Prospecting… The Line Between Persistent, Annoying, and Stalker

I once had a boss tell me I should call a prospect 3X’s a day, every day (not leaving a message) until I reached them… (Although this was before caller ID was commonplace on business phone lines) still a little over the top. I have seen people call prospects every day, every other day, once a week, every other week, or out as far as once every few months. I once inherited a customer after an employee left… when I called to introduce myself the he said, “THANK GOD!!” He proceeded to tell me that my predecessor had been calling him 3X’s a day to ask about a computer component quote he had sent to the customer.

I tend to be in the ten days to two week group. I think more frequently than that you run the risk of being annoying and if you are calling every other day you may find prospects respond by saying never EVER call us again. Once a month your chances of actually reaching your contact is just too low and it takes too long to break into an account.

Think about sales people who call you… what do you think when you see the same company/number come up all the time, no message? Do you pick up when it appears again? Would you like to receive prospecting calls from your cell or cable company every day, every other day? Just think what your customers are up against with multiple companies calling for dozens of products each day. Somehow we need to insert ourselves in there without being annoying.

The frequency of calls also may depend on the size and type of businesses you are reaching out to and what you are selling. Of course honing your message is important. Ultimately your goal is to inspire interest in what you are selling and doing business with you, not to hound them. How often do you call?