When you’re out shopping for something and you come across a product that you like, what is the first thing that you do? Well… Most of us would start by checking the specs of the product, maybe the price.
But what happens when you don’t find what you’re looking for in the product or want to negotiate on the price? In a conventional store, you look for the sales person!
Now think of what you would do if this was an online store?! There is no sales person around to guide you. So the most common approach is to contact the website owner, to inquire about the product.
What are inquiries?
An inquiry is a person making contact in order to understand something or to solve a problem. That problem may or may not be relevant to the product you’re selling and these inquiries may or may not lead to sales, but the fact that they were interested in the product makes them a viable lead for your business.
And without them asking the inquiry, this lead would have mostly gone unnoticed.
Capturing Product Inquiries in WooCommerce
With the rise in popularity of WooCommerce, people have started shifting their stores to WordPress. As for webmasters, the sheer volume of extensions available to extend WooCommerce’s capability is a reason most recommend the plugin to store owners.
On online stores (and WooCommerce stores are no different), the most common channel to inquire about a product is via email or the contact form. But this adds an extra step to the inquiry process wherein potential customers have to search for the email or click through to another contact page.
Since most online shoppers are impatient and have a short attention span, this extra step alone can make them uninterested and leave the page instantly.
Now you’ve lost a potential lead, possibly forever.
Using the RIGHT Extension
Since WooCommerce functionalities can be extended with the help of plugins, it makes sense to make use of this and employ a dedicated plugin.
And, in today’s day, the most popular inquiry plugin on WooCommerce is “Product Enquiry Pro”.
This is a plugin that can slash that extra step for your visitors. It adds a button directly under your showcased products from where visitors can enquire about the product or request for a quote.
As the store owner, you can respond to these enquiries and drive them further down the sales funnel or if there is a quote request, you can send them a customized quote via Email.
Shoppers have the freedom to either accept or reject this quote, and you’re always kept in the loop for a chance to renegotiate.
This simple, yet powerful plugin has a lot more features to help you capture leads.
Converting Inquiries into Sales
As an online marketer you are bound to receive inquiries through various channels such as Social Media, Contact Forms, Emails etc.
All of these channels are equally valuable when it comes to the quality of an inquiry. It is how you follow up with these inquiries that makes them a potential lead or just another email in the archive.
Studies show that over 60% of those who make pre-purchase inquiries go on to buy the product. But that doesn’t mean all of these prospects are going to close themselves. You need to work on and nurture these leads.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for converting inquiries into sales. You always need to be on your toes and keep tweaking your methods to stay relevant.
Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- If you are good with people, get them on a call
- Ask for the sale – throw in phrases like “how many do you need?”, “which credit card will you be using?”
- Anticipate their questions and be ready with the solutions
- Always be professional with a prospect
What’s Next?
It is said that “curiosity drives sales”.
A curious mind that sets out in search of answers, leads to new discoveries. This is when it might find you, a marketer with a product to sell.
The importance of inquiries cannot be ignored. The fact that they can eventually lead to sales, make them as important as your other sales or marketing efforts.
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