Business and Money Tips

It sounds funny, right?  How can we lower staff cost by increasing staff cost?  As we know, staff cost is computed this way: Staff Remuneration/Staff Output .  So if you increase staff remuneration and get a higher output, your staff cost will decrease.  Other than this, there are 4 other ways that you too can increase cost and lower your staff cost as a result: Increase training cost .  With better trained staff, their output will increase automatically.  Make sure that you send your staff for training that cost less than $200 per head (for half day ).  Most importantly, ensure that the training covers practical issues and not just some impressive theories. With PIC covering at least 60% of your training cost, your net cost is only $80 per head, and I'm sure your company can recover it easily in just 2 days.  To find out the 7 ways to train your staff, click here .  Read here to discover the 9 things that a good sales training should c...

Note: How to be a Better Manager starts from 4 Aug 2014 Training is now considered no longer a luxury but a necessity.  It is said that if you don't train your people to be good, you're training your people to be bad .  This is because everyday there are so many bad influence - from market, the media, Facebook, contractors etc that many people have lamented that today's workforce does not possess the core values that workers used to have.  There are 7 ways that you can train your people: You let them learn on the job - that is, purely from work experience. This method is costless in terms of your time, but is extremely costly as mistakes made at work have many repercussions later on.  Highly not recommended, but still beats having no training at all (i.e. you never let them make any mistakes).  You get a senior staff to train them . This On-the-job training is the most common method.   PIC funds up to $10,000 a year for such internal training. ...

If you are like most managers, you would probably find that you are lacking in certain skills. This lack is causing you delay in your career growth. Worst of all, your boss expects you to know all and your subordinates are watching you every day.    The truth is that most managers and supervisors are promoted based on their technical skills, and yet it is the managerial and leadership skills that will make them more successful. In this Power-packed How to Be a Better Manager or Supervisor program, you will learn proven strategies to improve presentation, negotiation, and how you can manage your team & boss. Focused around Asia Coaching Training coaching and training materials used in 39,871 companies worldwide since 1993, you will find the strategies you need to implement significant changes in your career.  The 4 key areas covered are People Management, Teambuilding, Leadership and Communication.  This management development program is for managers, b...

Most people treat learning seriously, but the problem is that they learn too seriously and as a result learn nothing.  Most people are very interested in learning the latest theories, concepts, discoveries and even success stories.  They listen well, take good notes and ask good questions.  Many even go further in reading and watching youtube videos related to the subject.  As a trainer and coach, I am happy for their learning enthusiasm.  But I find them to be lousy learners.  Why? You see, learning is just the first step and is incomplete until you put the learning into action.  It is the application that makes the difference. Only when you apply will you be able to know if what you learnt makes sense.  Most importantly, every person's situation is different and you need to apply the learning differently and adapt to the situation.  You only can adapt when you apply.  You can't apply by doing case studies on paper, doing role pla...

The first thing that comes into people's mind when you ask them to increase sales is "Where do I advertise?"  Next is to increase the salaries of salespeople.  After that, you've got to increase the marketing budget and so on.  They are all costly ways with no sure guarantee of success.  No wonder they say many people would prefer to not increase sales for fear of wasting money!  It doesn't have to be this way.   Companies can always increase their sales without incurring a single cent.  In fact, many of them have realized that not only there is no cost involved, you can actually make money from increasing sales .  Here's how it works: You send your salespeople for trainin g that teaches them how to increase sales by say, 61.1%.  Since the Singapore government funds 60% of the training cost under PIC Productivity and Innovation Credit, your net cost of the training is 40%. But under the PIC Bonus scheme, your company will receive a...

From Sun Tzu's "Art of War" book: 1.  Seek Victory From the Situation A skilled commander seeks victory from the situation.  He knows when the situation is favourable to him and avoids war when it is dangerous to him.  2.  Deceive Your Enemy All warfare is based on deception.  Even though you're competent, you have to appear as incompetent.  When able to attack, we must seem unable, when using our forces, we must seem inactive.  When we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are far; when far away, we must appear near.  In short, appear weak when strong, and appear strong when weak.   Hence those skilled in war will bring the enemy to the battlefield and not be brought there by the enemy.   Supreme excellence lies in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting .  Hence the ultimate winner is one that wins without fighting .  Or put in another way, the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fight...

Sales training in Singapore and the region: people have asked me what topics must a good sales program cover?   To me, there are at least 9 things that all sales training must cover: How to Look for New Customers without spending on expensive advertising Getting repeat business from customers Increasing the average spending of customers Converting all sales objections into buying reasons How to Sell the Impossible so as to sell ice to the Eskimos How to Present your product and service so that your product features make sense for the buyer Getting past gate keepers and reaching decision makers effortlessly Service from the heart and how to go the extra mile to serve customers Asking questions so as to elicit information from buyers and lead them to a sale On top of that, sales training must also cover the 3 soft skills: How to set your own sales targets and motivate yourself to work towards your goals Persuasion, Influence and Negotiation skills Reading a person...

Me with Andy Koh, a super salesperson of Organo lingzhi coffee Enchantment is the feeling of being attracted by something interesting, pretty, dynamic or captivating.  Like when you pass by the street and got attracted by a poster.  When applied in sales, it can be a very powerful technique. As I learnt from Guy Kawasaki, enchantment in sales is all about changing people’s hearts, minds and actions by providing them with a vision or a way to do things better . The difference between enchantment and simple sales is that with enchantment you have the other person’s best interests at heart, too.   As we know, people don't buy goods and services, they buy experiences.  That's the reason why Apple's fans swear to using iPhones: Apple provides a unique experience as Apple is the only smartphone company that controls both hardware and software. By far the best experience you can provide to anyone is their own experience: how you can enhance their life e...

Limitless Selling seminar in April 2014 We all know that questions are among the best tools in your sales presentation. This is because when you ask, they answer, and people will always believe more in what they themselves say than what you say. The professional salesperson knows that to keep the prospect's attention, you must ask more than you tell. Not just any questions, but skillful questioning that draws prospects out and leads them to a buying decision. But here's where the normal salesperson miss out: it's not just about asking questions. There are lots of salespeople out there who have learnt the techniques of asking questions, but they come off as 'canned' and not really sincere because they're not interested in the reply. You ask a question to know a person better because you're really interested, not just to find a hole in their defenses to ram your product through. You ask because so that you can serve them. In short, you ask because you'...

In Bangkok Thailand Feb 2012 training 24 managers of a MNC Successful managers use a very effective management tactic that wins people over easily. This tactic is actually a process that manages people without managing .   This is because a good manager never managers anyone, he simply  creates the conditions for people to manage themselves.     Transformational Leadership (TL) is the latest buzzword in management.   This is how works: You find out what are the goals of people You share with them the goals of your organization You link how achieving the organization's goals will achieve their individual's goals You show them the step-by-step pathways to achieving the 2 goals, plus you offer assistance and coaching.   You see, when you do the above, you are not telling people that they must achieve your organization's goals.  You're  helping your people to achieve their own goals.   Asking questions helps you to find out w...

Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. –Napoleon Hill I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. –Florence Nightingale Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone We become what we think about. –Earl Nightingale Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. –Charles Swindoll Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. –Steve Jobs To succeed, you need not just a reason but a strong compelling reason - Patrick Liew (Singapore) You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore. –Christopher Columbus A leader's job is to make people work hard, not make people's work hard - Andy Ng (Singapore) Believe you can and you’re halfway there. –Theodore Roosevelt Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. –Les Brown Have a D  (damn good) day.  Related articles: Spend more money today to earn more...

Successful salespeople use a very effective sales tactic that win business over easily. This tactic is actually a process that sells without selling.  It is said that a good salesperson never sells anything, he simply creates the conditions for buyers to buy by themselves.  This is because selling is defined as professionally helping other people to buy.  The oldest and most effective tactic is Asking Questions.  You see, when you ask questions you are not selling.  You're helping the buyer to solve problems . Asking questions helps you to find out what are the real needs of your customer to determine how much they are willing to pay for a solution. But you cannot just ask a few questions and expect a sale. You need to ask the RIGHT Questions in the RIGHT ORDER .  Other than that, you also need to use questions to overcome sales objections.  It is said that the real job of a salesperson is in overcoming sales objections.  For if ...

Everything in business starts and ends with sales, so all salespeople must be selling or they are simply redundant.  I f you don't make a difference to your customer, you are no different from other salespeople in the market, and customers will not choose you.   Making a Difference (MD, not MAD) is  not about offering the lowest price at the highest quality and the fastest delivery .  Nor is the MD Salesperson providing the best entertainment, for you are not an entertainer.  It is also not about you providing the most service, especially services that are way beyond the core of what you're doing.  This is because a salesperson is NOT a Service Provider, but a Service Provider that Sells.     There are 7 ways that you can make a difference to your customers: Adding Value to Customers Even When They Don't Buy .   Giving Referrals to your Customers Help the Customer to Save Money, Time and Energy  Make the Customer and his...

There are 5 things that every trainee is looking for in an external training program: Enhance their thinking , for it is the thinking capability that determines our work performance. That's why most trainers like to ask provocative questions to broaden the minds of the trainees.  Sometimes to make an impact trainers would purposely give the wrong information to ' wake people up ' Get Inspiration and Motivation .  As we know, the typical working life is full of stress and people usually get motivated when it's time for bonus or increment.  The fact that trainers help trainees to see things from another perspective will inspire people to do more.  Furthermore, trainers are external professionals that have no personal interest in the trainees, thus they can offer motivate people easily without being mistaken as phony Get Solutions to their Problems.  This is a very common and useful outcome of training, where trainees get answers to their current work proble...

The front 10 seats are reserved for the hungry ghosts What a strange title! What has this Singapore superstitious Hungry Ghost Festival got to do with modern professional management? The Toaists Chinese in Singapore believed that when people die, they become ghosts and live in hell. Once a year, such ghosts have a one-month holiday when they can come up and roam the streets and enjoy themselves to relive the experiences of human life. Such a month falls on the lunar 7th month every year.  They are called Hungry Ghosts because they are hungry for food, entertainment, money and most importantly, attention. Imagine if your neighbourhood suddenly sees an influx of people, surely there will be disorder, disturbances and even chaos?  Would you call the police for help?  What the Chinese do in 7th month is not to call the police, but instead get together to do praying and offerings (food and paper-made things like money, house and cars) to them throughout the entire 7th...

In Buddhism, there is this bodhisattva called Avalokiteshvara, or commonly called 'Guan Shi Yin" in China and South East Asia (or "Guan Yin" in short).  This bodhisattva is an enlightened being living in heaven that has delayed his own buddhahood so as to save mankind from their sufferings.  He (or she as in Guan Yin) has the ability to listen and understand the suffering of others.  Buddhists believe that if we evoke his name, he will listen and help us.  Note that his one life cycle is of a few thousand years.  In everyday life, you as a human being are also like Avalokiteshvara if you can practise deep listening and active listening .  Just by being able to listen with calm and understanding and without any judgement, we are already easing the suffering of another person.  If you were to engage in 30 minutes of such listening, you can relieve a great deal of pain in another person.  That's what coaches and trainers like us do: we listen...

As I learnt from James Pickens, master sales closers ask one minute, one liner closing statements that close the sale instantly.  The top 7 such questions are: "What could I do to help you buy?"  If the customer says, "Nothing" you say, "Why?"  The customer then answers, and you overcome the objection and closes the sale If the customer says he can't make a decision, you suddenly ask him if he wants more coffee . Whatever answer the customer gives, you just say, "Don't tell me you can't make a decision; you just did." "Let me tell you something I've learned.  When you don't know which road to take in life, any road that looks good to you will do.  Isn't this proposal I showed you look good?" "Mr customer, if I give you this product free of charge, you would take it, wouldn't you?  So we're only talking about money, right?" "Mr customer, anyone can say no, because that's easy....