Well, the President has been “jawboning” the banks to lend to small businesses. Is that really what small businesses need, more debt? Maybe, money is cheap but . . .

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If you’ve been following the posts on this blog, you will recognize the similarity between the comments I have made about the art of networking with the comments made on the sales process. The sales skill ladder has four rungs: Product Base Selling, Solution Based Selling, Consultative Selling and finally Trust Based Selling. As I’ve mentioned with respect to sales, the first three rungs are salesperson oriented. The fourth rung is truly, genuinely, authentically client focused. We have the clients best interest at heart. It’s the same for networking!

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Yesterday, I got on my soapbox concerning networking etiquette and what I believe networking really is all about. And that is building trust and long term relationships. I mentioned that it is a long and difficult process. It is also highly rewarding.

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I’ve managed, somehow, to develop a network of colleagues who will often refer folks to me for many different reasons; potential clients, business owners, and increasingly executives in transition. This economy has become very challenging for everyone.

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Patrick Hardin, in the September 2009 issue of the Harvard Business Review, drew a cartoon showing “the boss” at his desk looking at a partially full glass and saying to his employee (standing there also looking at the glass),

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I remember several company leaders making the statement that “In the long run, there is no long run.” This was said in the context of getting everyone to feel a sense of urgency around making the numbers for the month or quarter.

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In a recent NY Times article, it was announced that Intel Corp. is looking at what to do next since they believe that the PC market is maturing. They are “eying the embedded market” among other things. Seems a bit late to me.

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An Economy Driven Sales Reset

It is my opinion that the present economic situation is best described as a “reset in values” rather than arguing over whether or not it is a “recession” or “depression.” We may well see a generation of people whose values are redefined by their experiences during these times much as we have seen the depression generation’s values.

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