You know the old saying about how many times it takes to make contact with a lead to turn them into a prospect, followed by converting them into a customer. I believe it is 5-7 times. When I was new to selling, I courted people for a very long time—sometimes more than a year.

On Monday, I took a call from a man wanting to redesign his website. Yesterday, we entered into a business relationship. It would be nice if all new business was so easy, but most of the time, it takes much longer to develop the trust required for someone to risk hiring you.

For me, the average "courting" time to close a website project is 1-3 months. If it takes longer than that, chances are good the project will never materialize, or if it does, will likely be unprofitable.

When following up, if the other party doesn't respond to phone calls or email, I don't chase them. In the past, I wasted a lot of time pursuing customers that were not ready to move forward. The ones that are, I don't have to chase. Of course, it takes a lot more leads to find the ones that are serious and ready to buy, but you save time (and money) not following up with unqualified leads.

If you are looking for a better way to qualify leads, read When to Provide Pricing – and When Not To by Landy Chase.

Side Note: The Association of Sales Executives found that 81% of all sales happens on or after the fifth contact.