use the archive feature to move non-essential chats out of your main view, helping you stay focused on high-priority demo and sales conversations. This simple step helps reduce distractions and clutter, allowing you to zero in on prospects who are most likely to convert, thus accelerating your deal flow.
WhatsApp offers numerous features that can help you close deals faster. From leveraging WhatsApp Status to pinning demo chats and archiving distractions, it’s all about making the most of the platform’s capabilities. By optimizing how you communicate, collaborate, and organize on WhatsApp, you can shorten your sales cycle and improve your closing rates.