This past Thursday, I heard Austin Baker, founder of E-Serv, speak. He was gracious enough to share his key’s to success with a group of budding entrepreneurs. As you would expect at the top of his list was persistence. He put it this way:
“Only 50% of people will show up and of that 50% only about 2% will follow-up”.
How many times have we all found ourselves at a quality networking gathering arms length away from the key individuals whom could help advance our agendas? And how many times have we all been courageous enough to a) strike up a conversation, b) get their business card, and c) make one phone call before being stopped dead in our tracks by a gate keeper or a “let me call you back”? For some that’s the end of the sale cycle and for others it’s just the beginning. Austin put it this way, I’m paraphrasing:
“I already know how many times I have to call before I actually reach the client, about how may times the client and I have to talk before they feel a face to face meeting is worth their time….and about how many times we have to meet before I close on the sell”
Successful entrepreneurs expect to hear “no” ten times before they hear “yes” and they gain confidence in knowing that around the ninth “no” they are one "no" away from hearing "yes".
Have confidence to persist through the “no’s” is what ultimately leads to the “yes’s” in life.