We have had tremendous advancement in our industry in the last ten years.  Realtors have more tools at their disposal than ever before.  We have Internet sites, MLS, contact managers, blast e-mails, and blackberries.  These are all great sales tools, but they aren’t the best.  The best sales tool, after all of these changes, is still the phone.  It’s also the tool used most infrequently by the majority of agents for prospecting and lead follow-up. For anyone in sales, there are only four ways to increase production.  Those four are: number of contacts, method of contacts, quality of prospects, and quality of the message.  The phone directly relates to number of contacts and method of contacts. The phone allows a more efficient means of personal contact than other avenues.  Agents need to understand . . . numbers matter in real estate sales!  We are in a full contact sport.  If we make more contacts, we make more money . . . period! The method of contact also matters.  In the last eight to ten years in real estate, agents have been using more mailers and e-mail blasts as their primary form of communication with prospects and clients.  This decision to be less personal has not shown up in the box score of sales, only because the market has been incredible.  Nothing ever remains the same - the market will change.  We must increase the personal contact in our business - the personal contact of the phone and face-to-face appointments. No matter what profession you analyze, there is one primary tool and a large group of secondary tools.  My father was a Dentist for over 30 years.  He had one primary tool and many secondary tools.  The explorers, dental chair, gold, amalgam fillings, drills, polishers, and assistants were all secondary tools.  His primary tool was his hands and the skill they contained. As Realtors, we have laptops, pagers, blackberries, Internet sites, MLS, CMA’s, fax machines, e-mail, and marketing pieces.  These are all secondary tools.  Our primary tool is our words and how they are delivered. The agents and companies that embrace a sales focus will dominate their market.  The agents and companies that decide to take dead aim on sales skill improvement in prospecting, lead follow-up, appointment settings, and client consultation appointments will see growth in revenue and market share. In our technology driven industry, the phone is still the greatest sales tool ever.  It’s natural to hope that any new fangled gizmo will help us avoid the hard work of the phone, but we have lost sight of its importance.