
I have a confession to make...
Less than
1 percent of all salespeople who contact me for an appointment actually get
one. I find this amazing because, if you know my formula, I’m the easiest guy
in the world to get an appointment with.
But,
you’ve got to know my formula – and it’s a closely guarded secret that a
brilliant lady taught me more than 30 years ago.
This lady,
who had been described to me as being one of the toughest “sells” on the face
of the earth, became a prospect for me when I was still making cold calls. She
was the proverbial whale, a woman who controlled a huge amount of print and
marketing business, and so I set my sights on landing this big fish.
Just one
small problem, she didn’t see salespeople … period! But, that didn’t stop me. I
mailed her a package and called for an appointment … but got no response. Next,
I dropped off samples, then mailed and called. Still no response.
Finally, I
decided to make a personal call even though her office was 200 miles away. So I
sent a note saying that I was going to be in town and mentioned that I’d just
drop by around 9:00 one morning for a quick meeting. When she didn’t respond, I
just figured: GAME ON.
At
promptly 9:00 on the given morning, I arrived — only to be told that she was
“out” for the day. I left my card. I also left MAD. And then, I decided that I
was going to make getting an appointment with her my mission in sales.
I
regularly drove the 200 miles once a month to ask for an appointment, only to
be told she was either busy or out. Finally, several years into this mission,
when I walked in on my regular day, the receptionist said, “Hold on a minute,
she can see you.” After all these trips, I was going to meet the BIG FISH at
last.
The door
finally opened and this 5-foot, 1-inch woman walked out and asked, “When are
you going to quit coming to see me?”
Blown away
by the diminutive size of this whale, I said, “That depends.”
She asked,
“On what?”
I said,
“On which of us dies first!”
She
stepped back, gulped and then completely cracked up … laughing until her eyes
filled with tears. She invited me in for coffee and asked why this call made so
much difference to me.
I
explained my mission, and then asked why she was so difficult to see. She said
that she had developed a “formula” that kept her from having to meet most of
the salespeople who called on her.
Her
formula? The salesperson had to find four ways to contact her, to suffer
through one appointment cancellation and one time of being “stood up,” and
STILL keep coming back.
I asked
why the four different contacts didn’t work for me. She told me frankly that
she didn’t see the need for anything that I was selling. It did take me a few
more years to sell her anything, but by the time of her retirement, she was
buying an annual $3.5 million dollars’ worth of my products that she originally
thought she didn’t need.
So, the
next time you think that you can’t get through to a prospect, remember my
client’s formula and try one more time – because persistence pays off.
And, if
you want to have a proven, no-nonsense mailing program that has brought
salespeople success for
36 years,
let me know and I’ll also give you my unique insights into a real estate prospect’s
behavior. Email me at johnw@tpmco.com
Now,
practice persistence, go out there and have a TERRIFIC day … you deserve it.