Sales 101 - Take 2 Minutes to know who you are talking to.

Sales can be tough yet why make it far more painful then it has to be?  I decided to write this brief article after picking up the phone 4 times in the past week and each time it was poorly targeted. If you're going to place that initial call, understand whether the person your talking to is :

1) in the same company

2) in the same position

3) in a positon that would care about your value proposition. 

Simple 101, that's what LinkedIn, a company's website or a myriad of other solutions help you understand. In this instance they were referencing a company we sold 2+ years ago, I was not the CEO anymore, and their call was likely better targeted to the VP Sales, CRO or Manager Inside Sales. One 30 second look on LinkedIn or the website (which would have re-directed) would have answered all those questions. Instead, they placed a call which was a short train wreck. Perhaps worse, they were representing a nationally known sales training company!

As a past CEO I know the importance of investing in sales training, tools, ongoing coaching, measurement and constant learning from the field. As well, despite the importance of social media, picking up the phone and connecting with customers is a critical skill. Reaching a customer live (in this case) is difficult, but when you're unprepared, you flushed money and your time down the drain and likely ruined your chances to engage later. What would they have done if I didn't pick-up the call, leave a completely untargeted voice mail that would have been deleted in seconds?  Do some homework (I still do on most every call I need to make). It saves time, energy and might make you more money and we can all use more of that.