The year was 1998, I was in my mid 20’s, and I got my first company paid StarTAC phone, which was a great phone for the times.
Although it was so compact, it could easily fit into your pocket, many StarTAC users wore them clipped to a belt. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was a Batman fetish, perhaps it was to show everyone you had this phone. But wherever you stored it, it was a tremendous asset for anyone who needed to do business while on the go.
Being A Phone Warrior
Most phone warriors become that way because they are also road warriors.
No, not that kind of Road Warrior. The kind that is constantly on the move, which I was.
After my second month with the phone, I got a call from our company’s VP of purchasing. He wanted to talk about my phone usage. That month, April of 98, my phone bill was around $1,100. But what Jason wanted to talk to me about was significantly increasing my time on the phone. More phone time, more, more, more.
I gave him what he wanted.
Unfortunately, during the pre-internet times, car buyers were on the phone constantly. I spent my entire 20’s and 30’s connected to a cellphone and a pricing guide (Black Book for me). I was a phone warrior and a road warrior.
But then, I left the car business, and left the constant phone work behind. In fact, still to this day, I often don’t touch my iPhone throughout the day. Part of me is still repelled from heavy phone work as a throwback punishment to my youth.
These days, there are soooo many ways to get or stay in touch with someone. Email, Slack, Discord, Text, a private message on one of the gagillion social media platforms available, and on, and on the list goes.
But do you know what hasn’t changed since the 90’S?
People Still Need To Do Business
- Doors need to be opened
- Deals have to be closed
- Product needs to be shipped
- Returns need to happen
And on and on the business cycle goes. But which channel do many, if not most, people pursue in order to perform these business functions? They choose the most crowded channel possible.
“I’ll send so and so a cold email, that’ll get their attention”, says a person who is delusional about how crowded inboxes are. If you are a middle manager and up in today’s email-fueled world, your inbox is probably bulging at its digital seams. In fact, I think I’ve received 100 fresh emails while typing this sentence.
So, how do you break through this resistance? Let’s look to an American poet for the answer..”
“Two roads diverged in a wood and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” Robert Frost
Take the path less traveled, especially if you are trying to sell to someone Generation X and older. All day, every day, many in corporate America type furiously on our keyboards answering emails, Slacks, etc. All the while, our desk phone sits silently on our desks.
So if you are looking to make a new contact, or move some deal forward, or open new opportunities, try today’s least populated communication channel, the telephone.
Pick up the phone and call. Do this all day, every day, like Bud Fox, and outsized returns should follow.