A deal had been sitting still for a couple of days. Everyone had sent the emails they were supposed to send. The updates were in the system. The checklist looked fine.

But nothing was moving.

Finally, someone picked up the phone. Five minutes later, the problem was solved.

There wasn't a new document, a new approval, some magic solution hiding in the software... It turned out two people had been making different assumptions and nobody realized it until they actually talked.

It reminded me of something that I so easily forget: technology is great at keeping track of deals. But it (still?) isn't very good at building trust.

I've lost count of how many times one honest conversation accomplished more than twenty perfectly written emails. Maybe that's why, after a lot of years in the business, I still believe this business is built on relationships first and transactions second.

(Has one phone call ever changed the outcome of one of your deals?)