A corollary to “talk is cheap”

For all of the discussion around social selling and sales 2.0…there is no escaping (I repeat), no escaping the very basics and tenets of sales. These persist…

I like to call this – Blocking & Tackling…

That’s right, the simple, low-tech stuff matters and ultimately drives results and business for all of the high-tech tools we continue to create to make our jobs easier.

I used to have a sales colleague – let’s call him “John Doe” to protect the innocent. He had a classic opening line (which we used to chuckle at) when he sent and email or got someone live on a call…and it went something like this: Hi “prospect”, this is “John Doe” from XYZ company and “I’m just following up with ya…”

The refrain “I’m just following up with ya..” is what I am talking about. The power in just following up, staying connected, being in motion…is so powerful and will lead to so many things…yet, this is where most of us fall down, because we forget the basics and how much impact they have.

I can’t tell you how often I hear about so and so not following up on a lead or being late for an RFP, missing a meeting, failing to send a follow-up note after a meeting, just being responsive…

The simple stuff…yeah, I know…but, you know what?

It’s the simple stuff that counts and if you are good at them, you will have an advantage over others.

Blocking & Tackling.