A Little Progress

In “How I Raised Myself From Failure to Success in Selling”, Walter LeMar Talbot tells Frank Bettger that the key to sales is to “see the people”.  One year later, Bettger records that he made 1,849 calls that resulted in 828 interviews, and 65 sales.  That is a closing ratio of 3.5% on calls and 7.85% on interviews (meetings).  Obviously, his sales are likely to decline if he makes fewer calls. It’s simple math.

Today, I had an “interview”.  I met with a couple of potential referral sources and I think they are sold on the bank.  With a little effort, I believe that at least one deal could come from them this year.

And the best part is that the meeting was fun! I enjoyed their company, lunch was great, and I learned a little bit about what someone else does for a living.

Of course, this was only one interview.  If my ratio is anything like Bettger’s, I will need to do this 13 times to get one sale.  Unfortunately, I don’t have 13 calls scheduled for the rest of this month.  I guess I need to make some calls.