There isn’t enough “sales foreplay.” Involvement breeds commitment. It used to be that when you wanted to sell someone a product there would be a period of time where you could build a seller-buyer relationship. You could get into the details about what you were selling and why you were selling it, and most importantly, how it would help the person you were selling to.
But now, how do you capture someone’s attention when everything is so “Wham! Bam! Thank you ma’am!” (Don’t mean to quote David Bowie in this blog, but here I am doing it?)
It’s probably too much to ask to send a handwritten note these days, but I have always been about the pre-sell. I want to always tell somebody about something we’re doing ahead of time.
I have given up on the fact that people should go and break bread, but the fact of the matter is, at least take the time to give people the heads up about something you’re working on, so that by the time you’re ready they feel involved.
If you’re working on something right now, what is it? And, are you communicating with the most important people ahead of time, so that they know about it?
