I have been selling to large, multi-national business-to-business companies for most of my career. What is most striking is that in the early part of our upward economic cycle companies could do no wrong; revenue was always going in the right (upward) direction. Companies were, however, looking for ways to increase profitability by cutting costs, increasing supply chain efficiencies and in general streamlining any and all business processes. This obsessive focus on cost reduction served companies well. But now there is little cost to wring out of the income statement and companies need to focus instead on new markets, growth at existing customers and strategic pricing.
