I sent an email to a client last week about next session. He emailed me from the plane he was on: “I land in Dallas at 3:30 your time and will give you call.” Even though the ability to email from a plane has been available for a few years, it still blows me away. I remember my first sales job 20 plus years ago – I had a rolodex of index cards with my prospects names written on the front and my call history jotted down on the back. Today, an icon will pop up on my cell phone with my prospect’s photo and their exact location at that moment. If I’m at a Starbucks and they’re next door at a Jimmy John’s, I can casually jump in line and “bump into” them for a quick discussion about our demo next week.
So, what has been the most beneficial technical advancement for you?
My answer: keeping it simple. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but the vast amount of technology options has helped me keep things simple. Actually, it’s forced me to keep things simple. We have access to dozens of methods of connecting through social media, multiple email services, and mapping software systems that can make us more proficient on the road than a UPS driver of a few years ago. However, all these tools and the many different options have taught me a very important lesson: pick one or a few, and keep it simple.
Show me a superstar performer, and I’ll show you someone who can quickly tell me their top 5 sales opportunities for the month and what they plan to do to close them. I don’t mean to imply that the superstars don’t use technology – they do. However, they keep it simple and know what they need to do to succeed – they know their top 50 prospects, their KPIs, their y-t-d sales, etc.
Regardless of your technical tools, keep it simple and let the tools work for you.
