How many contacts does is take to make a sale – Follow-up is the key

The question of  how many contacts are required to make a sale has been addressed in many books for years and now in many blogs.  The answers and theories are varied and can depend on the product, the price, the quality of the prospect, just to name a few.  I believe we can look at it from a different perspective… Follow-up.  I believe follow-up is key and this is why.     

 Statistics say that  48% of sales people never follow-up with a prospect,   25% of sales people make a second contact and stop, 12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop, Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts,  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.

With the current economic climate and ever-increasing competition in just about every industry you need to set yourself apart from the competition.  Based on these statistics a simple way to put yourself above 90% of the competition is following up with a prospect more than 3 times.  But if it is that easy, why do 80% of salespeople fall short?   There are many reasons salespeople fall short but one reason is their activities, business and simply life interfere with effective and consistent follow-up.  In order to be effective and consistent with your follow-up you have to develop a system and process.   There are many CRM  (customer relationship management) software programs on the market,  or your basic notebook and calendar can work.   The bottom line is you just have to do it and keep doing it.  

 JMJ Direct  has tools in place that can help you with; Lead Generation, Contact Management, and Relationship Marketing.