Business and Money Tips

As we know, nothing happens by itself and everything has a cause and an effect.  This causality is explained as Dependent Origination, which means that  something is always depending on something else, and without the origin of something, something will not happen .   The reason is nothing is absolute or permanent.  Everything is relative and impermanent.  Nothing exists on its own, but arises from something else.  Things continue to exist and transform owing to the  coming together and dissolution of factors .  This natural law can be simply stated as:  When A arises, B comes to be.   When A does not arise, B does not come to be. Similarly, when A ceases to arise, B ceases to come to be. In short,  without A, there is no  B.  With A, there is B.  So this explains where your business come from.   Understand that there are  multiple causes , i.e., many As and Bs.  All these factors interact wit...

You wouldn't believe this: as much as 60% of small and medium enterprises are struggling to survive in Singapore when the economy is growing at 3% to 4% this year.  In fact not just SMEs some bigger companies (including MNCs) are also doing badly.  People often asked me: are there ways to turn around this? Companies that do well usually exhibit the following 6 attributes: They treat their staff well, not just in salaries but also in development and opportunities for growth They allow people space , i.e., they don't squeeze until the last drop of juice.  They make sure people work hard but are not workaholic They invest in marketing and sales , for they know that having the best products will not sell unless the selling and marketing are good They tapped into the expertise of outside vendors, like trainers and consultants.  They use their expertise often and multiply their intelligences multi-fold They are not in sunset industries (e.g. traditional printin...

I realized from our How to Be a Better Manager  and Sales Power  courses that most people need a shortcut on the 5 most important concepts at work.  They are now summarized as follows: 1.  Customer Service Customer Service is not about niceties or doing everything to please the customer.  It is also not about over-servicing until the business makes a loss.  Services that are way beyond your core business are not considered customer service but  entertainment service .   Successful companies will tell you that customer service is nothing but  s olving customer's problems and make them feel good  with a profit .   It is about  service from the heart and not serve from head to toe.  2.   Teamwork Many people thought that if the staff get along well with little conflicts, teamwork is good.  Some people even think that if they go for offsite teambuilding training, teamwork will be improved automatically. Ther...

As I learnt from my Coach today, to do well in business requires us to think differently, the 5 keys to do well in any business, big or small: Sales and Marketing are still the 2 most important functions of any business.  It is not how good your product or service is, but how good people think your product/service is.  How people think about (when they are not your client yet) is nothing but sales and marketing. Even referrals is a form of marketing, so is the commonly used advertising.   It's about Your Reach - who knows you.  Many times it is about who is in your database: and how you contact this database and turn them into goldmine (not landmine) Never give up on your goals and dreams: work on them, rest on them, but never give them up. For when a business has no dreams or goals, it is just a money making machine Perseverance is everything : don't strike while the iron is hot, strike until the iron is hot.  Rise above perturbation (extreme pressure...

I just re-read THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING’ book written by Al Ries and Jack Trout and many ideas already exploded in my little mind.   You can read the full list of 22 laws at our previous article at here . As at today Samsung and Apple both controlled over 52% of the world's smartphone market share out of over 40 players.  Samsung and Apple successes can be attributed to the 3 laws: Law of Sacrifice .  This is the opposite of Law of Extension.  It says that if you want to be successful, you need to give up something.  For Samsung, they give up software control, for they use Google's Android instead of their own Tizen operating system. For Apple's iPhone, they give up screen size so that the users can have a easy one-hand operation.  Note that the rumoured iPhone 6 coming up in June 2014 will have a larger 4.7 inch option, but this is still much smaller than Samsung Galaxy Note 4 coming up in July 2014 which will have 5.9 inch.  Law of...

As of today, Russia has already formally annexed Crimea, which belonged to Ukraine for over 5 decades.  Such 'lawful' action was done under the nose of the mighty EU and the 'strong man' Barrack Obama of USA.   You may wonder what has this Ukraine's crisis got to do with your work or business in Singapore? Some people said that had the USA and EU got its act together, Ukraine will not be invaded.  Others point out to the political crisis in Ukraine as the main culprit.  Let's make it clear: Ukraine was invaded by Russia because its defence is weak. Imagine if Ukraine had a strong army like North Korea, would any foreign soldier, let alone any Russian army, dare to go inside Ukraine? In fact if you are not careful, you could be the next Ukraine .  Let me give you some very specific realistic examples: In business, if your company is weak in  sales and marketing , your competitors can easily invade into your business by luring your clients away with...

Yes, the lack of sales is not caused by the market, your competitors or even your boss.  Salespeople are the problems, and the big problem is that they don't even realize this.  By far the biggest problem is salespeople not realizing that they are the problem and justify their situation as 'everyone is also like that, right' thinking.  There are 7 ways that salespeople make themselves the biggest problem. Know them, eradicate them, and you'll be on the path to greatness in sales... Lack of Selling Skills , especially in doing sales follow-up and overcoming of tough objections ; Never Leverage on the Team , especially the customer's team and your company's support team; No Follow-Through and Follow-up on Leads , leading to no leads and thus no sales; Lack of Lead Generating Activities , resulting in no prospects to follow-up on and thus no prospects in sales; Never Listen to the Real Needs of customers , thus missing on the big picture and cannot clos...

Throughout the world serving 69 million customers every day, the world's largest and most profitable restaurant group earns net profits as high as 20% of its sales.  From New Delhi to China, from Tanzania to Singapore, every time when you order something at McDonald's counter, their staff will inevitably ask you one question: Do You Want to Up size? In fact this single question made McDonald's rich.  Notice that McDonald's did not ask you other questions that most salespeople ask, including, "Can you give us some referrals?", "Do you want to become our member to enjoy discounts?" or "Can you please come back next week?" etc. If you answer no to the above 'Up size' question, McDonald's staff will next ask you, "Do you want an apple pie to go with your meal?"  If you still answer no to this question, the staff will ask you "Do you want to add $1 to get the limited edition Minion toy?" All the questions ...

Everyone wants to get more business, but with the economy still slow now, what can you do to pull ahead? If you try to pull business away from your competitors, you have to be prepared for a price war.  Another way is to poach the top salesperson or sales manager from your competitors with high salary.  This is fast and furious, but it too starts a talent war. How about going all out with aggressive marketing to get new prospects?  This again puts you head on with your peers, who can always retaliate easily with even more marketing budget.  The issue is how long you can last.   If the above does not work, what can you do?  We believe that the solution lies in Successful Selling Strategies. This means that you must do things strategically and systematically.  There are total 7 Successful Selling Strategies: Service to Others as the Highest Strategy .  This is because people don't buy goods and services but good feelings and solutions to t...

By now the whole world realizes that Apple's iPad Air has broken another new record for tablet sales.  Many people wondered what makes Apple successful while others like Samsung and LG are still fighting hard? According to my teacher Andy Ferrari Norman, there are 5 Selling Rules to follow: Non-self. Yes, selling is about not focusing on yourself but on your customers .  You need to find out what customers want and give it to them.  Selling is not about the seller's ego but making customers heros.  Apple has obviously focused on the user's experience and not the brand awareness.  The App Store it created is second to none.    Impermanence : selling is about creating new things every now and then and making things non permanent .  That's why Apple has product upgrades every 12 months or so. Interconnectedness :  As everything changes, everything in this world is connected.  Apple pays attention to the connectivity of things : its...

As we know, the job of a salesperson is not to sell but to create value for his customers. For only when he creates value for his customers that he will get real business for now and future . There are 4 Ways that a salesperson can create value for his customers: 1.  Let Customer See Problem that is Not Obvious Like they still use Windows XP, which will be phased out by Microsoft in 4 months time, after which there will be virus attacks that will not be protected by Microsoft updates. 2. Let Customer See an Opportunity that is Not Obvious Like it's not obvious that able to save 12% of their staff cost and increase 31% of their productivity if the customer can use the latest tools and techniques. Better still, the salesperson can provide training at no cost 3. Let Customer Be the First to Enjoy the Benefits  When you sell, you must sell on an exclusive basis, meaning other companies in the same industry of your customer will not get to enjoy the benefits of your...

Let me go straight: You need to Know What's Most Important so that you can focus your resources on this, otherwise you would be losing focus and getting less than what you want.  No matter what, don't turn back, just keep on moving forward... 1. If You're a Big Company (with more than 100 staff): ENTREPRENEURSHIP . The bigger the company, the less risk adverse are the people as most of them would be concerned with their own career rather than the company's growth. Also, the company's structure makes it difficult to do things that are outside the company's policies and procedures.  Hence most employees would play it safe and inside their comfort zone.  Thus the company's management would need to lead the staff in comfort zone to be more entrepreneurial, take risks and try different things.  Otherwise, the company would end up like Nokia, Blackberry and Motorola - all former top 3 in mobile phones now occupying less than 15% combined market ...

Yes, it has been getting more competitive today to sell. In the process of Pitching, i.e. multi-stage selling, every detail must be well executed if you want to clinch that coveted deal that everyone is eyeing for.  The stages involved in the sales pitch starts with a meeting, followed by a formal, stand-up presentation. Even if the prospect decides in your favour, you need to follow-up till the end, as anything can change until you sign the deal.  It should be noted that pitching is process that is cumulative, this means that each stage must be completed to the satisfaction of the other other or you will be wasting your time and effort . To pitch successfully, you need to press the prospect's hot button.  Hot button is not to be confused with Benefits or Emotions, nor is it about Fear and Force. In sales, a Hot button is a Trigger that once activated, the person will NOT go back to the original state of mind . This means that when you press the hot button, a sa...

Customers are demanding lower prices. Factories are moving overseas. How can salespeople survive?  These are tough times for salespeople. Customers are demanding more services and lower prices.  Many are purchasing directly through the internet and from manufacturers. Salespeople find themselves caught in the middle - doing more for customers, making less money and wondering about their paycheck. The solution is simple.  Salespeople Must Add Value. How?  Salespeople add value in many ways - before, during and after the sale.    These services include product availability, problem solving and technical support, just to name a few. But customers often do not realize how these services translate into dollars-and-cents value. Why? Because salespeople are generally not trained in how to calculate this value for customers. Beyond product training   Customers are interested in more than product features and benefits. They want to know how these ...

5 Ways to Make Your Selling Irresistible: State your price using the smallest unit of measure , like per month, per week or per day. Courts always use this method, but just stating the weekly instalment at $14 for a Samsung Galaxy S4, (spread over 24 months), their actual selling price is as high as $1,456! Do not compare your price with your competitor, instead compare your price to Do-It-Yourself or something totally different but offers the same benefit . Like people don't compare Mercedes with BMW or Audi but swimming pool, for the rich man's consideration in buying another Mercedes is should he install a swimming pool instead? Pre-empt the Price Objection , and once you warn people of the price, people cannot give you the objection. Proving Financing . Yes, instead of outright sale, why not sell via leasing?  Not only is there no more downpayment, but the customer get to replace the machine when the lease expires, a win-win for all. Be a Irresistible Salesperson. H...

To sell is human and everyone is a salesperson, because selling is about not selling but moving people. Most people are in non-sales selling, that is, they are not defined as salesperson but their job involves communicating, influencing and persuading people. We call these Moving People. Moving People is not about getting your way with others but helping others to get their way. And when others get their way, you'll get your way too. Moving people is not about how much conviction you have but about conveying your conviction to people. Moving people depends more on the creative, heuristic, problem-finding skills than the reductive, algorithmic, problem-solving skills. From Caveat Emptor to Caveat Venditor. We've moved from a world of cavet emptor (buyer beware) to caveat venditor (vendor beware). This is because of the information age we're living right now, buyers have more information than vendors and thus buyers will mislead vendors more often than the other ...