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Five points of contact to make a sale
April 2007
Don’t give up at the first hurdle as on average it takes five points of contact to make a sale. Remember this before you pick up the phone expecting to make a sale in one phone call to a new customer. It takes time and a lot of selling is about building relationships with your clients. People buy people so take the time to find out about the potential customers needs and wants and look at ways you can help them achieve this. Keep in touch with and let them know about any offers or other products or services that may be more suitable.
For example you may meet a potential customer at an exhibition, introduce yourself and swap business cards. Then when you are back in the office you will probably call them to remind them of your meeting and discuss their needs further. This could then be followed up by a personal letter, outlining your discussion, confirmation of prices and the next step forward. A week later you may call to check they have received and read the letter and to make an appointment to visit them in person. When you meet them you discuss the final details and confirm the sale. This has taken five contacts but the right result has been achieved in the end.
In some circumstance you may make a sale in one phone call and in others it may take many more personal contacts for a sale to be confirmed. A lot of it depends on the product or service you are selling, the relationships you build and your ability to persevere.
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