Business Marketing Magazine Summer 2017 Summer2017 | Page 21

The Fortune is in the Follow Up By: C. Franklin Nilson It’s long been said that The Fortune is in the Follow-Up! So the reality of the concept certainly isn’t new, and it certainly isn’t an earth shatter- ing concept either…so one is perplexed as to why actual follow-up process is such an uphill battle! Andy Paul, the author of Zero-Time Selling said, “The ART of sales follow-up is less im- portant that the ACT of sales follow-up. Get in the game first, and then work on your craft.” In this regard we should apply the slogan of NIKE – “Just Do It”, or incorporate Dr. Stephen R. Covey’s Habit One, “Be Proactive!” Of course the point, or end result, of what Andy Paul is saying here is that the advantage of forging forward with the follow-up creates momentum and leads to tremendous results – rather than doing what the average sales- person does, which is simply to not follow-up, period! The oft repeated statistical facts, from the Na- tional Sales Executive Association, are: 2% of sales are made on the first contact 3% of sales are made on the second contact 5% of sales are made on the third contact 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact In other words, simply put, it takes on average you being proactive enough to reach out at least 5 – 12 times before your client is going to make a purchase! That is the cumulative statistic based on multiple industries and var- ious sales processes. So, it would seem that the natural common-sense approach to the profession of sales is to realize from the get-go that successfully pursuing each and every lead or opportunity is going to take 5-12 contacts, or perhaps even more! If you accept this, and ACT on it, then you’ll have tremendous suc- cess. Some more statistics – and these are as as- toundingly revealing as they are disturbing: 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect. 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop 12% of sales people only make three contacts