When Digital Channels Are Being Ignored, Pick Up the Phone.

There was a time around COVID when calling someone felt outdated. Email was cleaner. LinkedIn was easier. Automated sequences felt scalable. A well-written message could sit in someone’s inbox until they were ready. It felt less intrusive, more modern, more efficient.

That worked for a while... Until AI.

Now everyone's inbox, feeds, and messages are full of AI sales slop. Everyone is “just checking in.” Everyone has “a quick question.” Everyone is using some version of AI research to sound relevant, polished, and almost human.

Buyers can smell it from three emails away. The result is predictable: nothing. They ignore more. They trust less. They respond more slowly and with their own AI slop.

So here we are, somehow back at the most basic idea in business development.

Pick up the phone. It has allowed actual, real-life humans to have a conversation for decades, and it still works.

I get it. As a sales trainer, I know that calling a stranger is scarier than sending an email. For years, it has been the thing amateur salespeople did when they had no better option. Now, you may have no other option...

That does not mean your team should start hammering people with bad cold calls. More noise will not fix the noise problem. A weak phone call is still a weak phone call. It just annoys people faster.

For professional salespeople and experienced rainmakers, the opportunity is different.

A well-placed, well-prepared call can break through because it is human, natural, and allows for honest, real-time feedback. It has tone, timing, and presence. It gives the other person a chance to say, “Now is not a good time,” which is still more useful than firing off another email into the unread void of cyberspace.

Leaders need to see this shift seriously. The old school, hand-to-hand, face-to-face, voice-to-voice sales skills are making a comeback because digital outreach has become too easy and cheap to fake, automate, and scale.

Your Team Is Hiding Behind Digital Communications

This is where we need to be honest. Many team members are busy. They are sending emails, making LinkedIn connections, adding touches to sequences, updating CRM fields, and building lists. Some of that work matters.

Most of it is hiding. Digital activity can create a very convincing illusion of progress. It gives everyone something to report. It makes the pipeline look active. It gives managers numbers to inspect. 

But activity is not the same as courage. It is not the same as skill. It is not the same as a real business conversation.

When a team member avoids the phone entirely, there is usually something underneath it:

• They do not know what to say.
• They are afraid of sounding pushy.
• They do not know how to handle resistance.
• They are worried they will get asked a question they cannot answer.
• They do not believe they have the right to interrupt someone’s day.

That is a sales leadership problem you can solve. You can't do anything about AI, but you can coach your sellers to be more human.

Calling Someone Does Not Mean Selfishly Selling Harder

This is the part that matters most. Picking up the phone does not mean going back to old-school pressure tactics. Nobody needs more “smile and dial” nonsense. Buyers do not want to be cornered. Your team members do not want to act like telemarketers.

A good call should feel calm, clear, and respectful. The goal is to create a real moment of mutual respect, with clear communication, and for both of you to make a qualifying decision about the opportunity to work together.

That might sound like:

• “Hi, this is Haley from Next Level. I know I’m catching you out of the blue, so I’ll be brief. We work with firms that are trying to get their teams more comfortable starting business development conversations without sounding forced. I’m not sure if that is relevant for you, but I thought it was worth a quick call. Would you be willing to take 30 seconds and tell me if there is something here or if I’m off base?”

That is not aggressive. It is direct. It gives the other person control. It also keeps your team member from falling into the trap of overexplaining, overselling, or apologizing for calling.

Equal business stature starts in the first 20 seconds of the call.

Leaders Need to Coach the Call, Not Just Demand the Dial

If you want your team to use the phone, do not just tell them to make more calls. That is lazy management dressed up as accountability.

Coach the behavior. Practice the talk track. Role-play the first 30 seconds. Help them prepare for the moments that create panic.

• What will they say if the person says, “I’m busy”?
• What will they say if the person says, “Send me information”?
• What will they say if the person asks, “What is this regarding?”
• What will they say if they actually get someone interested?

Most teams do not avoid calling out of laziness. They avoid calling because the call exposes every gap in belief, technique, and preparation.

That is exactly why it matters. This is what will separate you from the competition who only emails... 

The Human Conversation Is Becoming the Advantage

AI will keep improving. Automation will keep expanding. Buyers will keep getting flooded with messages that sound decent enough and mean almost nothing.

Your future edge will not come from pretending humans are optional. Your edge will come from building a team that knows how to create trust quickly, communicate clearly, ask better questions, and stay composed when the conversation gets uncomfortable.

That takes practice, coaching, and leaders who stop confusing volume of sales messages with progress.

The inbox is broken. The feed is crowded. The buyer is distracted. Pick up the phone.

Just make sure your team knows what to do when someone answers...