When I first started my sales career, I was a virtual sponge. I was on a mission to learn as much as I could in the shortest possible time.

I looked to the experts for guidance and took their advice as the gospel truth.

One of my hot prospects at the time was a growing construction firm. I was working with Tinsey, a very articulate woman who told me she was making the copier decision for her company.

Shortly after our first meeting, I read a book that said salespeople shouldn't waste their time on the underlings. Instead, they should work directly with the ultimate decision maker - the person who had the power to say "yes" or "no."

That was a real wake-up call. Inadvertantly, I'd been calling at the wrong level. Tinsey was simply the administrative assistant to the CEO. Clearly I needed to take some corrective action - fast.

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If so, please read this post because you can help them.

In the past six months, too many good people I know have lost their jobs. They were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, collateral damage in a struggling economy.To make matters worse, the traditional way of finding a job is seriously broken - and most job seekers don't even know it.

All these proactive strategies are detailed in Get Back to Work Faster, my newest book that'll be out in paperback this Fall. Right now I'm giving it away as a FREE downloadable PDF. Please let your job-seeking friends and colleagues know about this resource. 

If you're like most sellers, silence drives you nuts. When you're talking with a prospective customer and there's a brief lull in the discussion, I bet you jump right in to fill it.

Am I right? Research shows that the average salesperson, after asking a question, waits no more than 2-3 seconds before rephrasing the question, answering it themselves or moving on to another topic. And my experience shows that normal sellers have NO idea that they're doing this.

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... THEN CHECK OUT THESE VIDEOS!

Recently I was invited to New York City by The Customer Collective to be filmed for a new video series, "Access to the Experts." I was joined by Josh Gordon, author of Selling 2.0 and social media expert Richard Nacht.

We were asked tough questions on hot sales topics - and we shared our best stuff. Check out these new FREE video tutorials at: http://tinyurl.com/accesstoexperts

• What's the Secret to Customer Loyalty in a Disloyal World?
  Jill Konrath (Yup! That's me!), author of Selling to Big Companies
  
  In my videos, I share my unconventional ideas on customer loyalty. You'll find out just how much influence you actually have in this area. But more importantly, you'll discover what you can do to became invaluable and irreplaceable - even when times are tough. 

To listen to my three video tutorials on customer loyalty, click here: http://tinyurl.com/accesstoexperts 

• How Can You Jumpstart Your Sales in an Economic Slump?
  Josh Gordon, Internationally-recognized sales guru and author of Selling 2.0
  
  In his most recent study on what works when you're selling in a recession, Josh uncovered some counterintuitive results. Should you avoid negativity? What about your customer's organizational changes? It's an illuminating conversation that helps you make the most of this "strategic time."

• What's the Best Way to Use Social Media Tools to Supercharge Sales? Richard Nacht, CEO of Respond Media and leading social media expert
  
  You'll find out how inexpensive, simple-to-use social media tools can leverage the "tremendous amount of unlocked capital locked within an enterprise." Richard shares how to dramatically improve collaboration within your sales force as well as supercharge your client relationships.

Registration for the "Access to the Experts" web tutorials is absolutely free. Click here to get start learning now: http://tinyurl.com/accesstoexperts