Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

It’s Only Common Sense: The Modern Way to Sell

I have to laugh when salespeople try to convince me that selling today is harder than ever. They wax poetic about the good old days when they could visit customers, buy them a beer and a burger, and book the order. Listen, I was around in the so-called good old days. They weren’t that good, and the selling wasn’t any easier; in fact, it was quite a bit harder.

I recall quite clearly when we drove around looking for a phone booth and a bathroom most of the day. I was around in those dark, pre-FedEx days when I drove 60 miles from Bedford, New Hampshire, to Logan Airport every morning to pick up and hand-deliver the previous day’s boards from General Circuits in Rochester. I was back to the airport later in the day to drop off artwork to be shipped overnight to Rochester. I’d say I put in 1,000 miles a week—the quintessential salesperson in an Olds Cutlass.

I was around when you tried to drive in Boston traffic, attempting to read directions to your new customer’s facility written on the back of a napkin. This was especially fun when it got dark early.

Those were the good old days, all right. It was just so much easier on the salesperson—or not.

Let’s not forget hand-addressing sales letters and sending them out via “snail mail.” I remember when sending a promotional postcard to a customer was the most innovative marketing tactic we had come up with in 20 years, and some of my competitors thought it was “cheating.”

To those salespeople of, let me say, a certain vintage, there is one serious drawback to making sales today, and it is those darn customers—specifically those of, shall we say, a younger vintage. Nope, I am not going to use the “M” word, the “G” word, or even the “X” word to describe them. I will just say that older salespeople don’t understand the younger customers and are befuddled by how they do business. We have all heard the excuses: “They don’t answer the phone.” “They don’t want to see salespeople.” “All they do is text, go online, and have Zoom meetings. We can’t see that way.”

We have heard them all, and they lead to that age-old problem of inferior, non-creative, non-passionate salespeople who say, “We could really sell successfully if it weren’t for those darn customers.”

Let’s just move on from that. There are so many wonderful sales tools at our disposal that our job as professional salespeople is now so much better and easier. There are many ways to become known and be in front of our potential customers. There just aren’t really any excuses not to make sales. We have at our fingertips all the tools that we need to reach and connect with potential customers.

Here are some examples:

LinkedIn: Identify and connect with potential prospects by searching for specific job titles or industries. Using advanced search filters, you can narrow down your search to find decision-makers within target companies.

Hunter: This is an email verification and lead generation tool that aids sales professionals in finding and verifying email addresses. Hunter even helps you find the email addresses associated with a specific domain. This is valuable for reaching out to key decision-makers within target companies.

Chrome Extension: Hunter's Chrome extension makes it easy to find and verify email addresses directly from your browser.

Constant Contact: This helps us manage our sales campaigns by creating and sending personalized email campaigns to our leads and prospects. You can segment your email list to target specific groups with tailored messages. The best part is you can see who opens your emails, which leads to direct follow-up. You can set up Zoom or Teams meetings to meet new customers from the comfort of your office.

These are just a few tools that make our job so much easier today.

But wait, I have to add this modern tool: the smartphone. It’s no longer looking for phone booths (what’s that?), but you literally have a mini-computer in your pocket. You can text, email, search online for company information, and even have Siri find and dial your customers. Whatever you need is right there in your pocket.

Now, think back to those good, old days. What could you have done with these modern tools then? Right. These are the good “new” days. You have the world at your fingertips. You are out of excuses. The only excuse you have today is looking at you in the mirror. Get out there, sell, and have a great and successful 2024.

It’s only common sense.

Dan Beaulieu is president of D.B. Management Group.