{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "80-percent-sales-5-follow-ups",
  "slug": "80-percent-sales-5-follow-ups",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/80-percent-sales-5-follow-ups/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/80-percent-sales-5-follow-ups.json",
  "claim": "80% of sales require 5 follow-ups",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"80% of sales require 5 follow-up calls\" (National Sales Executive Association)",
  "verdict": "misquoted",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found, but the way it is quoted changes the subject, metric, population or precision.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "rating": {
    "value": 2,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Long Island chapter of the National Sales Executives Association (now SMEI)",
    "title": "Member survey",
    "year": "1942"
  },
  "quote": "80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact",
  "method": "A 1942 survey of chapter members; SMEI says the sample was under 40.",
  "drift": [
    "Metric: 'fifth to twelfth contact' became 'five follow-ups'",
    "Date: 84 years old, quoted as current",
    "Sample: under 40 salespeople"
  ],
  "interest": "SMEI sells sales training and certification.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "A 1942 survey of fewer than 40 sales executives reported most sales closing after several contacts; it is not modern evidence.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "SMEI: Sales Statistics (archive research)",
      "url": "https://smei.org/sales-statistics/",
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "title": "Automation Experience: the follow-up statistic its author deleted (2026)",
      "url": "https://automationexperience.net/blog/the-follow-up-statistic-its-own-author-deleted/",
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "kind": "stat_check",
  "as_of": "1942",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}