How Many Times Should Sales Attempt to Connect With a Buyer?

There is a lot of data on the optimal number of times to connect with a buyer, but the answer is not clear-cut. The number of times you decide to connect with a buyer depends on what you are looking to do, which could be to optimize for a certain buyer persona in the relative economic value of your company.

For example, if you worked for an ecommerce company that was selling a $29 product, many entrepreneurs would believe they could hire an outside/inside sales force to support the $29 product. Most venture capitalists would not fund your company if you had an outside sales force to sell something for $29—let alone an inside sales force—, so this type of business model dictates having a self-service approach, or an e-commerce approach.

Conversely, instead of selling a product for $29 on your website, let’s say you are selling a product or service that is $100,000—this is a completely different ball game. A $100,000 product or service can support multiple deal stages, like outside or inside Salesforce, lots of investment, and customer acquisition.

Sales Metrics

We track two important ratios:

The Cost of Customer Acquisition (COCA)
The Average Client Lifetime Value (LTV)

These are important metrics to focus on before figuring out what the ideal number of connect attempts is.

When your company has product/market fit, it means you know exactly what you are selling along with the

Quantities
Price points
Duration

The Bottom Line

If your ideal client is aligned with your product/market fit, it pays to make more attempts. Reach out to qualified leads through a combination of email and phone calls. If the client is not exactly aligned, you should make fewer connect attempts. For instance, if they are outside your geographic region and it is a long shot or they are a startup company with limited funding or potential.

There is not an optimal number of connect attempts to pick from as it depends on your buyer personas, your business model, and the relative economic value of that particular contact to what you consider an ideal client.

How metrics does your sales team use to guide its outreach attempts? Let us know in the comments below.

To learn more tips on connecting with potential clients, enroll now in our free 7-day eCourse: Go-to-Market Strategy 101 for B2B SaaS Startups and Scaleups.