There is a story that a reporter once asked Abraham Lincoln how long a man’s pants legs should be. The notoriously tall president pondered for a moment before replying, “I would say just about long enough to reach the ground.”This philosophy could easily be applied to how many contacts it takes to make a sale. Some agents say 12. A few of the more optimistic ones pick seven as their answer. Some go for a range between 10 and 15.The truth is that it takes as many contacts as it takes. If you’re lucky enough to get an impulse buyer, one contact may be plenty to cement the deal. If you have a cautious buyer in a bad economy, you could be looking at 20 or more contacts prior to conversion. An often cited statistic suggests that more than 80 percent of conversions take place sometime after the fifth contact.Persistence Is Key
You could, perhaps, forgive an agent for walking away after the 15th or 20th fruitless contact, but most agents don’t hold out nearly that long. In fact, about 50 percent of agents don’t follow up after the very first contact, and another 25 percent of agents stop trying after the second contact.
That means a lot of agents are leaving a lot of money on the table.
How can you avoid this fate?
Invest in Good CRM Software
Customer relationship management software allows you to schedule multiple contacts with each lead. You can personalize the contact, say by sending a lead an article of special interest to him or her, or you can send generic follow up messages reminding your leads of your availability to help them.
Try to Connect with a Lead at Least Every 90 Days
A telephone call or email contact every three months is not frequent enough to be annoying, but it is frequent enough to keep your name in front of your potential customer. These contacts will especially stand out in the lead’s mind if you send helpful facts of information.
What to Do When a Lead Opts Out
Occasionally, a lead will unsubscribe him or herself from your mailing list or will ask you not to call again. When this happens, try to ascertain why the lead is opting out. You can use this information to retain future leads.
Persistence Pays Off
Don’t cut a lead from your follow-up list just because you haven’t heard from him or her in a while. Just keep working to put your name in front of the lead as many times as it takes to convert him or her into a loyal customer.
The post How Many Contacts Does It Take to Convert a Lead? appeared first on Next Wave Marketing Strategies.