When you are actively trying to develop business you must be proactive. Sitting back and waiting for the phone to ring does not lead to sales. If you think that the world's most successful sales professionals are simply highly paid "order takers", then you are mistaken.

That does not mean that order takers do not exist, many large companies have large buildings full of people in cubilces answering phones all day long. While they are called "sales", these are not the ones who drive the business.

True sales professionals who work with the largest, most important clients do not sit around awaiting calls. The best of the best are always networking, prospecting, scheduling appointments, following up and developing unique solutions for their customers and future customers. For these people, selling is not part time....they live it.

And the best do not complain. They do not hang out by the water cooler and gossip about what is wrong around their company. They do not blame others when they have a soft quarter. The best reach out to clients, prospects and others in their network no matter if they are busy, tired or cranky (and if they are those things, they never let others know about it).

When I was in sales and did not feel like making calls, I would take twenty pennies and put them on the left side of my desk. Every time I made a call and left a voice mail, I would slide one penny to the other end of the table. If I actually spoke to someone, I would move two pennies. I would not allow myself to leave until all the pennies were on the right side of my desk. This silly exercise usually led to setting appointments, and it is appointments that lead to sales.

So if you need to develop more business, don't expect anyone else to do it for you. To be successful in sales, you need to be talking to people. So get off the internet and reach out to someone.

Thom Singer is the author of "Some Assembly Required: How to Make, Keep and Grow Your Business Relationships" (New Year Publishing, 2005). His book is available at http://www.thomsinger.com

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