This morning I called to follow up with a prospective recruit for our production group (this was my fourth attempt after our first phone conversation), and this time, he answered right away! He asked if I was surprised that I had not gotten his voice mail, and indicated that I was “on his list” for today: I was number eight.

I was honored to receive such a high mark, although we both then joked about how most of us, when working through our own to-do lists, rarely get past numbers three or four! The problem is that so many other “urgent” matters always keep filling the spots at the top.  So where does that leave the rest of us in the middle and, dare I say it, at the bottom?

Send-Out-Cards has a greeting card intended to go out to other sales people, because on the front panel it lists “SALES STATISTICS.” While it does not attribute any source for these statistics (A friend of mine contacted them seeking this information and their response was “multiple sources”), they are nevertheless quite believable:

• 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect.
• 25% of sales people make a second contact and stop.
• 12% of sales people only make three contacts and stop.
• Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts.
• 2% of sales are made on the first contact.
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact.
• 5% of sales are made on the third contact.
• 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact.
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact.

If you have read previous columns here you will know that this is one point that I hammer on again and again: the importance of gentle persistence. Indeed, we all look with awe at all the competition that is out there. Yet, in most cases, all it takes to make ourselves stand out among that competition is to do what they are NOT: pick up that phone (or drop a note) yet one more time.

And it also pairs well with the topic I wrote about last week: the Power of a Sentiment. Then I challenged you to reach out and share a sentiment with just one person a day. Send-Out-Cards is a perfect resource to do just that, and it is highly affordable as well. Or if you wish, you can go out and purchase a modest supply of simple note cards, and sent them out to people the old fashioned way. And of course, there is nothing wrong with using the phone as well.

When I teach this concept in my WedgePower programs, the question “How many times till you give up?” ultimately arises. It takes me back to an ancient Tootsie Pop commercial that ran when I was a kid:

Boy: Mr. Cow…
Mr. Cow: Yeeeeesss!!?
Boy: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?!
Mr. Cow: I don’t know, I always end up biting. Ask Mr. Fox, for he’s much clever than I.
Boy: Mr. Fox, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?!!
Mr. Fox: Why don’t you ask Mr. Turtle, for he’s been around a lot longer than I?!? Me, heheh, I bite!
Boy: Mr. Turtle, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?
Mr. Turtle: I’ve never even made it without biting. Ask Mr. Owl, for he is the wisest of us all.
Boy: Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop!?
Mr. Owl: A good question. Let’s find out. A One… A two-HOO… A tha-three..(crunch sound effect)
Mr. Owl: A Three!
Boy: If there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s a smart owl.
Narrator: How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop? The world may never know.

While our prospect would not respond too kindly to our biting into them, I think you get the message. It takes persistence, and I doubt most of us who have enjoyed a Tootsie Pop in our day ever gave up after just three licks.