“80% of Success is Showing Up…”

…is a famous Woody Allen quote. You can apply it in several ways.

During a recent sales brainstorming session, two of these applications jumped out at me.

1. You need a presence. Like the lottery commercials say, if you don’t play, you can’t win.

2. You can’t just “phone it in.” You have to give it your best effort.

Staying in touch with prospects is hard, and requires a disciplined partnership between sales and marketing. Once the seller has identified the right person for the right product, MARKETING can provide the automated touches to maintain awareness and build credibility until the right time occurs and the prospect (hopefully) raises their hand. Meanwhile, through periodic face-to-face meetings, SALES refines the seller’s understanding of the prospect’s needs and wants, and closes the sale when the time is right.

Back to Woody’s quote, and the two applications identified above. You have to stay in touch with the prospect. You need an ongoing presence--mailings, calls, and occasional face-to-face meetings.

And your presence has to be meaningful. I’m talking about tailoring my communications to the prospect’s needs and stressing your product’s benefits at every opportunity. Sending someone a generic ‘newsletter’ once a quarter doesn’t cut it. Neither does a phone call or lunch to “see how things are going.”

We’re all pressed for time and we’re all being pushed for results. But developing a customer relationship is something you cannot rush. You have to “show up” regularly in a meaningful way. Remember, that’s 80% of success!