{"id":1296,"date":"2014-11-04T17:46:59","date_gmt":"2014-11-04T17:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.comblog\/fine-line-persistence-stalking-sales\/"},"modified":"2016-04-25T19:41:40","modified_gmt":"2016-04-25T19:41:40","slug":"fine-line-persistence-stalking-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peaksalesrecruiting.com\/blog\/fine-line-persistence-stalking-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"The Not So Fine Line Between Persistence and Stalking in Sales"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PersistenceA few years ago, sales expert Colleen Francis and I were talking\u00a0about how persistence is a double edged sword that can\u00a0help but also\u00a0hinder sales results.\u00a0Now a recent experience reminds me that the line is not always so fine at all\u00a0\u2013 sometimes the line is very clear.<\/p>\n

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There is a Fine Line Between Persistence and Stalking!<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Colleen Francis<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Persistence is an important contributor to sales success. Research shows that 40-50% of sales people give up pursuing a prospect after one rejection. Yet another 20-25% of sales people give up after hearing \u201cno\u201d twice and by the time\u00a0a prospect has provided 4 rejections of a proposal, a full 90% of sales people will have stopped pursuing the sale.<\/p>\n

Some people might be annoyed by\u00a0the notion of follow-up calls from a sales person after an offer is rejected, but\u00a0research indicates that 80% of non-routine sales occur after a \u00a0prospect has rejected a proposal four times! \u00a0Furthermore, \u00a0more than 60% of sales occur more than three months after a prospect asks for information and 20% of sales will take 12 months to occur, so it follows that\u00a0sales people who achieve superior results are often the ones that simply keep pursuing opportunities long after their competition have given up trying. Simply put, it can pay huge dividends to be persistent in sales.<\/p>\n

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When you consider that 80% of prospects say \u201cno\u201d four times before they say \u201cyes\u201d, the inference is that 8% of sales people are getting 80% of the sales. Robert Clay, founder of Marketing Wizdom \u2013\u00a0Why 8% of sales people get 80% of the sales<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My own selling\u00a0experience \u00a0over the years supports the theory that persistence pays.\u00a0I have won many sales after an initial rejection and in fact had many prospects\u00a0tell me that appreciated that I got back to them multiple times after an initial dismissal of my proposals. In some cases, I have even developed strong personal relationships with people who claim they got to know me as a result of my tenacity.<\/p>\n

Double Edged Sword<\/strong><\/p>\n

Staying in touch with a prospect that initially rejects an offer\u00a0can be very useful, but if the\u00a0\u201cdon\u2019t give up\u201d research is taken literally, a sales person will end up doing more damage than good.<\/p>\n

As an example, I recently had an ongoing interaction with a services vendor who was following up after a meeting with me. The vendor sent several emails and left phone messages\u00a0asking me when I would\u00a0meet with them again to entertain their proposal. I responded by indicating that I was too busy at the moment, but would follow up when\u00a0it was a priority. Afterwards I received several more\u00a0calls and emails to which I did not respond.<\/p>\n

Some people might have been put off by this point, but I let it go on because I think his heart is in the right\u00a0place (trying to serve me) and because a part of me appreciates the effort. Then, after\u00a0about 10 unanswered messages over the course of a few weeks, some of them literally hours apart and some of them quite blunt in challenging my\u00a0decision not to buy his services, I decided to inform\u00a0him\u00a0that I felt he was either not\u00a0listening to me when I communicated my priorities and\/or he didn\u2019t care. His response was to send me a long email justifying\u00a0his selling tactics by\u00a0explaining that experience has taught him that\u00a0he knows better about his customer\u2019s best interests than they do. He also said that he would refrain from contacting me in the future until I contacted him.\u00a0I didn\u2019t reply, but he broke his commitment within one week\u00a0by sending me another unsolicited email.<\/p>\n

Obviously this is an extreme case of over-persistence, but it serves to illustrate that there is a point at which there are diminishing returns in pursuing a potential buyer. \u00a0Instead of winning a sale, repeatedly asking me to buy has\u00a0only\u00a0served to ensure that I call one of this sales person\u2019s\u00a0competitors when I need the services he offers. And I am likely to use him as an example of how not to sell.<\/p>\n

No Means No<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my own selling activities, I have always been careful to listen to what my prospects are telling me and to be respectful of their\u00a0wishes. There is a big difference between\u00a0\u201cnot interested right now, but maybe later\u201d and \u201cnot interested now\u00a0and not ever.\u201d The latter response to an offer is an absolute NO which requires that pursuit be terminated.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there is no fine line between persistence and stalking \u2013 too much is too much. After a proposal is rejected, it is up to the sales person to determine\u00a0when there is still an opportunity with a prospect or not, but\u00a0acting with respect towards a prospect can help keep opportunities alive. On the other hand,\u00a0if a\u00a0prospect feels that they are not being heard, that they are being pestered, or worse yet, that they are being stalked,then the chances of making a sale drop considerably if not completely.<\/p>\n

People Buy From People<\/strong><\/p>\n

To use\u00a0persistence to drive more sales, a sales person\u00a0has\u00a0to treat people the way they want to be treated rather than putting the sales\u00a0agenda before that of their prospect. In between rejections from a prospect, a sales person\u00a0has to build the relationship and create trust with the prospect. Then, and only then,\u00a0when a prospect changes their mind about a purchase, will they be likely to say yes to the sales person who stayed around after the other sales people gave up.<\/p>\n

To your success!<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: zinetv<\/a> via Compfight<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n

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