Some stats about sales activity this month:
- Only 10% of salespeople follow up after 3 contacts.
- 80% of new business transactions are done between 5 and 12 contacts.
Whoa, hang on a minute!
Put another way, 90% of salespeople are chasing after the 20% of business done in the first 3 contacts.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like those odds much!
But what are these stats telling us about our sales activity? Here are some thoughts:
- As salespeople we think short-term. We look to convert leads as soon as we can to help us meet short term targets and keep our bosses off our backs.
- Yet people buy from people they know and trust. People with whom they feel have taken the time to build a decent relationship with them.
- This is one of the main reasons that it’s 8 or 9 times easier to sell to existing customers than find new ones.
- The stats also tell us that we give up too easily. After a couple of contacts we’re likely to lose patience and look for short-term conversions elsewhere.
What we need to realise is that building sound relationships can take time. We need to make the effort to build these relationships, particularly with people that you consider to be ‘gold’ prospects, i.e. customers who you know will be valuable customers when you work with them.
So look at your sales activity. It’s not just a numbers game. Each contact that you have with a prospect should add something tangible and build the relationship. Add value and make people want to do business with you!