This article is brought to you by Sendoso Content Marketing Specialist, Meira McFarquhar
Normally, 65% of consumers report that a positive brand experience is more influential than great advertising. It often takes a great first impression, multiple meaningful touchpoints, and a human-to-human interaction to move deals across the finish line.
But with most buyer communication now limited to digital interactions due to social distancing and remote work (and considering that 74% of Americans feel overwhelmed by the number and frequency of emails they receive, an issue that is colloquially referred to as “email overload”), it’s crucial to differentiate your communication.
How to Enable Relevant, Empathetic Online-to-Offline Touchpoints
Get in front of prospects and customers by jumping out of their inbox and onto their doorstep by sending care packages, eGift cards, or simply a handwritten note of encouragement to help them through unprecedented times. These small, thoughtful touches can help take a prospect from cold to sold. “Sending Platforms” like Sendoso enable you to send gifts with the click of a button. Plus, you can coordinate your online interactions through Salesloft with Sendoso’s offline technology to lay the foundation for when and how your sales reps and marketing teams will maintain human contact and keep deals moving forward. Start with a quick introduction by email, and follow up with warmed accounts through an offline experience to build rapport and make a connection.
Here are a number of ways to connect with empathy, education, and relevance:
7 Thoughtful Ways to Stay Connected With Buyers Right Now
- Check on how they’re doing: This is not a sales update. This is simply to check in on how they’re holding up and to understand what their biggest pain points are during this very trying time. Create a cadence that starts with a phone call, then a follow-up email saying you called to check in on how they’re doing and to see if there was anything you can do to help. Finish the cadence with an automated Sendoso “send” and a handwritten note that wishes them well.
- Create opportunities for (virtual) face time: Just because you can’t meet in person doesn’t mean you can’t get face time with your prospects. Send over an eGift card for UberEats or wine.com and ask if they’d be willing to meet over Zoom for lunch or happy hour drinks. Alternatively, you could include a funny, helpful, or inspirational Vidyard as part of any cadences you’re currently running.
- Provide ways to give back: In times like these, it’s more important than ever to come together and support our communities. Sendoso Choice allows you to send multiple gift options that let your recipient choose how they’d like to use your gift. For example, your prospects could choose an UberEats gift card to order lunch from a local business or a gift card to make a donation to a local charity of their choice.
- Send work-from-home kits: Make sheltering-in-place a little easier for your customers by delivering a complete WFH kit. Send over an office setup kit with a branded notebook, pens, and a succulent, or a mental health kit, complete with an essential oil diffuser set, soothing teas, and a meditation service gift card. If your buyer’s a pet lover, send them new toys to entertain their furry friend. Do they have kids? Send a virtual care package with eGifts for Disney+, Xbox Live, or Build-a-Bear.
- Send virtual support: Put together a Salesloft cadence with helpful resources from your company or a third party, combined with a Sendoso eGift to a grocery service like AmazonFresh, or help expedite their pharmaceutical needs with eGift options to Target, CVS, or Walmart.
- Be flexible and creative: Think about your business as a true partnership with your customers. Any good partner would understand these are extraordinary circumstances, so consider what you can do to offer different options when it comes to their contracts. This doesn’t mean you have to give everything away for free. However, being flexible and creative with potential solutions to help them through this tough period can strengthen the relationship, especially when it comes time for renewal.
- Offer free trials: We could all use a break right now. Turn prospects into customers by giving them the chance to engage with your business with no strings attached. This is the perfect chance to introduce your product, prove your value, get feedback, and remain top-of-mind as the trial end date nears.
These are just some of the ways you can reach prospects in meaningful ways, especially when you can’t be there in person. Despite our new normal, you still need offline engagement to build strong bonds with your buyers. And now more than ever, people are hungry for interactions that don’t always require a screen, but you have the power to offer them multiple channels for human connection.
Looking for more resources on how to navigate social distancing and remote work? Check out Sendoso’s resources center and Salesloft’s “Thrive in 2020” hub.