“This is the kid, calls me 59 days in a row, wants to be a player.”

“There ought to be a picture of you in the dictionary under persistence kid.”

In the classic 1994 film ‘Wall Street’, Bud Fox cold calls Gordon Gekko 59 times just to get the chance to meet with him face to face. How many people out there (myself included) would have given up after the first or second call?

Sales is a numbers game and a ‘contact’ sport – the more contacts you make the more likely it is that you will be successful.

A few years ago I attended a sales training course and something the trainer taught us has stuck with me to this day. According to him:

• 48% of sales people never follow-up their initial contact
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and then stop
• 12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop
• Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts
• 80% of sales are made only after the seventh contact

Around three years ago, we were thinking about selling our apartment back home in Sydney. I made an initial query to a local real estate agent who was professional, responsive and gave me the impression that he understood the market. However, we were not ready to sell at the time.

The following month, I received a call from this agent to follow up to ask how everything was. Still not ready to sell yet! For the next two years, month after month without fail I would receive some form of contact (phone, email, EDM, post) from this agent. There were times were I was too busy to reply to him but he still kept me updated with market information. Needless to say, as soon as I had seven contacts with him; he had my attention and was top of my mind. When it was time for us to sell the property last year, he was my first port of call and we successfully transacted through him.

So for anyone in a sales, business development, relationship or account management position, don’t forget the ‘Rule of 7’ when following a new sales prospect and like Bud Fox – don’t give up.

account management job, Bud Fox, business development job, Gordan Gekko, sales job, sales prospect, sales strategy, sales tactics, sales training, Wall Street