You're watching manufacturers, wholesalers, service agencies, and retail establishments close like flies dying on a window in August. The reason? They can't match the prices of the giant 'wonder stores'. For example, your friends in the travel industry are in pain. So are small bookstores, appliance sales firms, manufacturers, service companies, and others. You may even be contributing to this decline if you use the Internet to purchase books, CDs, airline travel, hotel reservations and a myriad of other goods and services! What to do? Give up and close? Sell out? Close your eyes and hope it all goes away?

The trend towards super-stores on the Internet is not going to go away, and if you give up now, you give up forever.

Here are some very narrowly defined and targeted suggestions, mostly concerning direct product and service sales, whether they be to other businesses or to end-users.

WE WILL SUCCEED
Let's start with the premises that we're going to succeed, and that we are going to succeed in what we do now. We are not going to close our brick and mortar store and join the Internet crowd just yet, we're going to wait for the shakeout, but we need to maintain sales until that happens.

As business owners/managers/salespersons, we want to be the absolute best sales person possible. When you or your salesperson go out there or meets the customer in our store, we want to personally represent our company, our philosophy, and all that; but we also want to close orders! Questions arise as to what traits should we look for or try to develop. Is it personality? Stick-to-it ability? A glib line? Being a snappy dresser? Graduation from a sales school? Being a good closer? Technical knowledge? Success in other endeavors?

Not that any of the above are wrong, but you may need something else in light of the shift towards focusing on customer wants and needs as opposed to focusing on what you have to offer. I'd like to pose a different idea, friendliness.

I define friendliness as that ability to call up a friend to ask a favor, and knowing beforehand he or she will help me if at all possible. How does this friendliness translate into increased sales for you? Here are a few ideas you might consider.

DEVELOP A GENUINE CONCERN
The Golden Rule has been re-stated dozens of ways by hundreds of sales trainers. Boiled down to sales situations, it says, "Do you treat your INDIVIDUAL customers the way you would want to be treated if you were in their shoes?" Note the emphasis on the individual. You should be able to go down your customer list and say, "Yes, I do." for each and every customer.

DEVELOP A RELATIONSHIP
A friend will want to be with you at times other than business. Have you invited your customer to your home for dinner, a barbecue, or breakfast? Have you shared a ball game, theater, or concert? Does your customer know how you live? A friend would. Sales books are full of stories of sales made just by talking about a client's passion, whether it is fishing, golfing, or just business. Ask your client about their hobbies, their dreams, and their aspirations. Even if you don't share their passion, you can relate it to your own, and that may be just as important.

BE YOURSELF
Your customer wants to know you value his or her friendship. Show it by doing things differently such as picking them up for lunch in a limo and taking them to an unusual eating place. When asked, "Why?" simply answer, "Because I wanted to do something nice for you."

KNOW YOUR CLIENT'S BUSINESS
Next to his or her name, a businessperson's most valuable asset is their business. Use the library, reporting agencies, and other sources to find out as much about your client's industry as possible. Use this information when talking with your client. Try to look at all of your client's business, not just the part concerning your product or service.

BE THANKFUL
When you do something nice for someone, you like to be thanked. When your customer does something nice for you (like give you an order!), he or she also likes to be thanked! A card is minimum; a small appropriate gift is better. Tickets to an event, a lunch for two (without you), or a catered lunch in his or her office. Use your imagination, it pays.

BE 'EVENTFUL'
Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, and special events are important to you. They're just as important to your customer. Subscribe to a service if you have to, but keep in touch. A friend would remember. You can look at this as a chore, or as the developing of a lifetime customer.