John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. Mr. Graham is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and of 203 Ways to Be Supremely Successful in the New World of Selling. He can be contacted at 40 Oval Rd., Quincy, MA 02170, (617) 328-0069, fax (617) 471-1504, e-mail [email protected], or visit www.grahamcomm.com.

Follow this six-step program to keep ahead of the pack.
The idea of 'value-added' is changing. The term has become so overused that it's now of little value to most customers. So-called value-added resellers stay in business by discounting, rather than adding anything significant to their products. In service businesses, value-added usually means a few bells and whistles rather than extraordinary service.

Selling today is filled with contradictions. E-mail enhances our connectivity, but the number of E-mail messages is often so overwhelming that they go unanswered. Voice mail brings us together, but voice mailboxes are often clogged.

Knowing what customers expect may be the most important key to successful selling. While every customer is interested in getting an appropriate price, many salespeople seem to think that price is the primary issue. As a result, they lead with price and seem to base most of their sales presentation on cost issues.

According to popular mythology, most Americans would rather die than give a speech. Whatever the actual statistics, the idea of standing in front of an audience is avoided at all cost.
Since the fear of speaking in public is so deep, most of us should be understanding of those who put themselves to the test and make presentations. Actually, just the opposite prevails: While we'll do just about anything to avoid a podium, we're more than willing to criticize those who don't.

Now is the season to be on the lookout for the thieves. In rocky economic times, they come out to prey on companies eager to hold on to current customers and find new ones, introduce new products and services, or simply increase their market share.