Business and Money Tips

The 7 Sales Secrets that few teach you:  1.      Sales is not a function, a goal or a number but an outcome, the outcome is customer satisfaction .  Regardless of how solid your product or service is, nothing happens without a sale.  If you did not make the sale, there is no customer satisfaction but instead lots of frustration for salespeople! 2.       Today customers are all suffering from  Frazzled Customer Syndrome (FCS):  a state of  extreme exhaustion , that’s why they are not returning your call and give you the cold shoulder.  They are extremely checked out because of heavy workload, too many choices, rapidly changing market and past bad experience with salespeople.  How can we blame them for this? 3.       The result: customers keep you at a distance, brush you off, dismiss you entirely and stick with the status quo, no matter how undesira...

Whether you are in sales, marketing, business development, support or management, you will come across the answer 'No' many times at work. Many people equate 'No' to 'No Opportunity' or 'No Chance', when in fact No can mean over 20 things as follows: Know More .  Here the customer wants to know more, and if you don't tell him, he will say no Still Thinking .  Many people hate to decide immediately as they don't want to be seen as rash Procrastinate . People procrastinate because it gives them a comfy feeling that they're in control, when in fact procrastination simply puts you higher risk as things may change. OK but not Strong enough to say yes.  This is the most common, when you feel that there is still certain things lacking but you just don't know what it is now. Test Your Patience .  Here saying no will test if you're serious to pursue further or just give up Need to Clarify First .  People will ask questions to clari...

Whether you are in sales, management, operations, finance, administration, engineering or IT, you cannot run away from presentation.  A presentation is an opportunity for you to show people what you have so that they will buy you and buy what you sell.  And we are all selling all the time, the biggest sale would be to sell ideas.   A presentation is not a pitch, it is a give and take exchange .  This is an opportunity for you to 'switch heads' or exchange information with your audience, which can range from one person to a thousand.  The goal is for you to fully understand your audience situation so that you can tailor-make a product, service or idea to them. Even if you are not good in presentation, you need to avoid doing the 3 things that make people resent what you present: Irrelevant information Information not customized to the audience Boring presentation.  That's why they call 'bored to death'! On the other hand, there are 7 keys to pres...

To sell well in any market, the key is to ask and answer 5 questions well.  The 5 questions lead from one to the other.  Note that in this fast-paced business climate, you must be ready to be wrong and don't defend your answers if you think they're wrong.  Change your answers fast by taking the right action and you'll be on the road to success. The 5 Questions are: What is your Specialisation ?  Type of customer? Product or service?  Geographical area?  For us, we provide effective training on sales and management for companies in Singapore and the region.  Differentiation : How are your products and services different from others?  In what ways they are superior ?  For us, our training programs focus on easy to remember key points and practical issues.  In fact we don't train but coach people in our courses, leading to participants feeling their burden relieved.  Segmentation : What are your very best customers, the ones tha...

How to increase your income by 1,000%?  By applying the Law of Multiplication, you can increase your productivity, performance and output by 1,000% in the years ahead! Here's the simple formula: increase your productivity by 0.1% each day , 5 days a week, and this will amount to 26% increase if you work 52 weeks a year. Because of the law of compounding and multiplication, your 26% increase yearly will translate into 1,000% increase in less than 10 years.  Unbelievable but true!  The top 7 ways to increase your productivity by 0.1% each day are: Read one hour each day in your field .  I don't care if it is sales, self-improvement, engineering or history.  If you do this consistently, you'd have read 50 books a year or 500 books in 10 years.  You can now read books easily from Google Books at your mobile phone. Review your major goals each morning and rewrite them .  This will program deeper into your subconscious mind, making it a reality for yo...

Yes, certain things are so important but they just don't tell you. Either they assume that you know or they find it hard to say it out.  But we know that misunderstanding is the cause of all work problems and clear communication, even to the extent of over-communication , is the safest policy. So managers and bosses should tell people the most important thing at work: Work Ethics. What is work ethics?  Many people equate it to honesty and integrity, when in reality it is more than that.  In our work with companies training over 81,131 people in 13 countries since 1996, other than integrity and honesty , the following are the 5 Key Elements of Work Ethics: Fairness - put in fair share of work and not take things for granted.  Do not work only when the boss is around, instead play fair by putting in the 8 hours that you're contracted with.  If you take time for facebooking and whatapping with your friends, make sure you pay back the lost time everyday . ...

What I learnt from Stephen Covey's 1991 best-selling book 'First Thing First':  Successful people practise inside first outside second, whereas unsuccessful people always look outside first inside second. When things go wrong, successful people will first examine themselves: they look inside to see what gone wrong.  Next they look outside for leverage: how to get help, and how to learn from others that have done similar things before. In no time they will emerge victorious as their approach will win support from people who too want to help people that help themselves first. Unsuccessful people, on the other hand, look outside first whenever things go wrong.  Instead of examining themselves, they blame others for their plight.  After many rounds of fruitless blames, they then look inside and realize that there is nothing they can do, and they end up looking outside again. This time round there is no more people to blame and they just have to resign to fate! We...

I always believe that questions are powerful in that they have a direct and dramatic effect on your focus at any moment of time.  If you ask positive questions you'll become creative and positive, if you ask negative questions you'll become handicapped and resigned to fate.  As what Anthony Robbins said, it is the questions (and the hard questions that you fail to ask) that ultimately shape your destiny. Starting from today, you can ask yourself the following 5 power questions: 1.   What is Exciting Now?   So far 2014 has started weak and many people wondered: how long would this downturn last?  Why not ask a more powerful question instead?  By asking yourself what's so exciting, you'll realize that the weak financial markets have created opportunities like: Bargain shares, especially those companies that do well and pay quarterly dividends; Business opportunities, for those people that dare to take the risk and buy on the cheap; More employees...

Yes, strike while the iron is hot, continue the momentum you've been building up this year and turn your team into highly motivated warriors to win more for your company.  It is human nature for your people to take care of their own interests, but your job as a manager or leader is to get them put aside their personal goals and achieve your company's goals.  The following 6 steps will convert your team into high power achievers: Unite your team around a Cause (or dao 道) that will give instant meaning to their work.  For our team of trainers, the cause is to change the world, one training at a time. Keep their Bellies Full . Take care of their needs or their selfishness will re-surface and take over your company's goals. Make sure that your pay is competitive and there are incentives for performers to enjoy.  Lead from the Front .  This means not just empathizing them, but Experience what your people are experiencing to sustain their motivation. Be a lead...

As the Chinese saying goes, 步步高升, or Every Step Go Higher, this is my wish for you in your career or business. We have to climb higher because Sun Tzu said in the 'Art of War' that a higher position gives us better view and safer protection from adversaries. But you need to be careful and not let your fear of heights freezes you, for instead of  步步高升, you'll end up with 步步惊心 (Every step in Fear).  There are 6 Ways that everyone can climb higher this year without fears: Start High .  That's right, start high and not start low.  Go to the highest point in your organization.  The highest point in this world is high moral grounds.  Don't stoop to low tricks, thinking that they are short cuts when in fact they cut short your success. Aim High .  Yes, aim for the stars and not the moon because in case you fall down, you'll land on the moon and not space! One Step at a Time .  Such lasting way leads to sustainable growth, the buzzword for toda...

A 2007 study by Richard Wiseman from the University of Bristol involving 3,000 people showed that 88% of those who set New Year resolutions fail, despite the fact that 52% of the study's participants were confident of success at the beginning.  Woman may be surprised to know that:  Men achieved their goal 22% more often when they engaged in goal setting, (a system where small measurable goals are being set; such as, a kg a week, instead of saying "lose weight"),  While women succeeded 10% more when they made their goals public and got support from their friends. Quoting Frank Ra (author of the new year's resolution book "A course in happiness": "Resolutions are more sustainable when  Shared, both in terms of with whom you share the benefits of your resolution, and with whom you share the path of maintaining your resolution.  Peer-support makes a difference in success rate with new year's resolutions".  It is also noted that t...

As you may know, I seldom see fortune tellers, but this guy was highly recommended by my friend, and I just saw him today.  After some soul searching questions, this expert revealed to me the answers that I have been looking for in the past whole year.  I asked this soothsayer what he prognosticate for me in the 5 key areas of my life and these are his answers: Money This year I have the chance to make more money than last year. However, I must be alert to take advantage of opportunities quickly or they will be gone. Furthermore, I must work hard, but not too hard or I will missed opportunities. As this year (2015) inflation will be another high, I must invest my hard earned savings into instruments that beat inflation, like REITs that offer quarterly dividends exceeding 4.5% per annum. Lastly, I must know how to donate money, for the more I donate, the more I have. Career and Business:  Things appear to be challenging in the short term, as the world economies ar...

Once there were 5 children sitting in front of a deity; they took turns to say their new year wishes.  The first child wished to have an entire house of candies, and the deity readily granted him this wish.  The second child was cleverer, he wished to own the McDonald's company, so that he can have as many fast food as he wishes.  This wish too was granted. The third child was even smarter. He wished to have all of the wishes of the children in the room.  Surprisingly, this wish too was granted. Now the fourth child said the ultimate wish: he wished to have any wishes he can have in this world.  Isn't this the wish-all wish?  To his astonishment, the deity granted this child his wish. Now come to the fifth and last child, and he paused for a while and said, "I wish to have no more wishes, because if I had ever lasting happiness and contentment, there is no need to wish for anything because life is complete and perfect". My friends, isn't this the be...

Whether you are struggling in your life now or you simply want to fast track your success, follow our 3 ACT Steps (Ask Count Take action ) and your new year wishes will come true.  Guaranteed. Ask for What You Desire in Specific Terms.  Not just more money, but how much. Like I want to have 3 clients getting our  10 courses bundle at $1,499 each month, plus 5 clients for in-house training  each month;  Count Your Foes, that's right, enemies that can prevent you from achieving your desires .  Then remove the 5 most common fetters to wishes coming true: Weak desires Goals inconsistent with your beliefs Goals inconsistent with your values Lack of good backing No clear use of the extra money . Until you have clear use of the extra money, that extra money is of no meaning to you and thus it's difficult for you to achieve it      3.   Take Action NOW to achieve your goals. This could be going back to your past leads, send a ...

Shocking statistics: the world's top 3 instant messaging services with people efficiency as follows: Whatsapp: 450 million actives users, employs only 50 staff to handle 50 billion messages daily; WeChat: 600 million registered users, employs 20,000 staff; Line: 300 million registered users, employs 5,000 staff; Here's how Whatsapp managed to be so productive employing only 50 staff to serve 450 million customers daily: Very Simple Product with little or no variation (no premium version).  In fact Whatsapp simple product makes it the most used product (as compared to WeChat).  Many people including myself use Whatsapp for its no-brainer style that gives reliable results Systematize operations with each person well trained (employs no intern or inexperienced staff) Full computerized operations with all 50 people working round the clock in shifts.  In this way no problems can be left undetected and solved immediately and there's no need for meetings at all ...

This small artist monopolised the entire Chinatown.  Yes, micro players can always monopolize the market if they do things differently.  Yes, a micro like You can become the Microsoft of your industry today.  This is because the market is not absolutely homogeneous and is heterogeneous, that is, each segment of the market is actually different.  Many small players do not realize this and make the mistake of following the market leaders blindly.  They end up with no business because customers would rather play safe and go with the leader than an unknown brand. The following are the 7 ways that any small player can monopolize the market easily: Do Things That Nobody Does .  Like NEXT Computer (1986 to 1998), it focused on the education market and avoided the rest of the market dominated by IBM-clones PCs powered by Microsoft's operating system.  In fact NEXT was so successful that Apple had to use up all its available cash to buy it over in 1998 to...

I am always amazed that even in 2014, there are some people who still manage people like in the past. The following are the Top 5 Most Common Myths and Truths of People Management: Myth 1: You need money to motivate people Truth: Accomplishment itself is a bigger motivator , and if you use money alone, you’ll get greedy people! Look at those people cheat at mega banks and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Myth 2: You must push people to achieve Your Company's Goals  Truth: People are pushed by their own commitment than your goals. If their commitment is aligned with your goals, your goal setting will work. Otherwise, it will simply not work. Myth 3: People need to be managed and controlled  Truth: You only can manage space, time and resources. You don’t manage people, you lead people. Myth 4: Increasing sales and profits are clear goals that everyone can relate to Truth: People relate more to something bigger that matters and make a difference , like being able t...

The problem with most employees is not that they are not doing well in their job, it is that they spent years working hard without realizing that what they do may not be what their employers want! Remember that your employer is also a human being. What would you like to see in another human being? Someone who is initiated, reliable and has the aptitude to learn is always an asset to an employer.  Based on years of experience in coaching, teaching and consulting thousands of employers and employees worldwide, below are the first 4 of the 10 bite-sized pointers to guide you towards becoming a great value worker for your boss. Top 10 Things that Every Employer Looks for in an Employee: 1. Be a low maintenance employee Before we can talk about a car being high performance, it must first be low maintenance and cannot break down frequently.  Same for an employee .  Being low maintenance means requiring minimal supervision and is very flex...

P eople often ask me as a trainer what new things I can impart to them.  When I reply that I cannot teach anybody anything new, they were disappointed.  Before they want to throttle me, I go on to explain that people do things for their own reason.  For learning to be effective, people must get to learn by themselves . There are 3 steps for people to learn anything: 1st Step: Awareness Most people are ignorant, deluded and unsure of what is right or wrong. That day in my training I asked my participants which apartment is near to town: Marine Parade Road or Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.  Everyone said Marine Parade Road is nearer. But when I ask them why is the Marine Parade Road's apartment selling at 30% below the price of the Ang Mo Kio's one, they start to give me other reasons like the Ang Mo Kio apartment is a newer one.  I told them that this could be true, but we must aware of the fact that if 2 things differ in price, one is over-price while the other is...

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 ...