The Shocking Sales Statistics That Will Change How You Sell

The Shocking Sales Statistics That Will Change How You Sell

In sales, do you believe that timing is everything?

Precedence is the key to success?

Your network is not your net-worth?

There are many golden to nuggets to your success, but what are they?

Each time you hit a no, you think you are done. You are tempted to never reach out to that prospect again, they are "jerks", they are "rude" and "they don't get it.” But you are the one who doesn't get it, as it makes you no different than any other person that called or emailed them, (which essentially annoy them) which is why they said no in the first place.

Their job isn't to call people, they were busy, they were in their zone, and they were dealing with their issues when you called them. If you called, emailed or saw them once, then unless they have given solid reasons (like a restraining order) as to why you should never call them again, your follow up is so important. Even a “no” at one door doesn't mean there isn't another entrance to the same company. There are front doors, side doors and even windows! You must knock on another, and another and another with tact. Do not contact everyone all at once, all the time. More so it needs to be at the right time. Like fine wine, the longer you have a relationship with your client, the better it becomes.

The key to being a successful sales person is your approach to sales as a whole. Are you calling them for you or for them? Do you truly feel you can help them or do you truly just want them to help yourself?

These answers will help your sales strategy. Just like in an interview, no one wants to hear about how you want a job to feed your family or because you recently divorced or you are new to the job market and "need to be given a chance". No one cares, and no one wants to hear a sales person begging for a sales because they have a sales target to reach.

You must not only believe in your product, but in this day and age, you must believe it's the best damn thing out there, that everyone should experience it. If you don't have this attitude, then any strategy you have will fail. I always say "Failure is absolutely an option. It is not a good one but it is one!"

If you seriously believe you have the best damn product out there, then you will find these statistics extremely interesting. The ideas were adapted from the article: “Shocking Sales Stats That Will Change How You Sell” by BuzzBuilder

1. If you follow up with web leads within 5 minutes, you’re 9 times more likely to convert them. Source: InsideSales.com 
2. The best times to email prospects are 8:00am and 3:00pm. Source: GetResponse
3. The best time to cold call is 4:00-5:00pm. The second best time is 8:00-10:00am. The worst times are 11:00am and 2:00pm. Source: InsideSales.com and Kellogg School of Business (Jessica’s addition: I would add Friday afternoon is a fabulous time to call people as well. They want to go home, they are in a great mood as the weekend is coming and they would love to talk to someone.)
4. Thursday is the best day to prospect. Wednesday is the second best day. Tuesday is the worst day. Source: InsideSales.com (Jessica’s addition: I actually would say Monday is the worst day as everyone is getting into their groove after the weekend, let them loosen up first.)
5. Top sellers use LinkedIn 6 hours per week. Do you? Source: Jill Konrath (Jessica’s addition: Great question.. but LinkedIN isn't the only source out there. If you want to stand out...find other means to find people).
6. In 2007 it took an average of 3.68 cold call attempts to reach a prospect. Today it takes 8 attempts. Source: TeleNet and Ovation Sales Group (Jessica’s addition: Cold Calling can turn into warm calling if you build a relationship and offer advise not just product placement)
7. In a typical firm with 100-500 employees, an average of 7 people are involved in most buying decisions. Source: Gartner Group
8. The early bird gets the worm. 50% of sales go to the first salesperson to contact the prospect. Source: InsideSales.com (Jessica’s addition: How true this is, I have received clients just because my competitors don't call back!)
9. After a presentation, 63% of attendees remember stories. Only 5% remember statistics. Source: Authors Chip & Dan Heath
10. 70% of people make purchasing decisions to solve problems. 30% make decisions to gain something. Source: Impact Communication
11. Each year, you’ll lose 14% of your customers. Imagine, all your work for the year doesn't carry over...so...

 Never stop prospecting as there is always room for one more sale, as a sales person's job is never done...unless you are.