Pick Up the Phone and Start Dialing
So many business problems can be solved with one simple behavior: pick up the phone and start dialing.
In the Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) rallies his team with an electrifying speech. He shouts,
So you listen to me and you listen well.
Are you behind on your credit card bills? Good! Pick up the phone and start dialing!
Is your landlord ready to evict you? Good! Pick up the phone and start dialing!
Does your girlfriend think you’re a fucking worthless loser? Good! Pick up the phone and start dialing!
I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich!
“Pick up the phone and start dialing” isn’t just good advice for sleazy stock brokers pushing penny stocks. It’s good advice for anyone. Confront your problems head on: pick up the phone and start dialing.
The pen doesn’t sell
Early on in my career my sales manager used to say, ���The pen doesn’t sell.���
What he meant is you can’t sell a customer with an email, a brochure, or a proposal. The only way you can sell is by talking with them, understanding their needs, and demonstrating you can solve their problems. The pen simply reinforces what you said.
The pen doesn’t solve problems either:
If you receive a customer complaint, pick up the phone.
If you want to do a survey or find out what your customers think, pick up the phone.
If you’re frustrated with someone on your team, pick up the phone.
It doesn’t matter the situation. Don’t waste time with emails and memos. Pick up the phone. Have a conversation. People solve problems when they work together and speak to each other directly.
Phone Fear is real
People avoid the phone like it’s the plague. They’d rather text, email, tap out morse code on a telegraph, send smoke signals ��� whatever it takes to avoid picking up the phone.
Phone Fear runs rampant in the corporate world. I saw this all the time when I hired recruiters in my previous company. The first thing we did with new hires was put them on the phones. We knew if someone resisted making calls or looked for alternative forms of communication, they wouldn’t be successful in our company.
Phone Fear is very real, but it can be overcome. The hardest part is picking up the phone. Once that step is done, the rest will sort itself out.
Talk to people
Jordan Belfort’s call to action motivates the heck out me, because the advice is so true.
Do you want to generate more sales? Good. Pick up the phone and start dialing.
Do you want to improve customer service? Good. Pick up the phone and start dialing.
Do you want to innovate and solve problems? Good. Pick up the phone and starting dialing.
You’re not going to grow your business by yourself. You need people. You need to talk with them, collaborate with them, and work with them. And the fastest way to get that started is to pick up the phone and start dialing.
Here’s a short clip of Jordan Belfort’s speech (note, the language is quite profane):
