12 is the Magic Number…

The National Sales Executive Association recently reported the following:

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

This means 90% of your sales will come after your fifth follow-up with a prospect. This is very important information for you to consider in your marketing plan.

When I first started selling homes, I would write off a prospect if I couldn't set an appointment with them after one or two phone calls. I simply moved on to the next lead. What a mistake this was…

I left a tremendous amount of money on the table.

My guess is that you might be making a similar mistake in your business, too. How many times do you follow up with leads generated for your business? Really. Be honest. Are you following up with every prospect at least 12 times? If not, you're definitely losing sales.

I actually think the number of contacts required to make a sale may be increasing. This is because of something I read in Dr. Frank Luntz's book titled "What Americans Really Want…Really."  In his book, Dr. Luntz writes about a dramatic shift in what consumers want. This shift has occurred because of the recent economic recession, stock market and real estate market crashes.

He has found, through surveying thousands of people, that "consumers are less happy, less secure, less confident, and less trusting than any generation since the Great Depression."

Did you "see" it? Consumers are less trusting than any generation since the Great Depression. This means we must work harder to build relationships with our prospects because they do not trust us. Relationships take time to develop. You won't be able to make one or two phone calls and sign a new client. Those days are over. To be successful today, you must have a long-term follow-up campaign, providing multiple touches to your database.