Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

// 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.

When are times tough? When the general economy is slower, countries experiencing negative growth every quarter, consumers are holding back their spending, organisations are more prudent in their spending, and they negotiate harder.

The battle of tough times is fought in two areas: first, the battlefield and second, the mind. And we know all wars are first won in the mind no matter how tough the battlefield can be. Most business and sales people have wage wars against themselves – some have won, some squared, most have lost.

A Sales Ninja lives by the “Ten Codes”. The first code is Courage. And courage requires fear, obstacle and adversity. We embrace challenges and problems. We do not run away from it. We know tough times don’t last, only tough people do. Sales Ninjas are not affected by circumstances. They move and adapt to it.

Courage also requires no bitching, whining, complains or excuses. Those are cowardice behaviours. Sales Ninjas are courageous. They accept tough missions like a warrior. It has been proven that during tough times sales people reduce their sales activities instead of increasing it. That is because they are getting more ‘Nos’ in tough times and they can’t handle it and move into hiding away, being inaction.

In his psychology book, learned optimism, Dr. Martin Seligman put a bunch of dogs into a maze, the dogs’ objectives is to get out of the maze by luring them with food. But the dogs didn’t know this, the walls of the maze are electric fences and when ever the dog touches it, they get electrocuted. After several times banging onto the fences and getting shocked, eventually the dogs, stop trying. They sit there, do nothing and wait and wait and wait. Because of the pain they have to go through the maze, ie being electrocuted, they rather choose inaction.

Realistically, most sales people who are strong during good times transform into cowards because they get massive ‘shocks’ by their prospects and they stop trying. Be courageous and face the rejections, the attacks, the pressure, the intimidation, the brush offs or any other obstacles or adversities.  Live the first Code of the Sales Ninja – Courage.

Once you’ve won the war in your minds, now it’s time to win the war in the battlefield. (continues next time…)

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Selling Your Way Out Of Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times
// 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.

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.

In the ancient world, during times of chaos, brutally and unimaginable ruthlessness, the warriors are called forth to protect the tribes, villages and nation. In the modern world, new breeds of warriors have evolved into the protector of the world, they are known as the sales ninja warriors.

Many people think there are lots of sales ninja warriors around, but are there?

After all, most organizations have lots of sales people in it. They sell on a day-to-day basis and get to hone their selling prowess daily. Some frequently attend trainings to sharpen their selling weapons. Therefore, there must be lots of sales ninja warriors around correct? Nope…

Sales Ninja warriors are a rare breed. It takes more than the ability to bring in the sale or completing dozens of training programs or reading hundreds of books to be a sales ninja warrior.

A true sales ninja warrior’s life works around a set of Code. It’s our way of life. It’s not situational based. While the actions we take may change according to the situation, our Codes don’t. Our ethics don’t. The codes are wrapped around us – like oxygen. They are non-negotiable. Action that requires us to go against our Code is intolerable. An ancient warrior would rather die than to break their Codes. That’s the commitment to the Codes.

It is easy to lose sight of the Codes for personal gains and profits. Corruption in organizations. Corporate scandals happening. All because the people do not live by and commit to a certain set of warrior Codes.

Being a warrior does not mean just fighting aggressively. It requires a higher level of awareness and competencies. It requires a higher thought process and values.

A sales person or leader who is only out there to serve him/herself is not a sales ninja warrior. They are abusers of the Code. A violent criminal against the selling profession. A sales ninja warrior serves people, other people. A sales ninja warrior protects people, not harm them. A sales ninja warrior helps people, not hurt them.

Some sales people are so aggressive they become a threat to their prospects where their prospects have no choice to avoid them by not picking up their calls, or running away from them when the sales rep is in sight. Can you blame them?

There are also many sales people who think themselves to be sales ninja warriors because they break sales records are basically a bunch of people who are strong, aggressive and forceful enough to hammer their prospects to submission which ultimately give the sales industry a bad name. While not all sales people are like that, my point is – self serving purpose is not honorable.

Being a sales ninja warrior is not a goal to be achieved but a journey to travel. It’s not the things we do but who we are. A sales ninja warrior is not only trained in martial arts (selling techniques) but also the martial way (philosophy of the Codes).

Without the Code, there is only someone who knows how to fight. Without the code, there is no warrior. Without the code, there are only mindless closing machines. Someone who can kill is not a warrior. Someone who can close the sale is not a sales ninja warrior. A person with martial arts without the right philosophy is dangerous and can subject to abuse. A sales person with great selling weapons without the right philosophy is also a dangerous person.

In the past, masters do not train someone who has bad philosophies. Today, for survival and commercialization, anyone who has a buck can be trained. Are they getting trained for honorable reasons? That’s the role and responsibilities of the masters.

My role as Sales Ninja Grandmaster is to transform all these self serving sales people into sales ninjas, the ultimate sales professional warriors living the 10 Sales Ninja Codes. While most sales people are only out there to earn money, change their car, buy a better house, etc… self-centered reasons, I commit to change this. And this is my journey… and I invite you to join me in the transformation of all current sales people into sales ninja warriors.

I know this mission of mine will not be completed in my lifetime… but behold my friends, the rise of the sales ninja warriors will be continued by my other masters. And that’s the role of Sales Ninja franchise.

But before that, you need to experience what it’s like living and being a Sales Ninja Warrior.

Stay tuned when I release Sales Ninja Warrior training program in 2009. A program with the mission of changing the lives of sales people, the customers they serve and the company they work for.

Behold my friend; the rise of the Sales Ninja Warrior in your organization may eventualize in 2009!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Behold! The Rise Of The Sales Ninja Warrior!
// 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 a line when you do so too.

   Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

Selling In Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times 1
(Win The Mind): Link
Selling In Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times 2
(Win The Battlefield): Link

If you want to thrive, grow and close more sales in tough, uncertain, recession, downturn, turbulent times, ask yourself these questions:

• Am i really needed?
• Do I have value in the sales call?
• What value can i provide in the sales call?
• What problems can i solve for my prospect so i deserve the sale?
• What interest can i highlight so my prospect will grant me an appointment?
• Was i prepared for my sales call in terms of mindset and skillset?
• What preparation can i do so i enter the sales call understanding the prospect’s business?
• Which area should i improve today that will make a drastic change to my career?
• Am i looking at the positive or negative situations every day?
• What opportunities can i spot in my customer’s business to make myself valuable?
• What new, fresh or great ideas can i bring to the table to that distinguishes myself from my competition?
• What are my competitors doing right now?
• What are my competitor’s setback or weakness that i can attack?
• What strategic questions can i ask to light a bulb in my prospect’s head?
• How do i stand out?
• Am i the best in the things that i do?
• Which area can i excel in?
• What should i specialize on?
• Who should i get as a mentor to help me succeed?
• What else i can add on to sell that adds value to my customer?
• What value can i bring to my internal team members?
• What challenges are my internal team members facing that i can help solve?
• How i do motivate them to face the challenges together?
• Do i believe in my capabilities and abilities to succeed?
• What have i done to achieve my goals?
• Am i changing as fast as change?
• Do i really believe that my product or my presence can improve my customers’ lives?

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

//Selling In Tough, Uncertain, Recession Or Downturn Times 3
// By Hanzo Ng, Sales Ninja Grandmaster

  Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

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 a line when you do so too.

  Click here to subscribe to Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter