Successful sales people spend 50% of their time with existing customers trying to develop selling relationships. These connections produce far more sales than knocking on doors. There are better ways to prospect than cold calling. The biggest handicap to increasing market share is the inordinate amount of time that sales people spend cold calling trying to get into new accounts. This is tough duty. Its tough because there are no relationships to leverage for information and upward introductions. Precious time is wasted calling or pounding doors to leave advertisements to generate interest. Sales people cost too much to do that. They should not be used as an advertising arm of marketing. Answering RFPs is another time sink and waste of valuable selling time unless you have relationships with people that count for that project. If you havent been involved in the development of the RFP and you havent gotten to the P/L leader to understand the business issues, you dont know how to present your solution so that you stand out as more valuable than the rest. Even if you submit the lowest price, you may not win over the ultimate decision maker because price is usually not his issue even though everyone always says it is. Im in sales. I sell my consulting, my books and my training programs. My focus is on my existing customers. 90% of my time is spent with existing customers trying to develop selling relationships - meaning - learning, observing, interviewing, integrating and showing how I can deliver their results. I use and develop my network. As for new accounts, Ive hired a marketing company to generate qualified leads. Once theyve got a prospect to a point where I can interview an interested leader, Ill invest to see if I can fit into his solution image. I dont chase windmills. Unless I have an opportunity to develop a relationship -- credibility with someone on the inside -- I will let it pass. I invest my valued asset, time, to develop my valued asset: relationships. Relationship selling is how I can make the most sales. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com Bonus Tip: FREE E-Book "Getting Past Gatekeepers and Handling Blockers". Just click this C-Level Relationship Selling Link http://www.takemetoyourleaders.com/Antion/Ebookfreesignup1.htm Sam Manfer makes it easy for any sales person to be effective and feel comfortable connecting with and relationship selling C-Level leaders