Although I have been in sales nearly all my life I have not really promoted this as part of the benefits of using me as a coach. May be I need to go to my coach supervisor to see why this is the case!
Did you know that:
- 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.
However….
- 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect.
- 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop.
- 12% of sales people make three contacts and stop.
- Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts with a prospect.
When I was involved in insurance a daily approach was necessary to ensure we picked up the new business cases required to achieve our targets. When I was trying to sell HR and compliance services it was more of a monthly approach by keeping in touch and educating whenever possible. Now I am purely focussed on coaching and supervision for coaches, it is now probably a six monthly approach, as timing is everything.
How do I keep my prospects thinking of me in the meantime? Probably with a combination of Twitter, Google +, Linked In posts, a regular monthly newsletter which is also communicated by social media and then individual emails or coffees whenever there is a decent excuse. Am I going about this properly? Who knows? I suppose it is about keeping my message in front of the right client, at the right time, without hassling them.
With coaching I have found it is all about trust. The majority of my clients have come from sources that I have worked with before, from the insurance industry or who I have coached before and they want to bring their employees on in a similar way. So key headings could be as follows:
- Authenticity – which is vital as a coach but most other sales too. I don’t have any corporate rules to follow now so I can be totally me
- Credibility – how long have I been coaching, am I accredited, does my website reflect this?
- Believability – can my coaching approach benefit the employee and does the prospect understand the concept of coaching in the first place?
- Real – does coaching get real results? My values are making a contribution and getting results but may be my style of approach is different now?
- Honesty – confidentiality is absolutely key in coaching and coaching supervision, so no matter what the situation confidentiality and being honest are sacrosanct.
A simpler formula is know, like, trust.
When I am coaching I hear many times a deflated reaction when a major piece of business has disappeared. The key for any sales person is to get the feeling out of your system and start with a fresh and positive approach the next day. It is OK to be upset for one day!
If you want to improve your sales approach or sales culture click on the link and contact me neil@nvwsolutions.co.uk
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