Monday, March 26, 2012

The Only 2 Things You Absolutely, Positively Must Be Doing To Successfully Close More Sales

Call it what you will: following up, checking in, touching base - you're trying to turn invested time into profitable time.  If you are selling a product or a service you cannot assume that your first contact with someone will close a sale. Actually, just don't. I recently came across this statistic (from the Sales & Marketing Management Institute) that said: 
  • 87% of all leads are never pursued 
  • 48% of all sales leads that are pursued are dropped after the first call/meeting 
  • AND YET... 80% of all sales close after the fifth contact/meeting
The only two things you absolutely, positively must be doing to successfully close more sales: Planning and Persisting

1) PLAN for how and when you are going to follow up with your qualified prospective customers. Are they on social media sites like pintrest, twitter, or facebook? Find out! It's a fantastic way to develop a more personal relationship with with current customers but also prospective ones. Get a system. There are fabulous systems out there for need and budget. But don't be fooled, the system will only get you so far... you still have to... 
 2) PERSIST.  The systems are only as good as people who have the courage and persistence to use them and follow through on their prompts.  While it's easy to get overwhelmed with tools and technology,  ultimately the responsibility always comes back to us and we know this.  Persistence can often lead to being rejected. And that can mean having our confidence and belief in ourselves that we are good, smart, and competent people shattered because someone says "no." Give up having to "look good." Give up on the facade and put yourself on the line. And when you do this - you'll become one of those statistics... the good ones!

I'll be discussing this TODAY on Breakthrough Business Strategies Radio with host, Michele Price. Join us!

3 comments:

ARTROTTER said...

The persistence it's the most difficult part but of course you can't give up: thank you for the post

Unknown said...

Hi I'm here from Empire Avenue Mission, I can't seem to get your share tool to work but shared on twitter. Thanks for the mission.

Anne Wayman said...

Love those stats... and I strongly suspect they work for freelance writers as well as sales people... thanks.

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