If At First You Don't Succeed...

"Try, try again!"  I can't begin to tell you how many times my grandmother drummed that saying into my head as a child.  She had had a challenging life and this was one of her mottoes.  It served her well as she navigated the challenges of her life.  And it has been of immeasurable help to me in my life and career.

You may have heard it said that it takes 7 to 10 tries to get a prospect to buy.  This is based on solid research and is true in my experience.  So why do most sales people quit trying after one or two efforts?

I think it's because they either don't realize how effective going back and back to prospects until they purchase is, or because they just aren't motivated to grow beyond mediocrity.  See, there are some people who will buy after one or two tries.  Usually this is luck.  If you get lucky just often enough maybe you don't have to try seven times.  Unless you want to be truly successful!

In the past year we have added two "customers" to our business who we have been trying to get for 10 years!  These are both great additions and well worth the multiple efforts over time.  They are also not unusual.

In my career as an insurance agent my best customers usually took 3 to 5 years to sell the first policy to.  Going back over and over again may seem like a waste of time - except to the really successful who know determination, perseverance and repeated effort are the keys to successful selling.

Do you go back? Do you have a plan for repeated efforts to secure good prospects as customers?  If you don't please think about my grandmother's advice "if at first you don't succeed try, try again!"