So it's been a while since you've played house or made art out of macaroni noodles"?that doesn't mean that you aren't creative! With effort and continued practice, ANYONE can be creative, and ANYONE can use this creativity to set their company and product apart from their competitors.

"Why is creativity so important?"?

Being creative means continually presenting yourself and your company in new and interesting ways, and enticing customers in a way that your competition can't duplicate (if you're good, they'll try).

Creativity is one of the strongest and most valuable traits you can have as a salesperson, because it increases your value within your company and among your customers. It is that value that will change you from an average salesperson to a superb salesperson. That distinction will make it easy for customers to choose who to do business with"?you!

"How can I be creative?"?

There are countless venues in sales for you to display and expand your creativity:

1.) Think of original questions to engage your prospects.

2.) Discover innovative marketing strategies like cooperative marketing and guerrilla marketing to boost your sales and increase your source of leads.

3.) Develop unique problem solving skills to effectively help your customers with products.

4.) Illustrate how valuable you and your company are with attractive presentations.

5.) Capture attention with memorable voicemail messages, charming emails and appealing fax cover sheets.

"Where do I start?"?

Start small and remember that it takes continuous practice to be consistently creative in sales.

Set a goal to have a daily 'idea quota'. Begin by aiming for one new idea per day and eventually challenge yourself to think of more. Write down EVERY idea you think of, regardless of how foolish or impractical it may initially seem. You never know what ideas will bring you success and which ones are not feasible. Don't discount your ideas, just write them down! Keeping a journal with a book or word processor will give you the freedom and privacy to track your thoughts and conceptualize your ideas. How will your idea work? Who does your idea target? How will they react to your idea? Write down any questions and solutions you can think of to nurture and expand your ideas. Make the commitment to continually meet your daily quota and YOU WILL SEE RESULTS!

Here's how it works: when you know that you need to come up with one new idea every single day, you will find yourself constantly thinking of ways to fulfill your goal. Your search for a new idea will be in the back of your mind as you go about your day.

You will develop a heightened awareness of daily objects and occurrences that could potentially boost sales. You will discover that sometimes the best ideas are right in front of you, and will begin observing other businesses and industries. You will start to ask yourself, "How can I use that in MY industry and at MY company?"?

Eventually, ideas will gather and mature in your mind with little effort. You will find yourself standing in the shower one morning when the perfect idea presents itself. It will be these serendipitous moments that will propel you into greater sales success.

Your creativity and fresh concepts will be noticed by others and will distinguish you from your competition. You will offer solutions in a way that no other company can. Your customers will see the unique value you and your company have and will feel drawn to you.

When it is time for them to decide who to do business with, YOU will stand out and YOU will get the sale!