RajahJun

Access selling is a selling strategy as well as a technique that is used to get in front of the right person to sell to.  By the word itself, it is about opening new accounts or talking to a prospect. This sales activity is mostly applied to opening new accounts.  This part of the selling process comes after the prospective customer is a qualified lead and has sales potential.  This is selling activity is aimed at people inside a company that has the authority to buy from companies.   Initially, access selling starts at the gatekeepers.  For gatekeepers, it is their job to keep people especially salespeople out of the company premises.  Therefore it would require a different approach apart from the selling process and skill as well. Gatekeepers can also be the secretary or assistant of a decision-maker or influencers. Once a salesperson gets past the gatekeepers, the next step is to get in front of the decision-makers and influencers.  A...

The "pen is mightier than the sword." Those were the words of Edward George Bulwer Lytton, an English novelist who wrote it in 1839. The proverb means that words are more powerful than action; a more modern translation. Let me ask you this - what if the power can be harnessed for business writing? Do you know that there is a simple tip to tapping into that power? In my long years of working in sales, I've written thousands of business letters to customers. Some letters were templates and others were customized. In writing business letters, especially the customized ones, I picked up a writing tip a long time ago.  It's easy to remember because it's an acronym that goes by the letters - K.I.S.S. Photo courtesy of ClipartFest The acronym means "Keep it Short and Simple".  I've followed this rule every time I sit in front of a computer and pound away at the keyboards.  If you can put down your letter on one page that would be great. More...

I'll be coming out with my first ever written book entitled "How to Sell to Modern Trade in the Philippines." I wrote this book because I've been in the FMCG industry for 25 years.  I've collected substantial experience selling to Modern Trade.  I guess I can say that I live, eat, and breathe selling to Modern Trade. Hence, the reason for writing this book. Hopefully, it's going to be published before the end of the 1st semester of 2017.  I hope this book will serve as a useful reference to those who sell and intend to sell to Modern Trade.  There are a lot of things that you need to know about selling on this channel.  A popular maxim says that the "devil is in the detail" and that is what selling to Modern Trade in the Philippines is all about. The book aims to help those who want to sell to this channel and not be buried with overwhelming detail and still prevail. Another thing, I'd like to share with you this early, the design of ...

In tennis shot, basketball throw, and golf-swings, follow-through is as important as the actual swing that is intended to hit the ball. It will determine how effective the shot will be.  In sales,  follow-through is important to reinforce the sales process and help steer it until the sale is finally closed.                                                                                               Photo courtesy of capitaltennis.net Follow through in sales is as important as the other steps in the sales process. In prospecting, follow-through is imperative because a salesperson needs to persistently make follow-ups on prospects at some future date until they are ready to buy the product or service.  Follow through consists of g...

     Followed a blog by sales legend Tom Hopkins . I signed up for free videos on some of the topics. When I received the email link, went to it immediately, and one of the video titles caught my attention.  It was about "how social media is impacting the sales process?" Wow! I said to myself...Tom Hopkins sharing his thoughts about social media in selling. Guys watch and learn from the legend.      Had to share this because back in the days when I was a young salesman in my mid-twenties, there were no social media.  Selling was door to door and face-to-face.  Also, I was reading books and watching VHS video (CDs hasn't been around yet) of Tom Hopkins' sales techniques that got me all fired up to sell to customers and face rejections and successes altogether.  Now, I'm watching him talk over  YouTube  and about social media  (Cool! Awesome!)... pardon my expression just got caught in the excitement...haha  ...

Today's salesperson can easily download online tools and apps to increase productivity and make selling much easier with less stress. Cool apps can get things done faster.  Apps and online tools can be easily downloaded on most smartphones using  Google Play Store  or Apple App Store . Let's take a look at some of these apps. Salespersons can send documents using  CamScanner . It's easy to download the app using any smartphone. It's also easy to use by simply taking a snapshot of the document, scan and send.  The app can also convert it to PDF file. There are situations where the salesperson  is offsite with order in hand but needs to be submitted to the office right way. The salesperson simply takes a picture of the order and use CamScanner.  Voila! the document is on the way. The action can be done anywhere as long as there is access. Losing client's business card can be frustrating.  Apps  like CamCard - Business Card...

A life insurance policy for ordinary folks can be confusing because it contains a lot of words or terms that may mean the same or differently from other words floating around in insurance jargons. When presented with a life insurance proposal, one would hear words like premiums, cash value, living benefits, cash benefits, sum insured, face amount, death benefits, etc.  It gets confusing when one sees those words and trying to grasp the meaning of words which would be the basis when planning to buy life insurance. For starters "premium" means the payment or consideration made to an insurance company, who in turn is bound to pay the the death benefits at the time of the insured's death.  Premiums are usually paid annually and thereafter renewed yearly.  It can also be paid monthly, quarterly or semi-annual, but the annual premium will be multiplied to a conversion table depending upon the frequency within the year. More importantly, the insurance policy...

To achieve selling success, a salesperson should masterfully play a repertoire of roles, to project a more professional persona.  The salesperson should skillfully utilize a mix of roles fit for the selling situation he or she might be in, and clinch sales and make customers satisfied and happy. I will attempt to define the roles based on my experience as a salesperson: Front-liners - Salespersons usually are the first to interact with customers.  A first impression can make or break a sale.  A salesperson's decorum and demeanor should project a professional selling persona. Revenue-generator - In the traditional view, salespersons were expected to contribute to the company's topline. Back in the day, during sales huddles, the sales manager would cajole salespersons to hit the number by month's end.   Now, companies are training salespersons to be more conscious of the company's middle line, as well as bottom-line performance while they do business with custom...

Selling success in today's highly competitive selling environment requires a salesperson to have an effective set of sales roles that the saleperson can slip into at moments notice.  This will either spell success or failure for a salesperson.  A more informed and discriminating class of customers expects nothing but the best service from a salesperson.  More importantly, the salesperson is expected to bring home the "bacon" so to speak. The salesperson's roles have expanded from mere selling or order-taking.  In fact I have performed these roles during the span of my selling career. I have listed down below, selling roles that have evolved based on what I've seen in the selling environment since the 1980's.  Likewise, most of the roles have become buzz words in current sales training programs and books: Front-liners Revenue-generator Service provider Trouble shooter Negotiator/Intermediary Communicator Consultant Strategic collaborator I w...

Early in my selling career, I thought that you have to do 100% of the talking until you get the customer to buy your product. I also thought that a good salesperson is a smartly dressed, glib-talking salesman with a briefcase full of elixir selling to gullible customers. I began my selling career with that idea in mind and I used it in my selling approach. But I found it too frustrating and stressful.  Most of the customers I sold to, were either not interested, not convinced, or simply not listening because I'm doing most of the talking. Some would even engage me in a heated argument when I've said too much. In the end, I won the argument but I lost the sale. I only made a sale in a few instances where the customers actually needed the product and didn't involve too much selling. My selling style suddenly changed (which was talking too much), when I attended a sales training back in the '80s.  It was called the "Professional Selling Skills " training...

Decades ago there was no Modern Trade channel in the Philippines to speak off.  The biggest retail channel for consumer goods was the Traditional Trade, composed of "mom and pop type" of  stores (sari-sari stores), wet market stalls and grocery stores. Modern Trade stores such as supermarket, hypermarket and convenience stores were relatively few. In the nineties,  supermarkets like SM, Robinsons and Puregold slowly opened new branches. Other modern trade retail stores like the convenience stores followed suit. In year 2000, when the Retail Trade Liberalization Act was passed as a law,  there was a sudden explosion of new branches, not only in Metro Manila but also in key cities and provinces nationwide. Today's retail giants SM, Robinsons and Puregold opened new stores in several formats in key cities and provinces in the Philippines.  The big Philippine modern grocery chains deliberately expanded as head start over the entry of global retailers - Walm...