This was the title of an email I received from one of my copywriting coaches Ben Settle.
It got me thinking. Not about staying up and fighting with my wife, but about persistence. About not giving up. About the HVAC and Smart Building Controls Business. About Success and failure. About sales.
According to Brian Williams, PhD
It takes an average of 8 cold call attempts to reach a prospect
30-50% of sales go to the vendor that responds first
80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls after a proposal is made and 44% of sales reps give up after one follow-up
Think about that!
Only 20% of all sales happen without 5 follow-up calls and 44% of all sales reps give up after the first no.
Persistence wins over talent.
So why don’t more people follow up?
In my experience , most sales reps will do anything to avoid getting a NO. Or they don’t want to be a nuisance.
A big reason I have been successful at sales is that I kept going when most would give up.
Years ago, I called an energy director at a prospect for 235 work days in a row. Everyday it was voice mail. I left him a message every single time and on the 236 day he called me back.
“You are the most persistent person who has ever called me and I have to meet you.”
My response was, “ If I worked this hard to get a chance at doing business with you, imagine how hard I will work to keep your business and keep you happy?”
_Of course that is before I knew what to say to get an appointment._
Effort always wins in the long run….but the long run can be a very long time! So how can we get results faster?
CORRECT THEORY!
EFFORT PLUS CORRECT THEORY= PROFOUND RESULTS
One of the benefits of struggling and not giving up is you learn what works and what doesn’t. These theories become useable frameworks that when added to effort dramatically improve results.
I have a challenge and an offer…
Think of a prospect that you want to meet but can’t get into to see…
an account you have given up on…. one that you would be willing to try to contact one more time.
How you say somethingis more important than what you say. Say the right thing in the right way and you will get better results.
My offer: Using all I have learned about sales over the last 40 years, I will write a custom script for you to use next time you call this client.
Type the Word “Challenge” in the subject line and email me at hvaccontrolpro@gmail.com . I will get right back to you and tell you what I need to write your script. I can only do 6 of these, so first come first serve.
Why am I doing this? I love sales and I love the challenge. Eventually, I will be changing for these types of services and want some case studies. If you take me up on this offer, I might ask you for a testimonial.
Persistence wins over talent…..
Persistence plus Correct Theory….
wins over Persistence alone.
Good things,
Eric
PS. I posted some sales videos on the ControlTrends YouTube Channel. Check them out here:
The 4 Most Important Words in Sales
This has been a sample of the New ControlTrends Sales and Marketing News Letter...
……….. is a compilation of what works in sales and marketing for the HVAC and Building Controls Industry.
“Sales is the easiest job in the world to do poorly and the most difficult job on the planet to do well.”
Ken and I have been selling in the Industry for over 40 years. ( hard to believe we are that old). We each have over 10,000 hours of face to face selling and marketing.
Like most sales people the majority of what we tried did not work.
Unlike most we kept going, and as one of my teachers use to say, ” if what you are doing is not working try anything else.”
As a result we have found lots that does work, and work well.
The newsletter is a way we can share some of what we know. We will not be posting many of these on ControlTrends, so if you want to get the sales and marketing news letter sign up below.
You can expect to get 2-4 news letters a month.
PS. I only have 2 spots left on the offer I made to write a sales script for you, so if you want one of the remaining two spots email me at hvaccontrolpro@gmail.com
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