Challenges keep you ENERGIZED!!!

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish.

But the water close to Japan has not held many fish for decades.

So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever.

The further the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring the fish.

If the return trip took more time, the fish were not fresh.

To solve this problem, fish companies installed freezers on their boats.

They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea.

Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer.

However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen fish and they did not like the taste of frozen fish.

The frozen fish fetched a lower price.

So, fishing companies installed fish tanks.

They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin.

After a little thrashing around, they were tired, dull, and lost their fresh-fish taste.

The fishing industry faced an impending crisis! But today, they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan.

How did they manage...?

To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but with a small shark.

The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move.

The challenge they face keeps them alive and fresh!

Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired and dull....?

Basically in our lives, sharks are new challenges to keep us active.

If you are steadily conquering challenges, you are happy.

Your challenges keep you energized.

Don’t create Success and revel in it in a state of inertia.

You have the resources, skills and abilities to make a difference.

Put a shark in your tank this year and see how far you can really go.

Challenge yourself!!!

Never give up. Maybe I have a chance!!!

The following motivational story about Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Company.

The message of this story is to never give up on achieving you dreams no matter how many challenges you might face during the process. 

"Let me give you a great example of a man who understood the power of a real decision, someone who, once he decided, would not give up. 

His name is Soichiro Honda: founder of the Honda Corporation, the make of Honda cars and motorcycles. 

Mr. Honda never allowed tragedy, problems, challenges, or the twists and turns of circumstances to get in his way. 

In fact, he often decided to see some of the biggest obstacles in his way as mere hurdles in the race to reach his goals.

In 1938, Mr. Honda was a poor student who had a dream of designing a piston ring that he would sell to any manufacture for Toyota Corporation. 

Every day he would go to school, and all night long he would work on his design, up to his elbows in grease.

He spent what little money he had on his project, and it still wasn't finished. Finally, he hocked his wife's jewellery to continue.

After years of effort he finally designed the piston ring he was sure Toyota would buy. When he took it to them, they rejected it. 

He was sent back to school to suffer the humiliation of his teachers' and friends' telling him what an idiot he was for designing such a ridiculous gadget.

Was he frustrated? You bet. Was he broke? Yes. Did he give up?

No way.

Instead, he spent the next two years continuing to find ways to make the piston ring better. 

He had the key formula to success:

1. He decided what he wanted.

2. He took action.

3. He noticed whether it was working or not, and when things weren't working out,

4. He kept changing his approach. He was flexible in the way he went about things.

Finally, after two more years, he refined his design, and Toyota actually bought it!

In order to build his piston factory, Mr. Honda needed concrete, but Japanese Government was gearing up for World War II, so none was available. 

Once again, it looked as if his dream would die. 

It seemed no one would help him. Again, did he quit? Absolutely not. 

He had decided to build this factory.

Since giving up was not an option, he got together a group of his friends, and for weeks they worked around the clock trying different approaches until they found a new way to manufacture concrete. 

He build his factory and was finally able to produce his piston rings.

"But wait, there's more..."

The story doesn't end here...

During the war, the United States bombed his factory, destroying most of it. 

Instead of feeling defeated, he rallied all his employees. He said, "Quickly! Run outside and watch those planes. 

What they'll do is drop their fuel cans out of the sky. We need to find out where they drop them and get those cans, because they contain the raw materials we need for our manufacturing process!" 

These were materials they couldn't get anywhere in Japan. Mr. Honda found a way to use whatever life gave him.

Finally, an earthquake levelled his factory and he was forced to sell his piston operation to Toyota. 

But God never closes a door without opening another one, so we need to stay alert to see whatever new opportunities life presents us...

When the war ended, Japan was in total turmoil. Resources were scarce in all part of the country gasoline was rationed and, in some cases, nearly impossible to find and Mr. Honda couldn't even get enough gas to drive his car to the market to buy food for his family. 

But instead of feeling defeated or helpless, he made a new decision. He decided he would not settle for this quality of life. 

He asked himself a very powerful question: "How else can I feed my family? How can I use things I already have to find a way to get there?" 

He noticed a little motor he had, one that was the size and type to drive a traditional lawn mower, and he got the idea of hooking it up to his bicycle.

In that moment, the first motorized bike was created. He drove it to and from the market, and pretty soon his friends were asking him to make some for them, too. 

Shortly thereafter, he'd made so many "motorbikes" that he ran out of motors, so decided to build a new factory to manufacture his own. 

But he had no money, and Japan was torn apart. How would he do it?

Instead of giving up and saying, "There's no way," he came up with a brilliant idea. 

He decided to write a letter to every single bicycle - shop owner in Japan, telling them that he thought he had the solution for getting Japan moving again, that his motorbike would be cheap and would help people get what they needed to go. Then he asked them to invest.

Of the 18,000 bicycle - shop owners who received a letter, 3,000 gave Mr. Honda money, and he manufactured his first shipment. 

And then he was a success, right? Wrong! The motorbike was too big and bulky, and very few Japanese bought it. 

So once again, he noticed what wasn't working, and instead of giving up, he changed his approach again. 

He decided to strip his motorbike down and make it much lighter and smaller. 

He called it The Cub, and it became an "overnight success," winning Honda the Emperor's Award. 

Everyone looked at him and thought how "lucky" he was to have come up with this idea.

Was he lucky? Maybe, if L.U.C.K. means Labour under Correct Knowledge. 

Today, Mr. Honda's company is one of the most successful in the world. Honda Corporation now employs over 100,000 people and outsells all but Toyota cars in the U.S. - all because Mr. Honda never gave up. 

He never let problems or circumstances get in his way. 

He decided that there is always a way to succeed if you're really committed."

How to Sell Combs to Monks

This is a great story, which taught me how to multiply my results in my sales career.

I have often shared this with my students, to demonstrate how a shift in mind set and attitude can make a significant difference.

3 sales professionals applied to work for a huge company. As they were all evenly qualified, the interviewer decided to set a sales challenge and the person who sold the most would be awarded the job.

The challenge was to sell combs to monks of any temple up in the mountains. "You have 3 days, and the person who sells the most will get the job" said the interviewer.

After 3 days, the 3 applicants returned, and reported their results.

Candidate 1 said "I managed to sell one comb. The monks scolded me, saying I was openly mocking them. Disappointed, I gave up and left.

But on my way back, I saw a junior monk with an itchy scalp; he was constantly scratching his head. I told him the comb would help him with his scratching and he bought one comb"

Candidate 2 said "That's good, but I did better. I sold 10 combs.

Excited, the interviewer asked "How did you do it?"

Candidate 2 replied "I observed that the visitors had very messy hair due to the strong winds they faced while walking to the temple.

I convinced the monk to give out combs to the visitors so they could tidy themselves up and show greater respect during their worship."

Candidate 3 stepped up "Not so fast, I sold more than both of them."

"How many did you sell" asked the interviewer.

"A thousand combs"

"Wow! How did you do it?" the interviewer exclaimed.

"I went to one of the biggest temples there, and thanked the Senior Master for serving the people and providing a sacred place of worship for them.

He was very gracious and said he would like to thank and appreciate his visitors for their support and devotion.

I suggested that the best way would be to offer his visitors a momento and the blessing of Buddha.

I showed him the wooden combs which I had engraved words of blessings and told him people would use the combs daily and would serve as a constant reminder to do good deeds.

He liked the idea, and proceeded to order a thousand combs"

"You got lucky," one of the other candidates said bitterly.

"Not really," the interviewer countered. "He had a plan, which was why he had the comb engraved prior to his visit. Even if that temple did not want it, another one surely would."

"There is more," the third candidate smiled. "I went back to the temple yesterday to check on the Master.

He said many visitors told their friends and family about the comb with the Buddha's blessing. Now even more people are visiting every day. ]

Everyone is asking for the comb, and giving generous donations too! The temple is more popular than ever, and the Master says he will run out of the combs in a month... and will need to order more!"

Learning Points:

The three different candidates show us the different levels of sales performance:

Candidate 1 displayed the most basic level, which is to meet the prospect's personal needs.

The monk with the itchy scalp had a personal need; it was specific to him only.

Candidate 2 shows the next level - anticipating and creating new needs for the prospect.

Perhaps the monk doesn't have an obvious need for the comb, but how can it still be beneficial to him?

When you can educate the prospect on new possibilities and benefits for his business, you are already outperforming your competitors.

Candidate 3 demonstrates the best level of all; an ongoing relationship resulting in repeat sales and referrals.

Everyone was a winner, the monk, the devotees, the 3rd candidate and the interviewer.

Help your prospects benefit their prospects, to create maximum value.

View each prospect not as individuals, but also their contacts and network beyond them.

See each customer as lifetime clients instead of one time sales.

Our beliefs and thoughts shape our actions and ultimately, our results.

When faced with a challenge, how do you respond? And how big do you think?

How can you create new needs for your prospect and benefit their customers?

Cheers,

Happy Reading

If you don’t change, You shall be removed!!!

Nokia CEO ended his speech saying this “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”.

During the press conference to announce NOKIA being acquired by Microsoft, Nokia CEO ended his speech saying this “we didn’t do anything wrong, but somehow, we lost”. Upon saying that, all his management team, himself included, teared sadly.

Nokia has been a respectable company. They didn’t do anything wrong in their business, however, the world changed too fast. Their opponents were too powerful.

They missed out on learning, they missed out on changing, and thus they lost the opportunity at hand to make it big. Not only did they miss the opportunity to earn big money, they lost their chance of survival.

The message of this story is, if you don’t change, you shall be removed from the competition.

It’s not wrong if you don’t want to learn new things. However, if your thoughts and mindset cannot catch up with time, you will be eliminated.

Conclusion:

·        The advantage you have yesterday, will be replaced by the trends of tomorrow.

·        You don’t have to do anything wrong, as long as your competitors catch the wave and do it RIGHT, you can lose out and fail.

·        To change and improve yourself is giving yourself a second chance.

·        To be forced by others to change, is like being discarded.

Those who refuse to learn & improve, will definitely one day become redundant & not relevant to the industry. They will learn the lesson in a hard & expensive way.

Sales TIP: Email Is Not Your Friend

What happened to sales people? When did email become perceived as the only highly effective form of selling? What happened to the scrappy days of pounding phones, networking relationships and getting creative?

You’re sorely mistaken if you believe that flooding an executive’s inbox with rote solicitations will escape the DELETE key. If you want to be noticed, it’s time you go old-school and pick up the phone. And don’t expect success after the first or second attempt. That’s just silly.

There once was a time when sales people promoted their President Club achievements and sales training certifications on their resumes: Certified in Solution Selling Methodology

A quick glimpse at my inbox and I’m met with a deluge of subject lines like: … Conference call? … I want to be your first call? … Meeting request? … Do you have 15 minutes to connect? … Can I buy you a cup of coffee? … I am writing to request 30 minutes of your time …

My favorite one – or should I say—my favorite annoying one, is the I-Happen-To-Be-In-Town Email. Because every executive likes to hear, “I’ve got nothing better to do and since I’m in the area, I could swing by and sell you something.” The absurd thing is that this approach is a sad evolution of the following, which was highly effective:

I’m going to be in town for a very important meeting with an existing client and it certainly would be worth extending my trip if you can afford me some time.  

Email has become such an abused form of communication by sales people today that executives no longer look, let alone respond to anything. I don’t care if someone hopes that I am well. I’m not interested in just being updated. Are you delusional?

Do you really think pretending that we have an existing email correspondence by starting the first email to me with “RE:” in your subject line will fool me?

I‘ve sent you a few emails already … I am following up on my previous email …Wondering if you’ve had a chance to review my previous emails … I’ve sent you a few notes and could use a response … I’m not sure if you’ve received my previous emails….

Here’s a secret: seasoned sales people are successful because they DON’T rely on email alone. They don’t expect it to warm up their prospects and develop their opportunities.

They do not expect a sale to just jump out of the water and hook itself on the line of an email passively placed in the water. Sure, they use it, but they certainly don’t use it as a crutch like new sales people today.

I’m a salesman at heart. I grew up in sales and believe that part of what makes me a successful is that I continue to be a salesman. I admire aggressive hunters and when I see it, I respond.

My assistant knows to let some calls go through, if they are creative, if they impress her too. Most of all, if they are relentless. If a sales person wants to get to me, and they’re not afraid to get out from behind the veil of email, they will find me. Most people in leadership roles still respect scrappy. Unfortunately, scrappy has become a stand-out today.

My message to today’s sales people? Those who are listening but failing because of your dependency on email. Pay attention. I had a mentor once tell me, and he was right, EMAIL IS NOT YOUR FRIEND. Pick up the phone. Call outside of normal hours – not when you know you will get voicemail.

Send a hand-written letter. Network hard. Walk into the office and sit for hours until someone will see you. Hunt people down at shows.

Do not give up after one attempt, after 3 attempts or even 5. It can take 10 or 15 consecutive attempts over a short period of time for someone to turn around and say “ok, what do you want to say to me?!?”

Develop a shark’s mentality and a thrill for the hunt. Those skills will pay off for the rest of your career. Over time, sales people that develop all of their skills and don’t hide behind email will truly succeed.

They will earn the fat commission checks, be met with new opportunities, build future sales teams and become tomorrow’s leaders. Or, at least I sure hope so.

Sales Tip - Finding the Decision Maker

Before you give your presentation, find out if you're talking to the Decision Maker (the "DM").

Failure to do this results in serious disappointment when you find out that the person you've been pitching to has no authority to make a decision.

But rather than simply asking: "Are you the DM?"

Ask a better question:

"How do you normally make a decision like this?"

"Who else is involved in the decision process besides yourself?"

"Walk me through your decision process."

"Other than price, what factors are important in this decision?"

These questions should focus on the "Three P's"

People (who is involved)

Process (how are decisions made)

Priorities (what criteria are used to make this decision)

Don't be afraid to ask these types of questions.

If you get good at this you will save yourself so much time and frustration.

Good luck!

Are you being persistent or impatient?

A sales person recently reached out to me to see if I was interested in learning about a product that he felt would help my business. His email was interesting enough to catch my attention so I agreed to a telephone call and I said that it would be several weeks before I had time to speak with him. 

 He replied and said, "Send me a few days and times and we'll set it up." Like most people, business took over and so I did not respond immediately. That was on Tuesday.

 Thursday, he sent me an email that was a duplicate of the previous one.

On Friday, he sent me another email requesting that I send him some days and times to connect.

Was he being persistent or impatient?

You might disagree with me but I think he was impatient, not persistent.

 From my perspective, he was focused on his agenda which was securing a meeting. And I respect that. 

 However, it was evident that he did not consider my situation which is the fact that right now I am very busy - both in my business life and personal life. 

 Had he waited three or four days before he sent the last email, it would not have felt like he was stalking me. But, because he reached out three times in just four days, he caused me to change my mind. And that resulted in a lost sales opportunity.

 There is a significant difference between persistence and impatience and make sure you don't cross that line. It could cost you!

Have a productive and profitable week!!!

Self Confidence

A Businessman was deep in debt and could not see any way out.

Creditors and Suppliers were demanding payments. He sat in the park, deep in thought, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him and asked, "I can see that something is troubling you seriously".

After listening patiently the old man said, "I believe I can help you". He asked the man his name, wrote out a cheque and put it into his hands saying,

"Take this money, meet me here exactly one year from today... and you can pay me back at that time".

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The businessman saw in his hands a cheque for $ 500,000... signed by Warren Buffet, one of the richest men in the world.

"I can erase my worries instantly" he realized. But instead, the man decided to put the uncashed cheque in his safe, knowing that it might give him the strength to work out to save his business and to use this only in case of dire emergency.

With changed thinking he negotiated better deals, restructured his business and worked rigorously with full zeal and enthusiasm and got several big deals.

Within few months, he was out of debt and started making money once again.

Exactly one year later he returned to the park with the uncashed cheque.

As agreed, the old man appeared.

But just as the businessman was about to hand him back the cheque and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man. "I’m so glad I caught him" she cried. "I hope he hasn’t been bothering you much. He always escapes from the mental hospital and tells people that he is Warren Buffet", saying this she took the old man away.

The surprised man just stood there, stunned! All year long he had been dealing thinking that he had half a million dollars behind him...

Its not the money, real or imagined that turns our life around.

It is our Self-confidence that gives us the power to achieve anything & everything that we want.

Have a Confident life..!!!

Perfect Sales Tip - Never Give Up

Ever wonder why prospects don't respond immediately to your emails?

There is a really simple reason.

They have more important "stuff" to deal with every day that is more important than your solution.

Yes, your product, service or solution might be the next best thing since sliced bread (where did that expression come?) but it's highly likely they have other, more pressing issues that need to be dealt with.

Allow me to share two recent examples.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a prospect about training for his team. He and his colleague are very interested in pursuing this idea. However, after I sent a proposal it took almost several weeks before he responded and that was after I sent a follow-up email. His response included, "You can imagine the workload lately is certainly not slight, so please forgive us if we don't respond right away!"

The second example is a personal one.

A family member recently experienced a serious medical issue and I couldn't concentrate on work. It was difficult to concentrate and focus on work so I postponed calls, a few meetings and even declined some work because I wanted-actually needed-to deal with her situation.

Turmoil has always been an issue in the business, but in today's business world it has become even more prevalent. Turmoil, change and uncertainty has become the new normal.

I will go on record and say that virtually every one of your prospects has more important issues to deal with than implementing your solution.

Rather than get frustrated it is important to adapt.

Look at their business from their eyes.

Be patient.

Find ways to stay in contact with them.

But don't give up.

If you can find creative ways to keep your name in their mind and empathize with their situation you will stand out from your competition and eventually earn the business.

How to Sell

1.  Do research on my company before approaching me…

2.  Do create a simple, direct email headline, 3-5 key bullet points of what you want and why…

3.  Do create a framework for follow-up and stick to it. Every sales process is different, but in general terms, if you've introduced your company and followed up 2-3 times without response or progress, move on…

4.  Do share valuable insights with me. Send a relevant white paper or article with specific follow up to why this matters to me…

5.  Do attend conferences and events and meet me in person. Get your elevator pitch right and I'm likely to listen…

6.  Do have a great website (ideally mobile) that I can check out. Help me easily connect the dots between your outreach and what your company does…

Finally, remember that the way you position yourself at the beginning of a relationship has profound impact on where you end up!

How Not to Sell

1.  Don't send me an email with a picture of a cat in handcuffs with a headline that says "It will be Cat-a-Strophic if we don't meet. Gimmicks are always an iffy approach since you don't know whether the recipient will get your humor.

2.  Don't call my cell phone and leave a message to call you back on an urgent matter. I don't know you; it's unlikely it's urgent to me.

3.  Don't send me a threatening email that says we're losing out to our competitors, and then list the competitors and claim that they are your customers. Why would I work with a firm that's already supplying our competitors if you pitch it this way?

4.  Don't diss me because I haven't answered your unsolicited email. Just because you've sent me 10 emails about your service doesn't make it my responsibility to respond. And as a bonus, don't state "you're obviously not the right person in your organization to discuss this".

5.  Don't bait and switch me on Linkedin .... ie connect under the pretense of one thing and then immediately turn around and start selling.

6.  Don't send me a Questionnaire / Survey Monkey link asking me to explain why I'm not interested in your services. And then call me to see why I haven't responded to your Questionnaire.

7.  Don't send lengthy, overly technical emails outlining 10 benefits to working together without checking to see what business I'm in.

I like it when sales people recognize how busy we all are, which is why I appreciate a simple, thoughtful approach to Business Development