So now we should, in theory, be wildly productive. We have tools that can calculate anything, organize everything and communicate with everybody on the surface of the planet. It's cheap and easy to operate. No real expertise is required and geeks work cheap, if for some reason you can't be bothered to do stuff yourself. You and I should be some pretty darn productive motor scooters! And the people who should benefit most of all should be anyone who sells anything and that my friend is everyone. We all sell all the time. Oh, we may not realize it or call it sales, but it is. We sell our friends and family on our ideas all the time, we sell our superiors on our plans and we sell complete strangers from the bus stop to the checkout counter.

So back to business where our job is to communicate with people and get them to make decisions. Notice, I didn't say get them to buy stuff. I didn't say that because that is certainly not our job even if we think we're in a sales position. Nope, we're in the business of getting people to make decisions, that's all. So has technology helped us? It should have. Everyone is totally connected in every possible way at every minute of the day, so technology should have made our jobs easy. But unfortunately, I don't think that has turned out to be the case. Much of the promise of technology has turned out to be a problem for business people and consumers alike, a victim of the famous Law of Unintended Consequences. Take the simple act of reaching out to someone you really believe could benefit from your product or services.  

As much as I love technology, there's a problem akin to the embarrassment of riches. There are far more tools than any person can master and many of them, while seductive, end up being far less efficacious than the good old telephone. I can hear your inner voice saying yes, there's the telephone, but it's so antiquated. It's even disruptive. I should email or text someone first so they know I'm "knocking." REALLY? I'm not buying it. If I call someone they can choose to pick up or not. I can choose to leave a message or not. They can choose to ignore me or not. But sending a text or an email to say I'd like to speak with them seems silly and a big waste of time. I say let's raise the "flag of direct." The unintended consequences I'm referring to is the fact that the technology takes us away from our goal, not towards it. For instance, we have to accept the fact that emailing is a poor way to get someone one to talk to us.

So here's a rule I try to follow: I don't email someone I have never had any interaction with. But interaction includes that they are in an organization I belong to, so I know they have similar interests, they have interacted with me or my company, we are connected via LinkedIn or they were referred to me. In short, what I'm saying is being able to email or text doesn't mean it's the right way to be efficient. Better is to call first and if you get voice mail, leave a message and then follow it up with an email.

I really believe it's the most polite and efficient use of everyone's time. We can be wildly efficient and help others who interact with us be that way too! So what do you say? I'd love to hear your thoughts. And by the way, my direct line is 813.349.5640.