Seven Strategies for Surpassing Sales Stress
Even with the economy ostensibly on the mend, we're well aware this isn't the easiest time to be making a living in sales. But before you go reaching for the Maalox, you may want to peruse the following seven tips from Lou Schachter, co-author of "The Mind of the Customer." As head of the global sales practice at BTS, Schachter helps Fortune 500 clients achieve their desired results through sales training.

1. Tempting as it may be to cut your losses, don't write off every player in an afflicted industry. Opportunity may still be lurking.

2. Now may be a perfect time to revisit prospects who previously wouldn't give you the time of day. Things may be quite a bit different for them today.

3. Forget about your own numbers for a moment and focus on what you can do to boost your customer's revenue.

4. Establish the value of your offerings first—then talk price. Avoid the discounting trap.

5. Now's the time to leverage the rapport you have with your current customers. You may well be able to sell them on products and services they weren't necessarily aware you offered.

6. Your sales managers need to spend more time coaching and less time in the field. Both in terms of directing the action and maintaining morale, it's imperative they embrace a leadership role.

7. Turn your competitors' folly into your gain. If they've been scrimping on product updates and customer support, opportunity may be knocking.

Looking for more great sales strategies? Check out "Win/Loss Analysis: A Proven Program for Winning More Business."

CloudCraze eCommerce Solution Debuts EDL Consulting has announced the launch of its CloudCraze solution, enabling companies to quickly define and configure eCommerce Websites. Once configured, these sites can be deployed instantaneously on the Force.com platform, available to Salesforce customers. Among CloudCraze's features are delegated administration, flexible and extensible UI architecture, promotions and coupon functionality, advanced search and filtering, and built-in CMS capabilities. Looking for more new products and services? Check out "Nexidia Debuts ESP for Call Centers."

Google Reigns Supreme in Satisfaction
According to the most recent American Customer Satisfaction Index, a cross-industry measure of satisfaction with the quality of goods and services available in the U.S., Google still reigns supreme in the search engine and portal industry. For the second year in a row, the company scored 86 on the ACSI's 100-point scale. Its closest competitor, Yahoo!, trailed nine points behind with a 77 score.

Customers' overall satisfaction with portals, search engines, and news and information Websites is up 2.8 percent from last year, to a record high score of 81.5.

For more on the subject of customer satisfaction, check out "Smart Marketing: The Wise Trolls Under the Bridge, Part 1."