Is it worth touch a lead 8 times before giving up?

My last job was very serious that all sales reps touch their leads a minimum of 8 times before giving up on them. If someone is unresponsive I've found far more effective to tell them that I will no longer be perusing their business.


I don't apply this trick to Enterprise deals typically, but there is a time and place for it.


Curious to hear what the community thinks on this?

๐Ÿ‘‘ Sales Strategy
๐Ÿ’Œ Cold Emailing
23
Gasty
Notable Contributor
15
War Room Community Manager
Depends on what you define as a touchpoint.

โŠ› A Phone call with No Voicemail is not a touchpoint, but your manager would say it is
โŠ› A Phone call with Voicemail which is not listened to, is not a touchpoint, but you manager would say it is
โŠ› Any Inmail sent is barely read, so it shouldn't be a touchpoint, but your manager would say it is

โŠ› A read email is twice the touchpoint of an unread email
โŠ› A well-crafted personalised email might be 5X the touchpoint of any other email

I'm sorry.

i just hate the word Touchpoint.

It's a nonsensical metric developed by Dashboard Metric Managers to give a false sense of belief to themselves that reps are "working" and it takes ""X Touches"" to get a response.

Bull*hit.
TheRealPezDog
Notable Contributor
2
Account Manager
Great reply
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
1
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
This is insightful!
jefe
Arsonist
13
๐Ÿ
Best practice is 7-8 touchpoints, beyond 8 you get diminishing returns.

A lot of statistical analysis has been done on this.

Keep in mind a voicemail followed by an email is 2, and you need to vary your messaging and add value.

Best if you can automate a sequence on the email side.

What CRM are you using?
wolfdad
Contributor
2
Senior Account Executive
Jefe, I appreciate your insight.

Using HubSpot for a CRM.

If someone is engaged with me then I have no problem going well beyond 8 touch points. It's the people that come in for a demo or fill in a request quote form that are unresponsive from day one that I no longer give 8 touches to.
jefe
Arsonist
1
๐Ÿ
HubSpot is pretty set it and forget it, so maybe have a disengaged sequence and throw them in there?
UrAssIsSaaS
Arsonist
7
SaaS Eater
Nope, fuck em.

Or read what @Jefe said cuz thats a more eloquent way to state this correctly.
CuriousFox
WR Officer
4
๐ŸฆŠ
No I like your answer.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
3
Sr Sales Executive ๐Ÿฐ
I find that eloquent.
mdhcanada
Executive
1
Enterprise Business Development Director
Sometimes the direct approach is best.
Pachacuti
Politicker
6
They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy
I never really give up, I just reprioritize. .
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
this is a great line to give managment!
CorporateStiff
Executive
0
Account Executive
OMG My metric-oriented manager will eat this up. Thanks!
AnchorPoint
Politicker
2
Business Coach
Persistence pays... depending upon industry and solution, it may be more than 8
The_Sales_Badger
Notorious Answer
1
Account Executive
It's all dependent on the industry, and their availability. Completely agree.
SeriousBusiness
Good Citizen
2
Senior Account Executive
Yeah it's worth it! Drop them in an inbound sequence and make it easy on yourself. An effective sequence is more than the sum of its parts. Whether it's inbound or outbound, a good follow-up sequence leans on the laws of persuasion, influencing your audience to offer a reply.

By understanding your buyer's daily schedule and preferences, you can design touches that are tailored to their needs. Doing this is more effective than using a one-size-fits-all approach, which ignores the buyer's perspective.

For example, sales leaders live on their phones and take calls from unknown numbers (aka prospects) all day long; therefore phone calls should be one of the primary channels in your sequences when targeting sales leaders.

However, a finance executive spends most of their time in internal meetings (especially if they are in a legacy industry) and rarely answers a phone number they donโ€™t know. They are unlikely to engage with calls (even if they're warm calls) but are much more likely to engage via email.

Understand your prospect's urgency and base your follow-up on that, not on an arbitrary number of touches for all prospects.
CorporateStiff
Executive
0
Account Executive
@SeriousBusinessYour second paragraph is where it's at. Understanding where your client is coming from is critical. When I send a text to my clients (all attorneys), it's always about a case they are working on and how my product can help them get their desired result in less time. Short, sweet, value add, and gets responses.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
1
Rolling 20's all day
If they are your ICP, yes. Mileage may vary depending on your product and sales cycle
NotCreativeEnough
Big Shot
1
Professional Day Ruiner
my leads get 4 touches. 3 emails followed by a phone call at the end. It goes against what the "experts" say, but its done very well for me. And by very well I mean I'm number one on my team and more than double the numbers of the guy 2nd to me.
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
yes it is worth it!

a "normal" cadence on Call, VM, Email 2.5x is not that crazy. you HAVE to be able to have 2 -3 different things to say to a lead/
SalesaSaaSsin
Fire Starter
1
Sr. BDR
Yes, coupled with combo prospecting (i.e. Phone, LinkedIn and Email)
CorporateStiff
Executive
1
Account Executive
Don't forget texts. That's the trifecta I use, email, phone, text, and in that order. Works great.
SalesaSaaSsin
Fire Starter
0
Sr. BDR
Really? Text? ๐Ÿค” I've never tried it, I've heard its a fine line between getting a meeting and completely lambasted by the prospect. What's your success been like using text?
CorporateStiff
Executive
1
Account Executive
Very high success rate and my clients are all lawyers.
Diablo
Politicker
0
Sr. AE
Really depends. I donโ€™t spend too much time on someone who donโ€™t respond or I donโ€™t see any activity (such as email opened, links clicked etc.)
CaaSUnicorn7
Opinionated
0
SDR (Sales Development Rep)
Studies say after 11/12 touches

Iโ€™ve heard of an SDR getting a meeting after 50 ๐Ÿ˜‚

Itโ€™s all about timing to me
GDO
Politicker
0
BDM
7-8 is much more than most reps do. That's why it is so effective
torti
Old School Bravo
0
Account Executive
I'm guilty as well of giving up soon, especially at this point in my career and who I know will buy vs not buy. But I do always keep it in mind and will start going beyond 2-3 again.

At first, the extra touches matter because what I think happens is the proposect is like, ok, this guy is local, he clearly thinks this is a good idea because no one pursues me like this. Let me at least hear him out.
LordBusiness
Politicker
0
Chief Revenue Officer
Youโ€™d be surprised how hard we as sellers have to chase down prospects who REACH OUT TO US - these days in world of thousands of sellers blasting out shitty automated sequences and our prospects getting hundreds of shitty touch points a day โ€” its just hard to stand out from the noise. So yes - I donโ€™t think 8 is insane, especially for a lead that came to your site.
The_Sales_Badger
Notorious Answer
0
Account Executive
Day 1 - Call-Voicemail - Email - LinkedIn Connection (sequenced)

Day 5 -

Call - Relevant information (Invite to a Marketing Webinar)
Email Invite or Relevant topic
LinkedIn (If awaiting connection request - follow prospect), If they accepted - Vidyard (free video) "hey thanks for accepting my connection, I'm excited to exchange content in thoughts in the future,

Cheers"

Day - 9:
Call
Email -
If at any point you'd like to discuss (persona-based outcomes) x,y,z, my experience will prove to be a great asset.

Until then, you can reach me at (Number), email, or over LinkedIn (put your LinkedIn)

Cheers,

The Sales Bager"

Most of the time, you just have to make the touches all at once. Try that, and I assure you, you're building more pipeline.
italiangolfer
Valued Contributor
0
Area Manager
i think it's also about timing.
You can try 10 times without any result, but if you come in the right moment (for the customer) you'll reach the objective in one shot.
Anyway, if you continue trying with the customer, you'll have more chance to be recalled when the customer have a need...
Clint
0
NA
I agree but if a touch is a quick email then gone but waiting time on someone when you can be looking elsewhere doesn't make sense. Also like the, I won't be contacting you further, of that doesn't stir them up nothing will. Obviously you don't have anything they are interested in or married to another company.
CorporateStiff
Executive
0
Account Executive
Just yesterday i closed a deal with a text to a guy on vacation who knew he needed to sign before end of month. He hadnโ€™t responded to me but had read my emails and i had already tried callingn so i shot him a link to the docusign via text with a short note reminding him amd he executed the doc and thanked me for the reminder
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
I have been told 13 times is the average to get a response from Csuite
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