Sat in on a late night infomercial, er…, webinar from the folks at Infusion CRM. The one nugget I took away from the hour was the Rule of 7s. Most of this stuff is old hat but for many of us we’re still wearing that hat so it bears repeating:
- On average you have to contact a prospect 7 times before they make a purchase. (I’ve seen other statistics that range from 8-11 contacts or impressions).
- 7 out of 10 qualified prospects will not buy from you due to inadequate follow up. (In the case of Trade Show attendees it’s more like 8 out 10 with 20% of tradeshow attendees reporting recieving any follow-up.)
- 7 out of 10 Customers will not buy from you a 2nd time due to poor follow up. (And yet acquiring a new customer can cost 6 to 7 times more than retaining an existing customer.)
Lessons learned from the Rule of 7s?
- Follow-up diligently and frequently with every prospect
- Lavish TLC on your existing customers to make them repeat customers.
