fired
Some of you might remember the United Airlines commercial where the company president gathers his staff in a conference room to tell them:  “I got a phone call this morning from one of our oldest customers. … After 20 years, he fired us. Said he didn’t know us anymore. I think I know why. We used to do business with a handshake—face-to-face—now it’s a phone call and a fax.”

(Now “phone call” and “fax” will give you an idea of how long ago, this commercial aired, but stay with me … the message is still very relevant.)

He then hands an airline ticket to everyone in the room saying, “We’re going to set out for a little face-to-face chat with every customer we have.”

To view the commercial go to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mU2rpcAABbA

Today, almost 25 years after this memorable commercial first aired, I’ll echo those marching orders: It’s time to turn off the electronics and go see people face-to-face.

I want to challenge you to go meet with your customers. Start today. Then also set up face-to-face meetings with those new relationships who aren’t currently buying from you.

I was talking recently with my good friend and fellow sales coach Michael Smith about how salespeople today typically wait for the customers to find them. These salespeople figure that if their name or company name comes up high enough on a Google search, then people will come to them.

If you’ve read my material before, you know I’m a big believer in drip marketing and getting noticed on social media. But today I’m advocating a more basic approach—simply go see people.

Over the years, I’ve found that people buy from folks they trust, like and respect. Notice that trust is first. You have to earn someone’s trust before they will like or respect you.

You earn trust through shared experiences, and the only way to share experiences with someone is by spending time with them.

I believe that most of us have way too much whitespace on our calendars.

We’re busy with things like emails, internal meetings, FaceTime and conference calls. Starting today, I challenge you to do a whole lot less “office stuff” and a whole bunch more face-to-face meetings. Look at your calendar, and see if you have openings between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. I want you to fill those openings with face-to-face meetings.

Go talk to your customers. But more importantly, listen to them so you can find out about their challenges, their opportunities and their dreams. Go see someone again—or for the first time. If you’ll schedule more customer time and less office time, I promise you’ll do what you do better.