Have you ever heard people say that selling over the telephone doesn’t work? Or… that networking isn’t an effective sales technique? They are pretty much right. However, that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be part of your sales approach. Because you see… both of these are really effective ways to get 1-2-1 appointments with prospective clients.. and that in turn is a good way to get sales. When I work with people who feel anxious in either of these scenarios, I often find it helps to really clarify what your objective is.

Your introduction only needs to be engaging and interesting enough to make them want to know more. Your objective is to listen to them, understand their business and needs as well as you can, and then, if you think there is an area of mutual interest, and that you may be a solution to a problem they have you can arrange to talk more. Approaching networking, telephoning, or even social media with an immediate short term sales objective is likely to be stressful, unsuccessful and may damage your brand. So why make life difficult, eat the elephant one bite at a time.