I cracked the cover on my latest Harvard Business Review and read the article, In a Downturn, Provoke Your Customers. Being a sales methodology student of many top solution selling programs, I loved this article's perspective on a fresh approach to selling in a recession, provocation-based selling. I know that while "we have no budget" often means, "I could find it if I really wanted to or if I had the authority to", this article gave some very practical ways to approach prospective customers in a new way. I do offer a solution to a problem many sales leaders don't know they have. That is what our clients are discovering over and over. This HBR article gave me a strategy to put behind what I am learning through experience.

I am sharing it here in the hopes it may give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace. I am putting my plan into action ASAP and promise to report back here on how it's working. If you try it, please share your experiences, also. It's a new world out there - maybe a new approach to helping our customers is just what's needed. Hmmm....