Don’t quit too soon!

Share with:

We have all experienced it. We have a new lead passed to us or have had a first meeting with a prospective customer. We agree with them to organize a follow up and then start trying to email or call to make the next meeting date!

How many times do you then try to get a hold of a prospect? 2 emails? 4 emails? 10?

How about calls? 3 calls & messages left? 4?

Did you know that statistics show that it takes on average 8 to 12 attempts to reach a prospect by phone!

8 to 12!!

Most of us quit after a couple of tries with no response.

The toughest part of our job as sales professionals is having to deal with rejection .. or especially ghosting!

It takes a very thick skin to be able to deal with being completely ignored time and again and still keep calling.

So what to do!

First – never stop trying to get through to a prospect (especially if it is one that has expressed genuine interest) as it will take on average the 8 to 12 attempts –

Some prospects see your repeated attempts as a sign that they are of value and that they will control when they are ready to speak to you. It is almost a test of your interest.

Remember – this is not a cold call. They have expressed some level of interest. Don’t quit too early.

Secondly, try to get through in other ways. Try calling on office phones rather than mobiles. If simple emails don’t work in eliciting a response maybe try sending them some useful information or something you think they may be interested in separately to but interspersed with requests for a catch up.

Or, perhaps send them a gift – perhaps a book or tickets to an event by courier. You can then be sure they received it (as you will have a signature) but follow up with a call to ‘check’ that they did. You are far more likely to get a response to this call.

The key message is be creative but do not stop calling too early or you will definitely fail in making the sale!