Hug Your Prospects

Comment

Comment by Shaun Gisbourne on April 10, 2009 at 8:04am

Some you will gladly call on 12 - 15 times and others you feel less inclined to: You believe their attitudes or responses don't merit your time in developing the relationship for example.

There are schools of thought that believe it's a numbers game and to an extent that is true: Don't do the numbers you won't get results. How we choose to look at the numbers will also influence outcomes: On the one hand there are those that "cherry-pick" - They'll make only 3 calls to one contact/company yet be prepared to make 50 to another.

Systems for recording and re-calling are also vital: Some people are really hard to get a hold of by telephone, so better to uphold your end of the bargain on whatever you agree. It won't harm your integrity.

The trickiest part of this for some people is knowing what constitutes persistence and what constitutes pestering (get a lot of this in the B2C environment).

Thank you Dawn and Edward!

Comment by Edward E. Williams III on April 9, 2009 at 8:32pm

Wow! This is an excellent topic and more of us should be reading this information... It could really mean the difference between winning and losing some business and/ or keeping a client. Dawn goes to great link to provide us with fact based research to support the necessity to nurture sales relationships... and some farming tips to boot.

So that we get a good feel for more of the article, I have included another excerpt from the Ingenuity Marketing Group Power Up Blog. Link is already provided...

Thanks a bunch Dawn for posting this very relevant information. Let's here it for Dawn and to quote a line from one of my favorite movies of all time (Coming To America, Eddie Murphy) "...we really appreciate the kind that jingles but we can really use the kind that folds."

Here you go...

"Research found that before 1977 you could sell between four and six contacts. In 1990, it took from four to nine contacts. By 1992, it was nine to 12 contacts. Today, it is estimated to take 12 to 15 contacts with a prospect to produce enough time, trust and need to convert a targeted prospect to a client.

Since few of us have the time to meet face-to-face with every single person your marketing strategy becomes critical. Only some of these contacts will be face-to-face or on the telephone. Others will be:
• Various marketing pieces
• Direct mail and advertising
• Articles you have written or you were quoted as a resource
• Newsletters
• Issue or interest-related articles
• Speeches and seminars
• Word of mouth
• Email, Internet and your website
• Personal experiences with you

Building relationships can be very time consuming but in the end it can benefit you as well as them. I urge you to put together a systematic approach that will allow you to stay in contact with your clients, prospects and referral sources and nurture them each accordingly."