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As long ago as Ovid expressed those words, they certainly ring true with anyone whose living depends on being a sales professional in 2009. If he was still around, Ovid would be pleased to know that his words were being read and taken to heart. These are indeed difficult times. But, along with Ovid's insights there are two key points for you to remember: Companies - unless they've thrown in the towel, shuttered up and closed down - still have a need for your product or service if they want to remain in business! While your prospects may not think they need to buy from you, as a sales professional you know that it's your job to show prospects why they need your products or services to help grow their business or to cut costs - two critical objectives for any company operating in today's challenging economic environment.Here are some ideas that will help you to be one of those still standing at the end of this economic cycle: One approach is to review the market segments you're selling to. If you haven't done this for some time, it's a good idea to identify segments you may have previously overlooked or have not sold to because they may have been too small or simply weren't a fit. Remember that markets' and companies' needs change – sometimes overnight - so you need to be sure you're not missing out on sales opportunities. Now is a good time for you to analyze and segment your markets; you may identify an untapped possibility to fuel your sales. There's a wealth of available information for you to do that on the Web or, if your firm has a marketing department, they'll be able to help you, too. If you've not done so for a year, take a hard look of what you're doing in the way of value-added activities to retain and grow business from your current accounts. To be truly "value-added," is to think outside the box and go beyond the dinner gift certificates or tickets to the ball game that you'd typically provide a customer. When talking to your accounts, request specific information by using statements like, "Tell me about some of the challenges you're facing." What you hear may not have anything to do with your product or service but will open up a flood of ideas where you can step in to help. For example, a sales professional we know sells for a medical equipment manufacturer. He calls on surgeons and heard from virtually all of the doctors he spoke with that their office staffs were dealing with a lot of stress. As a remedy, he identified sources for low cost stress relief seminars for the doctors' staffs to attend. The result: the surgeons' staffs' stress levels went down and the sales professional's "rep" with the surgeons went way up. He says he ended up with more business because of the referrals the surgeons readily provided. Taking steps like these will help make you an enduring A Player. Jim Kasper is the Founder and President of Interactive
Resource Group. Mr. Kasper has over 26 years of practical experience in
direct sales, sales management, sales training, and marketing. Contact
him at www.salestrainers.com or call 800-891-7355
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