Don’t Want to Bother You

Posted on October 17, 2025 by directimpact

Have you ever thought to yourself during prospecting, “I don’t want to bother you again.” Well, I have and I usually give a month between each outreach. This thinking may be wrong. The problem is not the number of attempts but the spacing. When I leave a voicemail and wait a month to “give them space” I lose momentum and start from scratch. Jeb Blount says, “The winning sales strategy is persistence with velocity. That means touching base every few days or weekly. When you maintain momentum, prospects remember you. The real failure is letting quality leads die because you are afraid to pick up the phone and risk hearing “No.” I need to decrease my spacing. Every No gets me closer to a Yes.

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Sales Fundamentals

Posted on October 10, 2025 by directimpact
Good afternoon,
I thought I would share a few sales fundamentals. For me, it is not that we don’t know but we need to always be reminded.
Build rapport– The best way to build rapport is to know something about the person on the other side before the call. LinkedIn makes it so easy to build rapport. When you are meeting a new prospect, colleague or customer make sure you do your homework. You will set yourself apart.
 
Discipline– You have to show up every day and do a certain number of activities. Every. Single. Day. Consistently. If you need to work on prospecting, start blocking out an hour each day on your calendar. From the book Atomic Habits- What you want is a “gateway habit” that naturally leads you down a productive path. For example, Doing Prospecting becomes making just 5 calls a day for the first week. This will get you going and you will build up your discipline to do more. Will power can be like a muscle and the more you use it the bigger it gets.
 
Find Your Carrot– The carrot needs to be tangible and specific. This will get you through the grind and negativity than can creep into your mindset. My carrot changes over the course of the year.  Right now, Teri and I are focusing on taking a trip to Hawaii early next year. Keeping a picture of the islands right next my computer.
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Involvement

Posted on October 3, 2025 by directimpact
Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.
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Can you do me a favor?

Posted on September 26, 2025 by directimpact
ust a quick tip to help with prospects that you have had dialog with in the past, but ghosting then rears its ugly head. I don’t recommend this with prospects you have not had communicated with in the past.
I have had success using the Subject Line: Can you do me a favor? It works for psychological reasons. Here’s what AI says, “Unlike subject lines that command immediate action or over-promise, asking for a favor is a human-to-human request that removes pressure and invites a conversation. It respects the recipient’s autonomy by giving them the option to help or pass, which paradoxically makes them more likely to agree.”
Just a thought- Being grateful for what you have today boxes out anxious feelings about tomorrow.
Can you do me a favor? Be grateful!
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Invest the Time

Posted on September 19, 2025 by directimpact
Finally, from Sales Gravy, “The most insatiable human need is the need to feel important and significant. When you demonstrate that you invested even minimal time researching them, you instantly make them feel like they matter.”
Want to know the fastest way to get permanently blocked? Send a message that screams “I know nothing about you or your business.”
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Easily Forgotten

Posted on September 12, 2025 by directimpact
2,977 people died on 9/11 at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Shanksville, PA. On this 24th anniversary, I will never forget this attack on our democracy, the people who died and the way our country came together to protect our freedom.
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Flying Solo

Posted on August 29, 2025 by directimpact
I went solo on a sales call this morning and want to mention a couple things. #1- In my experience, customer support still reigns as the top reason prospects start to look around. Your stellar support needs to be mentioned during every call. Secondly, I feel it is a good practice to send along the Gong/AI notes to the prospect after the call. It shows that you deeply care about listening to their needs and you give the prospect a chance to add anything that may have forgotten about during the call.
Final thoughts- We rise to the level of our training. I need to improve each day because the rent is due each day.
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Good Enough

Posted on August 22, 2025 by directimpact
Good afternoon,
I am excited when companies look to open up new markets! For example, one organization is now exploring the Chamber market and taking market share away from the major player. Their first public exposure to the Chamber market occurred at the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives/ ACCE event in Philly this past July. To respect you people must first notice you; you can’t earn admiration from the sidelines.
The keynote speaker at the ACCE was Steve Lerch, a former Google executive, now speaking on Innovation. He shared how Kodak and the Taxi industries had systems that were just Good Enough. Instagram and Uber destroyed their businesses because they did not change. I feel this is how we will grab a decent share of the chamber market. The current market leader has a system that has been barely good enough and has not changed in a number of years. Chamber Executives were excited to hear about us! These executives were not just looking for a New system, but the Next system. Next in terms of future looking!
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Give People Credit

Posted on August 1, 2025 by directimpact

When somebody shares a good idea with you, share it with your team. Giving them credit really builds everyone’s morale!

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Old Architecture

Posted on July 25, 2025 by directimpact
Hello,
I am in Philly at the ACCE annual conference. We are looking to grab some share of the chamber market. My biggest observation is that Philly has some old architecture and many Chamber prospects are tired of settling for a competitor’s old architecture. If we can work out profitable pricing, we can be a major player in this space.
The most impressive piece of architecture in Philly is their City Hall. Simply amazing! Still the largest municipal building in the country.
Finally, my wife Teri is with me on this trip to help learn more about the chamber market and bring in more business. She wanted me to share this quote from Ben Franklin who moved to Philly when he was 17. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
Thanks,
RJ
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