What Got You Here Won't Get You There in Sales: How Successful Salespeople Take it to the Next Level

Habit 5—Contact without Purpose

Repeated deliberate communication for no valid business reason (other than wanting to sell something).

“I’m just calling to touch base, see how you’re doing.” How many times have we heard that? How many times have we said that? We may be driven by a short-term sales push, a bad economy, a current promotional effort, or even a couple of empty hours that we feel a guilty need to fill. In any case, what does the customer hear? We’re trying to put lots of sincerity into our voice in asking, “How are you?” and most likely all the customer hears is, “I have no real purpose to call that would matter to you, and I thought I would just stop by, show my face, and waste some of your time.” What is in play here is a touch ...