Sales Force Marketing - Salesforce.com CRM:
Lost a Big Client? Rebuild Quickly With the Following 11 CRM Tips!

If you ever end up in this extremely unfortunate situation, here are eleven things you can do to get yourself back on track quickly:

1. Don't panic.
The worst thing you can do is waste time thinking about how things went wrong... or how they could get even worse. The best way to make a sale is to stay positive, so try to get in the right frame of mind and start moving forward.

2. Remember that you're not really starting from scratch.
Even if you've lost every single contact and account you have sold to in the past, you still have the most valuable thing any salesperson can get: attitude and experience. All that you've seen and learned as a salesperson is inside you, and can help you to find new customers quickly.

3. Make sure you're in the right spot.
If a planned or unplanned career change is driving you to start over, don't make the classic mistake and take the first opportunity that comes along. The goal should be to find the right mix of products and customers for your sales talents, not a quick paycheck. It's not a big deal to have to reboot your sales career once, but you don't want to find yourself doing it again and again.

4. Get to know your products.
It can be tempting to jump headfirst into a new sales situation without taking the time to master your product knowledge. Bad idea. While you don't need to know every single detail there is about what you're selling, at least in the beginning, having the facts down cold is going to save you tons of time and aggravation later.

5. Look for referrals.
Just because you don't have any customers in your new situation doesn't mean that you don't know any; there's a good chance your family, friends, or old clients can refer you to buyers in your new industry, so don't be afraid to ask.

6. Make a smarter plan.
Remember when you were new to sales, and you didn't know what your strengths as a producer were yet? Why reinvent the wheel now? Make a plan to find new customers that revolves around your best skills and takes advantage of your talents - it's easier and faster than relearning how to do everything.

7. Set realistic short term goals.
Figure out how many accounts you can realistically expect to open with an ambitious - but not impossible - sales effort. You might not reach your former income and lifestyle right away, but having realistic goals will make it easier for you to see, and make, steady progress.

8. Look for easy sales.
Even if you're used to closing giant accounts with Fortune 500 companies, starting over usually means selling to the smaller fish first. That's not necessarily a bad thing; those accounts are typically closer and easier to find, and they can open the door to bigger relationships.

9. Get known.
Remember, you're a stranger to most of your market now, and nobody likes to buy from strangers. Besides working your referrals, write papers, give seminars, and meet professionals in related industries. The goals is to be known in your area or industry, which is one of the fastest ways to open accounts no matter how deep you are into your selling career.

10. Be organized.
One of the things that constantly amazes me about salespeople is how much money they end up losing because they can't manage to keep track of contacts, proposals, and critical details. Starting over in a new job or industry gives you the perfect chance to take care of CRM software and contact management from the beginning, so take good notes and increase your closing ratio.

11. Use time to your advantage.
One of the few great things about having no clients is that it frees you up to find new ones. While the sales staff around you is scrambling to meet quotas, you have all the time in the world to prospect, network, and improve your sales skills. Take advantage of your open hours while you have them, because if you follow the rest of these tips, they'll fill up fast.

Source: Carl Henry link

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