Sales Ninja Killer Newsletter

I’m in my office today. Someone rang my door so i went out and see who is it. It’s a directory sales woman in her forties. I opened my door and see what she has for me. She wants to give me a free directory, which i told her, “do you have a digital version?” She replied i can go to their website and download it, alright cool, i’ll do just that. She then asked me a qualifying question, not a very good one, but at least she tried, “do you want to advertise?” I replied…

Me: What’s the purpose of advertising?
She: Well, for people who do not know who you are, you get to reach this people. (this answer is good)
Me: Ok, but i think the directory won’t reach the people i want to reach.
She then launched into a mini pitch about how many thousands use their directory, bla bla…
Me: The new way to reach people is online, you see, i didn’t even want your directory even though it’s free.
She: Alright, we also have an online advertisements you can do. Millions visit bla bla…
Me: I’m currently not keen though but thanks for visiting me today.
She walks out.

I almost gave her a free sales training lesson. But i was busy preparing for my training tomorrow, i just let it be. Hope she reads this post to learn something. Here are some quick lessons:

>> I let her in my door, very seldom people are friendly (except for me =) when you walk door to door. She never build any rapport what so ever. All she is interested in 1: get rid of the heavy directories she is holding 2: try to promote her advertisements to me. Sales Ninjas will build rapport first. Just use common sense, you walk into someone’s office uninvited with no prior conversation or schedule and you expect to sell them on the spot? Be real!

>> She cares more about selling her stuff, which is what i call a Seller Focused Mindset. Talking how good her product is is about the Seller. She need to switch to a Buyer Focused Mindset. How?

>> Ask great questions. Questioning skill, or some call probing or interviewing or needs analysis skill is a skill that all sales people must be great at but apparently pretty weak in.

What sort of business are you in? I see you have some books and cds there (i have a display right in front of my office), what are they? Who are your clients? I asked because as a directory sales person, i see a lot of clients and they may need your sales training. Why don’t we keep in touch? Can i have your business card so i can refer to you anyone who is looking for training. (you give before you take).

You seem to be very successful (compliments and praise boost egos!), how do you plan to grow your business further? (Boom! this is a lead in to sell her advertisement to reinforce my strategies and plan – but of course she never cared to asked). I will then tell her, well i plan to A, B and C, which she should then come back, sounds great, it seems you know what you want to accomplish already, i have something that may be able to help you achieve some of your plans, i work by planning too, how about we schedule a time some time next week so i can come see you and understand more of what your business goals are and see if i am able to help you out. How does that sound?

If she uses the Sales Ninja approach, i will grant her a meet up on the spot! I only deal with professionals, not amateurs. And i’m sure i’m not the only one out there expecting the best.

>> Never argue or try to persuade or convince. When i said, this directory won’t reach the people i reach. She went into the ‘i also have an online version’ mode. Terrible. She should have clarified with me, “What makes you think so?” or “What have been your experience with our directory?” or “Which method do you prefer then?” If i say, i prefer online strategies. The most likely response from MOST sales people when they hear a need will be = Well, we also have online, bla bla.. Yuck! Sales Ninjas would go, why online? Is it ok you share with me some of what your online strategies are? Sales Ninjas always get information not just give information.

>> Never bother to get contact. Maybe i don’t have a need right now. How about 3 months from now? 6 months? 1 year from now? Sales people must understand they need to get in front of the buyers when buyers are ready to buy and not just when you want to sell. Buyer needs will be created by events or situations or great questioning techniques of a sales person. How is she going to sell me if she doesn’t even have my email or phone number? She thinks i don’t have a need (or rather she didn’t identify it), so don’t bother keeping in touch with this chap. Can i suggest it takes multiple contacts before a buyer wants to buy anything from the seller? Prospecting is not just about walking into someone’s door and hoping this person wants to buy from you. It’s keep prospecting, keep educating and keep keeping in touch.

Why so many sales people struggle out there? Because they have old sales mindsets and uses ancient sales methods and techniques. This was meant to be a short post but the more i write the more emotional i get. I hate to see sales people struggle. I love selling. I’m very successful at selling. Coming from the bottom of society if i can make it others can make it too! And that’s my goal, i will transform all these sales people into the ultimate sales professional – The Sales Ninjas!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

© 2009 onwards Sales Ninja Training. All Rights Reserved.

Hanzo Ng is Sales Ninja Grandmaster, lingo for Chief Trainer of Sales Ninja Training, Asia’s #1 Unconventional Sales Training. Sales Ninja Training specializes in helping small-medium, listed and global companies transform their sales people into the ultimate sales professional known as Sales Ninja. For more information on our sales, motivation and leadership trainings, visit http://www.SalesNinja.com

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The battle has begun…

Microsoft is launching their new search engine called Bing. It is said they have allocated $100 Million as advertising budget to shout to the market and persuade people to switch from google to Bing, not forgetting yahoo to Bing as well. Will they succeed?

I’ve done many trainings training sales people how to steal their competitor’s customers. Some call it switching current vendors or make them become the preferred vendor. Is it easy to take away your competitor’s business where your competitor already have a 5, 10, 15 years business relationship with their customers?

In my sales and management trainings, i divide customers/prospects into 3 simplified groups.

A    |    B    |    C

A: They are totally satisfied with their current vendors.
Makes up about 10% of the market.
B: They are slightly dissatisfied with their current vendors.
Makes up about 80% of the market.
C: They are totally dissatisfied with their current vendors.
Makes up about 10% of the market.

C groups are the easiest to make them your customers. Why? Because… people will only change if they perceive or experience a problem with their current vendors. That means, putting your effort in trying to take A away from your competitors is going to be a super battle. So the secret is…

Enable the potential customer to see a potential problem they are having or may have with their current vendors. That’s your best chance of taking your competitor’s customers and converting to yours. You can go in with all the features and benefit you want but if the prospect don’t see it as a big problem, they won’t switch.

A problem can also be a gap. Something that they are not getting from their current vendors which they can get from you. It can be tangible benefits like faster delivery or something intangible like status.

So do i have a problem with google? So far no.
Do i have a problem with yahoo?
Yes, the main page has too much stuff for me. That’s why i use google.

That’s why Bing looks clean and simple – like google. Yahoo started off as a directory, that’s why they look as they are.

I think the attack on google is going to be like: are you really getting what you search for? approach. Else why else would someone switch search engines?

As for you, start listing down and brainstorming with the entire force, what perceive problems your competitor’s customers are having with their current vendor? Then position and strategize from there.

A lot of companies have slashed their customer service department in view of cash control. Which means a lot of customers are going to have a pissed off time when they require service. Bang! Problem. Use that as your weapon. There isn’t many chance where you can use this perfect timing of problems to your advantage.

Hajime! (japanese word for begin.)

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 a line when you do so too.

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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.

Last two weeks, we covered marketing gems from Jim Stengel, the former global marketing chief officer that handles a $8 Billion advertising budget for P&G and S Karthik, the Chairman of Global Brand Forum, Dato Sri Tony Fernandez, CEO of Asia’s largest low fare airline AirAsia & Joanne Ooi, Creative Director of Shanghai Tang, the only Chinese luxury brand.

This week, I’ll share with you the secrets of Steward Butterfield, co-founder flickr.com. Oliver Stone, renowned Filmmaker and Martin Lindstrom, branding guru.

Here are the notes for your marketing inspiration, they are all in point forms and I won’t be translating them into articles, find the gems. Enjoy…

Steward Butterfield, co-founder flickr.com
Flickr.com is one of the largest websites in the world.
Steward was listed in Businessweek’s Top 50 Leaders in 2005 and TIME’s 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2006.

> Create a vision. Flickr.com is the eyes of the world.
> 15 minutes before CNN broadcast the bombing, photos already up. Power of the internet.
> Brands are cult-like. They attract followers.
> People want brands to take a stand. They want to believe that stand.
> Which is more important… the product or the promise?
> Product leads… because it will deliver the promise.
> Distribution is the new advert. People are talking, they are communicating your brand.
> Good or bad depends on your delivery.
> Bloggers are powerful, but they will not replace traditional means.

Oliver Stone, renowned Filmmaker
Won three Academy awards and written, directed and produced many popular masterpieces.

> Brand is a series. Eg: James Bond movies. They want your following.
> True intention of the brand is to make you feel comfortable. Make you feel familiar so you buy.
> Products must be consistent. People will be pissed if your products are not consistent.
> Fear sells. Media sells fear. You can also sell fear. I launch Natural Born Killers movie. Horror movies is all about fear.
> What’s scary is the fear inside of us. We must declare war on this fear so we are no longer manipulated.

> People like to conform. People like to conform to the norm. Be different to stand out
> Throughout history, all great empires fall. Whether it’s Rome or the US.
> Understand something, all great empires are built on blood. It hasn’t changed.
> Terrorism can only be fought by education, not just money or technology.
> In politics, the textbook tactic is to spread fear then make a promise to help them, that gets you a vote.
> Many acts of heroism are unseen. If seen, they are rewarded. Look out for the unseen ones.
> Good stories sell in films or marketing. Content, content, content.

Martin Lindstrom, branding guru.
Author of his new book Buyology, a respected branding expert.

> Human beings do things irrationally. Eg: Touch wood, being superstitious., the number 4., Friday 13th.
> There are many indirect ways to build brands.
> There is a craving spot in our brains called Nucleus accumbens.
> The more we focus on something, we more we want it.
> Not effective, Smoking is bad. If only words are used, the more people will smoke.
> Associating with power brands will help you.

> We are all selling rocks. We are all the same. We need to put a story to it. Eg: Rock from the moon.
> Brands own categories.
> White earphone – ipod. Cowboys = Marlboro. Toblerone chocolate shape.
> You can own shapes, picture, language, name, smell, icons, service, numbers, rituals, navigation, sound.
> Brands are like religion. It builds followers.
> Brands must have a clear vision. Brands must have an enemy. Brands must have a story.
> Brands must have mystery. Brands must have a sense of belonging. Brands must have rituals.
 
That’s the end of the special report on Global Brand Forum. I’ll be in Shanghai till the 27. Will be in the lookout for some great sales tactics that Chinese use and share with you in the next issues. Happy Chinese New Year to all Chinese, wishing all a prosperous new year.

Until then, to more sales… with less effort!

UNCONVENTIONALLY,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Special Report from Global Brand Forum III
// 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 week, we covered marketing gems from Jim Stengel, the former global marketing chief officer that handles a $8 Billion advertising budget for P&G and S Karthik, the Chairman of Global Brand Forum. This week, I’ll disclose the secrets of Dato Seri Tony Fernandez, CEO of AirAsia & Joanne Ooi, Creative Director of Shanghai Tang.

Here are the notes for your marketing inspiration, they are all in point forms and I won’t be translating them into articles, find the gems. Enjoy…

Dato Dri Tony Fernandez, CEO, AirAsia
AirAsia is Asia’s largest low fare, no frills airline.

> Be a local champion.
> Then be an Asian brand… then global.
> You know you are successful when others imitate you.
> Branding won’t immediately affect your P&L.
> Airasia increased advertising X3 during SARS while others stop advertising.
> Always dream and make it a reality.
> Better to take risk than not try at all.

> Sell your brand to your people first.
> Employees are the ones designing their uniforms because they are going to spend half their lives in it.
> When people say flying to Macau was a bad idea, we went with it, today, we are flying there 12 times a day.
> Staffs get trained in AirAsia academy. Make sure you put together a great training program.
> Tying up with global brands help you leverage on your brand. Eg: Airasia and Manchester United.
> Website is very important because it’s access to the global market.

> Just launched AirAsia blog to get interaction with customers. Make sure they are uncensored, so even bad remarks are shown.
> Use all your assets to showcase brands. We use our planes.
> Do your best to be the First in everything you do.  Eg: First in the world to launch No Fuel Surcharge. First to launch ‘on time guarantee’ or else you get $200 gift vouchers. First to have female pilots. First in the world to have Ms Thailand as stewardess, etc..
> Always innovate new products or services to serve your customers better. Eg: Self check in/mobile booking.
> Always deliver. Bali bombing, AirAsia still flies and did not cut flights.
> CEO must be on the grounds. CEO have to carry bags, do check-ins. You get to talk to customers and see what’s going on instead of hiding in the corporate office.

> Recognize talents. People now who carry bags can one day become a pilot.
> Have a culture of openness.
> Never jeopardize brand. AirAsia is low cost. Therefore no big seats.
> Expand into weird markets.
> Priority should be happy staffs. Because happy staffs make customers happy.
> Good leaders know when to leave. Don’t stay there too long. You need fresh ideas.
> PR strategies really work. When you have no money, come out with controversial activities. Media will give you the attention.
> Favourite quote: Dream the impossible. Dare to dream. Believe the unbelievable and never take no for an answer.

Joanne Ooi, Creative Director, Shanghai Tang
Shanghai Tang is the only Chinese luxury brand in the world.

> Superb brands = great products + great marketing.
> Building brands take short term sacrifice in sales for long term profitability.
> It’s ok if your brand does not please everyone. Create niche markets.
> For luxury brands, customers want to worship the brand.
> Cross promotions also help build brands. Make sure they serve the same kind of customers.
> Allocate 7-12% marketing budget from revenue.

 Branding mistakes
> Not having empathy with customers.
> Too self centered.
> Too much activities. Eg: Steve Jobs cut projects from 200 to 5.
> Discounting, very hard to recover and sell at high price again.
> Didn’t act fast enough on guts and people. Didn’t get rid of people fast enough.
> A brand is never big enough. Consistently make it bigger.

Next issue — Steward Butterfield, co-founder flickr.com. Oliver Stone, Filmmaker. Martin Lindstrom, branding guru.

Until then, to more sales… with less effort!

Unconventionally,
HANZO NG
Sales Ninja Grandmaster

// Special Report from Global Brand Forum II
// 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.