Salespeople are only as good as the people they know.
When is it time to toss the technology and start talking to people? When internet leads and a call script no longer reap new business. When it interferes with the most powerful tool in your toolbox—you.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s a lot of great sales technology out there, and it would be dumb for sales reps not to use it. But sales technology doesn’t close business. It doesn’t have meaningful conversations. It doesn’t demonstrate integrity, thoughtfulness, humility, or honesty. Building strong relationships and nurturing them does. It also enables you to get referrals.
Without a strong network of people who trust you, you can forget about referral selling. It won’t work.
If that sounds puffy and inconsequential, read this powerful post in First Round Review, chronicling Chris Fralic’s journey to becoming “insanely well-connected.” Fralic talks about being human first and how that propelled