Wayne Gretzky, the greatest hockey player to ever live, once said that you miss 100% of the shots you never take. However, in the sales world, you need to be firing pucks at the net as often as possible. Believe it or not, lead generation should take you at least five to seven tries before you reel in your desired contact – and even another five tries to land them as a customer! 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups to finally convert the target after the first rejection.
Be sure to check out this article from LucidChart.com and learn about their 7-step sales process.
At first, you are targeting someone who is a great prospect for your company. A simple introduction of yourself and/or the services that your company offers via email/phone will suffice; you want your target to be familiar with what you’re bringing to the table.
Think about yourself and how you would react to being approached on a cold call. More often than not, these calls come from a telephone company or an energy company claiming they can save you 40% on your monthly bill. The majority of us may feel fine with how things are going in our daily lives, and we don’t need to be thwarted into anything. As a great salesperson, think about how you can increase that person or company’s income, or how you can at least save them money/operational costs in the process.
On your second attempt, a modest reminder of sending your initial email/call will be a satisfactory connection with your target. In some ways, the second connection could be more important and may determine if there even is a third time you get a chance to speak with them. In this interaction, you should remind them of what you were conveying the first time around and why you thought they would appreciate the offer and then go into a little more detail about your product or service. Keep alert to hear their objections!
If you’re reaching out to your target for the third time, this is where you need to bring them to your side of the table. You have already introduced yourself and your product/service; by now it’s time to drive the point home. In this instance, you can move forward with presentations, case studies, or whitepapers – anything to woo your target. And again, listen to those objections and answer them if you are ready.!
Salespeople may look at the fourth attempt as some sort of lead generation desperation, but you shouldn’t feel that way. This is yet another opportunity to reach out to your target, and possibly levy any questions they may have on their end of the table, i.e., their objections! Listen to what they have to say because if you can resolve any issues they may have, that could be the difference between getting them on this call or needing to go further.
When it’s the fifth time that you’re reaching out to your target, take all the lessons you learned from the previous attempts and apply them to this endeavor. By now, you are both familiar with one another, and there shouldn’t be any hesitation on your end. Of course, there will always be questions in your prospect’s mind, but you need to assure them in this step that you have a solution that will show value and benefit them.
Hopefully, it doesn’t take you five or more tries to get your prospect in position to take the next step towards a bid, final defense meeting, or even perhaps a sale– but it very well could. Once they have agreed they are interested in buying (your marketing qualified lead (MQL), you can start counting from one again, because there may be five times back and forth through negation steps.
If you are finding difficulty in getting a commitment from them, consider some options to show you are earnestly trying hard to get them a great deal for the product or service that will bring value to them. Offer payment options or test some of your claims for free so they see you are right on with the recommendations you have made to them.
As a salesperson, you have to imagine yourself on the other side of the table. Would you buy what you’re selling? If yes, pour some of your beliefs into the conversation. If not, be quick on your feet to get answers so you are ready for your next discussion (The Close) with your prospect.