Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

Times have changed and so must you. The marketplace has become tougher with competitors getting smarter and customers increasingly nastier. How do you survive in such brutal environment? Can the best practices of the past save you? Let’s explore …

>> Adapt or die

We must all adapt. Change is so rapid these days that if you are not adapting to change, you will be out of business faster than a blink of an eye. Darwin says it best, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.” Another saying by big time CEO, Jack Welch, “Change is occurring at a much faster pace than most organisations are reacting to it.”

The truth is the bigger you are, the less adaptable you are. History has numerous cases of small armies overthrowing their much bigger opponents because of their speed and unconventional tactics. They are quicker to adapt (have no choice). And a lot of times, it takes “no choice” situations to motivate us to change.

Sometimes it’s not like we don’t see it. Floppy disk manufacturers see the compact disks, but they don’t care. Kodak and Fuji are leaders in film that didn’t care about the digital camera technology. Google has literally killed many printed directories. Being in denial that things are great or things are would feed our ego fully but this comes with a heavy price.

You know what happens when we don’t adapt? Think of big, smelly, arrogant creatures… that once ruled the earth. Because dinosaurs didn’t adapt to their changing environment, they are now in museums.

>> Sleep and eat well

Of course this is not too sophisticated… but it’s important . In tough times, most people are unduly worried so much so they are filled with anxiety. They open up the newspapers and are fed with countless possibilities of a prolonged economic crisis on a global scale. As a result, many business people tend to lose. In Canada, sales of two product sales actually went up – alcohol and chocolates. This is not surprising as people are resorting to alcohol to lower their stress and chocolates – which stimulates serotonin – to remain cheerful.

But the truth is if we sleep well, we would wake up filled with energy and zest to fight any battle ahead of us.

>> Invest in personal development

During great times, you don’t have the time, I understand. You were busy counting money. There is no need to improve on both the mindset and ‘skillset’. But now is the best time. I did a seminar for about 100 sales people from a very large company. They were complaining about difficulties in securing prospects, closing the sale or simply feeling motivated. While I’m on stage, I asked them… “Yes, times are tough but they would never last so long as you are tougher. So how many of you for the past 30 days have read a book on sales or motivation?”

How many of the participants raised their hand? Only one did – the boss himself. When times are tough, people read the newspaper for more bankrupt cases, scandals and bailouts … and they expect to feed the mind with nutrition? If we feed ourselves with junk food every single day, we would only jeopardise our health. Likewise, in the case of feeding our mind with too much bad news – mental junk food – we may begin to start believing that we, too, may sooner or later be affected by the economic gloom.
 
I’m not suggesting you should cease to get yourself updated with the latest developments on the economic front but do so with an open mind. In between, help yourself to good books, attend a good seminar/training or get an audio CD on motivation.

>> Strategy

Launch new products for current customers. If you have loyal customers whom you enjoy cordial relationship with, I suggest you offer them new products. You can also target new markets. Maybe the current market is saturated. Maybe they are dead, so create a new market. Penetrate a different market segment.

>> Finance

If your current customers are facing cash flow issues and your company is cash rich, why not offer them payment plans to ease their money issues? As for your vendors, they may be struggling to stay afloat (and maybe so are you). So why not re-negotiate your terms with them – see if you can work out a win/win deal with them so they still get your business and in return, you can expect a better deal.

>> Relationships

Think of new value and ideas for your current customers. I’ve been talking about this for years – retailers don’t collect and utilise their database effectively. And right now, I’m saying, create new value for your customers by helping them grow their business if you are a B-2-B (business to business) seller or help them in their lives if you are B-2-C (business to consumer) seller. It’s like a friend helping us by giving us useful ideas.

>> Selling

Spend more time with prospects. Ideally, spend more time with your competitor’s best customers. This is the best time to convert them to yours because your competitor may not be able to serve them at the highest level. People will only switch if there is a perceived problem. But don’t forget to guard your best customers. Your competitors may be eyeing them, too.

>> Mindset

A lot of people have forgotten the art and science of selling. During good times, you are surrounded by buyers that you don’t really need a lot of skill to convert prospects into customers. But now, it takes great salesmanship to seal a deal, not forgetting the tones of rejections and objections you are likely to come across. You must be tough to take it. Your mind needs to be strong and your skills need to be sharpened. Adapt or die. You choose.

Until then, to more sales… with less effort!

UNCONVENTIONALLY,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Adapt or Die – You Choose!
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us an line when you do so too.

// Everyone – Please Stop the Nonsense!!
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Before you read on – I have to warn you…

In this issue of Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter, I will (with no shame) consistently swear and curse! If you have a weak heart or are easily offended, I suggest you go youtube and watch some clips. I’m going to swear now…

Screw it, there you go… That’s the extent of vulgarity I’m using… Of course I’m not using it on you… it’s for these people…

- Those who frequently whine and complain about the tough economic situation <and do nothing about it>
- Those who fear the world will come to an end by 2012
- Those who hate chocolates…

For the practical part, I’m only going to address the first type of screw-ees: people who talk a lot about things that don’t enhance other people’s lives…

We all know the situation. We all experience the toughness. I’m not saying to ignore it, what I’m saying is don’t just talk about it – do something about it. It’s called a season of life. Winter follows Spring. And it’s no use cursing the winter because winter is part of life.

While it may be tough, it’s definitely not the end of the world. Crisis comes with opportunities. If you do have some cash, the stock market is at a stage of ‘best buys’. Properties will soon follow. A lot of people are going to make money from this.

Of course there are also some people who have no money. Or they just got fired. Or their businesses are suffering from the sales slowdown. But that’s just part of life!

People flock to the news and see what’s happening. Hey! Do you know what sells? Crap sells. Negative sells. You don’t need to talk recent events, just open up the papers anytime and you’ll see 90% of crap news. Some dude died in the alley, some fellows home’ got burned down, some superman-wanna-bes standing on the roof of a 30 storey building. Screw it.

FOCUS is one of the 10 codes of the Sales Ninja. The other 9 being courage, commitment, contribution, abundance, honesty, trust, honor, duty and improvement. In FOCUS, we talk about – you will get what you FOCUS on. Science called it the RAS: reticular activating system. It’s the radar of the mind.

I buy an Emporio Armani jeans, suddenly I notice other people wearing Armani jeans. I buy a white belt and I notice other white belts. I like black cars and I see them everywhere. Your RAS will look for things you focus on.

If you FOCUS on problems, you are going to get lots of problems. If you look for opportunities, you are going to get lots of opportunities. I’ve recently developed a question. Very simple, very practical, very useful question. In fact, everyone knows about this. Whenever I hear an idea, I’ll ask myself “How can this help my clients make more money?”  Or I see some new businesses or whatever that’s useful; I just ask myself “How can I help my clients make more money with this?”

I have turned my RAS to look for ideas that can make money. Not for me, but for my clients, why? If I can make my clients money, I’ll naturally make money right? And that becomes the FOCUS, not filling more cash for my bank account, but adding value and enhancing my clients businesses.

On the other hand, what do we get if we FOCUS on No money (you get no money), No one is buying (you’ll find people who don’t buy), Prospects are broke (you find broke prospects).
Screw it – stop FOCUSING on the things you don’t want, but FOCUS on the things you do want!! – (sounds pretty cool so I’ll say it again) Stop FOCUSING on the things you don’t want, but FOCUS on the things you do want!

And don’t believe or buy into the crap ‘screw-ee’s tell you. Stay away from them. Don’t get sucked into the conversation of how bad things are. If you want to enter a conversation about the economy, FOCUS on solutions. Practical ideas that can help the situation instead of bitching, whining, complaining.

FOCUS on things that make you money. FOCUS on things that make you productive. FOCUS on things that will propel you to do more.

You can counter by saying you are realist. I live in the real world and that’s why I’m talking about the economy. Well, you can talk about the economy all you want IF THAT MAKES YOU MONEY! But it doesn’t does it? So screw it…

Because sales people are FOCUSING too much on crap – they procrastinate, they make excuses, they gossip, they blame, and the king of all crap – they stop. They stop calling, they stop prospecting for new clients, they stop being positive, they stop being nice to their family, they stop doing productive things. They just resign from live, being dead just not official.

Don’t stop. Never stop. Persist…until…you…succeed. Put 100% commitment in being successful.

In this situation, if you work harder than your competition – you will win.
In this situation, if you focus on finding a better strategy – you will win.
In this situation, if you persist – you will win.

Screw crap. Let’s go out there and sell something.

Until then, to more sales… with less effort!

UNCONVENTIONALLY,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us an line when you do so too.

Last issue, i talked about winning the tough times war is first won in the mind. (last issue)
Now that the mind war is won, it’s time to win the war in the battlefield.

Let’s start with some things I don’t recommend:

>> Do nothing – This simply means you wait and see. Or live in a state of denial where things will get better. It may be too late when you start doing something. Take measures to reduce unnecessary expenses and doing non productive things.

>> Price cut – Price cutting may increase sales in the short-term for low ticket items but it does not work with more complex products where the sales cycle is longer. Organisations don’t want to buy cheap products, in tough times – the psychology changes to buying something safe. Work on assuring customers on the reliability and quality of the product. History has proven that most organisations go bust for reducing price and hoping to make up from sales increase but realise it can’t be sustained with the margins they live on.

>> Focusing on the wrong activity – I mentioned earlier on that sales people tend to reduce their sales activities during tough times. During good times, we can fill out pipelines with non qualified prospects because we may have a chance of converting; even if we can’t, we have created an awareness for our products. But in tough times, we need to really find the right buyers and focus our energy on them. People are still buying in tough times; we just need to find them.

>> Sell more aggressively – While you need to survive and pay the bills, there are other alternatives you can do that don’t push your prospects over the wall with your desperation to achieve sale.

Here are some things to do at the battlefield:

== Better prospecting – Fill your pipeline with really qualified prospects. We call this customer ideal profile (CIP). Find them. Create criteria and when you do prospecting activities, match them against your CIP so you know whether to focus your energy on them or not.

== Questioning skills – Participants in my workshop tend to regard closing sales and handling rejection as the toughest selling skills. And I don’t agree. The toughest selling skill is actually the technique of questioning. Questioning allows you to find out the true needs of the buyers, the hidden psychology, get buy-ins, obtain information that is critical. If one’s questioning skill is perfect, closing the sale is like “Will you marry me?” where the generally expected response is “Yes, I do.” Most sales people do ask questions, but not enough, not right and not skillful enough. Questioning skill is the most important skill, improve on it.

== Deliver what you promise – This activity is of utmost important as we cannot afford to have dissatisfied customers at all times. You may also want to exceed their expectations to create a “Wow!” factor as this is the secret to building a sustainable relationship.

== Misery loves company. While your prospects and customers will always bring up the economy or market is bad. You can empathize with them, but don’t sympathize them. Sell them hope. Remember to sell yourself hope first. Don’t get sucked into buying their bad news and let them affect your sales process. You may also want to avoid friends who are always bitching, whining, complaining and making excuses. Unless they are sitting down to discuss the situation and brainstorming for solutions, avoid them at all cost because humans are creatures of environment and we will be affected by our surroundings.

== GIGO (Garbage in, Garbage out) – I learned this during my computer science college days. Instead of lamenting how bad the economy is, read motivation books. The more you programme your mind with positive thoughts, the better it is. Get audio CDs of personal development nature. Invest in educational seminars. I for one have read over 400 books and completed more than 70 programmes of sorts. And this are numbers of 2007 as I’ve stopped counting. This allows me to always have nutrition to the mind instead of fat, dangerous and poisonous news. Never let a poison drop into the water well of your village.

== Help your prospects – In my Sales Ninja workshop, I clearly define the three roles of selling – helping people solve problems, prevent problems or improving their situation. When attending to sales call, ask tough questions, listen and really find out what challenges your prospect is having so you can help them find a solution through your products or services.

== Teamwork – When companies fail, people tend to blame the sales force. While the sales force is important, a it cannot function alone. Everybody in an organisation has a role to play just as the interdependence of every organ in our body. If your colleague is an accountant, teach him how to sell the easy way. At least when they are out there, they can help solicit business. The motto is to succeed as a team.

Some will fail in tough times, some will survive, some will thrive. Which one do you choose to be?

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Selling In Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times 2
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us an line when you do so too.

Sunday – 8.36 pm. While waiting for my food, I was browsing through The Star when a full page color ad caught my attention… It’s Giant‘s revenge ad against Tesco. On the top left side of the page – Giant’s logo. Below it lies the headline. It says… AlWAYS CHEAPER THAN MALAYSIA’s MISLEADING (tesco’s lookalike logo with tesco font, colors and a UK flag).

Below it…

Giant’s receipt vs Tesco’s receipt. In this ad Giant lists a few of their products vs Tesco’s and the total price indicating Giant is cheaper. (they always pick their lower priced products vs another’s higher price product). I was thinking, Ah… the hypermarket war has continued! This i believe started few years back when Carrefour attacked both Giant and Tesco with their receipt comparison. Seems like the war continues…

But this is not what *shocked* me… I turned to the next page and saw…

Another full page ad that looks the same with the previous page’s ad. But it’s not a Giant ad. It’s a Cold Storage ad. I said “wooh!”, another bang on Tesco. I turned the page and this time it’s Guardian vs Tesco and i said “Wow!”. A hypermarket (Giant), supermarket (Cold Storage) and even beauty and health store (Guardian) attacking one ‘giant’ hypermarket Tesco. This is interesting…

The funny thing about this is, Carrefour may be laughing, look at the boys, they are fighting each other. My question is, will Carrefour join in the fight soon? Since Giant, Cold Storage and Guardian has ganged up on Tesco, will Tesco and other foreign players gang up too? If two big players are pulling each other’s hair, what’s the best strategy Carrefour can execute right now? Will Tesco make a counter attack? Does all this ‘i am cheaper than X’ marketing plans really drive more sales? Say it does drive  traffc to the stores and the consumers need some help and the helper at the hypermarket doesn’t seem to be helpful, will the consumer choose price over service?

DID YOU KNOW FACTS: In case you’re wondering why the 3 decided to gang up. Because all 3 companies are own by Daily Farm International. I briefly researched this through Daily Farm’s Website. 

Let’s stay tuned to the War of the Hypermarkets, their new marketing and pricing strategies.

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// The Hypermarket War Between Giant and Tesco!
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us an line when you do so too.

Why should i buy from you?
What makes you different?
What makes you unique and special?

If your answer is along the line…

We give you not just good but great service!
We are the cheapest in the universe!
Our products are of the highest quality!

Then i would follow-up with another question – is competitor saying the same thing?

Mostly highly… yes they are. I’m a big fan of differentiation, of unique selling propositions, of being unconventional.

This issue I would like to share one example with you. And will share more as we go along.

Have you heard of lifetime warranty? I’m sure you have. The problem is, it’s not specific. Being specific has proven again and again to make an impact in our communication message. Although lifetime warranty itself is a great selling proposition, i believe if you make it specific it will stand out even more.

Guaranteed to help you lose weight vs. Guaranteed to help you lose 10 pounds in 10 weeks!
Guaranteed to help you increase sales vs. Guaranteed to help you increase sales by 12.3%!
Guaranteed fast broadband speed vs. Guaranteed a minimum speed of 1MB/s.

See the power of being specific?

Brikolör is a new swedish manufacturer that has the ambition to manufacture furniture with a guaranteed emotional and technical durability of 300 years.

Their differentiation?

300 years durability. Guaranteed.

What would happen if it doesn’t last 300 years? Why not contact them and ask? Check out Brikolör.

In the meantime, think of how your business can utilize these unconventional ideas. To more sales… with less effort!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

Hanzo Ng has been called the ‘most influential sales trainer’ by his participants and is highly demanded for his unconventional Sales Ninja training programmes. He is also the author of Secrets of the Sales Ninja, available in major bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

© 2009 All Rights Reserved – Reproducing this document or its contents without written permission from The Sales Ninja Group is strictly prohibited. But feel free to forward this or email it to all of your friends and associates. To Subscribe to this newsletter, please visit http://www.SalesNinja.com/blog and enter your name and email at the top right corner.

Need great content for your website, media or blog? Bloggers, editors, publishers, medias, marketers, authors may syndicate or republish any articles you see in Sales Ninja Killer’s Newsletter for free as long as you include the author and copyright paragraph as above intact and infull. Feel free to drop us an line when you do so too.