Take two random companies "A" and "B". They are both facing stiff 
competition and times are lean and the marketing and sales 
budgets are fixed in stone; how would they go about increasing 
sales revenue?

The marketing manager from company "A" might try to convince the 
finance department to increase its budget or try to invoke a jolt 
of energy into the sales force via pep talks or threats to 
increase sales for the upcoming quarter.

This approach, though it might work in the short-term, is 
generally very stressful and less predictable in the long-term. 
When quotas aren't met everyone usually begins to trade blame 
which leads to more frustrations.

Is their another way?

Enter the world where easy innovations are part of the job. They 
are simple because just about everyone can innovate with a few 
applications of their imagination.

This is the process company "B" uses to thrive.

So where would you go to find examples you could use as models?

There are several sources. You could hop over to amazon.com or 
your favorite book store for any number of books on marketing and 
business innovation.

For those who would like to get started immediately I have 
written a free booklet that provides examples of how these simple 
innovations are carried out. The booklet is titled "5 Cost-free 
Examples of Marketing and Sales Innovations That Can Increase 
Revenues By More Than 20%" and is available at 
http://www.UsefulBizTips.com. 

Also, I recommend the book "Turn Your Imagination Into Money" by 
the late Ray Giles. It’s among the best books on marketing and 
sales innovation. It’s available at 
http://www.ImaginationBook.com for $29.95.

The resources above will show that the solution to company "A’s" 
approach is a commitment to innovation that creates a hassle-free 
environment while improving sales.

One might ask, why doesn't company "A" implement this approach? 
There are several reasons, such as ignorance of alternatives and 
ignorance of the ease with which a simple innovation program can 
be implemented.

A marketing manager might state, I know it’s important to 
innovate but how do I get my employees to innovate and how much 
will it cost in time and real dollars? Other obstacles include 
employees who are reluctant to committing themselves to an 
innovation program. However, if the right incentives are in place 
few would object.

Imagine if the sales manager had to lay off a few workers in a 
short while and were to say to them, if you can find a unique way 
to improve sales, then the additional revenues would help to 
justify to the higher-ups to keep everyone. In fact, this example 
was used in Giles book to show how quickly sales rose by 20% when 
one sales manager tried this approach. And best of all it didn't 
cost much - no money, only a little time. This is the kind of 
virtually-cost-free innovation that caused company "B" to excel.

Company "B" excels because it’s committed to an innovations 
program and people will take innovation seriously if they realize 
that as innovation increases so does sales and so does their 
commissions and bonuses.

So company "B" has a successful feedback mechanism where everyone 
wins. The company wins with additional revenues, the marketing 
manager wins with a bigger bonus, less headache and less pep talk 
and the sales force wins with greater commissions.

Over time, company "B" will have well tested and highly optimized 
marketing and sales processes that yield great results. Aren't 
these the processes that every company wants? They can be 
implemented and best of all they are cost-free. 

Windsor Pennicott created the free ebooklet "5 Cost-Free Examples
of Marketing and Sales Innovations That Can Increase Revenues By 
More Than 20%". Get your copy at http://www.UsefulBizTips.com.