InfusionSoft Plugin: SMS: 1st Incoming SMS of a Conversation

Today I am going to share with you how we tackled the challenge of sticking with Infusionsoft's claim to avoid "multi-system chaos" when it came to adding in the ability to send text messages with Infusionsoft. First, you should know that my brother and I started a business in 2007 with Infusionsoft as the 'backbone' to all of our customer interactions, sales and billing. We started a real estate training company and using Infusionsoft we went from $0 to $1.3M in revenue in 12 months and only had 6 people on the team at the one year mark. I share this so that you know 1) we use and love Infusionsoft in our other businesses (we have an Infusionsoft App for each business) and 2) we know the limitations that it has and have developed tools to EXPAND those limitations to work for our own businesses. We are entrepreneurs, so of course when we solve our problems, we offer the solution to other business owners through FixYourFunnel.com As you know, Infusionsoft is awesome when it comes to email marketing and managing interactions with your database and recurring, but out of the box, you can't tie in your phone system and send or receive text messages through Keap. Well, what we did was create a way for you to overcome this limitation WITHOUT having to resort to using a "short code" where you either have to pay thousands a month to have your own short code, or join a shared short code (which is most common) and be limited to only a few keywords. When we set out to make it so you could use SMS (text messaging) for lead capture or for follow up with existing leads and clients in your Keap app, here are the things that we wanted: An affordable phone number (not a short code) that we own for just a few bucks a month and one that isn't "shared" with other businesses Ability to have an automated "conversation" via text message (not just a single inbound or outbound text, but a back and forth conversation with pre-written responses) No limitation on keywords for starting a "conversation" (others use a "short code" that is shared with hundreds of other businesses and the keywords you may want are probably already taken) The ability to receive phone calls to that number that could be tracked, recorded and added to the contact record in Keap Easy setup and interaction with a simple interface to be able to send out text message broadcasts within seconds Well, we are happy to share that we set all of this up for our businesses and a few months ago, decided to start "sharing" this with other marketers so they to could leverage Keap's power with this new media, SMS conversations and broadcasts. To find out more and to start sending text messages through your Keap account today, go here or you can text our office at: (760) 621-8199

If you're already a Fix Your Funnel user, jump straight to the tutorial video... If you haven't tried Slack, I recommend it. They have a free plan that can let you ease into using the tool. In this video I'm going to walk you through the 3 different ways we make Keap talk with us outside of email. I hate email Yeah, I'm a hater. I hate email and I filter the crap out of it so I don't have to look at it any more than necessary. I pay people to deal with it so I don't have to. I love chat. I can communicate quickly with someone and let them respond when they get to it. But the chat programs I was using were not very search friendly. Even gchat is terrible to find what you want. Then I tried Slack. It was awesome and with it's ability to extend it opened up some killer opportunities. The first of which is Slack Bot. We're experimenting with more ways to harness the power of Slack and Keap, so keep your ears peeled to hear more in the future.

First, let me give you a hearty congratulations for being smart enough to send SMS notifications. We all know that what's going on in our business is extremely important to us, but that doesn't mean it's at the top of our prospective customers' to do list. In fact, the reason that any reminder at all is necessary is the heart of why this mistake is so important for you to know about, and to fix. I'm imagining that the reason you were motivated to send SMS reminders or notifications was because you noticed that emails don't always do the trick. Maybe you've missed an appointment or a webinar you really wanted to attend because time got away from you. I know I have. So, again, congratulations on recognizing how important it was to jump the email inbox and all the other distractions to capture your prospective customer's attention in what is the most popular format of communication today...messaging. If you're urgent to see what the mistake is, no doubt you've already jumped to it below...and that's total cool. But I want to set the stage for you about what the problem is, and why it's a VERY important problem for you to pay attention to. Unless you've been living under a rock, you've noticed that mobile has consumed the world. In fact, mobile communications has become so big that by 2017, more people will have mobile internet access than clean water access! If you have a prospect in the developed world, they're on mobile. Even most luddites who refused to buy a computer have caved on the smartphone. Studies have shown that the most popular communication method is no longer email, or even the lowly phone call. Both have been clearly toppled by messaging. People Facebook Message, iMessage, chat, Twitter DM, text message, SnapChat, YikYak, and on and on. So again, you're really smart to be jumping out of the chaos of the email inbox and texting them. As I'm sure you've heard from everyone selling text messaging, 98% of text messages are read, and 95% within 5 minutes. I'm sure those stats have changed since they first came out and started being propagated, but the reality is while not every phone has SnapChat on it, every mobile phone, and I mean EVERY MOBILE PHONE, has text messaging. From the dumb phone to the latest smartphone, they come with SMS preinstalled and ready for action. In fact, it's become so common, that people expect that a phone number can do three things: Make and receive phone calls, send and receive text messages, and connect to Whatsapp ;) 

If you speak to live audiences (not dead ones), or you attend networking events and meet prospects, you best carve out a few minutes for this week's episode!

Dive into Episode 1 for a comprehensive guide on creating effective SMS surveys and intelligent follow-ups. Learn the 4 keys and 2 crucial assumptions. Text IN to (760) 621-8477 for an in-depth tutorial video.

Unlock powerful mobile marketing strategies with the "21 Ways to Use Mobile Marketing Today" report. Text SMS to (760) 621-8199.

Before you can text, you have to open the door to texting in the mind of your contacts.

In today's episode we talk about how to handle out bound calls with #Infusionsoft and FixYourFunnel's Integrated Dialer. This is very good for anyone who needs to make calls to groups of individuals...especially if they are inside your Infusionsoft app!

If you want to make money in a business, you need three things: conversations, a way to keep the promises made in those conversations, and good business math. I'm going to help you have more conversations with folks who are prepared to make buying decisions by the time you finish watching these two videos and doing what I recommend. In this cheat sheet and overview video you'll learn: How move from lead capture to appointment. How to use questions to prepare the prospect for your appointment. How to prevent double and triple data entry for prospects. How cut out all the extra stuff that kills conversions of leads to appointments. How to prepare prospects so that they are ready to make a buying decision when they show up to the appointment. How to adjust this flow to give you the perfect balance of quantity and quality appointments.