Double your sales in a few simple (and cheap) extra steps… 

What if we told you that for just a few pounds, you could double your sales? Sounds unbelievable right? But it’s not, and all you need to do is implement a simple follow-up system. 

The system is based on the 90 day calling cycle pioneered by Saatchi & Saatchi and documented by author Wendy Evans in her book “Choose and Grow your Own Business in 90 Days“. 

In the case study below, taken from Wendy’s book, you’ll see that you really can more than double sales by implementing a 90 day (or less) follow up system. 

In Wendy’s case study, they started with a 200-strong prospect list… 

The First Cycle

In my experience, the first time you make phone calls to your contacts, you quite quickly get some business. It’s called beginner’s luck. There are always some firms that are unhappy with their existing supplier and will say yes just to establish a new relationship. 

However, in general you’ll find that your chances of getting an appointment from the first cold letter, email or phone call are about 1½-1%. So, from 200 prospects, you might get one or two appointments the first time around (but beginner’s luck can mean that you get 5 or 10 or 20; then sadly it doesn’t last, and you go back to the norm, as follows.) 

To all those who say ‘No’, you will say, ‘Thank you’ and also, ‘If you don’t mind, we’ll be in touch again in three months’ time.’ Don’t be discouraged; just as life changes, so does business. When needs change and your product or service is required, you will be favoured over the casual cold caller because your prospect has grown to trust you. That means you get business. Prospects don’t mean ‘No’; they mean ‘Not now’. 

The Second Cycle

Within three months, you write and/or phone again, just as you said you would. Your percentage of appointments is likely to rise to about 2-3%, maybe a total of six appointments from your 200 contacts. 

The Third Cycle

Three months later, at the ninth month, write and/or phone again. Now, because you have been in regular contact, the prospect has learned to trust you. You didn’t give up the first or second time; you came back. In the third cycle, your appointments are likely to rise to around 7-10%, perhaps 14 to 20 appointments from the 200 prospects. 

The Fourth Cycle: things begin to happen

Beginning with the fourth cycle, the percentages will increase dramatically and you may find about 30% of your prospects will agree to an appointment. 

The Fifth Cycle: things are really happening!

Be well prepared for success by the fifth cycle, as you can secure appointments and buying signals from up to 60% of your well-chosen prospects. Keep on keeping on and you will get up to 80% of your prospects turning into clients.” 

To summarise… 

1st Cycle – 1%
2nd Cycle – 2% to 3%
3rd Cycle – 7% to 10%
4th Cycle – Up to 30%
5th Cycle – Up to 60%

There you have it – a simple and inexpensive follow up system that could more than double sales for a few pounds – the cost of an extra couple of phone calls and/or emails. 

We have been applying this follow up system with clients for years in all kinds of industries and consistently see great results. 

As Wendy points out in her book, the numbers you see above can be conservative compared to what you may achieve. 

Simple. Cheap. And hugely effective. 

Not convinced? No problem – test this on your next 20 prospects and measure your conversion rate compared to your normal follow up.