When I was selling enterprise software to the Fortune 500, I used to follow the “five touch” rule. The idea was that when prospecting for new customers, I would reach out to a customer five times over a two-week period. If I had not heard back from that prospect after the five “touches,” I would stop reaching out to them and try again in a few months.
The logic to this was pretty straightforward – studies show that most prospective customers need to be touched at least 3 times before they respond to a sales request. And if they don’t respond by the fifth touch, the likelihood of them responding is very low. Anecdotally, many people give up after just 1 or 2 touches, which means they miss out on some great opportunities, simply because they’re too lazy or too nervous about “bugging” somebody to truly make an impression…
