I have seen similar numbers before but these just really hit me hard while I was reading “Conquer the Chaos: How To Grow A Successful Small Business Without Going Crazy” by Clate Mask and Scott Martineau. So I wanted to share them with you.
| Percentage of People Who Buy | Number of Contacts | When Companies Stop Contacting Prospects |
| 2% | 1 contact | 48% |
| 3% | 2 contacts | 24% |
| 4% | 3 contacts | 12% |
| 10% | 4 contacts | 6% |
| 81% | 5 contacts | 10% |
So almost half of us as salespeople stop after only 1 contact with a prospect. But we know only 2% actually buy at that first contact!!
Only 10% of marketers have a system in place to make 5 contacts with that prospect. But we know 81% of the buyers are making their buy decision on or after that 5th contact!
Contact means in person, by phone, voice mail, email, social media post, direct mail piece, etc. Anything that puts me and my services in front of the buyer.
You and I have to develop a marketing plan and system to ensure that we reach those prospects multiple times!
There is an additional benefit to this type of marketing system. When people do make a purchase or do business with us, the follow up helps build a relationship so they will do business with us again. The second or third sell to a client is always more profitable than the first sale.
How do you develop your system? You can plan the steps then set up them in a Customer Relationship Management software (CRM) such as Outlook, Google Contacts or Zoho. You can use a sales automation software like InfusionSoft or SalesForce. You can set up task templates in software like ToDoIst.
I don’t know about you but I’m going after that 81%!!