Are you giving up too soon?
Are you giving up too soon?
Last week I watched the classic bodybuilding documentary Pumping Iron. The movie followed Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno around the 1975 Mr Olympia contest in Pretoria. In one of his interviews, Arnold gave this pearl of wisdom:
“The body isn't used to the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth rep with a certain weight. It’s the last two or three or four repetitions that makes the muscle then grow. And that divides one from a champion and one from not being a champion. lf you can go through this pain barrier, you may get to be a champion. lf you can't go through, forget it. And that's what most people lack, is having the guts.''
I think Arnold's advice applies brilliantly to sales. Most people in sales give up way too soon. If you want to be sales champion, you need to persevere when most people stop. Go for two, three or four more calls, follow ups, closes or touch points. By pushing past your comfort zone, you’ll grow your sales and yourself.
And when it comes to sales, it’s been proven that the more points of contact the better. In a seminar I attended a few years back, sales expert Jack Daly shared this research around the number of points of contact with a prospect and sales success:
48% of salespeople never follow up after the first contact with a prospect.
25% of salespeople make a 2nd contact and stop.
12% of salespeople make a 3rd contact and stop.
Only 10% of salespeople make more than 3 contacts.
80% of sales are made on the 5th to 12th contact.
If you want to grow your sales in 2015, don’t cut yourself short by giving up too soon. The next contact might be the one that makes the difference.
Onwards and upwards!
Mark Windust
P.S. Arnold won the 1975 Mr Olympia as well as 6 other Mr Olympia titles over the course of his bodybuilding career and apparently did quite well in the movie business as well.
Mark Windust is the founder of Mastermind Business Solutions Ltd and is an influential Thought Leader in the areas of Sales Strategy, Sales Leadership and Sales Performance. Since Mastermind’s inception in 2007, Mark has worked with 1000's of business leaders, salespeople and entrepreneurs’ to help them transform their sales results.