Instead of defaulting to one method, sellers should strategically choose the communication channel (phone, video, in-person) that offers the highest probability of success for the lowest investment of time, energy, and money for any given situation.

Field reps often waste time on a 'milk route,' making repeated physical visits to existing customers for small, routine reorders. These interactions should be shifted to virtual channels (e.g., calls, email, Zoom) to free up time for high-value prospecting and expansion opportunities.

Many field sales teams attribute their 2021-2022 success solely to market factors, ignoring the massive efficiency gains from being forced to use virtual tools. By reverting to pre-pandemic habits of excessive driving, they've abandoned these proven processes and are now underperforming.

Frame in-person prospect visits as a finite resource. By allocating a limited number of 'poker chips' for drop-ins each month, field sales reps are forced to qualify leads more rigorously and use virtual tools for less critical interactions, combatting inefficient territory management.

The convenience of virtual tools has created a negative side effect: long-cycle enterprise sellers have developed bad habits. They are skipping deep pre-call planning and discovery, treating complex, relationship-driven sales as simple transactions conducted at arm's length, which ultimately harms results.

Carles Reina gets worried when his sales team spends multiple days in the office. He believes effective salespeople must be on the road, meeting customers face-to-face. An office-bound sales team is a sign they aren't engaging with the market enough, even in a remote-first culture.

Sales is the ultimate human profession in the age of AI, but only if salespeople engage in real-time, synchronous conversations (phone, video, in-person). Relying on asynchronous methods like email is abdicating the human advantage to robots, which can perform those tasks better.

Relying only on slow, relationship-based prospecting when the pipeline is empty is a mistake. High-performing sales organizations balance immediate, high-velocity outreach (fast prospecting) with long-term content and network building (slow prospecting). The intersection of these two simultaneous activities is where earning potential explodes.

Whether it's older sellers who only work in-person or younger sellers who only use digital channels, becoming "single siloed" is a mistake. To maximize success and income, salespeople must become proficient across all communication methods, from phone calls to emails to face-to-face meetings.