Upon reflection, I've noticed that people are looking for some secret formula, some "new" way of magically getting more business, some way of accessing their clients in this new and dynamic marketplace. So here then is the new secret: research.

Too simplistic you say? In order to sell at a higher level, to separate yourself from the pack, you must employ tactics that get you more and better information on the buying behavior of your customer. Armed with this new incisive, time-sensitive information, you can change your selling strategies to meet the needs of your client's spending habits NOW, and help to create new patterns of buying behavior.

For example, there are two recent research pieces I looked at recently. One was by the Luxury Marketing Council, which interviewed 405 companies in New York and Boston. One of the more startling findings was the high number of companies that are cutting expenses. Fifty-two percent of the companies cut advertising and marketing expenses. And the future looks even bleaker as the same group predicts a 69 percent reduction in marketing expenses for the upcoming year.

Next, I looked at a report from arguably the most credible researcher in the luxury market, Pam Danziger of Unity Marketing. Pam conducted a series of focus groups (or discussion groups) with highly-engaged luxury shoppers in Beverly Hills -- ground zero for the conspicuous consumption lifestyle -- followed by an in-depth nationwide survey among 1,041 affluent consumers. Her report, titled "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" offers even more enlightenment into the mindset of the luxury buyer now:

The Good -- A great many consumers feel that NOW is "a great time to get more for less."

The Bad -- The recession has brought widespread changes in peoples' willingness to spend and even in their willingness to display what they have spent.

The Ugly -- Once the recession is over, the luxury market will be the same, so you need to know NOW where it is going before it gets ahead of your strategies.

As a consultant, I automatically think of ways to help clients who cut the expense of attracting clients through marketing. Knowing this kind of information about how my clients are thinking gives me a distinct planning and selling advantage. If you are a retailer, what was your first thought in capturing more market share when you heard the findings of "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly?" The key here is that we must use sophisticated, real-time target market research to create strategic plans for our drastically changed markets. We must embrace the change and step in front of it. We must embrace the change.

Next, we must train our people to exemplify these new behaviors, reframe your marketing plan, be lean, but highly informed and effective in order to capture the imagination and pocketbook of ever fewer elite, highly informed customers.

But it all begins with research and our ability to be ahead of the market adjustments -- to lead the change, to be the change, to be past relevant, and to be wanted for the change you represent.

1)To protect their family and potential income
2)For unforeseen disability or problems
3)To control the flow of business
4)To reduce anxiety
5)To better use their time

These comments only serve to confirm the idea that salespeople will not survive an economic slowdown by simply hoping that you sell more or that your current customer base buys more. Account planning, territory planning, and pre-call planning are the keys to efficient selling in a down economy.

And here's the silver lining: If you are planning properly, you can reduce the number of calls you make. A well-kept secret is that in tough times, if we focus on the top 20 percent of our client base, our potential success increases dramatically.

I insert this quote, from entrepreneurial guru James Arthur Ray, at the bottom of my e-mails. While only a few ever comment on the quote, I get lots of comments on the economy. Every day, I hear excuses and complaints from people, about the government, their jobs, and on and on. Which leads me to a potentially flammable statement -- nothing has changed in our economy across the board.

Sure, it has changed in specific segments. But the trouble is we tend to view and talk about the economy in totality. Negatives found in the media and those that come from our close friends largely overlook the positives. Yes, times are tougher, but at some level, we have always had problems in certain industries.

During these so-called tough times, don't we all know people that are also showing record-breaking success? I just got off the phone with a friend in the title insurance business. Her business has doubled with the number of refinances on existing homes. Clearly, she was affected by the economy negatively and she was equally affected by the positive shift to the refinance market. Now, she could continue to go after the "normal" mortgage business or she could switch drastically and devote the majority of her time on the refinance market.

In my business, I have switched to more Internet training as well as publicly promoted seminars. What change in direction do you need to make, and how can you become quickly disciplined in that new endeavor?

Historically, many companies experience a dip in sales performance from November 24th to December 24th -- unless of course you are in retail. But what are the other times that sales volumes suffer? My experience in selling to major businesses is that the following time lines are affected: the first week or two of January (holiday restart),
July through August (vacations), October (in election years), and of course, November 24th through December 26th.

What is the selling cycle of your business? Have you prepared your team to sell more before it? Or do you fight to sell during those "off" times of year.

As times change, however, I wonder how Indy would do in a job outside the confines of archeology? Say, sales for instance. How would our hero fair with the sometimes lonely, always changing, often challenging world of sales. I think not so well. In this case, my vote would have to change. We would need a new hero, and I vote for Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. Bourne combines all the elements needed in a tough selling environment:

He's an excellent fighter -- good for those buyers who won't sign the deal! He's in great physical shape -- able to run from office to office. He's resourceful -- whether making bombs out of toasters or selling value in the face of price concerns. And the big one -- Bourne was smarter than Indy under fire, and in today's market smart wins!

But here's the main point: With sales being of such obvious importance, you'd think more companies would budget to make sales a priority. Sadly, most budgets include line items for almost everything except sales improvement.

Here are some of my other suggestions for hiring:

' Pass on experience and look for people who show some element of emotional intelligence and personal magnetism.

' Interview each person at least three times before you send them to another team member.

' Prepare questions that take the applicant past normal responses. Get them to solve a sample problem, ask about the last book they read, or ask how their performance has been measured in the past.

' Finally, interview before one of your positions is open. Nothing hurts hiring like the rush to fill the position.

Not only do I know women sell better but I further believe that companies would do well to have women sales trainers. This is an issue that was raised by a blog reader – Janet O'Conner at OC Creative. I could only answer her with the idea that many companies seem stuck in the past; they would do well to embrace the idea of women sales trainers. It follows a natural path. I got my start in training because I excelled in sales.

With the growth of women in sales, I am sure women trainers will become a big part of the sales culture. And before I forget … if you have a favorite example of a successful person in sales, male or female, please tell me. I would love to hear more.

This team has been prepared and coached brilliantly by former Los Angeles Laker Byron Scott. Not only do they play strategically and match the Spurs key plays but they play with the attitude of real winners. Selling in today's market is no different. As sales professionals, we must evaluate our competition. The big play here is that we are our biggest competition. We have an average of 50,000 thoughts a day and on average 90% of those thoughts are negative. The point is that no one talks to us more than we talk to ourselves. So it's critical that we improve our internal dialogue. To really target the competition, it's imperative that we prepare positive statements we can use to replace those negative influences.

Go Hornets!

For those who underperform, get them to write an action plan detailing how they will turn things around. Give them 90 days to fix the problem -- with your help -- but at the end of 90 days, changes have to be made. Many companies allow underachievers to stay too long, which sends the wrong message to the rest of the team. It clearly states, It's okay to fail here. You won't lose your job.

Here are some areas to evaluate:

'Which sales reps are meeting their projections?
'What level of esteem is exhibited by the sales reps?
'How do they work with the rest of the sales team?
'How do they work with other departments?
'Do they prepare for their sales calls?
'How do top-level clients regard the reps?
'How do the sales reps regard the rest of your company?
'And the big question: Do they repeat their mistakes?

Naturally, women don't sell better in all cases. But many reports show women emerging as the fastest growing segment in sales. And there are some very good reasons why I believe woman are better suited for selling. Among them:

o In their personal lives and in business they tend to create relationships better.
o They tend to sell based on personal input and business input rather than just business.
o They listen.
o They don't have a sales history that they are tied to, so "new" works for them.
o In many areas, women who are good in sales are still enough of a rarity to create a buzz.

I'm not suggesting that this is earth shaking news. But here's the thing: As a sales teacher, I continually run into companies that continue to operate with male-dominated sales teams. While the excuses vary from, "It's always been that way," to "Well, it's a man's product, so '," the truth is and the research supports this fact: Women are great in sales, and they are a growing force in sales.

We sell everywhere. We sell to the receptionist, we sell to the sales assistant, we sell all the time. And our thought process should be that we should be prepared to sell all the time. The key for most breakthrough sales people is "proximity." Proximity allows you to be around people who either buy your product, recommend you to others who buy your product, or give you information that later helps sell your product.

Here's the secret: We have to make sure that we sell in close proximity to us at all times. Those sales lead us to more obvious sales. If you want to have record-breaking success, sell consciously all the time. Get ready and stay ready to sell!

Have you ever watched a fly beat it's wings against a window in a flight for freedom? Only to find that 10 seconds of effortless flight would have produced an open door and total success? Attempting to succeed by working harder and doing more of the same, simply leads to burnout on the windowsill.

Avoid the trap of doing what is familiar. Avoid doing what everyone else is doing. For example, prospect by using Six Degrees of Separation. Make use of tone in every phone conversation and become expert at one item that you sell. People will give you credit for having that same level of knowledge on other products. The secret to working smarter has always been observation. What have you paid attention to that will make your efforts smarter?

So, here we go, seven secrets … your best performance is waiting!

Here's the first: Learn from the Experience Around You

Start smart. I have often been told, There are only two ways to learn – from the people you meet and from the books you read. If that is true, it means that our first bit of selling education can come from the sales professionals we meet. Never miss an opportunity to ask a great sales professional how they became great -- whether they are inside or outside of your company. Now brace yourself, because here's where the lesson typically breaks down: The key is, you have to do exactly as they do. Most people hear advice and then decide what part of the advice fits them. If a sales superstar tells you a secret, do it to the letter. If it's the pen they write with, get that pen. If it's the number of calls, make the same number. The secret is to do exactly what they do and not change it to fit your system.

Even if you disagree with the concepts of The Law of Attraction or The Secret, sales careers have many times been made or broken based on one's ability to focus. Authors Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale were the first I read to understand that "we become what we think about the most." In selling, we must think of success and how we can get there rather than entertaining any thoughts of failure. Is it fair to assume that if you have a negative thought before you make a sales call that the negative thought can affect your body language or your confidence? Yes, it can, and it will. Consequently, we must attract business through positive thoughts, preparation, and actions. Here's an example:

Prepare your week before it starts -- or Don't Watch 60 Minutes. Rather than watching 60 Minutes or any other television program, sit down and prepare your entire week. Write down every client you plan to see that week and the day you plan to see him or her. To the left of their names write down how much money each client is worth if you close them. Then, to the right of their names, write down how you help them. The money you can earn gives you incentive. The idea that you help them will give you confidence. By preparing the entire week before it starts, this allows you to use your subconscious mind to think, attract, and become aware of things to help you reach your goal.

Lou Holtz said, "If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven't done anything today."

Bobby Knight said, "The key is not the will to win … everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important."

Earl Weaver said, "The key step for an infielder is the first one, but before the ball is hit.

Tommy Lasorda said, "Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it's because you've started to think of failure."

So, what do you say to motivate your team? And are you aware of what people receive from working for you? Long gone are the days when it was considered productive to "rough up" and threaten a sales team. One thing is certain in today's market: Most anyone on your team can go online and find another job. The issue is not "we need them" or "they need us," it's "what can we do together?"

Things have changed and so should we. The biggest motivator I have found in the area of creating change and increasing revenue is what I call Vision Building. As managers, we must help the team members set a new vision for where they want to go. Help them see that they can have more, share more, and generally do more in life. And they can use their success on the job as the path.

You should routinely sit with your team and explore what they want out of life – then help them get there. Most leaders have a vision of where we want to go in life and what we want to happen. Surprisingly, many of our sales team members don't. Part of our job is to help them and in doing so we improve our own chances for success. Start with a very basic private meeting with each person on the team. Let them know that you are going to be very open with them and share your vision with them. Next, ask them to be open with you and to share what they would like to have. What you may hear are things like, a new home, a better car, a kid's college education, or even help with a parent. Now, let's take those "needs" and tie them to revenue goals.

From that point forward, each meeting should target the sales rep's vision tied to the revenue goal the company needs. For example, it's not bringing in the Johnson account – it's now the down payment on the rep's dream home. People come to work for very personal reasons, and the more we help them get there, the more revenue they bring in. Let's coach them toward their vision and win our revenue goals in the process.

Knowing you: Sales people who want to improve their mediocre performance must begin by understanding themselves. What takes them up, what takes them down, and more importantly, what do they want most in life?

Knowing the company: And by knowing the company, they must know the people. One of the key areas of team building is knowing and embracing the people around them everyday. When you have people you know and depend on, you sell better. In part because they know they can depend on you so they work harder for you. All of this equals more sales.

Knowing the customer: Author and businessman, Harvey McKay, wrote a list of 64 things you should know about your client to really be effective. Many sales reps only know very basic things about the client. The more you know, the more confident you are, and the more you sell.

Knowing the product: Become an expert on your product. If you are lacking in this area, here is the key. Learn one product at a time. When you become "expert" at one product, you condition yourself to learn other products at the same level of effectiveness.

Set your vision: Set a vision of where you want to go. When anyone has a burning vision of what they want out of life, small set backs remain small. The end result is that very few things get in your way. You don't see the small stuff and your eyes stay attached to where you want to be.

Confidence, in the eyes of your clients, suggests that they can depend on you. It gives them the feeling that you can bring with you the solution to their problem. Years ago, I discovered that people buy from you in direct proportion to how your product or service helps them. You cannot convey, "help" without confidence.

Face it, as a company, you can handle most problems, but if sales stop, everything stops. In short, your entire company should be a selling organization. The goal shouldn't be predicting the market but targeting strategies that will help your company sell better in shorter time frames. There are several strategies we will talk about in the future but today let's focus on developing business.

First, no more cold calls! They don't give enough of a return, and we typically have the wrong people doing them (the new hires). Instead, let's try Six Degrees of Separation for business. If the world is truly "connected," -- and it is -- why make cold calls when we can find connections to people who can deliver business to us? Instead of calling strangers, let's spend that time targeting two areas: One, who do we know who we've done a good job for? Chances are they are connected to people who would also buy from us. Two, who do we want to do business with? We know someone right now (within six degrees) who can introduce us to potential customers.

By using this strategy, we can shorten the sales cycle. The benefits are many but two stand out: One, your sales team sells with a higher level of esteem. Two, you become much more efficient in your sales effort and increase new business regardless of market conditions.