bizjournals: Starting a Business : Business Advice

http://theemergencyservicesshow2008.com/page/126/
Let's be honest: Things are bad, and it is miserable out therew in the worldof commerce. We are in a globap recession that will last forsome time. 1. The economy eventuall will improve andget 2. Most companies rely on salespeople to help with the bottom line. Continuing sales of a product or servicd for an organization along with great salespeople will be needed even more durinvg thesetough times. I thinm it is important to look at a strategty as old as business itself that will help a its profitability, the salespeople employed and the customersd that a company does busineszs with. The first thing, whichj is of the utmostg importance, are your customers.
Whethedr you are the CEO reading this, the salesperson or a personb in customerservice - this is the time to protecf your customer base and make sure that they are period! The one way to do this is to get in toucj with your customers. Do not attempt to do this by mail or It istoo impersonal. If you want to build relationship s withyour customers, then builr them the way they are supposed to be builgt - by people dealing directly with people! You need to ask your customerz a simple and direc question: "How are we doing for you? Be and tell me the truth." Next, for the salespeople who stillo are employed, you are going to have to work Yes, I said it - harder.
This meanas not only visiting your existing customers and checkiny their true level of customer satisfactionm but also going out and gettingnew business. Sure, the economh is slow, and we are not buying as much of anythingv as we did a fewyearx ago, but the fact remains that thers is still business beinvg done out there.