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What is your average time to close a deal from your point of first contact?

by Ron20
16 replies
Hey guys! For all of you out there who do business by cold calling, How long does it take you to close a deal from the time you first contact the prospect? For me its an average of 2 - 3 weeks. Is this normal?

Also out of 10 appointments how many sales do you close?

Ron
#average #close #contact #deal #point #time
  • Profile picture of the author James English
    Its about 1.5 - 2 weeks for me usually. That's usually over the course of 3 separate calls though.

    1. Assistant setting appt for me

    2. Initial call to see if there is a fit + soft close

    3. Followup call to answer any questions about the service agreement + close

    Over the past 2 months I have closed around......30% I would say. Thats my closing rate with actual appointments though. My closing rate based on the amount of people we contact is probably closer to 2-3%
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    • Profile picture of the author Ron20
      Well done James! Thanks for your input man Anyone else here who would like to discuss?
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    • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
      My appointments are always the next day or so. Never a week away. there is too much chance of something coming up to derail the appointment.

      The sale is closed on the first call, and the check (or credit card) is picked up.

      But a lot goes on between the call and when I see them. They get directed to a website, watch a video (hopefully), I give them an autographed copy of a book I wrote on local online marketing.

      By the time I show up, they know the price, and are either 80% sold...or 90% unsold. Either way, it's one call.

      When I make a cold call to just meet them for 5 minutes, a little less than half turn into a presentation...about 66% of those get closed. So maybe a 30% close on booked appointments.
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      • Profile picture of the author James English
        I think most of the variation you may see in closing time will be based on the size of the business you are targeting. My sales cycle is a bit longer as I am not working with any local/small businesses anymore. Just another thing to add.
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        • Profile picture of the author Claude Whitacre
          Originally Posted by James English View Post

          I think most of the variation you may see in closing time will be based on the size of the business you are targeting. My sales cycle is a bit longer as I am not working with any local/small businesses anymore. Just another thing to add.

          Absolutely. I only talk to small business owners, where the owner will come to the phone (even if it's a referral). This speeds up the process considerably.

          Corporate culture isn't my strong suite. But I know the opportunities are bigger there.

          I also meet with the owner. These aren't phone sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron20
    So I've read on WF saying to ask the prospect before we start the appointment "So if you like what I show you today, how soon are you looking to get started?".

    I had an appointment yesterday with a guy and his answer was "maybe in a month or two". So to a prospect like this what would i say after the appointment is complete? How can I ask for the sale there and then cause he already mentioned to me that he wants to start in a month or two? Any advice?
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron20
    "Over the past 2 months I have closed around......30% I would say. Thats my closing rate with actual appointments though. My closing rate based on the amount of people we contact is probably closer to 2-3%"

    Hi James when you say your contact to close ratio is 2-3% what do you mean? Is that 2-3 sales out of 100 dialled numbers or 2-3 sales out of 100 people (Decision makers) who actually picked up your call?
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    • Profile picture of the author James English
      Originally Posted by Ron20 View Post

      "Over the past 2 months I have closed around......30% I would say. Thats my closing rate with actual appointments though. My closing rate based on the amount of people we contact is probably closer to 2-3%"

      Hi James when you say your contact to close ratio is 2-3% what do you mean? Is that 2-3 sales out of 100 dialled numbers or 2-3 sales out of 100 people (Decision makers) who actually picked up your call?
      Meaning, for every 100 business we reach out to, we will usually find about 20 decision makers. Thats not necessarily 100 calls though, some of the businesses are called/emailed 3-5 times before we actually reach a person. Of those 20 decision makers we will set appointments with 10. Of those 10, we will usually close 2-3 of them.

      Again though, the numbers are usually different when you contact small businesses. You don't have to deal with gatekeepers, dial-by-name directories, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    Claude usually has a lot of marketing prep work paving the pre-sale way. Obviously that's very effective.

    I don't do local marketing, so I can't see them. When I call out of the blue, it's usually 7-10 business days and I find that's typical. I don't call someone every day...say it's Monday: I call then, and we know on average I have 1/4 chance of reaching the prospect. So probably not. But I get a high probability time to call them back and calendar it. So Wednesday is my next callback. Maybe I'll get them and maybe I won't. Friday, another try.

    The following Monday, if I still haven't gotten ahold of the decision maker, I'll go back to the gatekeeper and find out if anything changed in the prospect's schedule. If I can update that "best time", I will.

    Typically by the 3rd attempt I will have gotten the prospect on the line. It may be a bad time for them when I call. So I have to try again later. This is just part of the game. And that's why it can take 7-10 business days, because it takes persistence to get those conversations. Not rocket science. Just painless persistence and and an organized calendar.

    Once I get the conversation, I qualify In or Out quickly and we go from there.

    Can it be faster? Of course. The decision maker could pick up and be ready to talk on the first try. But let's not bank on that.

    The key is to have this ongoing activity. That way your pipeline is constantly being filled, and if someone drops out it's no big deal. You have a flow of prospects on the go.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ron20
    So this week so far I have made 300 calls in total. Have got a few people who asked for more information but I can sense that I have 5 strong leads out of those. This is because these people are looking to get their website done soon, some even told me that they were looking for a web designer.

    Out of those 5, one asked me to send an email with more info so that they can have a look n decide (family business). The other 4 were set phone appointments. I have already completed 1. I do have 3 to go next week. So will update you guys on that.

    I am keeping a watchful eye on my stats, I want to see out of 10 booked appointments how many I actually get to present and how many sales I close.

    Hey Jason! how you doin?? nice to see you on this thread Looking at my numbers, do you this this is about the average? or am i below average? 5 strong leads from 300 calls? (note: more that 5 have requested information but I feel these 5 are really strong cause I managed to book appointments)

    Thanks guys!
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    • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
      Originally Posted by Ron20 View Post

      So this week so far I have made 300 calls in total. Have got a few people who asked for more information but I can sense that I have 5 strong leads out of those. This is because these people are looking to get their website done soon, some even told me that they were looking for a web designer.

      Out of those 5, one asked me to send an email with more info so that they can have a look n decide (family business). The other 4 were set phone appointments. I have already completed 1. I do have 3 to go next week. So will update you guys on that.

      I am keeping a watchful eye on my stats, I want to see out of 10 booked appointments how many I actually get to present and how many sales I close.

      Hey Jason! how you doin?? nice to see you on this thread Looking at my numbers, do you this this is about the average? or am i below average? 5 strong leads from 300 calls? (note: more that 5 have requested information but I feel these 5 are really strong cause I managed to book appointments)

      Thanks guys!
      I think we're missing a number.

      Conversations.

      Dials -> Conversations -> Sales.

      You've made 300 dials or had 300 conversations?

      (300 dials a week is pretty good, that's 60 a day.)
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      • Profile picture of the author Ron20
        Originally Posted by Jason Kanigan View Post

        I think we're missing a number.

        Conversations.

        Dials -> Conversations -> Sales.

        You've made 300 dials or had 300 conversations?

        (300 dials a week is pretty good, that's 60 a day.)
        Hi Jason! Yea you are right! 300 dials. For every 100 calls that i do about 35-40 people answer (gate keeper or DM) out of that I get 1-2 strong leads.

        Are these about the average numbers?

        N also I plan on doing about 500 - 600 next week
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        • Profile picture of the author James English
          Originally Posted by Ron20 View Post

          Hi Jason! Yea you are right! 300 dials. For every 100 calls that i do about 35-40 people answer (gate keeper or DM) out of that I get 1-2 strong leads.

          Are these about the average numbers?

          N also I plan on doing about 500 - 600 next week
          At 6 strong leads a week you are killing it! Way to go! You are miles ahead of a good majority of the people out there.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Kanigan
    For someone starting out, sure. As you have no doubt seen in other similiar posts, there are so many variables. The key is to get started, be consistent and learn your own numbers--and then you can improve on them from a baseline.
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    • Profile picture of the author savidge4
      How long does it take... for me it can be same day ( 60% of the time ) to 3 - 6 months later. My best deal ever was 8 months in the making.

      That being said I am a local marketer like Claude is I guess. So when the topic of buying something comes up, there usually has been some low end ground work made.

      To be honest though my sales approach is not one of cold calling per se. I don't pick up the phone and call and call and call. I am a meet and greet kind of person.

      I have a "Day" job. I sell and install Satellite Internet. I just so happen to sell said product online, and through the use of offline marketing. That is all besides the point. I travel everyday and will stop into business' and start a conversation. Learn who I am speaking to, and who the owner is yada yada. I will usually off pitch my services asking if they know anyone that possible need someone. I then usually get referrals, or I get the signal for a direct sale. I have packets and my laptop on me at all times ( I Install internet for a living ) And will generally close right then and there.

      This is how I approach sales. It works for me. Andover the year close more than enough to keep my team busy that's for sure. Its kinda my KISS method to sales!
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    2 Minutes !!!!
    Just kidding, 7-10 days on average.
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