The digital age has revolutionized the way we do business in countless positive ways. First among those may be the ability to connect. If you’ve been around long enough, you remember when you could only make a new connection in one of two ways: by picking up the phone and calling the person, or through a real-life face-to-face meeting.
Today, the task of making a “connection” is much simpler. It may only be as difficult as following someone on Twitter or clicking the “Connect” button on LinkedIn. The rise of digital connectivity has given all of us the ability to build networks of thousands of people without the barrier of geography.
However, anyone who has an expansive network of digital connections knows that many of those relationships aren’t too meaningful. You probably have LinkedIn connections or Facebook friends whom you haven’t spoken with in years, or maybe ever. While it’s good to have those individuals in your network, can you really count on them as an asset to help you substantially grow your business in 2017?
There’s still no substitute for real life, real world, offline connections. Unfortunately, in my role as an executive sales coach and consultant, I meet far too many salespeople and sales leaders who don’t have the skills necessary to develop those person-to-person relationships. They rely on digital connections and, in doing so, don’t nurture the skills to needed for first-person connections. [Read more…]