Today, I really had the inspiration to write about something I noticed from a very close friend of mine. This friend is also in the sales industry, and is also a fellow sales mentor to his team as well.
With my friend, I noticed something different from many salespeople that is very uncommon which being “marketing by default”.
What do I mean by “marketing by default”?
Showing posts with label sales tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sales tools. Show all posts
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Friday, November 19, 2010
Harry Potter 7 - Deathly Hallows Part 1 Review
Yesterday, I really had a great time watching the official opening of Harry Potter 7 - Deathly Hallows. Together with my beautiful wife, we bought two large boxes of popcorn and one go large ice tea to complete our viewing of Harry Potter 7.
Although again, the movie could not compare to the details of the book, it was for me a good enough deal for 160 Pesos of two and half hour movie enjoyment.
Quite frankly, I'm not much of a movie buff and I can't really critic the movie as the "real movie critics" out there. But at least let me give my opinion as Harry Potter fan and as marketer.
First as a fan of Harry Potter, the "Deathly Hallows" book 7 is actually the revealing book of the entire Harry Potter series but I am sad to say that the movie was not able to clearly convey that. I think it had to focus on more situational conversations and flashbacks for movie watcher's better understanding.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Grow Your Income By Learning To Sell
source : http://www.flickr.com/photos/materialboy/
Probably this is one of the most exciting benefits in learning how to sell - it can grow your income.
As a young student at an expensive University in the Philippines, I had to be more creative in my studies wherein I had to earn money and study at the same time. Luckily, I was blessed by the Lord with a great talent of being friendly and being talkative.
During that time, I started to sell mangoes to earn money for my allowance. It was very difficult at the start, and since I did not have any sales mentor at the time, I made many mistakes. After a month, I started to become better at selling and have already started to learn a basic sales theory, "sales is not sales unless paid and collected".
Learn To Sell And Lower Your Invisible-Self-Defenses
source : http://www.flickr.com/photos/materialboy/
"We can all sell if we choose to, but for most people it is one of the most difficult
things to do because they afraid of loosing their self." - Robert Allen
Based on our last sales mentor lesson, the first benefit from learning to sell is that it lowers our invisible-self-defenses.
I think most of us will agree that as people, we all have our own invisible walls. No matter how sociable we are, there will always be certain areas in our lives that we prefer to leave it a secret.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
From Good to Great - Three Tips to Being a Great Salesperson
From Good to Great - Three Tips to Being a Great Salesperson Article Word Count: 688 [View Summary] Comments (0) |
1. Consistency/persistence. Be your own lottery. The harder you work the luckier you get!
A few weeks ago I stood in line to buy a lottery ticket. The other folks in line socialized, and joked with each other. It was obvious they'd known one another from past weeks, months, maybe even years of standing in line to buy a lottery ticket.
These lottery hopefuls believe in the power of consistency and persistence. They wouldn't dream of missing their chance at winning and, like clockwork, show up to buy their chance at a better life. They have the right idea but they are in the wrong line.
Sure, once in awhile you meet a smooth talker who has drifted along getting rewarded for little effort but most of the time, this is short lived success. Successful people may make their efforts look easy, but they are often the ones waking up earlier, worker harder, and getting home later.
A few weeks ago I stood in line to buy a lottery ticket. The other folks in line socialized, and joked with each other. It was obvious they'd known one another from past weeks, months, maybe even years of standing in line to buy a lottery ticket.
These lottery hopefuls believe in the power of consistency and persistence. They wouldn't dream of missing their chance at winning and, like clockwork, show up to buy their chance at a better life. They have the right idea but they are in the wrong line.
Sure, once in awhile you meet a smooth talker who has drifted along getting rewarded for little effort but most of the time, this is short lived success. Successful people may make their efforts look easy, but they are often the ones waking up earlier, worker harder, and getting home later.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Warren Buffett and Sell to Survive
Super Investor, Billionaire and Master Sales Person Warren Buffett sanely states on his recent CNBC interview, "During times like these the most valuable asset you have is your skills and abilities." If you haven't seen the interview watch it because it will give you a sane approach and solution to how to survive and prosper.
Mr. Buffett thinks in futures not in the havoc of the moment and takes every opportunity to "sell" the products, services and enhance the value of the companies he owns. He is the perfect example of someone that doesn't see selling as something you do as much as something that has to happen. Watch the interview and you will see what I mean. He is not a frantic, high-pressure fast-talking sales guy, but he does take every opportunity to promote his products and add value to the companies he invests in.
Warren Buffett knows that selling is basic to business and survival. Without selling products and services the company value diminishes and the same holds true for individuals. Whether its American Express, Coca Cola, Wells Fargo, See's Candy, Wal Mart or GE if the company is unable to sell its products and its value it will diminish. Why does a billionaire continue to promote, market and sell the value of the companies he has major stakes in? Because even the richest man in the world knows that the financial solvency of a company or household is dependent upon selling the products, service and value of that company.
Every household in America needs to take heed of Mr. Buffett as he embraces selling as a survival skill for creating the future you want. From my book Sell to Survive, "Selling is as important as water, oxygen and food and is an innate ability to every person. Contrary to popular belief this skill is not limited to just some. This ability has only been lost because of the way we are educated and socialized and it can be easily rehabilitated."
Americans has developed a disdain for selling when this is the one single thing you cannot avoid if you want to have money in the bank! Every major problem people are having; from job loss to bankruptcy can be traced back to the inability to sell yourself, your products and your services. Show me a company or individual failing and I will show you someone having difficulty selling their products and services or their personal value to the marketplace. You cannot manage, organize, save or plan your way out of the current economy, you can only sell to survive this!
The tighter the economy gets the more this skill is needed. Remember what Buffet said, "During times like these the most valuable asset you have is your skills and abilities." The largest legal firm in the country just laid off 20% of their lawyers and I assure you those that got laid off had one thing in common; the inability to bring in revenue (sell).
Look at Buffett, he isn't sleazy, high pressure or a fast talking sales person, but he knows that selling is a natural action that should not be disdained but embraced in order to survive and prosper. Click here to see a great movie about this topic.
Another great post from Mr. Grant Cardone.
This time he talks about the greatest investor of all times, Warren Buffett. Apparently Mr. Buffet is not only an investor, he is also one of the greatest salesperson of all times. If a person like Mr. Buffett sees selling as a major tool in a successful business, how can we not?
It doesn't matter if you have a great system, a very organize admin staff, superb products and services, but at the end of the day your salespeople can't sell a single cent, your company will not survive in the long haul.
My Advice....
Learn the art and science of selling.
In this difficult times, we all have to learn new skills to survive. If in America Warren Buffett is telling his country men to "sell to survive" we to in the Philippines must follow as well. To ultimately improve our business or income, learning to sell will allow us to add-on to our income.
For example if you have a full-time job, you can join a multi-level marketing (commonly known as networking) company and sell to you warm prospect list. Having a learned ability in selling will definitely change your position in life wherein you will be able to start something in the side.
That's it for today. For any comments or questions please fill free to contact me at salesmentoronlinephilippines@gmail.com
Dedicated to your selling success.
Sales Mentor TM
Friday, February 19, 2010
How Do You Evaluate Your Brand?
When it comes to marketing, maintaining a very good brand always allows a certain product to stand out from the rest. It defines it, and gives it a certain position in the entire pie of the market.
Relating this to our sales lessons, I want to cite a few but very important issues.
1. You have to know the position of the brand you are selling.
Be familiar with the details of your brand. Your market share, sales trends, your direct competitors, rational of features, and etc.
This will prepare you more in handling possible objections on your sales call with your prospect. With the kind of brand knowledge you have, you are able to add persuasion points on sales negotiation.
2. Having a proper background of your brand will help you see which buttons to push.
Again, this relates to know the needs and wants of your prospect. When you have complete know how of your brand, filling in the needs of your prospect allows you to sell in the most persuasive way possible.
Even to this day, whenever I attend a marketing cascade about a product, I still take note of the important details of a brand. Whether you are a season salesperson or a sales manager knowing your brand is vital to our selling success.
Anyway to learn more on how to evaluate you brand, here's another great post from McLellan Marketing Group.
If you want my views on why branding matters...check out these posts:
- Are you brave enough to walk away from business?
- Be bold or go home!
- Best practice: branding
- Mark Twain...the branding expert
But let's assume you agree with me -- branding matters. If you think your company has a brand...how do you evaluate whether or not it's a good one?
Here are some criteria we use with clients when helping them either discover their brand or critique the one they have in place.
- It's evergreen (this is not something you'll need to change on a regular basis. It will always be true about you.)
- It's not a duh (if consumers already assume this about everyone in your category -- it can't be your brand.)
- Memorable (If it doesn't stick, it won't work.)
- The flag to rally around for your employees (Will they be excited and proud to help you achieve this brand?)
- True - inside and out (You can't be one company to your customers and another to your employees)
- A why or a how - not the what (how you create widgets differently or why you do it builds a brand..not that you make widgets. Everyone in your category makes widgets.)
- Makes you a little nervous (A brand needs to be a bold promise to get noticed and to matter.)
- Emotion based (We buy everything based on emotions. If your brand doesn't trigger an emotion, it will also not trigger a sale.)
- Differentiate you (Isn't that what a brand is all about. It sets you apart from everyone else.)
- Should dovetail with your mission/vision (Your internal goals and your public brand should be aligned or else one of them is off base.)
- From the consumer's point of view (it's about them after all!)
- I can tell -- it matters to me (the consumer has to be able to recognize and evaluate your brand promise. If you make the promise but I can't figure out if you kept it or not, we have trouble.)
- Big enough to trigger a buying decision (your point of difference has to be significant enough that I'd open my wallet)
If you can say "yes, that's my brand" to most of these criteria -- you have a brand that will endure and that your employees, customers and community will embrace and support. But if you can't get a 10 out of 12 on this little test (it requires quite a bit of candor) then you know it's back to the drawing board.
To read more click the source below.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Weekly Philippines Sales Update - Export Sector
Future Plans on the Export Sector - A new Industry
A new export plan that will guide public and private sector efforts to grow the sector will likely focus on maintaining the Philippines’ market share as the global economy exits the downturn, officials yesterday said.
The 2011-2013 Philippine Export Development Plan is up for drafting starting today in a workshop to be led by the Export Development Council (EDC).
"For now we will just have to find programs to continue. It won’t be overly ambitious and will be instead more for market holding," EDC Executive Director Senen M. Perlada said in a telephone interview.
"We will only be drafting the framework and will await the imprimatur of the next administration," Mr. Perlada added, noting that a change of leaders would be due in June following the May national elections.
The 2008-2010 plan, he said, was based on the broad Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan. As there is yet a new medium-term road map in place, the new export industry road map will have to use earlier plans as bases in the meantime.
Sought for comment, EDC Vice-Chairman Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., who represents the private sector, similarly said the new plan would likely echo the 2008-2010 version.
"It will be more or less the same, focusing on the same markets and winners," Mr. Ortiz-Luis said in a separate telephone interview.
The previous plan aimed to emphasize the country’s competitive advantages, analyze value chains to strengthen production, and bolster public-private sector partnership for export promotion and development activities.
It tagged the following products as the sector’s revenue streams: electronics, textiles and apparel, automotive products and parts, food, home decor, organic products, and construction materials. The export of construction and information-technology enabled services was likewise eyed.
Growth for the sector would have been achieved through product diversification, market expansion and the optimum use of trade agreements, the plan stated.
"We will revise it slightly because of what happened, the crisis. But it is a rolling plan," Mr. Ortiz-Luis said.
Also up on the agenda at the two-day workshop is a review of the EDC’s operations, Mr. Perlada said.
"Part of the workshop will be to revisit the council itself," he said.
Amid the global economic crisis, merchandise export sales fell by a quarter to $35.004 billion from January to November, according to latest official data. This came after sales flattened in 2008 to $46.332 billion.
The EDC has been in charge of vetting export promotion and development project proposals that proponents want funded from a P1-billion facility. The council had released just P11.6 million by end-2009, or roughly 1% of the fund, even as exporters railed for more support amid the economic downturn. - BusinessWorld
Jessica Anne D. Hermosa
Source
A new export plan that will guide public and private sector efforts to grow the sector will likely focus on maintaining the Philippines’ market share as the global economy exits the downturn, officials yesterday said.
The 2011-2013 Philippine Export Development Plan is up for drafting starting today in a workshop to be led by the Export Development Council (EDC).
"For now we will just have to find programs to continue. It won’t be overly ambitious and will be instead more for market holding," EDC Executive Director Senen M. Perlada said in a telephone interview.
"We will only be drafting the framework and will await the imprimatur of the next administration," Mr. Perlada added, noting that a change of leaders would be due in June following the May national elections.
The 2008-2010 plan, he said, was based on the broad Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan. As there is yet a new medium-term road map in place, the new export industry road map will have to use earlier plans as bases in the meantime.
Sought for comment, EDC Vice-Chairman Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., who represents the private sector, similarly said the new plan would likely echo the 2008-2010 version.
"It will be more or less the same, focusing on the same markets and winners," Mr. Ortiz-Luis said in a separate telephone interview.
The previous plan aimed to emphasize the country’s competitive advantages, analyze value chains to strengthen production, and bolster public-private sector partnership for export promotion and development activities.
It tagged the following products as the sector’s revenue streams: electronics, textiles and apparel, automotive products and parts, food, home decor, organic products, and construction materials. The export of construction and information-technology enabled services was likewise eyed.
Growth for the sector would have been achieved through product diversification, market expansion and the optimum use of trade agreements, the plan stated.
"We will revise it slightly because of what happened, the crisis. But it is a rolling plan," Mr. Ortiz-Luis said.
Also up on the agenda at the two-day workshop is a review of the EDC’s operations, Mr. Perlada said.
"Part of the workshop will be to revisit the council itself," he said.
Amid the global economic crisis, merchandise export sales fell by a quarter to $35.004 billion from January to November, according to latest official data. This came after sales flattened in 2008 to $46.332 billion.
The EDC has been in charge of vetting export promotion and development project proposals that proponents want funded from a P1-billion facility. The council had released just P11.6 million by end-2009, or roughly 1% of the fund, even as exporters railed for more support amid the economic downturn. - BusinessWorld
Jessica Anne D. Hermosa
Source
My Opinion
Being practical, I think Mr. Ortiz should really take into consideration what products we will get our revenue streams from.
Firstly.
I do not think that the world economy is back on its feet. When we were born we start to crawl, then slowly we walk, then we walk well, then we run, then learn to ride a bike and so on. We should be doing the same thing in our approach to export sector.
As a sales "evangelist", I have always taken in to heart to make realistic goals. We all know that improving the export gross yearly sales, will entail a lot of marketing and promotions. Just like in a sales recovering business, we look to our strengths to get back on our feet which is our cheap and quality labor, abundances in resources, and organic products (which is currently a great trend today in the world market).
Secondly.
EDC (Export Development Council) will not be able to handle this sector alone. With the presidential elections fast approaching, I implore all Filipinos to be vigilant in choosing a well economic oriented new president. Our new president will be one of the biggest keys (in the macroeconomic level) to improve our economy and hence improve the sales that many of us are trying to achieve.
In summary, I believe that the export sector will be the key source in which we will be able to grow the Philippines internal businesses and with no reason that is should be taken for granted. We as salespeople should also be aware of the current new trends in the market, and take advantage of it. As Warren Buffet says it - "the trend is you friend". Hence, it is within us to forecast on what we should improve in the future.
That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed my weekly Philippines sales update.
Dedicated to your selling success.
Sales Mentor TM
Basic Selling Lesson
If you want to sell anything, it has to start with this basic lesson.
“Our prospects will only buy when they believe our product/service can provide for them a need, a desire, or a want that they have.”
If you are serious on earning money from a sales career, whether you are currently an employee for an international company, just starting to sell for a multi-level direct selling or maybe pursuing the entrepreneurial path, this should be the Mindset that you should be following and taking into heart.
I believe that with this guideline alone, you as a salesperson already have a head start among others who just blankly follow what their managers tell them to do, which is just to sell.
Back when I was still a child, I remember I asked my father if he could buy me an acoustic guitar. His simple answer was “show me that you need it, and I will buy you one”. As an eleven year old, that didn’t really make sense to me but since I was really eager to learn to play music, I borrowed my friend's guitar and practice often until I could play a full-length song. Only then did my father surprised me and bought me new acoustic guitar.
With that example alone, we can evaluate that once we have provided the prospects need (in this case my father is the prospect), selling is definitely easy.
Like what Robert Kiyosaki said in his book Sales Dogs, “find out what the person needs and getting him to buy will be easier”.
A reminder to the corporate world:
I’ve seen many good companies in the Philippines that had superior products, yet they did not achieve their expectations with it because they were in the “wrong” market. They spend so much in marketing and promotions only to realize after a few years that they are positioning that product in an area where it has a weak affinity or appeal to the target market. Although I know that we learn best from our mistakes, yet corporate management should really take into consideration the feedback from the front liners who are the ones really marketing the product.
Going back with our selling lesson.
You as a salesperson already have an overview and even before approaching a prospect, you should have asked the question "does this prospect have a need, want, desire for my product?".
With that question alone, you can somehow foresee the possible objections that the prospect will throw at you. When we sell it is important that we have already started the selling process in our mind, with this we become persuasive in every level of the sales negotiation.
In a nutshell our job as a salesperson is to provide that need, that want, that desire. Or it can be to help the prospect to realize that they have that need, that want, and that desire. Jim Robbin says it well - "we become as a co-buyer for our prospect".
Now how do we do that? We show them the benefits and the features of what we are selling in which will be fit for their wants and needs.
This is what we will talk about on my next post.
That's it for today. Do not forget to leave your comments below.
Dedicated to you selling success,
Sales Mentor TM.
“Our prospects will only buy when they believe our product/service can provide for them a need, a desire, or a want that they have.”
If you are serious on earning money from a sales career, whether you are currently an employee for an international company, just starting to sell for a multi-level direct selling or maybe pursuing the entrepreneurial path, this should be the Mindset that you should be following and taking into heart.
I believe that with this guideline alone, you as a salesperson already have a head start among others who just blankly follow what their managers tell them to do, which is just to sell.
Back when I was still a child, I remember I asked my father if he could buy me an acoustic guitar. His simple answer was “show me that you need it, and I will buy you one”. As an eleven year old, that didn’t really make sense to me but since I was really eager to learn to play music, I borrowed my friend's guitar and practice often until I could play a full-length song. Only then did my father surprised me and bought me new acoustic guitar.
With that example alone, we can evaluate that once we have provided the prospects need (in this case my father is the prospect), selling is definitely easy.
Like what Robert Kiyosaki said in his book Sales Dogs, “find out what the person needs and getting him to buy will be easier”.
A reminder to the corporate world:
I’ve seen many good companies in the Philippines that had superior products, yet they did not achieve their expectations with it because they were in the “wrong” market. They spend so much in marketing and promotions only to realize after a few years that they are positioning that product in an area where it has a weak affinity or appeal to the target market. Although I know that we learn best from our mistakes, yet corporate management should really take into consideration the feedback from the front liners who are the ones really marketing the product.
Going back with our selling lesson.
You as a salesperson already have an overview and even before approaching a prospect, you should have asked the question "does this prospect have a need, want, desire for my product?".
With that question alone, you can somehow foresee the possible objections that the prospect will throw at you. When we sell it is important that we have already started the selling process in our mind, with this we become persuasive in every level of the sales negotiation.
In a nutshell our job as a salesperson is to provide that need, that want, that desire. Or it can be to help the prospect to realize that they have that need, that want, and that desire. Jim Robbin says it well - "we become as a co-buyer for our prospect".
Now how do we do that? We show them the benefits and the features of what we are selling in which will be fit for their wants and needs.
This is what we will talk about on my next post.
That's it for today. Do not forget to leave your comments below.
Dedicated to you selling success,
Sales Mentor TM.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Who Should Gain the Most?
Before we go to the details on the selling process, I just want to emphasize a very important point that I have observed most Filipino salespeople lack.
“The Winner or the one that should gain the most should always be the customer.”
(I’m obviously assuming that the product you are selling is legitimate, is fairly priced, and will perform as expected).
The customer is KING and he should be treated as one. He is and will always be our number one priority. This has been my guide and the key to my continuous success in selling. Let’s face it my selling friend, our profession would not have survived this long if all Pinoy salespeople only focused on making themselves better.
During my early days as an Account Specialist (my hairline was not receding then and was really “macho”), I’ve seen how my fellow Specialists complain often about how our customers were gaining too much yet our commissions were not that high. We forget that all these years, the Sales Profession has always been booming because of the growing number of prospects we have; the Kings and the Queens . Thankfully, I wasn’t their kind so I was able to progress rather fast than most of my colleagues.
As your sales mentor, I have a responsibility to remind you that we should be giving more value on our customers than the monetary value we are receiving. This and only this will be the ultimate reason that we can build a long lasting relationship with our customers. In fact, we as a Sales Force should consider that our customers are the pillars of our growth and label them as our business-partners.
As the great sales trainer Zig Ziglar says, “You can have everything you want in life if you will just help enough people to get what they want”. In my own words, our initial intention should be to help meet the needs of our customers and not vice versa. We as salespeople must be by nature problem solvers, and thru our product/service, we should be able to provide our customers with what they really need so in return we will then get our desired results.
The customer is always the big winner – He is King!
That's it for today, join me again next time.
Dedicated to you selling success!
Sales Mentor TM
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