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August 18, 2003  Featured Articles  By Lain Chroust Ehmann
Trimming Travel Costs
According to a recent study by management consulting firm Runzheimer International and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives, 40% of North American businesses have reduced their 2003 travel budgets from last year, mainly for financial reasons.

When your travel budget has been trimmed but you still have customers to visit, hereís how to stretch your dollars.

Lodging: Shop around. Just because you always stay at a certain chain doesnít mean youíre getting the best deal. If you book your own room, always ask for a discount. Itís standard practice for reservations agents to cite the highest rack rate first, and offer corporate rates only when asked. Also, beware of hidden fees like surcharges on phone and modem use. It might be cheaper to use your mobile phone or invest in a wireless Internet service.

Airfare: Book an e-ticket. Requesting a paper ticket can cost you up to $20 a pop. Do the math. Staying an additional day, especially on the weekend, can save you thousands, even if you pay for another dayís hotel and meals.
Wisdom as a Market Differentiator

Salespeople are facing greater commodification of products and services across all industries, even those with complex sales cycles. One of the remaining ways for salespeople to differentiate themselves is through their insights into customersí business problems. Often this means reading between the lines to reach conclusions that customers might not have discovered yet...  Read More.

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When Good Leads Die Young

Why is it that even the best leads ñ the ones you are certain are going to pan out ñ often die unexpectedly? Everything starts out great, then you look away for a moment and when you turn back the life has gone out of it, leaving it floating belly-up at the top of the tank. The reason is that sales leads have a shelf life, says Al Davidson, president of lead generation company and market research firm Strategic Sales and Marketing...  Read More.

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Identifying Resistance

All customer resistance is not created equal, says Craig James, founder and principal of New York-based Sales Solutions. Heís identified four separate types of resistance ñ indifference, skepticism, objection based on misunderstanding, and objection based on a factual drawback ñ each of which is addressed in a slightly different manner...  Read More.


The Do Not Call Registry ñ How It Affects B2B Sales
When the servers and phone lines opened for the advent of the national Do Not Call registry, both channels were immediately flooded with more than a half million individuals signing up in the first four hours. With consumers so intent on stopping sales calls, itís no wonder businesses are concerned about how the new law will affect them.

According to Art Sobczak, president of Business By Phone Inc., B2B salespeople neednít fear. ìThe Do Not Call list does not affect business-to-business calling, and there likely will never be such a restriction,î he says. ìAll businesses rely on sales to survive, and most businesses at some point do some form of outbound call prospecting to establish new relationships and get new business. Any attempt to legislate sales calls to businesses would be met with violent opposition by businesses. Even if it were seriously considered, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to clearly define and police which calls would be allowed and which would not.î

For more information, please click on www.businessbyphone.com.
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