Slowdown Strategy - Connection

As the U.S. economy rumbles near what economists speculate is the bottom, the world awaits. * But salespeople know waiting risks an ugly death at the hands of competitors. Which way out? Ask the technology folks. Citibank, for example, is extending its corporate reach in Latin America. * Driss Temsamani, vice-president for e-business strategic planning, says Citibank is partnering with big database and back office computing firms like SAP and Oracle. Plug in the bank's global financial power, then sell the total solution. "How do you make that business strategy profitable?" asks Temsamani. "You build it in a way that costs less than your customers are willing to pay for it." * Nextel International Marketing Vice President Mario Carotti spins the pricing strategy another way: Give them something for nothing. Rather than be a carrier for anyone, Nextel targets business users, getting to them through their company purchasers by pitching Nextel's bottomless supply of cheap, countrywide radio connections. "We go t o the companies and we say, 'OK, if your employees use the radio, it's free. If you want to use the cellular, they can use a prepaid card:" Carotti says. * "If we position ourselves to the business person, we capture the best consumer anyway." Or, get 'em on board cheap, then rise with them as things improve.

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