Business and Money Tips

Why people hate salespeople? Because they always do the following 7 things: They talk about their products and services without first finding out what customers need and want They use proof sources (like case studies, testimonials, white papers and even demonstrations) when the customer feels that his situation is very different from those they cited Their values and visions are out of sync with the customer, e.g. talking about saving money when the customer’s priority now is not enough time They like to talk down to customers by saying that their should not have bought from other vendors They are always so nice before the deal is closed. After collecting the money, they are always so busy Salespeople are money minded, they think in terms of how much they themselves earn and not the client’s interest They think they know a lot, and seldom go for training, for they see training as a waste of time and prefer to sell to earn money. They did not realize that by not improving on th

In the next 30 days, I want you to climb your own mountain and really ‘huat’ in this new year. Everybody wants higher sales, but we know that sales come from customers, and customers give you sales transactions with a certain dollar sale. And customers come from prospects, and prospects come from our target market. So from here I derive the “ 5-Way Sales Leverage Chart ”: Target Market X Marketing Conversion = NO. OF PROSPECTS X Selling Conversion = NO. OF CUSTOMERS X No. of Transactions X Average Dollar Sale Price = SALES From the above formula you see that there are  only 5 variable things – the target market, marketing conversion, selling conversion, no. of transactions and average dollar sale.  So how to change the 5 things so as to build your business?  Let’s look at an example. I have inserted some simple figures into our formula: Target Market 4,000 X Marketing Conversion Rate 10% = PROSPECTS 400 X Selling Conversi

The scientist, searching into the mysteries of human life, reveals to us a wonderful world of power, possibility, and promise. He tells us that the mind is the creative cause of all that transpires in the life of  Man.  Science tells us that that the personal conditions of men are the results of men’s action. This means that all the actions of men are the direct outcome of his ideas.  We can never make a move of any kind until we first form some image or plan in our mind. These plans or ideas are powerful ad potent.  They are the causes - good, bad, or indifferent, of the effects that follows.   Science therefore concludes that when we learn to employ our minds constructively, we use correctly these hidden powers, forces, and faculties. This, the scientist tells us, is the KEY to success in living life. As what William Shakespeare said, “The fault is not in our stars but in ourselves that we are underlings.” If all conditions are the result of our actions, and all ac

We all know that to achieve financial freedom, we need to not work for money and let money work for us. This means we must have income when we are not working, or commonly known as passive income. Unfortunately most people think that they can never have passive income, for they think passive income is only for investors and business owners, especially people in Network Marketing or MLM. Today I shall teach everyone how you too can have passive income, even though you are just an employee and hold no investments and not doing network marketing. That's right, you hold on to your full time salaried job and get passive income without the need to take on another job. Passive income, according to the dictionary, is i ncome you earn when you are not actively working or working passively . Notice the key word 'working'. That means you earn passive income when you work , just that you are not working actively . For example,  you are not working the same hours as before.  Acc

(This article was published in The Straits Times on 3 Feb 2016 at page C44) Some people think that training and development are a luxury for you cannot really measure its tangible benefits. Yet others think that there must at least be a 200% payoff (benefits over training cost) for any training program to be considered beneficial.  To us, there are 7 tangible benefits that you can touch and feel IMMEDIATELY after the   training : 1.      Ask the participants to do a written assessment  of the training in terms of  3 areas: how does it improve their work, make their work easier or given them new ideas . You can also ask them to do a  30-day Action Plan  on the action that they will take within 30 days of the training 2.      Voluntary self-reporting by the participants .  If your participants can report to you without being asked, you can be sure that they enjoyed the training and find it useful 3.      Measure the improvements in the work   This is very easy to be done for ha

Imagine the God of Fortune comes to your house. The Chinese believe that if you work hard and are positive, you'll get wealth from this God of Fortune. When this deity comes to your house, he offers you 2 choices: an abundant supply of gold and American dollars; and, an oil well. My choice is obvious: I'll still prefer an oil well. Even now with oil price slumping to the twenties and everyone is pessimistic about oil, I'll still prefer an oil well than gold and American Dollars. This is because an oil well is not just about oil. An oil well is about a stream of income . Even if the income is not high now due to the market cycle, the cumulative effect of the income is more than anyone can imagine. Furthermore, the oil well is giving me passive income , and unlike gold and American dollars, the income just come without me working or asking for it . And with the passive income, I can buy whatever amount of gold and American Dollars as I like. Isn't this the best o

Most companies like to engage sales trainers when they find that their sales are down. They think that with sales training, their sales will increase. The reality is far from this. As we know, when sales are down, the number one reason is lack of competitiveness , not just in the local market but in the global market . Just look at the dismal sales of Microsoft Lumia, Motorola and Blackberry now and you'll know what I am talking about.  So the first thing to do is to improve your competitiveness. Need to look at the following 7 things: Is the company's pricing structure competitive? Are the sales team adequately compensated for their efforts , not for the company's efforts. For example, if they work more, do they get to earn more NOW, not 12 months later Are the sales support team happy ? Often the sales support teams are low in motivation, that's why they cannot support the more aggressive sales team. As a result, sales are below par Is there a sales mana

Other than the usual fixed training fee, we at AsiaTrainers also do Profit Sharing training. This means that our training fee is a percentage of the increase in profits derived from our consultancy and training. There is thus zero risk to you as there is no cost until our consulting and training prove to be useful in creating additional profits for your company.  This is how this works: We brainstorm with you the key reason for your current sales to be below expectations We identify the strategy to increase sales . This also includes reviewing the pricing structure, compensation plan and product positioning We will help you make adjustments to the above, but no adjustment to be made to your existing salespeople and headcount Together with your sales team, we work out the one-month, 3-month and 6-month action plan to increase sales We train your salespeople to help them achieve the above plans.  Your sales team work to execute the plans After every month, we will work out

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 (2016) financial markets will be down, I must invest my hard earned savings into instruments that are safe, like REITs that offer quarterly dividends exceeding 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 are not looking good no

Many managers and leaders, in their attempt to coach their people, often end up scolding or de-moralising them. If you are doing any the below 10 things, you are not coaching, but merely de-motivating people: Asking "What's wrong? " in a questioning tone Saying, " Let's talk" and look at them in a demanding way Offering your help , "Just see me any time you have problem" and then make yourself unavailable when they seek your help Asking Yes or No questions like, "Are you still in?" instead of asking questions that open up possibilities like "How do you find yourself inside this picture?" Becoming an expert and start giving advise before they ask for it Impatient, look at targets and nothing else Look at the negative side of things, like, "How come nobody volunteers?" and then start appointing people instead without giving people time to respond Picking up losers as examples Picking up winners as exam