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In this article, I’m going to share my #1 tip to increase your sales.
But first, let’s take a look at what happens in a typical sales situation.
1. You invest your hard-earned money to attract qualified sales leads.
2. You make contact and determine that your prospect is willing to invest in your product or service. You’ve got a hot prospect!
3. You provide all the information about you, your company, your product and pricing to demonstrate your ability to help your prospect achieve his or her goals. Looks like this deal’s going to close!
And then…
And in most cases…
You get nothing.
NO SALE!
Uh oh…
What happened?
Well, in most cases, the reason you lose the sale is because you didn’t follow up.
My #1 sales tip is to follow up, follow up, and follow up.
And when you’re done with that… follow up again!
And then follow up AGAIN!
Are you getting the picture?
When you follow up at least 5 times, you dramatically increase your ability to close the sale.
And in case you think I’m crazy, just take a look at these statistics from the National Sales Executive Association:
- 48% of sales people NEVER follow-up with a prospect
- 25% of sales people make a 2nd contact and stop
- 12% of sales people only make 3 contacts and then stop
- Only 10% of sales people make more than 3 contacts
- 2% of sales are made on the 1st contact
- 3% of sales are made on the 2nd contact
- 5% of sales are made on the 3rd contact
- 10% of sales are made on the 4th contact
- 80% of sales are made on the 5th-12th contact!
I’m willing to bet you are NOT following up with your prospects 5 to 12 times.
Just imagine how many sales you are losing. You are leaving so much money on the table!
So make it your New Year’s resolution in your business to improve your follow-up… and you’ll be amazed by how many more sales you close in 2013.
Steve Little is a serial entrepreneur and veteran business coach and is the creator of The Perfect Biz Finder. Over his career, Steve has raised millions of dollars in venture capital and built and sold several businesses, and he is a master at identifying and capitalizing on business growth opportunities. For a free introduction to Steve’s material, take his Free Entrepreneurial Strengths Assessment Survey.
