By Joanne Black, Founder, No More Cold Calling, LLC
Technology is fantastic, but it will never replace a great salesperson.
You are the ultimate sales technology! As a buyer, I don’t care how your technology works until I know what it can do for my business. The same is true for your prospects and clients.
Over the last 30 years, I’ve seen technologies come and go. Many of them have contributed to the effectiveness of salespeople, but none of them has managed to replace us. And I doubt this will ever change, because selling is (and has always been) a person-to-person business.
Some Things Never Change
The digital world, as great as it is, threatens our personal connections. Whether your business is ultrahigh tech or low tech, the most important business buying decisions are still based on personal relationships. Your customers buy from you because they like and trust you and your organization—or because someone they like and trust has referred you.
There are hundreds of great applications that help us work more efficiently—including CRM, marketing automation, social-selling tools, and more. But closing deals is still our job. We will never replace real human engagement with tweets and status updates.
Finding the Right Balance
So what do you do? Simple. You use technology to facilitate your sales process—to conduct research, find referral sources, organize information, and provide buyers with valuable information. What you don’t do is rely on it to make a sale.
The next time you connect with a prospect, really connect. Pick up the damn phone and have a real conversation.
For more on how to strike the right balance between sales technology and relationships, get your copy of my new book, Pick Up the Damn Phone!: How People, Not Technology, Seal the Deal—now available on Amazon and at Barnes & Noble. Or get the digital version for your Kindle or Nook.
Check out more of Joanne's blogs on: http://www.nomorecoldcalling.com
