The only thing a salesperson brings to the table is time and knowledge. He either closes sales or doesn't make money or even have a job for very long.
By industry statistics, a well trained salesperson will sell about 20% of the people he waits on in person, eventually. He will sell two or three percent of those he corresponds with on the Internet and the further away the potential customer is the lower the percentage falls.
If your financial well being was dependent on making the sale, would you spend your time on live people or corresponding with what could be simply a lonely person? Cruel but very true. Factually, less than fifty-percent of those who inquire by email will even remember the name of or ask for the person who answered the emails.