What do you think about sales? This is what Seng Kiet
asked me when we used Skype to have a conversation few months ago. I was so surprised that Lorraine
actually called me for one day because we
never used to hang out together so often back to the university life in
Malaysia. She asked me whether I was
interested to work for a book company so that I was
able to save some money during this summer.
When
Seng Kiet (Lorraine's manager) gave
me the presentation about the sales, I was
impressed by Seng Kiet's sincerity. Since Lorraine and
Seng Kiet were in Buffalo, New
York and I was in Lincoln
Nebraska, thus they had to use the computer to
talk with me. I still remember, my answer to the question that Seng Kiet asked
was "sales, for me, is a "win
win" situation, you win I win everybody win". I felt this strongly after my summer came to the end. It was
because I was actually
improving myself (all kinds of skill) and I was
actually helping Mrs. Jones to understand the words of God better.
Few weeks later, Lorraine called me again
and said there was a manager called Victor was coming to UNL and he was able to
meet me up and talk more about it because I was actually having some thoughts.
It was hard for me to take the first step and join this. Victor came to UNL
quite often, whenever he came, we met up. The date was getting nearer but I
felt like I didn't do much preparation for varsity as I was quite busy for
personal schedule as well. The stressful thing was the moment when Spartan
called me and asked me about the stuff related to driving license. Everything
was settled in a real quick and inefficiency but luckily Tick Loong trained me
for the sales talk and he shared a lot of his experience when he was a bookman.
It was the time I was trained in
sales school in Oxford Mississippi, I met a lot of people from Malaysia, Japan,
Vietnam and China. I didn't used to drive often back to Malaysia so when I knew
that I have to drive my own car from Louisiana to Oxford, I was stunned. The
difficult thing that I had to go through in sales school was the approach and
pre-approach demonstration. It was hard for me and I felt so down. A lot of
managers said that I was so unfriendly, fierce, being not persistent of getting
names and did not follow the so called the five elements of pre-approach. I was
so stressful and felt like crying after that. However, I was told that the real
situation was totally different when compared to the demonstration performed by
managers.
Here was the time, I followed my
headquater manager, Louis to Alexander city in Alabama state. Everything still
seemed blur for me but I got to knock my door. Nobody actually told me what was
country side, what was country people, what was county, what was the difference
between city and country side, what was the difference between the mentality of
white people and black people and so on. I drove my car to the Wetumpka city
and knocked my first door in city. It was hard for me to get into the house but
yet, I got to notice the importance of conducting the 8 steps for sales:
1)
Prospecting and pre-approach
2)
Approaching the customers
3) Set up
4) Defining
and fill in the need
5)
Presenting the products
6)
Responding to the objections
7) Closing
8)
Cementing & Pre-approach
Step one is the most important step
in sales because it will save my time for finding the strong prospects. Besides
that, we need to catch the Mrs. Jones at the right time. Specific questions must
be asked so that we won’t catch the wrong people, we won’t miss catching people
and we will get to know a little bit about the background of the person.
Arranging the strong prospects is another crucial thing that need to pay
attention to.
Step two is hard for me because
people used to build two kinds of images on me, one is serious and the other
one is I look like a kid. I learnt to be friendly and give a big smile whenever
people opened the door for me but sometimes it was still hard for me to enter
the house. For my first two weeks, I had never followed my pre-approach
properly. I just knocked the door randomly and visited them. After that, I knew
the importance of building credibility by throwing the names that I have
visited to Mrs. Jones. First image is very important, there was a Mrs. Jones,
he analyzed my personality by interpreting the first image. I used to pay a
good smile or else be joyful whenever I met people. I was surprised that some
Mrs. Jones, they bought the books from me because they like my manners.
Therefore, we should create a good image from the perspective of appearance,
personality, smile, posture, gesture and manners when we step out to society
for working.
Step three is set up. Basically, set
up is a step to build the credibility of our personality, let them feel more
comfortable about you and get to know more about our Mrs. Jones so that they
will decide whether should listen to you. Some Mrs. Jones, they were hearing to
me but not listening to me. A good set up skill requires only one thing, which
is sincerity. No matter what kind of situation besides selling, we should
always tell the truth and try not to cheat Mrs. Jones. At this point, I am
improving my life skill, which is to make Mrs. Jones feel interested on me. I
am glad that some Mrs. Jones said, "tell me more about yourself, I found
that you are interesting". Sometimes, I could see from Mrs. Jones's non
verbal communication will imply that he/she really interested on you. By having
a good set up skill, I was able to proceed easily. I was so surprised that I
was able to sell some books in court house, city hall, saloon and gas station.
The people in the court house even agreed to help me to take care of my bounce
check personally without having me to go back to Alabama. Also, I learnt how to
control some distractions as some of it really freak me out. With manipulation,
the communication will be more effective and efficient.
Step four is defining and fill in the
need. This is how I analyzed what selling idea do I need to form so that Mrs. Jones
will be interested to get the books. For example, those books can be a gift to
others, donation to library, study guide, investment of education and as a
collection. Same thing apply to our lives, we need to figure out what people
really need, then we'll fill in their need by presenting what are most suitable
for them.
Step five is the presentation.
Basically the key in this step is to gain attention of the audience. Try to
make them feel interested about the books. What I did was, I used to relate the
contents of the books to the real life of Mrs. Jones so that Mrs. Jones won’t feel
boring and left out when I talk about the book. Sometimes, when I talk about
something, Mrs. Jones get excited and tell me more about the matter happened to
him/her. Once he/she get excited to share more about their story, this step is
going to be a successful step. In this step, sometimes I take advantage of
chance to continue my set up a little bit too. I did not afraid to show set
although it was tiring. Sometimes, we talked out of the topic too, just like we
need to think out of the box whenever we face to certain problem in order to
look at the things at a different perspective.
Step Six is about responding to
objection. Some Mrs. Jones, they vocalized some strong objections because they
did not want to or else unwilling to buy the books from us although they are
able to afford it. This was hard for me because initially, I was so shy to push
them to buy. I did not be persistent initially and just left the house when
they said no. After that, I got to know that if I persistent to help myself,
Mrs. Jones will help those who help themselves. Once somebody's objection has
been responded properly, that person will feel more comfortable with you and it
is easier to close. What I did was, I always relate the importance of the books
to them.
Step seven is the critical step for
sales which is closing. If I do not close it properly, I might lose a lot of
sales. During the closing part, I have to be very humble. First of all, I built
the price credibility so that Mrs. Jones would feel that it was worth buying
the books. At the same time, I did not push them too hard for buying the books.
I tried to create a joyful and relax atmosphere so that they won’t feel
pressure. Then, I explained the payment method that Mrs. Jones is able to deal
with. Most crucial, I always tried to build a community spirit that everybody
has been blessing me through college by getting the books from me. Also, I tried
my best to help Mrs. Jones to get the books if they were unable to get it at
that time.
Step eight is about the cementing.
This is an useful step because we do not want our customer to feel regret of
buying the books. I personally think that this can be applied to our real life no
matter what in order to make the person feel good for helping us. The main
point is, he/she might be glad to help us again for the next time. Learning how
to response to different Mrs. Jones in order to make them feel good is another
life skill. Gradually, I know the importance of cementing when I actually got a
book return from my Mrs. Jones.
Actually, throughout the whole
summer, I cried about two times. A lot of things happened such as, tire burst, sickness,
people unfriendly to me, people invited me to have sex, working in heavy rains,
and having hard time to bear my Mrs. Jones. I even changed my county about 3
times, from Elmore county to Macon county and Coosa county. I couldn't forget
the difficult moments that I had been through in Macon county. Somebody told
me, if you ever cried over something that you have contributed to, you will
appreciate and get to know the beauty of your tears. What I have gone through
have made me stronger and guide me to look at this world from different
perspective. I am glad that I have overcome certain fears of unknown. I am glad
that my manager always be with me to encourage me and keep my mind positive.
Overall, what I learnt can't be
completely told but I definitely have grown. I never ever feel regret to join
Varsity. If somebody ever asked me, what is the most unforgettable memory of
you for this year? I would say, those days when I was a bookman. I definitely
going to apply what I have learned throughout the whole summer to my real life.
Last but not least, I am so proud that I am a bookman. It's a great day to be a
bookman.
