Salespeople -- Those Inactive Accounts Probably Miss You!

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

That’s what the old saying tells us, right?

Yet, why doesn’t the wisdom of this expression enter our minds when we think of calling our inactive accounts?

For instance, yesterday was my chance to test this notion, and I did it by phoning someone with whom I haven’t spoken in at least a year.

And by rights, I suppose I should have been reluctant to make contact, because our prior interaction was one in which I declined his offer to do business on the ground that I couldn’t make a decent profit from it.

Anyway, I got on the phone, and when he answered I didn’t expect him to be glad I called. As it happened, I was glad to hear his voice!

I missed speaking with him because he’s an upbeat guy, and has a pretty good sense of humor.

So, we had a very positive, five minute chat, caught up on things, and now I know I can call him in the future and we’ve set the stage for doing each other some good.

By the way, I think he was happy to hear from me, after all.

So, before you start dreading that stack of inactive accounts, change your attitude.

You’ll be glad you did!

Dr. Gary S. Goodman, President of www.Customersatisfaction.com, is a popular keynote speaker, management consultant, and seminar leader and the best-selling author of 12 books, including Reach Out & Sell Someone®, You Can Sell Anything By Telephone! and Monitoring, Measuring & Managing Customer Service, and the audio program, “The Law of Large Numbers: How To Make Success Inevitable,” published by Nightingale-Conant. He is a frequent guest on radio and television, worldwide. A Ph.D. from USC's Annenberg School, a Loyola lawyer, and an MBA from the Peter F. Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University, Gary offers programs through UCLA Extension and numerous universities, trade associations, and other organizations in the United States and abroad. He holds the rank of Shodan, 1st Degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate. He is headquartered in Glendale, California, and he can be reached at (818) 243-7338 or at: gary@customersatisfaction.com