"Follow up until one of you dies"
I made a post asking how long I should continue to follow up with someone before just giving up. Giulio commented something like "keep calling until one of you dies". And it's still the best advice I've gotten in regards to sales! After TWO YEARS of reaching out to a contact regularly, and getting pushed off every time, I finally got the sale today!!! I had actually just spoke to my contact last week and he pushed me off again, but the next day he reached out and put me in touch with the owner. And he put in a good word for me to the owner, making my job of selling my services that much easier. Just wanted to share the importance of following up regularly (and for eternity lol) with contacts and standing out so when they do have a need, you're the first person they think to reach out to. If nothing else, this should give you hope when you call a contact for the 800th time and get turned down or pushed off for the 800th time-- it'll turn into something... eventually!