If at first you don’t succeed…

Try, try again. It’s a lesson that has been drilled into kids for hundreds of years (actually) but one that people seem to forget as they get older. It’s especially pertinent in the area of sales, as this fellow points out:

I came across this video in a topic on linkedin and while it isn’t exactly the quantitative caliber I’ve been putting out recently, it does touch upon a core truth of sales psychology. We have to earn our customers’ attention, we cannot presume you are entitled to it just because we contacted them once.

The speaker breaks down customer interest into three stages.

1. Not waiting for message
2. Not interested now, maybe interested tomorrow
3. Interested, cautious about spending

At all stages of the process of getting a sale, repeat distribution of sales material is necessary. At stage one, it is more likely that they will receive the message at all. At stage 2, it will make it more likely that the message that is reaching them will come at a time when they are interested (whatever proportion of time that is, more frequency is better). Finally, frequency at the third stage will persuade them to finally make a purchase decision.

All of this requires calibration of course, no one likes being spammed, but outside of ridiculous excess more is better. The question now becomes one of how to strike a tradeoff between quality of material and cost of distribution. Sending flyers and pamphlets indiscriminately can cost a lot of money in material, as does hiring a large salesforce to constantly pitch. Video however, can combine the best of both worlds if embedded in email, being easy to distribute, rich in informational content and having much of the strength of a good pitch. Many of our clients have recorded footage of speakers to great effect.

Are you following up enough with your customers?