129) You are your own benchmark

You Are Your Own Benchmark.

Whatever you want to do, your starting point is different from other people.  You have a different KASH from others.

KASH stands for Knowledge, Attitude, Skills and Habits.

129) You are your own benchmark

Don't be intimidated by the success of others. 
Start from where you are.

To improve, you need to look at Your KASH. Improve on every one of that values.
Start one by one if you have to.

Don't worry about your level. Just start improving yourself.

The most important is you must start.

To improve all at the same time may be good. But some time, too much change is too overwhelming. 

Too much sudden changes will make you feel uncomfortable and resist the sudden change.

Take time and start slow. Increase the pace and get the momentum. Once you get the momentum,  nothing can stop you. 

Even if you not sure how to start, just think of the best options. 

Then you try and do something. If you don't start, nothing will change.

Take the example of the a racing car and a train.  Some people start fast while others start slow.  Racing car can start fast but can only take small load. Racing car also cannot sustain for long distance. Meanwhile, train starts slow but can take heavy load and go for long journeys.

If you did not start the car's or train's engine, it is not going to move even 1 inch.

The best is when you can start fast and last long.

So you look at yourself and know your own KASH.

Find out what are your knowledge and skills. Learn from YouTube, books, Wikipedia, Google, etc. If you need more info, ask your friends, attend classes, look for a teacher or mentor.

Attitude and Habits are more of personal development. Change and set your attitude to be good. Bad Attitude will destroy your future. Good Attitude will open many Doors of Opportunities for you..

Habits are what you do continuously. Practice what is good and make it into a habit.
If you want to change your habit, be aware of your current habit. Make extra effort to change it to the habit you want.

The most important of the KASH is Habits. If your habit is good, you will keep doing the good things.

Create your TAPAH.

Take Appropriate & Planned Action Habits. 


View a short video on TAPAH here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8pYNZCEJ7c

Motivation is What Gets You Started,
Habit is What Keeps You Going.

Look at the picture below to know more about Habits.


Video version of this article in YouTube.

128) Chance for Success

128) Chance for Success 

You Do, You Got Chance For Success.
You Don't Do, You Got Failure.
 

If you start to do something, you will definitely get something out of it.
Either you are successful or not successful.
 
Successful means you get the result you initially wanted.
Not Successful means the you did not get the result you wanted.


You may not get what you wanted, but it may turn out to be something else. That something else may even you a new beginning to something even bigger. Many people got successful because they started something. If they did not start something, nothing will appear.

I'm sure you have heard of many new things started because somebody got another unexpected result. For example, the story of Jack Ma, the CEO of the Alibaba group. After got rejected from many interviews. he started his own company.

Just imagine, what will happen if he got a job in one of the interviews. There may not be Alibaba group today. Jack may be happily working in one company and never started Alibaba.

Many Successful inventions were created out of Failures. 

One example is the Post-It Note.

In 1968, Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at 3M in the United States, was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead he accidentally created a "low-tack," reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive. The original notes' yellow color was chosen by accident, as the lab next-door to the Post-It team had only yellow scrap paper to use.

If you are in Sales industry, you know very well that if you just approach somebody, you will get the chance to close that person. If you did not take the chance, you will not close anybody. 

So, keep trying and do something. You will never know what will be the result. 



If you Never Try & Do, You will Never Know whether it is going to Successful or Not.
 


If you don't do anything, you will definitely fail.

127) Time In vs Timing the Market

127) Time In the Market vs Timing the Market.

It is not WHEN you invest, but HOW LONG you invest. 

It is very difficult to time the market. Which means very difficult to know when to buy and when to sell.

Trying to predict the market is very tough and will take a lot of your time, knowledge and expertise. If you are always trying to be in and out of the market, you are considered as a Trader not Investor.

Traders are only interested in the Short Term profits.
Investors are looking for Long Term profits.

Being a trader, you really need a nerve of steel. The market fluctuations will definitely affect your emotions. Many times your predictions will be wrong.

After you buy, the stock drops. After you sell, the stock go up.

If you are working or running a business, you don't have the time to spend looking for the best stocks. Then you need to know and to decide the best time to buy and sell. Furthermore, doing it on your own is risky. There are nobody to check and question your decisions.

It is better to let a Unit Trust fund manager to do the job for you. You just pay the initial service charge to get your money invested into a fund. The Management fee, Trustee fee and other charges are just of a small percentage of the invested amount.

The best part is that the fees and charges are paid from your invested fund. No need for you to pay extra from your pocket.

With the expertise and experience of the fund manager's team of professionals, your investment is being managed continuously. The whole team of fund managers will do the research, discuss and strategize the best approach for the investment on continuous basis.

You may have heard about the last market crisis in 2008. Let's have a scenario where we simulate 2 investors. Both Adam & Bob invested in the same fund. Adam started at the highest point (Jan 2008), just before the crisis. Bob was lucky to start the investment at the lowest point (10 months later on Oct 2008) after the crisis. 

Below is one Malaysia Equity Fund performance before the 2008 Financial Crisis.

Below is the same Malaysia Equity Fund performance after the 2008 Financial Crisis.

If you look at the Fund Total Returns:
a) Before Crisis from 11 Jan 2008 to 2 Oct 2017 = 46%
b) After Crisis from 28 Oct 2008 to 2 Oct 2017 = 125%
Return Difference: 79% (A Big difference!!!)

Let's simulate using actual investment but with 2 different investment strategies.
a) Single Lump Sum
b) Regular Investments 

A) Single Lump Sum Investment  

Graph above showing Adam's Lump Sum Before Crisis.

Adam:
Initial Investment: $1,000 on 11 Jan 2008
Total current NAV: $1,384 on 2 Oct 2017
Profit: $384 (38.4%)

Graph above showing Bob's Lump Sum After Crisis.

Bob:
Initial Investment: $1,000 on 28 Oct 2008
Total current NAV: $2,135 on 2 Oct 2017
Profit: $1,135 (113.5%)



Profit Difference: $1,135 - $384 = $751 
(75.1%, What A Big Difference!!!)

Big Difference in Profit due to Market Timing. 
Adam at Highest point, Bob at Lowest point.

The Actual Profit is lower due to Initial Service charges. This reduced the actual initial invested amount (Working Money). 

B) Regular Investments

 

 Graph above showing Adam's Regular Investment Before Crisis.

Adam:
Initial Investment: $1,000 in Jan 2008
Regular Top Up: $100 monthly from Feb 2008 to Oct 2017
Total Amount Invested: $12,700
Total current NAV: $15,896
Profit: $3,196

Graph above showing Bob's Regular Investment After Crisis.

Bob:

Initial Investment: $1,000 in Oct 2008
Regular Top Up: $100 monthly from Nov 2008 to Oct 2017
Total Amount Invested: $11,700
Total current NAV: $14,949
Profit: $3,249
Profit Difference: $3,249-$3,196 = $53 (Small difference only!!!)


Why is it that (for Regular Investment) Adam and Bob investment profits are very similar?  Hardly any difference!

The main reason is that the investment amount was not one lump sum. Both investors use the concept of Dollar Cost Averaging. 

By Regular investments, you are able to buy at high and low prices. The initial high price impact was reduced by the many other lower prices over the years.

Investors are advised to do regular investments to reduce the impact of market timing. 

 

126) Who Likes & Trusts You Is Most Important

126) Who Likes & Trusts You Is Most Important.

  

You have often heard people saying,

It's not what you know, but who you know.

It is important for you to have knowledge. Without proper knowledge, you are not able to do the tasks successfully.  If nobody knows about your knowledge, then nobody is going to care about you. So, you need to know the right people that will need and value your knowledge.


If you think deeper about it, is it really important on who you know. How can it actually help you?
I'm sure you know many famous people, CEOs, Film Stars, Singers and even presidents of many countries.

How does that information help you? Not really useful, right?

It is more useful if the famous people know you. Just imagine if the CEO of a big company knows you. He may invite you to attend his business functions and you can take the opportunity to network with more people. The CEO may even recommend you some business opportunity. He will introduce you to his other friends, colleagues and other business associates.

So, let's rephrase it better to be:


It's not who you know, but who knows you.

However, you know people and people know you only is useful to a certain extend. You need the right and relevant people to know you.When they know you, they can help you.

Just imagine again about the CEO above. You know him and he knows you. But, what if the CEO does not like you. You definitely will not get invited to his functions. He will not introduce you to other friends and contacts. He may even tell not so good things about you to others. So, people know you only helps in certain situations.
 
So, what is the next level?

The CEO must know you in the first place. Furthermore, he must like and trust you. Then only he will be willing to help you, if you ask for help. He will also be giving you business and work opportunities as he has trusts in you. He knows that you will be able to complete the tasks given to you.

Once he likes and trusts you, he will gladly introduce you to his other friends, relatives, colleagues and business partners. Besides introducing you, he will tell others how GREAT you are. He will be your Centre of Influence. The recommendations he made will be very powerful for you.

It's not who knows you, but who likes & trusts you.

The example above is based on just a CEO and you. If you look further and wider, it is based on GOOD relationship with others. The liking and trusting relationship applies across all people.

They must know and feel that they can depend on you.

Husband and wife will have a wonderful relationship together. The couple must like and trust each other. Family will be harmonious when all the family members like and trust one another.

Even good friends are based on the same relationship principle. Business partners also need to build the same like and trust relationship. 


No relationship can last, if there is no liking and trusting one another.

No matter what you do, you need other people to like and trust you.
Even companies, associations, shops, online shopping, speakers, authors and any business, need others to like and trust them. 

Without the LIKE and TRUST, no business and relationship can grow.  






 

125) Performance Pattern to Create Goals

125) How to Use Performance Pattern to Create Target Goals

At the time of this writing this article, it is in October 2017.
Most of the Sales Related people will start to Set Goals for next year. They want to achieve their goals for next year.

If you have set a yearly Target and divided by 12 months, you will get a Monthly Sales Target. Let's say you have $12,000 sales target. Dividing by 12 months will give you $1,000 every month. If your monthly sales are not consistent, you will achieve the target for some months and have shortfall for other months. This up and down targets will affect your emotions badly.

If you have to prepare a Sales Target, you may want to use your Sales Performance Pattern as a guide to set a MORE REALISTIC goal.

Click the link below to know more about finding your Performance Pattern.
http://highlevelrules.blogspot.my/2017/10/recognize-your-performance-pattern.html
 
You can use your past Sales Performance Pattern and calculate the averages. 
The example is for Yearly Target based on 3 years records:

Step 1: Calculate the Monthly Average for the past years. 
Step 2: Get the yearly average amount.
Step 3: Calculate Monthly Percentages of total year average.
Step 4: Multiply Total Year Target by the Monthly Percentages to get monthly target.

Here's a sample screen of the calculation.

There are those of you who prefers to calculate based on 10 months instead of 12 months. Reason being you want to have "Spare months". Just in case there is any shortfall, you will have extra 2 months to work to catch up the amount.

I have prepared another table based on 10 months target. The Total amount and Average amount are based on January to October amounts only. Below is how it looks like.

You may go to this link below to download the template used to create the Monthly Sales Target based on Performance Graphs.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T-mUUcLmlaY4DQ9FceLL_1I4O5YZC_Eh




 

124) Recognize Your Performance Pattern

124) Do You Recognize Your Performance Pattern?

Have you ever wondered why you performed better during certain time of the day and not so good during other times?

Normally, I am more creative and work better at night. Most of my articles are written at night. Well, maybe because I am working in the day, the only time I have is after office at night. Also the same goes for weekends. I am able to write more during the night. Maybe because I am less busy during the night.

So, this is my pattern. I am sure you can relate to similar experience. You know yourself better.

On a bigger scale, you can also start to be aware and able to recognize different patterns in more things.

Let's discuss about Weekly Pattern.
I am sure you have heard about Monday Blues? Most people will feel lazy on a Monday because they had slept late and woke up late on the Saturday and Sunday before. On Monday, they have to wake up early to go to work.

Many people are also more busy on Monday morning. They have meetings on Monday to plan for the rest of the week.

Most people will be happy on Friday as it is the day before the weekend. Some companies even closed earlier on a Friday. Companies also have "casual dress" on Friday. People tend to be more relaxed on Friday.

 


How about Monthly pattern?
Pay day is the best day of the month. You can withdraw money to spend after the income is paid. Shopping malls are more crowded at the end of the month and the first week of the month. The least crowded happens in the 3rd week of the month, just before pay day.

If you want money from your clients, you better see them on their pay day. They will have more money to give to you.

About work time, many people are busy during end of the month  They have monthly reports to complete and submit. This period will not be a good time to meet them. So, be aware of their work patterns.


How about the Yearly pattern?
The holidays and festivals happens on yearly basis. For the Chinese, the Chinese New Year falls on January or February every year. The Christmas falls on 25th December every year. The long school holidays starts from November to December.

Now, let's discuss about your Performance Pattern.

You need to be aware on the following:
a) Time when you are most effective.
b) Days when you are most effective.
c) Weeks when you are most effective.
d) Months when you are most effective.

If you are doing sales, you need to be aware of your sales closed. What were the best time, day, week and months?
Do keep a record and study them. The pattern will be very obvious.

You will notice that your sales are closed more during certain hours of the day, certain days of the week and certain months of the year.

If you are a Muslim, you normally work less during the Fasting and Hari Raya Puasa months.
If you are a Chinese, you normally work less before and during the Chinese New Year.
If you are a Christian, you normally work less during Christmas in December.
If you are a Hindu, you normally work less during Deepavali in October.

The same pattern will show if you only have customers.from a certain religion or race.
You must have heard about the importance of Investment Diversification. 

So it is also important that you need to have Client Diversification. 
Do diversify and have clients from different races and religions. The different festivals fall on different months of the year. 

Or else you will have the "Dry Months" where not much sales happened.

For example, if you only sell to the Chinese, your sales will be less in January and February. Unless you sell items related to Chinese New Year festivals, then your sales are highest during these months.

If a company provides certain sales incentive during certain period, then more sales will be done during that period. For example, when there are Sales Incentives for January to April, more Sales will be recorded during January to April. Thereafter, sales will be less in May.

Below is an example on how you can track your Yearly Sales Performance Pattern for 3 years.
This is how the graph looks like of your Yearly Sales Performance Pattern.

You will notice that the Sales grow from Feb to Apr, then dipped in May. Start to grow rapidly from Jun to Aug. Slows down in Oct and dropped in Dec. From the graph, your High Performance months are Jul, Aug & Nov. The weak months are Jan, Feb, May and Dec.

Now you are aware of the months that you need to work harder.

The Best Pattern is when all the months have the increasing amount. It is when you have a continuous growing performance.

In conclusion, if you want to Increase Your Performance, do study your Performance Pattern. 
Record and plot your Best Times. 

Take Appropriate and Planned Actions to increase performance on the weaker periods.

Have the Awareness Before Change can be done.


You may go to this link below to download the Excel template used to create the Performance Graphs.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1T-mUUcLmlaY4DQ9FceLL_1I4O5YZC_Eh

123) Large NAV vs Small NAV. Which is Better?

123) Large vs Small Fund NAV. Which is Better?

Another very common question regarding which funds to choose.

Do note that Fund NAV means the amount or Size of the Unit Trust fund. 
Not to be confused with Large, Mid or Small Market Capitalization.
Market Capitalization is the Size of the Company Shares.

There are some who believed that smaller fund Net Asset Value (NAV) is better. Reason being the amount is small, so the fund manager can sell and buy faster. Not much amount to affect the stock price.

As you may know, when you start to sell a lot of stocks, the price will drop. More sellers will push the price down. The opposite is also true. When there are a lot of buyers, the stock price will go up. The buyers will keep pushing up the stock price to buy the stock.

This makes sense when there is a high trading volume within a short period. Also, the total number of available shares in the market can affect the demand and supply. If the number of shares is low, and there is a lot of buyer, the low number of shares will not be able to fulfill all the buyers. So, the price will go up to "encourage" more sellers.

There are differences when it comes to Unit Trust.
The fund had restrictions on the percentage of shares the fund can own. It is limited to 10% of the fund's NAV for one company. For example, if the fund NAV size is $100 Million, the fund can only use up to $10 Million to buy a particular company's shares.

Let's say a fund manager is interested to buy the shares of a company. The fund manager is not going to use the full 10% at one time to buy the company shares. The fund manager will slowly accumulate the shares of the company over a longer period. The fund manager may still buy and sell according to the market fluctuations.

Furthermore, a fund manager will select stocks that are more liquid. This means the company shares that are easily bought and sold. There are many transactions in buying and selling in any trading day. 

Let's do some comparison on 2 funds with different Total NAV.

Let's look at a sample comparison between 2 similar funds based as at 29 Sep 2017. Fund C (Blue line) had 2.59 Billion NAV and Fund D (Orange Line) had only 225 Million NAV. There is a difference of 2.36 Billion NAV. Both funds are classified as Equity Malaysia in the Lipper Classification. Both have similar fund objectives, but slightly different Benchmarks.

 

You will notice that both funds performance are almost the same for the last 5 years. 

From the Quarterly Fund Report ended on 29 Sep 2017, below is extracted from the performance table.

 

The Total Return for different period varies slightly only. For the 1-year period, fund D performed better than Fund C. However, for the 3-year and 5-year periods, Fund D performed less than fund C.

In conclusion, there are no big difference between large or small fund NAV. The fund performance are similar for similar fund objectives, country and asset allocation.

You may notice the fund performance differences are very clearly shown by different fund objectives. The more flexible the fund objectives, the more impact will be on the performance. This is because the fund manager has more flexibility and able to strategize the fund investment better.

A fund that can invest into more countries also has different fund performance. The fund manager can invest into countries that has higher economic growth. Invest into companies that has higher potential growth.

So, Diversify your Funds to have a more Balanced Investment Portfolio. 

122) New Fund vs Old Fund. Which is Better?

122) New Fund vs Old Fund. Which is Better?

I have been asked this question for a long time and very often. Especially when there is a new fund launch. Should we invest in the new fund or stick to the old fund.

There are some who believed that the old fund is better. Reason being there is already records of the past performance. You have some guidance of how it performed. So, you can have a "feel" of its future performance.

There are also others who believed that new fund is better. Reason being the fund manager has a fresh start. The money is going to be invested into the best stocks now. There are no past history and stock loses to worry about.

Explained below is my understanding and you should do your own research for comparison.

It does not matter when the funds started. Either just new or very long time fund. Reason being, when you start to invest in any of the fund, you are paying at the current market value. All the assets profits and losses are already calculated into the current fund price. If you did not invest before, you are not affected by the profits and losses. You did not gain or loss anything.

Let's look at a sample comparison between 2 similar funds. Fund A (Blue line) was launched in 1997 and Fund B(Orange Line) was launched in year 2011. There is a difference of 14 years. Both funds are classified as Equity Malaysia in the Lipper Classification. Both have similar fund objectives and Benchmark.

 

You will notice that both funds performance are almost the same for the last 5 years. 

From the Quarterly Fund Report ended on 29 Sep 2017, below is extracted from the performance table. 

The Total Return for different period varies slightly only. For the 1-year and 5-year, fund B performed better than Fund A. However, for the 3-year, Fund B performed less than fund A.

Let's compare the performance of Fund A with other funds over the same 5 year period. Below is a Fund Performance graph between Fund A, a Foreign Fund and a Bond Fund.

You can see the big differences in performance volatility and returns over the last 5 years. Bond funds are less volatile compared to equity funds. Foreign funds are also more volatile than a Malaysia fund.

There are many other comparisons between old and new funds that I have seen. 

In conclusion, there are no clear winner between old or new funds. The fund performance varies greatly between different fund objectives, countries and asset classes.

So, Diversify your Funds to have a more Balanced Investment Portfolio.

Malay Version: https://peraturantahaptinggi.blogspot.my/2018/01/dana-baru-vs-dana-lama-yang-mana-lebih.html

121) Take Appropriate Actions

121) Take Appropriate Actions

Nothing is going to Happen without action.
No goal is going to be achieved without planning.
Nothing Great is going to happen without Appropriate Actions.

If you want to achieve your Goals, you need to Take Appropriate & Planned Actions.
If you want to be Successful, you need to practice, form, build and develop your:

Take Appropriate & Planned Actions Habits (TAPAH).

Make TAPAH your daily guide. Keep checking if your actions are appropriate.

Many people take actions, but not enough to complete the goals.

Don't Just Take Massive Actions,
But Take Appropriate Actions.

Some results are better if you take massive actions. 

But some results are better if you take small, precise and specific actions.

The fastest and biggest car can't cross the river without a bridge.
The Formula One cars can only speed on the racing track. It can't move well on the normal road. It will be damaged if driven on roads with road humps and pot holes.

The fastest aeroplane can't go where there is no airport. It can pass over, but not land there.

You can reach home with the biggest car, but you still need to walk to your dinner table.

Every method used on your journey to Success has to be appropriate. One tool cannot be used to fit all the requirements.

View a short video on TAPAH here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8pYNZCEJ7c

Be adaptable and flexible. 

Use the appropriate methods for different requirements. 

 

120) You Get Better at Whatever You Practice.

120) You Get Better At Whatever You Practice.

It works for both the Good Things & Bad Things.

If you keep doing something, you always get better at it. 
So, It is important for you to be aware on what you practice and do often.

When you practice your sales approach, you can get better sales.
When you practice your Face-to-Face approach, you can get more appointments.
When you do more telephone calls, you get more appointments and it will be easier to get.
When you complain a lot, you become good at complaining on everything small and big.
When you get angry a lot, you get angry faster, even over small matters.
When you keep thinking positive, you will be more positive and become more successful. 
When you keep thinking negative, you will be more negative and get more failures.
When you often be kind to others, you will be more likable and happy.

So, be careful on what you do more often.  You get better and better at it.

#highlevelrules

119) How to Start a Savings Habit

119) How to Start a Savings Habit

If you are told to start saving now, you will think that it is going to be tough. You will be thinking something like it is impossible in this economic situation. The common reply you tell others is that you will "wait and see" before wanting to start to invest. 

There can be many reasons for your action.

One reason behind this is that you do not have the savings habit. If you were asked to set aside a sum of money, let's say $100, you will find it difficult to get the $100. You will be thinking that $100 is a big sum, and you cannot set it aside. There are so many expenses and things to buy.

You may had read a quotation regarding Compounding is the 8th Wonder of the World. It is very important to start saving as early as possible. 

Knowing is one thing, doing is another thing altogether.



Here are some ideas you can use. Although the results may vary, hope you can benefit from this sharing.


1) Start Saving Habit the Fun Way.

You need time and determination to start a new habit. The savings habit must be formed as well. Do start with an easy way to save amount. For example, start with $5 per day. Get a bottle, milk can, container or a jar to keep the small amounts. You are required to put in $5, early in the morning before go out to work. To make it more fun, you are required only to put in the money during weekdays. Weekends are optional. Only put in if you feel like it. You can put more anytime, but not lower than $5 per work day.

This is to form the Save First, Spend Later habit. The weekend is to have fun and relax since you are not working. No pressure to put in, although encouraged to put in.

At the end of 1 Month, you would have at least $100 (20days x $5). You will have slightly more because 22 (30days - 8 weekends) working days in a month. 

Reward Yourself for the Success.

Having more than $100 will make you feel like an Over Achiever. 
You are better than what you think you can.


You can Reward yourself with a small celebration treat for the success to save $100. Eg. Ice Cream after 1 month of savings. Be Careful not to over reward yourself. 😛


Start to Increase the Amount.

After 1 month, you may feel more confident. You can increase slowly and consistently. Eg. $8 per day for month 2. 
If you put in $8 per day, you will get $160 ($8 x 20 days).


For the month 3, you increase again to $10 per day.
If you put in $10 per day, you will get $200 ($10 x 20 days).

Once you hit $200 per month, you will get $2400 per year. 
Once you hit $250 per month, you will get $3000 per year.  

You will see that it only takes a small change in your habit to make a big difference.

 
 2) Have a GOOD Reason to Start.

To form a good habit, you must have a GOOD reason to do it. Understand the BIG Why... The main reason for you to do something. 

The Bigger the Why, the Stronger the Motivation.

Ask yourself, "Why are you doing the savings?". Is it for your son's education fund, your down payment for your dream house, a holiday with your spouse, your own retirement fund? 

The stronger or bigger the reason, the stronger the motivation. You will be more determined to achieve your goals. It will be more powerful if the goal is for your loved ones. 

If it is only to benefit yourself, you are more likely to abandon the savings habit. If it is for yourself, you can give excuses to yourself that you cannot achieve it. Anyway, nobody else is affected. So, no big deal if not achieved.

Love is a Powerful force. Many people will be willing to sacrifice for their loved ones, even much more than for themselves. Make sure the goal for somebody else because you love them.

 

118) UTC Sales Ideas #2 - Prospect Wants To Discuss With Spouse

118) UTC Sales Ideas #2 - Prospect Wants to Discuss with Spouse.

As a salesperson, your main task is to use your knowledge to find out your prospect's problem and provide a suitable solution.

Sometimes, the prospect does not even realize he or she has a problem. The salesperson need to point out the problem and provide a solution.

A salesperson will definitely meet prospects who could not make a decision and wanted to discuss with others. Especially with the wife or husband.

Well, how do you solve this problem?

First of all, you need to check whether the reason is a real reason or just an excuse to stop your presentation.

One possible solution is to ask the prospect if you can meet the husband and wife together. If the prospect gave another reason, then the REASON given is also known as an EXCUSE. 

One or more situations below are in their mind:
a) they do not have that problem.
b) your solution cannot solve their problem.
c) they cannot afford your solution. 
d) they cannot decide or they dare not decide.


If they see potential in your solution to solve their problem, they will really want to discuss with the spouse. They want to know how to reallocate their money (which is limited) to pay for your solution.

Then, they will appreciate your offer to meet both husband and wife.

If the person refuse your offer to meet the spouse, then it is just an EXCUSE. You need to find out what is the REAL REASON. 

Let's say the prospect is interested, but really

WANT TO DISCUSS WITH MY SPOUSE FIRST.

You can inform the prospect that you are willing to meet both husband and wife. You will be the BEST person to answer further questions directly.  

Let's say you met the husband and he wants to discuss with his wife.

First of all, the husband may have further questions. If a person really think about your solution, there definitely will be more questions than answers.

Furthermore, it would be difficult for the husband to explain to the wife about your product after just listening for 1 time. 

What if the wife have more questions? The husband will not be able to answer. 

You may had given the husband some brochures. There will be more questions about the brochures. 

When you are in front of the husband and wife, you will have more brochures, articles, newspaper cuttings, graphs, charts, past records, reports, etc. You can even illustrate the concept on a piece of paper.

Without any further distractions from outside, the discussion will be more in depth. You can even spend longer time to discuss. Furthermore, it is more confidential and specific to their needs.

You had spent months and even years learning about your product and you will be able to answer their questions. 

So, you can assure them that the discussion will be the best way to help them better understand their problems. Once the real problems had been identified, only then you can provide solutions. If there are a few possible solutions, you will be there to explain the pros and cons of each solution.

Assure them that they would be under NO OBLIGATION to buy anything. 

You are there to help them understand better their problem. Once the problems are known, then all of you can explore further any solution. You are there to SHARE your knowledge to find the solution.

You must have heard the saying, Sharing is Caring. You are a new friend to the prospect.

There should be NO SELLING, JUST SHARING.