How to sell in a lousy economy

Title: Enterprise sales manager
Age: 35
Location: Houston

What she does: Sells software to manufacturing companies.

Closing the deal: "I once had a purchase order that needed to be signed by the end of our fiscal year. We called up the CFO's assistant, and she said it was sitting on his desk. So I sent her a basket of cookies. The next day she got him to sign. To get my $1.2 million deal done, I spent $40."

What works in a slow economy: "Don't just rely on talking to the CIO. Look at the annual report and ask, Who wrote the part that says we're going to grow 12%? At an oil company, that's likely someone who works in well management."

How she gets away with being pushy:"I'll tell clients, I'm probably being too pushy. I just want to make sure you realize the benefits here."

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