PI 400 -- Commercial Printing - Cutting Down Times

The bottom line is that salespeople need to know more about their prospects and accounts, including their personal interests, and learn to communicate regularly about those subjects, DeWese says.

Theoretically, downturns should be a great time to "buy sales" through mergers and acquisitions, since company evaluations typically are depressed. Of course, that means it's not a good time to sell a company, DeWese points out. "This economy has brought M&A activity to a virtual standstill. There will be fewer than 25 deals done in the entire printing industry in 2001, versus 186 in 1998 and 131 in 1999. It is difficult to finance deals, buyers are dormant and valuations are down significantly," the consultant explains.