Contact to Contract

Vince Lombardi once said, “Winners never quit, and quitters never win!” Salespeople on average, regardless of their industry, give up too early. Combine that with the fact that 80% of sales to businesses are made on the fifth sales call, but only 10% of salespeople call beyond three times. Oops! Chances are that you haven’t followed up on leads diligently enough, consistently enough, or long enough.

The new business you need is sitting safely away in your files. Since you’ve already invested the time and energy, just keep following up on them and chipping away until you mine the gold.

Make phone calls, messages, mail, e-mail, and personal visits and never stop following up. I have clients that I have called every day for 20 days consecutively before they finally took my call. Regardless of the reason, they are not calling me back, when it comes time to doing something with my product, I will be the one they think of first. Is that too much? Not if you want to be first!

Related article: Take the Chill Out of the Cold Call

Your interest in them is more important than their interest in yourself.
Here is an example of a call you can make today: “John, Grant Cardone here. We met four months ago when you were considering my product. While we were not successful in earning your business at that time, I wanted to call today for two reasons. First, I wanted to check on you. How are you?” (Engage in small talk, but not forever.) “Second, where are you today with what you were considering four months ago? Did you ever make a purchasing decision?”

If the person has not bought from you, conduct new fact-finding as though you haven’t before. You will need to start this sale over from scratch. Do not assume that what the client previously wanted is consistent with what he or she needs or wants now. If the contact bought from someone else, congratulate him or her. Ask how the product is working, and let the contact know that you’re there to help if there is anything you can do to serve him or her. Say something along the lines of, “I would be happy to help you regardless of where you bought. I regret that I was unsuccessful in earning your business.”

A contact from three years ago is no more or less valuable to me than one made three days ago. What is of value to me is the individual. I don’t waste my time by contacting people who haven’t bought from me; I invest in it. The difference between a contact and a contract is the 'r'—which stands for relationship. I promise you if you don’t continue contact, you will never nurture the relationship into a place to turn them into a contract.

Related article: 3 Ways to Fail. 1 Way to Succeed.

Never quit! There is no shortage of money on this planet, only a shortage of people going for it. If you want more sales expertise, check out my online training platform Cardone University. In addition, I will soon reveal the Greatest Sales Secret of All-Time!

Your friend in business and sales,

Grant Cardone