Email, Voicemail and the Internet, do they help or harm today’s salespeople? In some ways technology has drastically improved the way in which many of us sell and communicate with customers and prospects. How many of us take for granted our ability to push 50 pages of data to any location on earth in an instant? Unfortunately, the technology that can benefit us is often causing more harm than good.

Technology has quickly become a barrier that prospects and customers hide behind. How do we best use technology to assist our sales growth? Common sense. Voicemail is little more than an electronic screener for many; do not allow prospects to disqualify you without talking to you. Avoid leaving messages on unsolicited prospect’s voicemails, until they prove you will never catch them (that does NOT mean calling three times a day for three weeks!). If you never can get them on the phone, check your “gatekeeper” skills and then leave a very simple message with a compelling reason to call you (Chances are very good they never will return your call!)

Email is a convenient way to quickly share information back and forth with customers and vendors. It is NOT a good medium to carry on a conversation, regardless of whether it is a customer, vendor, prospect or even a friend. The written word has no TONALITY, a very important piece of how others perceive what we are feeling…as a result, far too often innocent communications become unintended arguments, misunderstandings or even insults.

There is no replacement for a genuine conversation with another human being…understanding your prospects will always happen more easily when we actually communicate. Think about this as you attempt to leverage your technology, or ask for help from Sales Concepts at 440-575-7000.

P.S. Sales Concepts will be hosting renowned family business expert Roger Warrum on April 6th. Warrum will discuss several issues challenging businesses when the workforce is comprised of multiple family members, for more details call SCI (440)575-7000 or visit www.fambizadvice.com

March & April classes are now available online at http://www.salesconceptsinc.com/schedule.aspx

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