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Use Podium to Capture and Convert Walk-Ins

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<p>Increasing foot traffic to your store is important but it doesn’t always result in your ultimate goal—sales.</p>
<p>That’s where <a href="https://www.podium.com/">Podium</a> comes into play.</p>
<p>Podium is a lead conversion and communication platform with a mobile app for businesses that have brick-and-mortar locations such as jewelry, furniture, appliance, and mattress stores, as well as car dealerships. It simplifies the processes of capturing, converting, and retaining leads and customers online as well as in-store.</p>
<p>Continue reading to learn more about five ways that Podium makes it easy to get more qualified leads in your store and quickly convert them into loyal customers.</p>
<h2>5 Ways Podium Captures and Converts Walk-Ins</h2>
<h3>1. Save information about every lead to build lasting relationships.</h3>
<p>Every time a potential customer enters your store, it’s an opportunity to build a personal relationship with them. Whether you have one or a dozen sales reps on the floor, Podium arms you with the right tools to do this seamlessly.</p>
<p>For example, if you own a <a href="https://www.podium.com/article/generate-leads-for-furniture-businesses/">furniture store</a> and someone enters looking for pricing details on a few of your couches, you can say, “I’ll text you that information so you have it handy while thinking through your decision.”</p>
<p>That lead then provides you with their phone number. At this point, you have everything you need to follow up with the prospect after they walk out of your store to keep your brand top of mind. The contact’s information is also saved in your <a href="https://www.podium.com/whats-new/whats-new-in-podium-lead-drive/">centralized leads Inbox</a> for easy access in the future. This means never losing leads in a staff member’s phone book again.</p>
<p>Since Podium tracks communications for you, you can feel confident knowing you’ll always have the information you need to have quality interactions with leads and customers throughout the buyer’s journey—both in-store and after they leave. In fact, with Podium, your team can send follow-up text messages from a single business phone number using their personal cell phones so you always have access to their conversations with customers from start to finish.</p>
<p><strong>Pro tip:</strong> Use <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAQnjmXL06Q">Podium’s AI-powered platform</a> to schedule automated <a href="https://www.podium.com/text-marketing/">text messages</a> to leads after they leave your store. This increases conversions while also saving you time and ensuring contact records stay up-to-date no matter which sales rep manages the interaction.</p>
<h3>2. Send estimates over text.</h3>
<p>If you have a prospective customer in your store asking for pricing details about your products/services, offer to <a href="https://www.loom.com/share/8e6f490fa98145c49cd626c2ee0dff54">send them an estimate via text message</a>. Sharing this information in person is, of course, helpful—but also having the option to send estimates via text through <a href="https://www.podium.com/payments/">Podium</a> does a few things:</p>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Enhance the <a href="https://www.podium.com/guides/modern-customer-experience/">customer experience</a> by ensuring prospective customers don’t feel pressured to buy immediately yet don’t have to write down pricing information on their own and/or call back.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keep your brand top of mind—send an estimate the moment a prospective customer leaves your store and then follow up the following business day via text to ask if they need more information or if they’re ready to make the purchase.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Expand your marketing list—if you have a contact’s phone number, you now have another person you can send marketing messages to.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Keep all communication in one channel—after texting an estimate, send personalized messages following up on the prospect’s readiness to make a purchase. Then, manage the purchase via <a href="https://www.podium.com/whats-new/whats-new-tap-to-pay/">Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android</a> and send their receipt via text, too. This way, all communications and transactions are handled via the same convenient channel.</li>
</ul>
<h3>3. Continue building your marketing list.</h3>
<p>Whether you follow up with a lead about a product/service after an in-person interaction via text or tell a lead about valuable information (like special offers, educational information, and promotions) that your brand sends via text, Podium makes it easy to expand your marketing list and <a href="https://www.podium.com/ai-assistant/">automatically</a> send messages.</p>
<p>Once a lead’s contact details are saved in Podium, use that information to send tailored marketing campaigns and bulk messages that drive awareness, keep your brand top of mind, engage leads, and increase conversions.</p>
<p><strong>Pro tip:</strong> Create a <a href="https://www.podium.com/knowledgebase/s/article/Setting-Up-an-Opt-In-Form">QR code</a> that in-store leads can scan to sign up for your marketing messages. Make sure your leads understand the value they’ll get from your messages to increase sign-ups.</p>
<h3>4. Offer <a href="https://www.podium.com/whats-new/whats-new-tap-to-pay/">Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android</a> checkout.</h3>
<p>When you’re working in-store/in your showroom and a customer is ready to make a purchase, simplify the process by using your smartphone to manage the transaction. You don’t have to move anywhere—open the Podium mobile app and use Tap to Pay on iPhone and Android. Then, send a receipt directly to the customer’s cell phone via <a href="https://www.podium.com/text-marketing/">text</a>.</p>
<p>Podium will simultaneously ensure the associated <a href="https://www.podium.com/contacts/">contact record</a> is accurate. That way, communications and transaction history are saved and you’re also able to add the customer to your marketing list if they aren’t already on it.</p>
<p><strong>Pro tip:</strong> <a href="https://www.podium.com/integrations/">Integrate Podium</a> with your CRM or other business tools to ensure contact records are updated across the board.</p>
<h3>5. Stay focused on customers who are in your store with missed call auto-response.</h3>
<p>If you’re working in your store and all of your sales reps are busy but the phone rings, you have two options: 1.) let the phone ring and risk losing that business, or 2.) pause your in-person conversation with a lead and risk negatively impacting that experience.</p>
<p>Neither of these outcomes is ideal. But with Podium, you have a third option—focus on your in-person interaction and allow <a href="https://www.podium.com/phones/">missed-call auto response</a> to send a message to the prospect who called you. That way you ensure you’re offering memorable in-person customer experiences that drive conversions while also <a href="https://www.podium.com/ebooks/hidden-cost-of-missed-calls/">avoiding losing business to missed calls</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://www.podium.com/watch-demo/">Click here</a> to learn about Podium can help your business convert in-person leads into loyal customers? </strong></p>


Use Podium to Capture and Convert Walk-Ins

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