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Persistence and the Honourable Retreat

Written by: Sue Barrett

Article Overview: Did you know: Over 50% of sales people give up at 1st contact if they get a ‘NO' from the prospect never to go back to that prospect again. At the 5th contact 7% of sales people are left to speak with the prospect to see if they can do business together. At the 8th contact there is only one sales person left to work with the prospect. Hopefully it is you. Many sales people, especially those new to sales, often take it personally when a prospect says ‘NO'. Many fail to persist and often fail to favourably position themselves to ‘leave the door open' for future contact thus limiting their sales opportunities even further.

Persistence and the Honourable Retreat

Did you know:

• Over 50% of sales people give up at 1st contact if they get a ‘NO' from the prospect never to go back to that prospect again .
• At the 5th contact 7% of sales people are left to speak with the prospect to see if they can do business together.
• At the 8th contact there is only one sales person left to work with the prospect. Hopefully it is you.

Many sales people, especially those new to sales, often take it personally when a prospect says ‘NO'. Many fail to persist and often fail to favourably position themselves to ‘leave the door open' for future contact thus limiting their sales opportunities even further.

Now I understand there can be a fine line drawn between persistence and harassment, however in order to have a steady stream of sales coming in the door we need to ensure that we have a regular mix of prospecting activities happening on a daily basis.

Sometimes we will strike viable and interested prospects and other times we come across viable but not interested prospects. Don't burn those viable and not interested prospects as they may become viable and interested in the future. But you will never know if you don't go back.

Here are some handy hints to make sure you can go back to these prospects in the future and give yourself a chance of working with them.

Don't take it personally

If a prospect doesn't commit to seeing you it could be due to one of the following reasons:

• They do not have a need right now
• They do not fit your target market
• They do not perceive having a need right now
• They have other associations or relationships
• They are not convinced they need to see you

Honourable retreat

Don't give up. Whenever you make contact with someone make sure you always leave a favourable impression. Make sure they felt it was worthwhile to speak to you even if they don't fit your target market - you never know who they might know.

Allow for the honourable retreat if they cannot meet with you now:

• Seek permission to send some information for their review
• Seek permission to follow up in the future
• Seek permission to keep in touch in case their current suppliers cannot support them in the future
• Ask for a referral

Follow up with persistent daily effort

Choosing your state of mind, your attitude, is critical in when prospecting and selling too. Successful salespeople know that prospecting doesn't happen by chance it is requires a consistent and persistent effort.

Successful sales people:

• Diarise follow up calls
• Use a CRM to track activity
• Keep a number of activities on the go
• Prioritise
• Persist

Happy and prosperous selling

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  Importance of having Persistence in your Business
  Persistence Pays Off

Article Tags: br, daily basis, favourable impression, handy hints, harassment, interested prospects, li li, persistence, relationships, sales opportunities, sales person, steady stream, target market, ul



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Re: Why Some Websites Sell and Others Don’t? - Thanks for starting this inspirational thread,am working on owning my own site.This is a vital info for me. I will take note of this important quote as a beginner "Forget about the magic bullet that will make you rich overnight. Persistence is more important than intelligence"
Re: What I Enjoyed Reading This Week - July 29 - Nice selection - especially as I was able to go through the three that interested me in a 10 minute-dead-slot before dinner time! Persistence = constantly improving and inventing, not banging the same head against the same brick wall! Visual.ly looks really interesting. I'll definitely check it out. I guess you directed us to the seat belt promo for the stunning direction. I have to say, I always wear a seatbelt - except in the back of taxis...
Re: Does Anyone have any New Ideas for a Business - An idea is only the beginning. The solution is the key here. I really like the term "turn key solution" and in fact use it as many times as I can in my life. Successful franchises and businesses know exactly what, who, how, where, when and why prior to ever dropping $1 in the bank account. This is what makes people millionaires. Harvest ideas into well oiled machines. A business needs to run itself and sustain itself. If you can show this on paper and show consistent growth in a real world scenario, you will always have a winner. Sounds easy, doesn't it? I'm still working on that myself. It's amazing how many difficult to answer questions come up. Persistence is then key.
Re: Does Anyone have any New Ideas for a Business - [quote="RyanH":2gdcdiag]Persistence is then key.[/quote:2gdcdiag] and [quote="MichelleJ":2gdcdiag]If you want it badly enough you will find a way to get it eventually.[/quote:2gdcdiag]... but I think that it's also important to note that unfocused energy/persistence is useless. For example, a person can run around town and spend a fortune to push his/her product/service, but yield no results and cause that entrepreneur to run out of money (and motivation). Small business owners need to formulate a solid game plan and THEN go full force.


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