Recently this great information was shared with me and it was so powerful that I wanted to share it with you too because it talks to a subject that comes up with my clients time and time again. And that topic is customer follow up.
I think these statistics will shock and surprise you. So get ready:
- 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect
This is of course shocking but not surprising. I know from my own experience how often I have expressed an interest in a product/service and then no-one has followed up with me. This is especially frustrating when I want to buy!
So why would you start a business and not follow up an incoming enquiry?????
So we continue:
- 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop
- 12% of sales people make more than three contacts
and so why is this. Well it is often that little voice in your head that says:
- “I don’t want to hassle them”
- “If they want it they will buy”
Well it seems they won’t….please read on for the most surprising stats of all…
- 2% of sales are made on the first contact
- 3% of sales are made on the second contact
- 5% of sales are made on the third contact
- 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact
- 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact!!!
Just look at the jump between the fourth and fifth contacts.
So my friends persistence is the key to your success. I learnt this lesson the hard way from my financial adviser. I actually wanted his services but I was just way to busy to complete the paperwork. Consistently for about 10 months Nigel called me every month. Because I knew I needed his services I never found his call annoying or aggressive. I was in fact glad that he had reached out to me and reminded me of what I needed to do.
Today we are bombarded with information. We are in information overwhelm. But that does not mean someone doesn’t want your products and services. It might be, like me, it isn’t a priority right now as they are fire fighting something else. Staying connected to your prospects is key to converting them eventually. Sometimes it might feel to you like you are annoying them but rest assured this is rarely the case. In fact many are so happy to hear from you. And if you aren’t sure well just ask your prospect. Get permission to follow up with them in x days or months. Trust me it is so much easier to make those calls when you have got permission to follow up.
So go forth and make calls because the money truly is in the follow up.
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
