They don’t understand how powerful just one newly-made friendship can be for your business. Or, worse, they are too lazy to invest in their business outside of the 9-5 workweek.

Well, welcome to the real world. In the real world, you make more friends and do more business outside of work than you do within it. Because sales is a people business, every sale begins with a relationship. You can not build a relationship by being a strange voice on the other end of a cold call. You make sales relationships in the same places you make real friendships.

So take yourself to a ballgame and see how many people you know or can get to know.

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of spending some time in Charlotte, North Carolina training with the great Jeffrey Gitomer, author of The Little Red Book of Selling. As our time together came to a close, I had one last question for Jeffrey.

I asked him, “If you were just starting out in the sales training business, knowing what you know now, what advice would you give yourself? After thinking a moment, Jeffrey answered confidently, “Spend your time getting in front of people who can say ‘yes’ to you.”

Seems simple, but for some reason, many salespeople don’t understand this basic principle. Some salespeople will actually pass on a great networking function because they can’t afford to lose “time out of the field.”

Well, friends, the profession of sales is nothing more than a people business. Getting known in your market is what success in sales is all about. Stop wasting so much time “in the field” and use that time to get in front of people. Invest time getting to know people, getting to be known by people, and building relationship with more people than your competition. The more people you know and who know you, the more sales you make.

How much of your time, in any given week, are you investing in front of people? Fifty percent? Seventy-five percent? Have you ever really sat down and thought about it? How many new people do you meet each week? How many of these people have the ability to say “yes” to you?

Instead of seeking out opportunities to put yourself in front of people, you spend your time filling out reports, sitting in meetings, walking into cold lobbies and talking to cold receptionists.

Take a new approach with your business. Spend your time getting in front of the people who have the ability to say ‘yes’ to you. I’ll let you in on a little secret: these people do not spend their days and nights locked in their office waiting for you to infiltrate their well-guarded lair. They are out in the community attending the same type of events that you haven’t had the brains to attend.

The people who can say “yes” to you go to the baseball games, they go to hear the symphony, they have health club memberships, they are members of the Chamber, they attend business workshops, they participate in charity functions, and they belong to the Rotary. Wasting your time “in the field” means that you are missing great opportunities that would make your job of getting known a heck of a lot easier.

Salespeople don’t attend these types of networking events because they don’t realize how valuable the opportunity is. They don’t understand how powerful just one newly-made friendship can be for your business. Or, worse, they are too lazy to invest in their business outside of the 9-5 workweek.

Well, welcome to the real world. In the real world, you make more friends and do more business outside of work than you do within it. Because sales is a people business, every sale begins with a relationship. You can not build a relationship by being a strange voice on the other end of a cold call. You make sales relationships in the same places you make real friendships.

So take yourself to a ballgame and see how many people you know or can get to know.

a great networking function because they can’t afford to lose “time out of the field.”

Well, friends, the profession of sales is nothing more than a people business. Getting known in your market is what success in sales is all about. Stop wasting so much time “in the field” and use that time to get in front of people. Invest time getting to know people, getting to be known by people, and building relationship with more people than your competition. The more people you know and who know you, the more sales you make.

How much of your time, in any given week, are you investing in front of people? Fifty percent? Seventy-five percent? Have you ever really sat down and thought about it? How many new people do you meet each week? How many of these people have the ability to say “yes” to you?

Instead of seeking out opportunities to put yourself in front of people, you spend your time filling out reports, sitting in meetings, walking into cold lobbies and talking to cold receptionists.

Take a new approach with your business. Spend your time getting in front of the people who have the ability to say ‘yes’ to you. I’ll let you in on a little secret: these people do not spend their days and nights locked in their office waiting for you to infiltrate their well-guarded lair. They are out in the community attending the same type of events that you haven’t had the brains to attend.

The people who can say “yes” to you go to the baseball games, they go to hear the symphony, they have health club memberships, they are members of the Chamber, they attend business workshops, they participate in charity functions, and they belong to the Rotary. Wasting your time “in the field” means that you are missing great opportunities that would make your job of getting known a heck of a lot easier.

Salespeople don’t attend these types of networking events because they don’t realize how valuable the opportunity is. They don’t understand how powerful just one newly-made friendship can be for your business. Or, worse, they are too lazy to invest in their business outside of the 9-5 workweek.

Well, welcome to the real world. In the real world, you make more friends and do more business outside of work than you do within it. Because sales is a people business, every sale begins with a relationship. You can not build a relationship by being a strange voice on the other end of a cold call. You make sales relationships in the same places you make real friendships.

So take yourself to a ballgame and see how many people you know or can get to know.

? Have you ever really sat down and thought about it? How many new people do you meet each week? How many of these people have the ability to say “yes” to you?

Instead of seeking out opportunities to put yourself in front of people, you spend your time filling out reports, sitting in meetings, walking into cold lobbies and talking to cold receptionists.

Take a new approach with your business. Spend your time getting in front of the people who have the ability to say ‘yes’ to you. I’ll let you in on a little secret: these people do not spend their days and nights locked in their office waiting for you to infiltrate their well-guarded lair. They are out in the community attending the same type of events that you haven’t had the brains to attend.

The people who can say “yes” to you go to the baseball games, they go to hear the symphony, they have health club memberships, they are members of the Chamber, they attend business workshops, they participate in charity functions, and they belong to the Rotary. Wasting your time “in the field” means that you are missing great opportunities that would make your job of getting known a heck of a lot easier.

Salespeople don’t attend these types of networking events because they don’t realize how valuable the opportunity is. They don’t understand how powerful just one newly-made friendship can be for your business. Or, worse, they are too lazy to invest in their business outside of the 9-5 workweek.

Well, welcome to the real world. In the real world, you make more friends and do more business outside of work than you do within it. Because sales is a people business, every sale begins with a relationship. You can not build a relationship by being a strange voice on the other end of a cold call. You make sales relationships in the same places you make real friendships.

So take yourself to a ballgame and see how many people you know or can get to know.

ed lair. They are out in the community attending the same type of events that you haven’t had the brains to attend.

The people who can say “yes” to you go to the baseball games, they go to hear the symphony, they have health club memberships, they are members of the Chamber, they attend business workshops, they participate in charity functions, and they belong to the Rotary. Wasting your time “in the field” means that you are missing great opportunities that would make your job of getting known a heck of a lot easier.

Salespeople don’t attend these types of networking events because they don’t realize how valuable the opportunity is. They don’t understand how powerful just one newly-made friendship can be for your business. Or, worse, they are too lazy to invest in their business outside of the 9-5 workweek.

Well, welcome to the real world. In the real world, you make more friends and do more business outside of work than you do within it. Because sales is a people business, every sale begins with a relationship. You can not build a relationship by being a strange voice on the other end of a cold call. You make sales relationships in the same places you make real friendships.

So take yourself to a ballgame and see how many people you know or can get to know.

They don’t understand how powerful just one newly-made friendship can be for your business. Or, worse, they are too lazy to invest in their business outside of the 9-5 workweek.

Well, welcome to the real world. In the real world, you make more friends and do more business outside of work than you do within it. Because sales is a people business, every sale begins with a relationship. You can not build a relationship by being a strange voice on the other end of a cold call. You make sales relationships in the same places you make real friendships.

So take yourself to a ballgame and see how many people you know or can get to know. Take your wife to the symphony and do the same. In fact, take yourself to any event in town where forty or more people are gathered. Just put yourself out there and start mingling. You’ll be surprised at the number of people you meet, and what they can do for your business.