57. How many calls should you be making?
A marketing company did a direct mail campaign to homes in a large city making a special price offer on a product and kept track of the results. They mailed to 50,000 homes in one section of the city, 100,000 homes in another section, and then 250,000 homes in another section.
The results were different than expected on a response rate per thousand.
The 100,000 mailing brought more returns per 1,000 than the 50,000.
The 250,000 mailing brought more returns per 1,000 than the 100,000.
In other words, results per thousand INCREASED as the mailings became larger. Here’s why: When you advertise to a few people they read what you have to say and either act on it or very soon forget all about it. When you advertise something to practically everybody in a community, people not only individually read what you have to say but they talk about it to other people – and that is what gets results.
The same principle works in personal selling. The more people you ask to buy the better your closing ratio will be.
Here is another good example making more calls. A friend of mine told me about the time he was a national sales manager for a pharmaceutical company and had the challenge of getting his sales people to make more calls.
While thinking about how to approach his sales team with the challenge of making more calls he phoned one of his friends, an up and coming physician who worked for a new service that makes house calls on patients, to ask his opinion about one of the products he was selling. When the doctor came to the phone he said “I just can’t talk to you now, call me at nine-thirty tonight.” When the sales manager telephoned that night the doctor apologized. “I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you today, it’s just one of my regular days – I made house calls on thirty-four patients, had an hour and a half of consultation at my office and delivered two babies.”
My friend said he was not at a loss for an interesting opening statement when he began his speech at their national sales meeting.
Are you familiar with The Rule of Seven? It started back in Hollywood during the Great Depression, when people had limited money and shouldn't have been spending it on movies when they had so many other, more pressing needs. The marketing folks discovered that to motivate a person to attend a show, they had to hit those people at least 7 times in a short period of time. Then they showed up at the box office. We've got to do the same thing with our personal selling. When you target a new account, try making seven calls with short intervals in between.
"Familiarity breeds contempt," is commonly accepted, but it is not true. A study conducted in 1982 published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, by R. L. Moreland and R. B. Zajonc, said that repeated exposure to any stimulus leads to a greater appreciation and liking. This is great news for us in sales and marketing. Exposure and repetition can only increase sales.
As a sales person there are several things you can do on the personal level that will make you unique. The first thing you can do is show up.
Comments:
It has been proven many times over that the number of calls you make equals a certain number of sales. The key to this is time management. I found myself with a number of accounts and there was no more time to make call or add more business. Then my manager asked me to layout all my calls on a monthly calendar. As I started to do as he requested I knew he was wrong and this was just a stupid waste of my time. As I got to the last week I found I had time! I have tested this theory many times over with the same results. If you have 100 accounts that you are working, your days are full, no time left to do more. If you lost 25 of those accounts within a short period of time those 75 accounts will fill your days, no time left to do more.” In sales numbers are key, but time management is the tool that allows you to do those numbers.
David Vize
Take care of your established customer’s needs first and make as many calls as possible the rest of the time. What else is there to do?
Crocker Smith
The more sales call you make the more closes you are going to have! The more people you get out and see the more closes you going to have. So ask yourself, how much money do I want to make? If your answer is a lot, get off your butt and go make it!
David Bradley
The more sales calls you make, the bigger and better the opportunities become that you run into. I always try to have an objective or a point when I am making my calls, whether it is in person or by phone. I have found that by having 1 question I usually open the door for all kinds of discussion of what is going on internally with that client’s company. It grows my relationship with the client as well. I have a few prospects that I know have no “needs” that I can assist them with now, but they may know someone that does…. I still continually check in with these people for our relationship growth. If they ever have a need I am sure they will allow me to help, and they will most defiantly refer me to a friend! Word of mouth can be your best friend or worst nightmare! In summary you can never make enough calls, there are always more prospects to call on!
Brooke Knight
Sales are all about putting ourselves in front of our prospects as much as possible. At times it may seem like we are being “annoying” by visiting them so often. I don’t think it’s annoying, I think we are showing determination. Even if it isn’t a prospective client but a client we already have done business with, we need to be back in front of them because they need to see we care even when there is no order, because we never know when that order will pop up. So how many sales call should we make? More than what we do now, then after that, do more on top of that.
Brandon Sanchez
I am one of the few people who would disagree that more calls can, sometimes, equal more sales. A sales person should focus on what’s really important, which I believe is “what to say” when approaching a prospect. Knowing enough information of who your customer is and what their needs are and also knowing enough about your offerings and how that prospect could use your offerings will lead you to better or quality calls, not more calls. You don’t want to burn your leads at inappropriate time and then have no people to call. In my opinion in better to increase the quality rather than call volume.
Yessie Narvaez
I think people get confused when they say the more calls you make the more likely you are to get more sales. Statistically yes, you would get more sales but your ratio would be down. However, I believe the concept behind the findings in the mail test, showed that making many more calls could actually help you ratio wise also, as it closes the gap between potential customers. Being from a semi-small town, people here use what they know and who they know. If you can get in and get familiar with business leaders, they will talk.
Matthew Thacker
I believe revisiting the same prospect over and over in a short period of time will produce one of two things; they will either eventually listen to what you have to say or they will tell you to leave them alone and they are not interested in you returning anymore. Either way you will know where you stand.
Lisa Lloyd
I heard a similar version of the rule of seven from my Uncle. He was the branch manager of a brokerage firm. One day, one of the brokers came to his office with a smile on his face saying he had been told “no” for the sixth time from a target client. He now felt the odds were in his favor. We all know it is a numbers game and just have to focus on feeling that familiarity of making numerous sales calls every day.
Gregg Nixon
I agree the more you are in front of a customer the more likely they are going to remember who you are. When you make 1 or 2 calls to a prospect they are more likely to forget due to the number of calls they receive each day from your competitors. If you are the one sales person that is always knocking on their door or calling them then you have a higher ratio of your name/company name sticking out in their mind.
Carla McCrea
Each time you show up, you should have you’re A-game on. Because they can become familiar with the bad impression quicker than they will the good impression. Yes repeated exposure is good it usually takes several calls and visits for someone to remember your company! There is a comfort about going with the familiar product and service. We must make ourselves a name for ourselves, all the while building a strong professional reputation!
Morgan Frazier
I know about this type of selling. I once worked for a company where we were required to make 100 cold calls per day, plus take care of our regular customers and their orders. This is not an easy task but I do realize that the more calls you make the greater your chances of getting new customers.
Vickie Reihl
"As a sales person there are several things you can do on the personal level that will make you unique. The first thing you can do is show up."