Pulling Out of a Sales Slump Have your sales taken a nose-dive? Wake up and sell your way back to the top with these four tips.

There isn't a salesperson alive who hasn't experienced asales slump. It could be because of an economic downturn or becausethe competition has a new product. It could be due to personalchallenges or lack of motivation. It can even happen when thingsare going well, and you feel you can "coast" for a while.The problem is, you can't coast uphill.

Barring catastrophic events, you don't dive into a slump. Itcreeps up on you until you start to realize that things haven'tbeen going well. Don't wait to start your ascent; the longeryou wait, the more difficult the climb will be.

Here are four steps to follow if you find yourself in aslump:

1. Call on your satisfied customers. These are the peopleyou know best; presumably, they're the ones with whom you havethe best personal relationships. Look for additional ways tosatisfy their needs or new needs you can meet. Ask about theircustomers and potential customers, and find ways to help them reachtheir targets. Learn about their new problems and challenges, andcome back to them with fresh solutions.

2. Concentrate on bread-and-butter accounts. Differentaccounts have different sales cycles. Some may take a week, a monthor two years. Sometimes, you get so caught up with landing the bigone that you forget about little accounts with shorter sales cyclesthat can bring in money now. There are times when you have tosacrifice immediate income for something that will pay off overtime. In business, you have to look ahead and think long-term. Butyou also have to take care of day-to-day responsibilities. It'simportant to keep those factors balanced; don't get so focusedon one that you lose sight of the other.

3. Stay on top of business and world news, and always keep inmind how events of the day might affect your customers. Whenwas the last time you broadened your reading habits? Look forsources that will give you new ideas on how to fine-tune youractivities and target your customers more efficiently. Readmaterials that will help you speak to your customers in theirbusiness language. Learn more about how other people grew theirbusinesses. You never know what you might learn from their failuresand successes.

4. Be selective about the company you keep. If everyonearound you is in a slump as well, you'll drag each other down.Surround yourself with people who are excited about what they do.Ride on their momentum until you can build enough of your own.

Be selective about your customers. It may seem like you want tokeep every customer when you're in a slump, but there are timeswhen you get so desperate that you spend all your time trying tomake a match where one doesn't exist. So if an opportunitydoesn't meet your expectations, move on.

In the end, it's the movement that counts. The best way toget out of a slump is to keep moving forward. Remember: See thepeople, sell the people, serve the people. Make more calls, set upmore meetings. Don't let a temporary slump turn into a slipperyslope. If you keep your activity levels high, you'll be at thetop of your game again before you know it.