When tough times descend, people talk. They complain about the lack of money, credit or sales. They worry aloud about their future. They wonder when the economy will start to improve.

But it's the other kind of talk – positive, creative, forward-looking talk – that helps you make a difference in recessionary times. Constructive talk can bring new products to current customers or current products to new customers, and motivate the people around you toward new possibilities.

Here are a few ways your talk can beat the tough times:

• Talk analytically. Spend some time with your clerical people during the down periods, and review your data files and customer records. Do you track important sales-related information, like summative purchases, buying trends, key biographical and demographic information? Do you track your own data file against publicly-available consumer data? There's a wealth of sales information here.
• Talk cheap. Offer special “deals,” coupons, rebates or early-buy discounts – and talk to your customers about them. Building cost-savings into your everyday marketing may help you build customer loyalty.
• Talk creatively. Talk to your colleagues, employees and business associates about new ways to promote products. Think, for example, about cross-promotion, online, and non-traditional advertising opportunities. Can you market to community or trade groups? Can you offer e-coupons to stimulate traffic? Can you stage a publicity-building event?
• Talk differently. Different customers have different needs. Analyze your customers by business sector, size, number of employees, and other economic factors. Group customers with similar characteristics together, and build targeted marketing messages for each group.
• Talk easily. Tough times mean tough competition. One of your strongest selling points may be service and convenience. Conduct an inventory of the things you do to make it easy for people to transact business with you: travel time, return policies, speed, order turnaround and more.
• Talk electronically. Today's world is a cyber-world, and growing numbers of buyers want to use the net as their first contact with you. So: What interactive features can you add to your Web site? Have you asked other business organizations to hyperlink you on their Web sites. Can you monetize a blog?
• Talk expansively. During lean times, forward-looking business people seek out new markets. Can your products or services be used in new ways, by a different type of customer? If so, it's time to develop a marketing plan geared toward that new constituency.
• Talk firmly. Just as you'd take a second look at marginal or underperforming employees during recessionary times, so should you look at marginal customers. Do you have customers who are chronically late in paying? Who frequently cost you more in time and money than they contribute? Consider remedial action, either by new pricing or penalties – or even dropping them.
• Talk free. “Free” is the most powerful word in the English language. Figure out what you can offer at no charge – training, product selection advice, samples, mini-consulting sessions – and go for it. Those freebies might help you build a sale or two but, more important, they'll set the stage for relationships that will persist long after the economic downturn ends.
• Talk geographically. Can you serve customers in an adjoining (or distant) geographical area? Can the internet make these options available to you? Answer these questions and you may find new customers waiting at a distance.
• Talk marginally. Do you know your margins on each of your product lines? It might be time to check. During tight times, ask yourself whether each of your lines is producing adequate – or any – profit. True, some lines might be loss leaders or customer service essentials, but armed with good margin information, you can make important product decisions.
• Talk more. Some customers may be doing just fine despite challenging economic circumstances. Now is the time to encourage them to buy. Step up your sales and marketing efforts with these customers.
• Talk productively. Make a list of folks who haven't bought from you lately. Use your “down time” to contact them and see what's going on. Better yet, design a few “get-reacquainted” offers and pitch them to the accounts on your dormant list.
• Talk productively. Spend time with everyone around you in a quest to operate more efficiently. Work together to cut costs and discover efficiencies. You might be surprised at the number of lean-and-mean dollar-boosting ideas just waiting in the wings.
• Talk reassuringly. When times are tough, pennies get pinched. So offer words of assurance: guarantees, money-back offers, lowest prices, trial periods, promises. And back up your words with action.
• Talk strategically. Talk with colleagues and experts about the state of the economy, trends in your industry, and fiscal concerns of your customers. Then, speak to your customers about these issues. By displaying an understanding of critical concerns, you become a credible expert – and perhaps, a preferred supplier.
• Talk thoughtfully. Don't just sit through the tough times. Work with your associates to craft new business opportunities that can be launched when times are better. Plan ahead to seize the moment when the moment is ripe.
• Talk unexpectedly. Somewhere in your computer or file cabinet, you probably have the names of people who inquired about your products or services. Or organizational leads you obtained along the line. Now is the time to pull them out, make contact, and determine whether you can be of service.
• Talk virally. How are you using social networking media to get your name and message across? Are you on Web 2.0? Have you placed strategic links and entertaining content on your Web 2.0 sites?

However tough times may be, don't retreat into silence. And don't yield to grumbling. Instead, talk about the ideas and options that hold promise, and talk to the people who count. The result might be productive conversation that brings unexpected financial success.