Tough times. It's enough to cause all of us to stand like proverbial "deer in headlights", mutter "the sky is falling", or else spring into action. The latter would be fine but it's often a knee-jerk response based on what we've done in past. Trouble is that present doesn't look like immediate past.

Whether you're leading a Fortune 100 company, a small department, or an enterprise of one, now is time to hone your resiliency skills. But first, let's update definition of "resilient". In 1824, Webster defined it as: "the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress."

That definition works for explaining metal but not for mettle of human system. Consider this: The compressive stress to an organizational body can be result of bloating mergers. Mergers now meet mania and layoffs distort workloads and customer care. If this is case, resilient organization must carefully think what size and shape will serve it for long haul. Recovering its size and shape might be worst thing!

At risk of insulting Webster, I define resiliency as " capacity to cultivate strengths to positively meet challenges of living; ability to bounce back from adversity while maintaining personal and corporate integrity."

Some key resilient strengths are found in using HOPE as an acronym:

Head talk and Heart walk. Optimism. Purpose, passion and persistence. Energy and Enjoyment.

Always keep in mind that most consumers are understandably wary. They won't hesitate to abandon an intended purchase if they encounter doubts or inconvenient snags in process.

I invite you to do a bit of honest self-examination when considering following tips, since problems in this area may be costing you dearly in lost sales, right this very minute.

Acting to improve on what you discover could very well help boost your sales immediately.

1) How Easy Is It for Your Customers to Access Information Needed to Buy From You?

a) For example, does design of your web site make it hard to navigate, or is majority information needed to complete a transaction within easy access to your customers, with minimal mouse clicks?

Poor navigation is but one of many, many different snags that hinder web site sales. Problem is, most site owners, designers, and webmasters don't realize how much more a site could sell, if it were only more user-friendly.

b) While you may wisely reduce amount of repetitive customer service issues by answering questions through a FAQ, (an acronym for Frequently Asked Questions) etc., some prospects may yet have additional questions not covered in it.

Do your prospects have a way to contact you to have such questions answered, and do you have an efficient system in place for answering them, promptly and efficiently?

Is form of contact convenient to your prospects?

2) What Forms of Payment Do You Offer Your Customers?

a) Do you require your customers to send payment to you by check, cash or money order only via regular postal mail? If you're selling online and not accepting credit cards, you're likely losing many sales.

b) What types of credit cards do you accept? Virtually any type of business can increase sales by accepting payment by Visa and MasterCard.

But even businesses already accepting Visa and MasterCard may still be losing sales by not also accepting Discover and American Express, especially in U.S.