Blog

So what does all this mean??? Crazy post title. Double standard. Well, in internet sales I learned both. When you get a lead, if you are not the first to answer it and connect, you're last. By the time you call minutes or even hours later, your lead is most likely on their was to you another lot who took the time to realize one important factor of lead management: Speed Sells. Be the first and you will never be last. So, why am I first if I'm last? I think my biggest problem is I never know when to quit. When do you stop interacting.???? emails? calls? Remember the 11-14% response rate?? Well, you never really know, but hang in there. At some point, your competition will give up. And there you will be...I had a customer I had interaction with on  a used car with specific requests...It took me 2 weeks to talk to him, a week trying to work a deal on a car we had, then finally after almost a month, we worked a deal over the phone ( he is over 100 miles away) and were still a little apart. He would not commit or even let me bring it to him. He told me he had a friend (in Arizona, I'm in Indiana and so is he) who could sell the same car cheaper delivered to him. He said if we could not make a deal, there was no need to email back and forth. I told him I would follow up with him until he bought a car. A few weeks went by and I send a few emails to him with words like Arizona and ??? asking kindly if he purchased one in Arizona if he would let me know. I even challenged him politely to find a better deal than the one I worked. Today, he showed up. As if nothing ever happened with "Arizona". In the same car he still owned coming to look at a new car and meet with me. Clearly, I was the last person still following up with him. I never got an email from him telling me to hit the road. He was passing though today and made a point to come and see me. Even though we didn't close, I know as soon I have the one that meets his needs we will be doing business. I had a similar instance last month where I had an appt set and the customer no showed and after 3 weeks, he finally called. He told me he read every email I sent. He said "We fell off the face of the earth". I delivered them May 1st after almost 2 months of the unknown. You never know what a customer is thinking!!  I learned today again, to stay in the fight to the very end, don't believe the hype, and stay on course. This is why I love what I do. And you should too!! Be the last.....take the checkered flag....all the way to the bank!