Sales Pros Never Quit
Written by Dave Lorenzo on September 15, 2016 / Behavior / Mindset
Things are tough for sales professionals. Although many will blame the economy for their lack of success, the truth is that a lack of persistent, aggressive activity is really to blame.
Consider these statistics from a business study conducted by Herbert True of the University of Notre Dame:
- 2% of all sales are made on the 1st attempt
- 3% of all sales are made on the 2nd attempt
- 5% of all sales are made on the 3rd attempt
- 10% of all sales are made on the 4th attempt
- 80% of all sales are made after the 5th attempt
This supports the assertion that sales efforts must be persistent. It also supports the theory that business development requires patience and persistence.
Now in the face of those statistics, consider the following information (also from the same study):
- 44% of sales people quit trying after the first call
- 24% of sales people quit after the second call
- 14% of sales people quit after the third call
- 12% of sales people quit after the fourth call
This means 94% of people looking for new business quit after the fourth call.
Those are sales people. We are talking about people who are trained to gain the interest of a prospective client and engage them to do business. And THEY are giving up after the fourth call.
How many emails are in the average email sequence to your client base?
How many months do you send out a newsletter before you give up?
If you want to get clients you have to be able to sell. You can use various techniques to help you get clients to come to you but ultimately selling is your job. If you give up before the fifth, sixth or seventh opportunity, you are going to miss out on many significant chances to represent good clients.
What to Do with This Information
Here is what you should do with this information: Build persistence into your sales process. Set up follow-up systems that engage EVERYONE you meet. Make sure your message gets in front of them at least once a week.
This gives you 52 opportunities every year. It is 52 attempts to get them to consider working with you.
You have to be interesting and each approach should be slightly different. But ultimately, if you quit, you miss will many, many opportunities. Start today and never, ever stop.
Do you have what it takes to be successful in sales?
Here are three articles to help enable your sales success:
How To Get Going on Your Next Big Idea
Getting started is half the battle. This video shows you how to get going on your next big idea.
Dust Off The Old School Sales Tools
Relationship development has been around since the beginning of time. Here’s how you can use some of the techniques that worked years ago to your advantage.
Don’t Let Pride Get In The Way
Pride can be expensive. Make sure you focus on outcomes and do not let your pride prevent sales.