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Guest post by: Leanne Hoagland-Smith Become an Author

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Did you know that 25% of sales people make a second contact and then stop! Are you one of those sales professionals who gives up after the second and does not make a third effort to connect with that desirable prospect?

How many times do you connect with a prospect before giving up? For many, 1 out of 4, only make two contacts. If there is not immediate interest, these sales professionals move on to finding a new prospect within the huge pile of suspects. So much wasted time from those first and second contacts that time starved sales professionals accumulate month by month, year by year. These behaviors almost sound like Einstein’s definition of insanity – Doing the same thing over and over again hoping for different results.

One of my mentors shared with me that he stopped calling when the prospect told him to go to "Hades." His continued determination demonstrated why he had such sales success. And I now employ that same sales skill.

Sales professionals need to be aware that the needs of the their prospects usually do not coincide with their needs especially financial. This reason alone is why those in sales must have an active marketing funnel that continually brings in new prospects so that the sales person can develop them into customers. Development of customers does not happen overnight especially in today's highly competitive marketplace.

Customer development is a process that should be supported by goals. These goals should originate from the strategic business action plan specific to the separate marketing action plan, sales action plan and customer loyalty growth action plan.

Selling today as always is about relationships or what some relationship selling. Building relationships takes time. People are more ready to buy from those that they know and trust. As John Maxwell is quoted as saying: "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care."

Take the time to care. To do so means that you must go beyond the second contact to the third to the fourth to the fifth to the sixth to the seventh to the eighth to the ninth to the tenth to the eleventh and to the twelfth. For successful relationship selling happens for 80% of the sales professionals between the fifth and twelfth contacts.

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