If you are in business, you are in sales!   Many business owners are surprised by this statement, but reality is that if you are in business, you need to sell your products and services, so you are a salesperson.

Why Tenacity Pays Off

Here is an interesting statistic:

Only 2% of sales occur at the first meeting!

So often we go into a meeting, do our best to sell, possibly get knocked back, or a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” and leave it at that.    Often simply, the person says to just “leave it with me”.  Not ‘closing’ at the meeting can be due to a number of factors possibly – everything from the fact you didn’t instil enough trust to simply they are not yet ready to buy.   Sometimes excuses come up and you may not be as prepared as you should to handle and address these objections and hence it goes no further.

  • Did you research your prospect?
  • Do you know their needs (and pains)?
  • Did you build a relationship with them (often before you even walk into the meeting)?
  • Was simply the timing wrong and they are too busy at present to make a decision?

8% of sales people get 80% of the sales!

Another great statistic I believe is true.   Yes, part of this is that the sales person is experienced, knows how to ask great questions, knows when to stop and listen and knows how to build rapport.   It’s also about perseverance and tenacity.   They don’t quit, they don’t take an initial ‘no’ as personal, nor do they take it as final.   A no is often just “not at this time”, not a no for ever and ever.

A few years back I had a quote done for my kitchen benchtops to get resurfaced.  I hated the old white (with coffee cup stains) surface.   I found someone who could resurface the benchtops.   I had him come over to quote, bringing samples and colours, plus I got the address of a customer from him to see how the end product looked full size (and quiz the customer on the overall experience).   We chatted, he wrote up his quote and left.  From what I’d seen I was happy; the price was right and after inspecting the customer’s benchtops (they looked great!), I was ready to buy.

I’m a busy gal though and popped his quote and card in my tray as I was sure he’d call me soon.   For three weeks I waited.   Eventually I dug through my tray, found his card and rang him.

The first thing out of my mouth was “Why didn’t you call me?!”   His response “I didn’t want to bother you”.   I’m busy, he bothered me by not calling.    I cannot count how often I’ve won work from simply following up on a quote, because reality is that people are busy and often the person who calls will end up getting the business.   Good salespeople know this.   Sadly:

Over 80% of leads are not followed up.

Did you know it can take up to four ‘no’s’ before someone will buy … and so often the salesperson or business owner has given up long before that.

Do you keep in touch with those who say “no” and keep building that relationship?

Or better, do you start building the relationship before they become a prospect so that by the time they have enquired about your prospect or service, they already know and trust you – so that ‘closing the sale’ becomes so much easier and quicker.

I coach business owners to succeed in their own business by giving them guidance in many areas of business including finances, marketing, sales and customer service.   If you’d like help with your sales process, I’d love to hear from you.