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