Everyone remembers exactly where they were the moment they learned of the 9/11 tragedy.

I was in Las Vegas at the Rio. I persuaded my customer and his 350 employees to let me do a 45-minute positive-attitude seminar rather than cancel the event. Four and a half hours later, I concluded.

I signed 350 books that day. I had an opportunity to change the frame of mind of the people who were at first devastated by the news. I convinced them that rather than go back to their rooms and watch TV, where the horrifying images would be repeated over and over, they should subject themselves to some positive information about who they were and what they could become.

I don’t have to tell you how much emotion was in the room.

I went to college at Temple University. For the most part, it was a disaster. Let’s just say that studying came right after shooting pool, playing sports, watching sports and dating.

One day in a class I took on modern European history, I happened to be paying attention. The professor said: “The date something happened is unimportant. History is composed of the response to that event.” We have now had two years to measure the response to 9/11.

The collapse of the World Trade Center towers led to bankruptcies of thousands of enterprises. The number of victims in the World Trade Center paled in comparison to the number of people who were left unemployed and economically devastated as a result of 9/11.

In no way do I mean to diminish the family devastations caused by the tragic deaths in the World Trade Center buildings.

But let’s look at the response to that event in more detail. Most of the people reading this have been affected by the economic downturn, and are only now are beginning to see what might be considered a slight upward trend.

Five years ago, I heard many people in my seminar audiences say, “Jeffrey, don’t be so harsh on the competition. There’s plenty of room for everyone.”   They were wrong.

I ask every audience I speak to how many have had a competitor go out of business in the last two years. A lot of hands go up. The business playing field is getting smaller, and in many industries, the competition is getting fiercer.

You and I as sales warriors have a chance to affect the success of our businesses. In the face of fierce competition, the first thing that tends to fall is price. People think that by cutting their price they can win market share. Sometimes they’re correct. But you pay a price when you sell for price.

Every time you shave a nickel off the top line, it takes a nickel off your profit. If you take off enough nickels, you can’t pay your electric bill.

What I am saying is that the response you must create to maintain a relationship is the “value response,” not the “price response.”

In these tougher times, many companies are looking only to cut costs. By itself, this formula will not work. There has to be an equal or greater value side to the equation.

If you don’t think I’m right, look at the major airlines. They’ve cut costs to the bone and delivered no value to their customers or workers. Most are hanging on by a thread.

As a salesperson, your value proposition must be something that helps your customer increase business.

Tons of companies are in scramble mode, and with cutbacks can use all the help they can get. You have a responsibility to spend time helping your customers produce more, win more sales and earn more profits.

If you do this, you will beat the battle of price. You cannot affect the economy, but you can affect the way you do business.

Here’s the secret: 99 out of 100 people reading this column have not yet been to Ground Zero in New York City. I challenge you to get there as fast as you can. Only then will you understand the devastation and become angry enough to begin your journey as a warrior: a sales warrior.

GitBit. I have a formula that will help you win in any economy. For a free view of my program called The New New Economy, go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time user, and enter “New New” in the GitBit box.

President of Charlotte, N.C.-based Buy Gitomer, Jeffrey Gitomer gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on selling and customer service. He can be reached at (704) 333-1112 or by e-mail at salesman@gitomer.com.