“If you succeed you can lead else you can guide.
A priest assigned 3 guys to sell bible. At the end of the day two smart guys sold 10 bibles each and wondered whether the third guy sold any. The third guy, who stutters , sold 30 to the shock of the priest and the two smart guys.
How the hell did you manage ?
“ I..I aaa..sked them whe..whe..whether you wa..wa…want to ba..ba..buy the bi..bi..bible or sh..sh..,shall I re…re…read it to you”.
(I hope nobody, takes any offense since lots of people in high places , athletes, politicians, actors, singers, writers, scientists stammers. Do not withdraw into a shell. Google “stuttering famous personalities”, you will get a list).
Sorry for the deviation, my theme is “selling”
I remember years ago, my team member came to me and said Sir, I am going to Chennai, I want leave. Sure, whats there in Chennai. I am going to attend a talk by a company, a direct selling company. I have paid Rs 3000 for it.
We have to buy a kit for Rs 4000 and sell some very good products. Its called direct marketing. No middle man. Lots of money in it. The products are very cheap. In US lot of people became millionaires.
I told her, in US the kit cost $100 which is Rs 4000 (at that time $ was Rs 40) and you are paying 4000 which is more than a month’s salary. In US the guy who is paying $100 has a salary of $3000 plus.
The cost per unit is low and you have to lift a huge volume, a minimum of 10 Kilos of the product, right from toothpaste to shampoos to whatever
Once you take up that job, I will be avoiding you. You know why ? I do not want to buy them from you and you will want to sell it to me. The same state with your other friends. In no time you will be closing shop with 10 K down.
Selling and marketing was never in my list of career options. I valued relationship as top priority and i did not want to do business with friends and lose them. If you want to do well in marketing, please do not agree with me.
Selling should be the core function of every one in an organisation, that’s the mantra. I could never accept that.
I was asked what is the worst that can happen if I make a call. I replied, I may get a “no”.
What happens if I don’t make that call ? I had a stupid answer for that, I will not have to hear a no.
I have a service or product of high quality with me. I will tell you about it. If you like it , want it, you will buy it. I don’t sell, you can buy if you like. That way my relationship stays. Towards the end of life, we are not going to look for our qualification , achievement or designation, what matters will be relationship. My company expects me to sell. Ho..ho..how do yo..yo..you thi,,thi,,think I am go…go..going to sssss..ell ?
There is a great market place called Kelphr. Some of the best freelance HR experts (trainers, coaches, consultants, solution providers) and corporates have registered with Kelp. The corporate post their requirement on kelphr platform and the experts bid for them, a transparent operation. For Corporate, they do not have to get into the hassles of dealing with hazaar vendors, contracts and the freelancers do not have to spend their energy for marketing, all actions on a single platform. You see its a win win situation .
I stop talking at this point and my boss is annoyed with me. My belief, the platform should bring business on its own merit, it is a wonderful concept and I need my relationship to be intact. I keep telling them I am not going to sell, they are going to buy. The company has given up on me. I am known as a poor salesman. Just in case… kindly visit http://kelphr.com , you will find something in it for you. Here I am not selling, just connecting.
Coming to the quote in the beginning, you want to sell, let me guide you.
Here are some tips to follow to be a seller:
- Each day set a goal.
- Imagine, how you will feel when you achieve your goal
- Decide the number of visits, emails and calls
- Have a helping attitude
- Be thorough about your product/service
- Understand the customers business
- Prepare yourself with the message how your product/service will improve your prospect’s business and life, if possible quantify the improvement in figures. Focus less on yourself, your firm, or its products.
- Have a differentiator , be specific like replacement without questions or after sales service free for the first year or any othe
- While mailing, tell them your reason for writing and the benefits for the prospect with your services, asking for an appointment to take it forward if it interests them.
- Remember what annoyed you when someone was trying to sell you some thing, avoid it.
- Take action in spite of the fear of rejection
- Network, build a brand of trustworthiness and commitment.
- Respect other’s time, be on time
- Focus on ethics and values
If you don’t succeed with the above tips, call me I will help you change your profession.
There are many social enterprises, here are two of them which are close to my heart
Rajmenon's Blog 