A sales principle about getting physically close to prospects: keep your belly button within six inches of theirs. The idea is that in-person conversations build trust faster than any other method, and trust is what actually closes deals.
Use the belly button rule for sales. There is a wonderful book on sales that talks a lot about doing things over the phone, doing calls, doing in-person. He says that the single best key to success is maximizing the number of times your belly button is 6 inches from somebody else's belly button. Now I know 6 inches could be a little bit too close, but the idea that you should be close to other people, that you should be making yourself known to those individuals, is actually a wonderful idea. Because in-person, high-quality conversations are the fastest way to build trust. And trust is a necessary bridge we need to cross in order to be able to make sales and have economic transactions that can turn into meaningful relationships. Who can you get close to, not just intellectually, but physically?
