The Sales Follow-Up: Why 10% of Sales Agents are Closing 90% of the Deals

A survey conducted by the National Sales Executive Association reveals that only 10% of sales professionals are following up with leads more than three times. While nearly half (48%) of sales agents are never following up with their leads at all. The same survey shows that 10% of sales are closed on the fourth contact, while 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact! Based on this data, we think it’s fair to say that the squeaky wheel indeed gets the grease – and the commission. This data shows why it’s important for sales professionals to nurture relationships with their leads.

Since the beginning of time, selling successfully has involved building strong bonds with customers. While the rise of the internet and social media has changed the way that we communicate, it hasn’t removed customers’ need to do so. In the B2C and, especially, the B2B sector, it’s unrealistic for agents to expect to close important deals during a single conversation.

So why aren’t sales professionals making the necessary touch points in order to close deals? I think that it results from a limiting belief that following up with leads is not worth the time spent. As a former sales manager for a small B2C e-commerce business, I recall conversations with leads that lasted too long and delivered no results. It was frustrating.

Revenue.io’s Google Maps Widget

Fortunately, there are new productivity tools that make it faster and easier to follow up with leads. For example, our mobile app, Revenue.io Free for Salesforce, automatically syncs with Salesforce.com, which saves you the time of having to manually log calls. Our latest update to Revenue.io Free also makes it easier than ever to send off quick follow-up emails to your leads. The app now auto-appends your signature to all emails sent from your app. And, of course, all of your emails are also automatically logged in Salesforce.com.

Since we know that sometimes deals are best closed in person, our upcoming premium mobile release will display a lead’s location via a Google maps widget during or after a sales call. So if you aren’t already following up with your leads, we hope that Revenue.io’s time-saving sales features will help inspire you to join the 10% of agents that are closing 90% of the deals.

2020 update: This post contains legacy content regarding Revenue.io features. For the most recent up-to-date information about Revenue.io, please check out our amazing solutions at www.revenue.io