Millions of people are unemployed and are in the midst of finding a new job. No industry is exempt from these current economic woes, and finding a new job is becoming more and more difficult. Regardless of your profession, starting over is hard and it is even more troublesome for the sales person.

More than any other industry, sales people depend on relationships and networking. It can take many years to cultivate and nurture contacts before they turn into a profitable return. When the salesperson’s career changes, many of these relationships are lost because some businesses view the relationship as the property of the company - not the salesperson. This leaves the sales professional with next to nothing as they embark on their next sales position.

Knowing this to be the case, sales people have begun to utilizing web 2.0 technologies to manage their contacts in order to use them at their next job.

There are many personal relationship management and development tools that salesmen and saleswomen should be using.

LinkedIn stands out a clear winner for the salesperson who is transitioning employment. Keep connected with friends, past colleagues, or those you have done business with. This is exclusively a business network, and a necessity for the sales pro. Additionally, LinkedIn taps you into the networks of your personal contacts, which immediately expands your base. This is a great benefit if you don’t have a mature funnel at your new employer.

Similarly, Reach is a personal contact management tool that stays with its user. Stay up to date on your contacts or leverage their profile information to gather qualified leads for your new or current job.

Now, more than ever, relationship management is important for those in the sales industry. Everybody knows how hard it is to start over and these personal contact management services are a necessity for every sales professional