Lunch Duty Rap - Week 4, Persistence Pays Off

It's amazing what three months of sales experience will do for you.

Through my own experiences as well as watching my coworkers, I've gone from thinking solely like a reporter to understanding the vital importance of the sales team and how the whole process goes down. Of course, I still have much to learn, but I can't even imagine what 15 or 30 plus years of experience would give someone.

One of the most useful things I've learned is the importance of persistence. I know it sounds a little cliché, but without it, you're not going to meet your sales goals.

I've already explained my process as far as how I go about getting in touch with my customers. I do anything from calling to emailing to dropping in for a quick chat. For most of my customers, it works fine on the first visit. However, with some, it might take weeks to track them down.

With each magazine, I end up with a list of people that I can't get on the first try. So I wait a couple days and try again. Still nothing? Wait a week, try again. Repeat. I get frustrated and agitated and want to just throw my hands up in the air in defeat. But it never fails - when I'm down to the wire and I try them that one last time and finally get a yes, it's worth all the trouble I went to to get it.

Persistence is one of the hardest skills to maintain but one of the most rewarding, as long as you:

1. Get over the frustration of not being able to reach a customer.
2. Don't forget about the customer. Write it down and make sure you try them at least one last time before your deadline.
3. Ignore the idea that you're bugging their assistant to death and she's eventually just going to hang up when she hears your voice.
4. Start calling your customers early. The longer you have before your deadline, the more time you have to track people down.

Then, I can guarantee that persistence will ultimately push you over your goal in the end.