What is sales texting software?
Software that lets a sales team text leads from business phone numbers and keeps every reply on the lead's record. TalaLevel sends from your own registered numbers, to one lead or to a whole list, and files each text next to that lead's calls and emails.
Do I need to register my numbers to text in the US?
Yes. US carriers ask a business to register its brand and its numbers before it texts at volume (the registration is called 10DLC). In TalaLevel you type your website and it reads the site, fills in your business, writes the application and checks it for the reasons carriers send applications back. The carriers' fees are passed on at cost: $4.50 to verify the business, $15 for the review and from $2 a month.
What stops a text from going out?
A lead who replied STOP, a number that is a landline, quiet hours where the lead is, a number of yours that is not registered yet, and the day's limit. Every text goes through the same checks, whether a rep or Tala wrote it.
When do texts go out?
Between 8am and 9pm in the lead's own time zone. A text written outside those hours waits for the morning there.
Can an AI answer the replies?
Yes, where you switch it on. Tala answers leads who text you, follows up after a call and answers people who fill in your website form. Each of those is off until you turn it on. On our own floor its median reply time was under two minutes.
Does TalaLevel update a lead's status for me?
Yes. When a lead says they are interested, asks to be called later or says no, on a call, in a text or in an email, their status moves to match. A status someone on your team chose by hand is left alone, and you pick which statuses Tala may use.
How many texts are included?
Pro includes 2,000 texts and three numbers a seat a month, and Scale includes 6,000 texts and ten numbers a seat. More texts are $10 per 1,000. The Dialer plan is calling only.
Which words get sales texts blocked by carriers?
In our own sends, asking for "a number" or an "amount" got texts blocked, and so did the word "underwriter". One follow-up was blocked on 82 of 86 T-Mobile numbers, and passed on 42 of 43 after one line was changed. Test new wording on about 100 numbers per carrier before a big send.
Can I text a whole list at once?
Yes. Pick a list, write the text and send it as a batch. Each lead's text still waits for their own morning, and anyone who has opted out is left off.
What is TalaLevel's text deliverability rate?
On our own floor, 99% of texts are delivered. They go out from numbers registered to the business, and new wording is tested on each carrier before it is sent to a whole list.
Does Tala only text, or does it email too?
Both, as one conversation. Tala sends the email it promised in a text, reads what the lead emails back, and follows up by text or by email if something is still missing. It answers an email only when it comes from an address on the lead.
What is the most cost-effective texting software for a sales team?
We built TalaLevel to be it. One seat price covers the texting, the numbers, unlimited US calling and the CRM, with 2,000 texts a seat on Pro and 6,000 on Scale. More texts are one cent each, and there is no contract.
How much does a text cost?
On Pro, 2,000 texts a seat a month are in the $97 price, and on Scale 6,000 are in the $247 price. More texts are $10 per 1,000, which is one cent a text.
What is 10DLC?
10DLC is the US carriers' registration for businesses that text from ordinary ten-digit numbers. You register your brand and what you text about, and your numbers are tied to it. Unregistered texts are filtered or blocked.
What is a good reply rate for sales texts?
Ours was about 7%: more than 11,500 replies to 165,000 texts. A reply is not interest, though. On one list, 11 of 838 delivered texts ended in someone agreeing to talk.
What should I say when a lead replies "who is this?"
Answer it plainly, like a person would. In our texts, 38% of people who asked "who is this?" kept talking after we answered, almost the same as everyone else who replied.
What is the best time to send sales texts?
We send in two waves, at 8am and at 7:30pm in the lead's own time zone. TalaLevel times each text by the lead's clock, not yours.
Is there a daily limit on business texts?
Yes, and it is set for your registered brand, not for each number. T-Mobile capped ours at 2,000 texts a day, so more numbers did not mean more texts.
Should I check text delivery by carrier?
Yes. AT&T blocked almost nothing of ours while T-Mobile blocked whole wordings, so an overall rate can hide a problem on one carrier. Check T-Mobile and Verizon apart.
How do I test a new text before a big send?
Send it to about 100 numbers on each carrier and look at what got through. That is how we caught wordings that would have burned a whole list.
Does the AI text cold leads on its own?
No. A text to a whole list is sent by a person. Tala picks up once someone is in a conversation: a lead who texts you, a lead you spoke to on a call, or someone who filled in your website form.
Does Tala text people at night?
It answers a lead who texts at night, because they are awake and waiting. Its own follow-ups go out between 7am and 10pm in the lead's time zone.
Does a text come from a local number?
Yes. A text goes out from your number with the lead's area code. With none, it uses one in their state, then one in their time zone.
Is a reply to a sales text a sign of interest?
Not on its own. A bare "who is this?" is a reply. Count interest by reading the threads, which TalaLevel does for you: a reply read as interested moves the lead to Interested, and "not now" moves them to call later.