The first year of developing a new sales territory is a daunting task, especially in competitive industries. The traditional advice is to train quickly on the product, grab a customer list, start calling for appointments, discover opportunities, and close deals. In fact, almost every sales model is based on nothing more than "opportunity" management. However, jumping straight to opportunity will have new salespeople, or veterans developing new territories, chasing their tails for the first year or two. As "Sales Hunting: How to Develop New Territories and Major Accounts in Half the Time Using Trust as Your Weapon" details, there is a significant problem you must overcome when opening new accounts and territories. No matter what you are selling, your prospect already has a trusted relationship with an incumbent vendor and will continue to buy from that vendor even when you have the opportunity.