Now before I start on this one I should point out that the statistics came from one of our learned resellers, Lorraine Fernandes of Higher Associates.

The point is that in my experience these stats are a tad conservative. When it comes to Sales and Marketing many companies have a least one of the following missing:

• The right people - Motivated and enthusiastic
  
  
• The right Sales and Marketing processes - I've spoken about this in the past, you MUST have a process
  
  
• The right Sales and Marketing tools - Post-it notes, the little black book, spreadsheet or business contact manager simply won't cut it

These things must be in place and understood and I have come across countless organisations that have NONE of them! Now you can try this for yourself, go to a Network meeting, business conference or business show and hand out a set number of your cards, wait a week for them to follow up with you - if they haven't followed up within 3-4 working days then they're not going to. Then calculate what the follow-up rate is, I bet you it's not more than 40% on a good week.

I will often get myself involved in speed networking at events like Network Central and I can guarantee that less than 25% of the people that pitch to me and take my card bother to follow up.

Look, if you are not going to bother doing the follow up, then best save your time and energy and don't bother going to the event in the first place.

As Lorraine pointed out to me in a recent email, the statistics are scary, if a little predictable:

48% of businesses never follow up with a prospect

25% of businesses make a second contact and stop

12% of businesses only make three contacts and Stop

 

It’s a staggering discovery, but only 10 % of

businesses make more than three contacts. It means

they’re losing a small fortune

 

Because...

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

Here at Abazander towers it's critical to our business to work the follow-ups. For our potential clients to understand what iSAM can do for them we have to get them to a webinar to see it in action. That means we have to follow up, build the relationship to the point where we can invite these prospects to our Webinars. Maybe it's not the right time for the prospect right now, so we keep the communication going and develop the relationship further. The point is that through many of these connections come referrals and ultimately sales.

If this rings a bell for you, then it needs sorting, look at the potential sales you are losing !

Thanks Lorraine for those eye opening Stats