Saw this piece shared by Fred Wilson recently:
fred-wilson:
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 more than three contacts
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”
— Shocking Sales Statistics as It Relates to Follow Up | Follow Up Success
I am not entirely sure where the data comes from, but I have seen similar statistics in the past. However, I can tell you from experience that this is not too far off the mark.
Sales is not as much of an art as it is a science. It is the process of identifying interested buyers and leading them through a defined process towards close. Sometimes this does not always work out, but that is why you need so many prospects at the start of the process. In well run sales and marketing organizations, this happens in a very measured and purposeful way. That means execution is king. If you are not rigorously following up on prospects, you are losing out on a ton of opportunities.
Lesson here for sales teams is to follow up, make it repeatable, and make it religion.
This article was originally published on Strong Opinions, a blog by Birch Ventures for the NYC tech startup community.
