This is targeted to sales, small business owners and entrepreneurs:
The best way to counter the economy's funk is to create your own oasis of good news: with a sale. This week, you need to add five hours of "money-seeking" time to your schedule. If you sell a service, go back to some old clients and talk about new value-oriented products you've just launched. If you have a product with some recent improvements, suck it up and make five cold calls a day this week.
I'm not talking about marketing or PR, either. I'm talking about phone or face-to-face "can I write you up for a sale" pitch and close. For many, it's a bit of a shock to the system — especially if you've been more reactive in nature over the last few years.
In my case, I'm reconnecting with meeting planners or bureau agents from years gone by, sharing my new speaking topic (Creating Great Relationships During Tough Times) with them. I'm also listening to them, understanding what they are going through, and seeing if there's anything I can do to help. This strategy works, too. In each week I've invested five incremental hours in sales, a 2009 revenue opportunity was created. Sure, most people are tight with money right now. But if you've created a recession-friendly product or service, you can find someone with cash to spend and a need to solve.
Welcome to the new sales driven world of small business success! (PS – What else were you going to do with that five hours, graze around the net or office?)
