Somehow, the memo hasn’t reached salespeople that their prospects hide behind voicemail. Here in Silicon Valley, the birthplace of voicemail, people have become adept at ignoring the phone. It takes an average of 8-14 phone calls to reach a potential prospect, and salespeople must juggle hundreds of contacts who require daily follow ups. How can a salesperson expect to manage their sales process with legal pads, Excel spreadsheets, and sticky notes? That’s a perfect example of inefficient CRM software.
The number one failure we identified in our loose study of executives was sales process. Salespeople felt that three messages was the final commitment to the lead or contact. If no contact was made, then these salespeople believed that there was no interest on behalf of the prospect, so it’s likely the prospect will never call back. However, in cases where the messaging was well-crafted, concise, and engaging, it still took more than three calls on average to reach the prospect. What if the salesperson ended his or her attempt to get in touch with the contact after the third call and it was picked up on the fourth or fifth call by one of your competitors? The combination of ineffectual messaging with a poor follow-up system is a recipe for selling disaster—relegating your salespeople to the bleak world of “lucky catches.”
Your average prospect's voicemail
Burning through contacts is expensive. If your salespeople don’t have the tools they need to systematically and automatically follow-up, their sales process will breed instability. Without consistency, you’re just another person who calls once in a while—most likely a person who’ll never connect with your intended contact. Sales success is right at your fingertips—I realized the need for better processes many years ago when I created Soffront CRM. Our clients have confirmed that using our CRM software has led to their increased referrals, successful sales, and business expansion.
