Stop wasting phone numbers you already have

Cody Forrester

23 Apr 2025 — 3 min read

I spend a lot of time testing out the funnels of clients & prospective clients to see how well they're handling assistance + follow up with high value customers.

Here's an example of a pretty good experience I typically see. Shoutout to LIVV as an example (full disclosure: not a client):

1) Immediate SMS retargeting with promo code:

2) Personal rep reaches out with a call plus voicemail within an hour, from a local 619 number.

Hello Jim, this is Alec with LIVV natural. I just received a request regarding our peptides. Whenever you get a chance, if you can call me back at 805-252-1066.

3) An immediate follow up text

And another a few days later

What I like:

Cross-channel – phone, voicemail, texts both personal and automatec
Timely – outreach is quick, and frontloaded
Personalized – its a real rep, calling from a real number

I think there's always room to improve. I'd hold on the promo code until after the rep has attempted to reach out. Also, don't have one number for outbound calls, another for texts, and a third for callbacks - give the customer one number.

That said, most of what I've seen falls well short of this. Brands collect phone numbers early in the process, but fail to really utilize them, making one or many of these mistakes:

1) No follow up

Almost half the time I give my phone number, I get zero follow up. This includes cases where I've verified my number with a two factor code, and cases where I've explicitly consented to automated messaging and calls

2) Slow follow up. I understand not wanting to interrupt an active purchase process (if self-service is an option), but in most cases, timeliness is the overwhelming driver.

Check out these results for one products conversion rate on form abandoners, based on if an agent was available to reach out immediately, vs. followed up later at different increments.

Speed to Contact	Close Rate
Immediate	21%
1-12 Hours	16%
12-24 Hours	9%
24-72 Hours	6%

3) Showing your (lack of) humanity

Here's a text that is transparently a bot

Other's will purport to be human, but communicate in a way humans typically don't:

I know this company has a sales team, and I'm sure there's a real Maria there. But its a little odd that Maria sends texts like they're emails, including a full signature. She also sends them from an 833 number while saying she can be reached at an 866 number (both toll free).

We find the best introductions look like real texts, for example:

Hi Bill, this is Cody with Acme Corp. I’m here to answer any questions about our process — it can feel unusual at first! Let me know how I can help you decide if its for you. You can reply here or just say ‘stop’ if you’re not interested.

3) Sending spammy signals

Compare the two texts below. The first is from a fly-by-night loan broker who purchased my phone number after it'd been resold a dozen times without my consent. The lower pair is from a venture backed startup who has raised $100m+ and I explicitly applied with.