Here are some interesting sales statistics:
- 48% of salespeople never follow up with a prospect
- 5% of salespeople make a second contact and stop
- 12% of salespeople only make three contacts and stop
- 10% of salespeople 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
These were shared by Doug Dvorak, motivational speaker, at a recent NationaLease meeting. He contends that, “Trust and rapport precedes any and all sales activities.” According to Dvorak, sales is a process of identifying and filling customers’ wants or needs and creating value for them.
He had this interesting take on sales success: “How much a person sells will always be consistent with their attitudes, values, and internal beliefs because success in sales is more about who you are than what you know.”
Dvorak then went on to talk about the four traits of a successful salesperson:
- Strong goal clarity
- High achievement driver
- Healthy emotional intelligence
- Excellent social skills
To be successful at selling your approach to sales should begin with establishing trust, rapport, and credibility. Then you need to validate the customer’s buying roadmap and remember to always focus on the customer.
Today, salespeople need to take a more value-added approach to sales. This includes identifying customer needs and then showing how your solution or product addresses and solves those needs.
Jane Clark focuses on managing the member services operation at NationaLease as vice president of member services. She works to strengthen member relationships, reduce member costs, and improve collaboration within the NationaLease supporting groups.
