Q. Dave, I have been a fan for a number of years, and have a number of your books. In the last couple of years, I have grown increasingly frustrated. Why won’t people respond to my emails, return my voice mails, or even see me when I show up in person? Am I doing something
wrong?
A. You have asked a
question that tens of thousands of other sales people have bouncing around in their heads every day. I hope the response which follows will be helpful.
First , I can empathize with you. You are frustrated that people who should be interested in what you have to offer don’t respond to your emails, don’t return your calls, and are hesitant to spend time
with you. I can tell you from my personal experience, and conversations with lots of sales people, that you are not alone. The condition you are describing is shared by hundreds of thousands of sales people.
What’s going on? First, I don’t think it’s you. It’s not that they are responding to other sales people’s emails and just don’t respond to yours because they don’t like you. While that may be
the case, (I have no way of knowing) I suspect that it is not. I hear similar stories, and experience it myself, far too often to think that the problem is you. It’s not you. It’s them.
The reality is that things have changed dramatically in the past few years, and will continue to change just as dramatically in the next few years. Your customers have too much to do, and not enough time
in which to do it. They are being asked to do more, in less time and with fewer resources than ever before. Blame it on the recession and the relentless development of technology.
