How many times do you contact your sales prospect? Wait a minute! Before you answer this question let us define what may constitute a contact, ok? A contact can be defined as any of the following:
*A contact is a call in which you speak with the decision maker.
* A contact is a call in which you leave a voicemail message for the decision maker.
* A contact is a call in which you speak with the decision maker's gatekeeper.
* A contact is a call in which you leave a message on the gatekeeper's voicemail for the decision maker.
* A contact is call in which you speak with a non-decision maker to get the name of the decision maker.
* A contact is call in which you leave a message on the on the non-decision maker's voicemail to get the name of the decision maker.
I'm sure that you could think of a few more, but those that I've listed above are the main ones. Collectively, these definitions illustrate that in order to reach your sales prospect there are many barriers to entry. These "barriers to entry" do not end here, in fact, they have just begun! What exactly am I getting to? Since your prospects are not expecting your telephone call you are competing against one of the most valued commodities in existence. What is it? It's called their time.
Your prospect will always find ways to protect their time and they accomplish this task by creating sales objections. These objections may be direct or indirect. A direct objection means that you directly experience your prospect's resistance—meaning that their objection is either spoken or written. An indirect sales objection would be your prospect's attempt to make them self conveniently unavailable (i.e. they choose not to take your telephone call and let your message go to voicemail).
Based on this information that I've provided thus far, Does this information prompt you to contact your prospect just one more time? If not, perhaps these statistics from the National Sales Executive Association will change your behavior. According to their study:
* 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
Which category do you think you fit into? Do you think that you may need to contact your prospect one more time? How about two more times? Three more times? If you do agree that you need to contact your prospect more than just a few times then the next question is how often? Should you call them once a week till you reach them? Should you call them twice a month till you reach them? Should you call them only once a month till you reach them? Below I've listed four "Frequency Programs" that you could use to contact your sales prospects. These programs are detailed below and include the following:
The Very Aggressive Frequency Program
In your first attempt to reach your sales prospect you can either leave a message on their voicemail (preferred way) or with their gatekeeper. Then you immediately send them an email that details the reason for your call. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the first attempt then for your second attempt I would call them three days later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper.
If you are unable to reach your prospect on the second attempt then for your third attempt I would call them one week later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the third attempt then for your fourth attempt I would send them a handwritten note one week later indicating the reason why you are trying to reach them. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the fourth attempt then I would call them one month later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. Are you still unable to reach them? Repeat this process or a variation of it till you reach them.
The Aggressive Frequency Program
In your first attempt to reach your sales prospect you can either leave a message on their voicemail (preferred way) or with their gatekeeper. Then you immediately send them an email that details the reason for your call. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the first attempt then for your second attempt I would call them one week later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper.
If you are unable to reach your prospect on the second attempt then for your third attempt I would call them one week later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the third attempt then for your fourth attempt I would send them a handwritten note one week later indicating the reason why you are trying to reach them. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the fourth attempt then I would call them one month later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. Are you still unable to reach them? Repeat this process or a variation of it till you reach them.
The Conservative Frequency Program
In your first attempt to reach your sales prospect you can either leave a message on their voicemail (preferred way) or with their gatekeeper. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the first attempt then for your second attempt I would call them one week later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the second attempt then for your third attempt I would call them two weeks later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper.
If you are unable to reach your prospect on the third attempt then for your fourth attempt I would send them an email three days later indicating the reason why you are trying to reach them. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the fourth attempt then I would call them one month later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. Are you still unable to reach them? Repeat this process or a variation of it till you reach them.
The Very Conservative Frequency Program
In your first attempt to reach your sales prospect you can either leave a message on their voicemail (preferred way) or with their gatekeeper. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the first attempt then for your second attempt I would call them one week later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the second attempt then for your third attempt I would call them three weeks later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper.
If you are unable to reach your prospect on the third attempt then for your fourth attempt I would send them an email four days later indicating the reason why you are trying to reach them. If you are unable to reach your prospect on the fourth attempt then I would call them one month later and leave a message on their voicemail or with their gatekeeper. Are you still unable to reach them? Repeat this process or a variation of it till you reach them.
Which program should you use? It really depends on your comfort level and how motivated you are to reach your sales prospect. The most important concept that you should take from this article is the fact that you will need to contact your prospect multiple times to reach them. Persistence will always be rewarded!
Copyright 2006 MR. COLD CALL SEMINARS - All rights reserved.
Behind The Scenes With Mr. Cold Call Mr. Cold Call is the author of "How To Have Fun Cold Calling" and "115 Common Sales Objections, 156 Clever And Savvy Responses." According to Mr. Cold Call, "Your cold call success is dependent on 11 winning personality traits (known as your Telephone Persona Of Success!)." Collectively, these traits allow you to uniquely market yourself over the telephone so that you can inspire your prospect's curiosity and reduce their resistance. Are you interested in finding out more about Mr. Cold Call? Then sign-up for his free weekly cold calling tips at http://www.mrcoldcall.com |
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