Forty-eight percent of the sales reps stopped calling if the customer did not buy as a result of the first sales call. Twenty-five percent moved on after the second unproductive visit. Fifteen percent made three sales calls before throwing in the towel. Only twelve percent indicated they would continue to call on a prospect indefinitely until they finally made a sale. The twelve percent of sales reps who were persistent in their sales calls, accounted for eighty percent of the total sales. They brought in the majority of the business. The eighty-eight percent who surrendered after one, or two, or even three unsuccessful encounters with a prospect, only netted a combined twenty percent of the total sales.
The twelve percent succeeded simply because they never gave up! They were determined to sell every potential customer something, knowing that their customer would never buy if they stopped asking for an order. With dogged persistence, the twelve percent eventually wore down a client's resistance, until he or she bought what the sales rep was selling. Once the customer had purchased something from them once, they were more likely to purchase another item, giving the sales rep repeat business.
The above story tells us something about persistence. Sometimes in reaching out to people with the gospel, we give up too quickly. After looking at Peter's success with those folks on Pentecost (Acts 2) and with Cornelius (Acts 10), Philip's success with the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), and Paul's success with Lydia and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16), we are prone to convince ourselves that the only viable candidates for conversion are those who hear, believe and obey the gospel the very first time they're given the opportunity.
But that's an unrealistic view. The above examples were recorded to show us the power of the gospel — not to limit it. It's very rare that an individual obeys the gospel after hearing it only one time. Normally, the truth of the gospel has to be repeated over and over again before it moves most folks to repentant obedience (note the repetitive nature of Psalm 119).
What's the bottom line in all of this? Those people who decline our invitation to study the Bible or come to the services of the church — let's invite them all again, and again, and again, and again. Who knows? It might be the next call we make that "closes the sale" and causes them to obey the gospel of Christ (Romans 6:17).
Dear reader, persistence pays! (Luke 18:1-8).
—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets
Related Article:
Comments
Post a Comment