Many have thought to start a business is hard. But why is it hard? What makes it so hard that only a minority 10% who made the cut? The utmost importance of establishing a business is to have a sufficient of time invested to establish a sufficient amount of friendship with a sufficient amount of clients. And why did I say friendship?
Because this is where 90% of the typical salespersons fail. (I know I used to fail too, countless of times - tell me about the rejection I faced every single time they shut down on me) They thought most of the time, it’s all about getting new deals closed every single day. No, it isn’t. It’s not the quantity that sustain a business – it’s the quality of each deal closed. And to ensure a quality of a deal closed really depends on how strong and well-connected you are with your clients. Have you ever heard of a company’s CEO who actually has friends everywhere throughout the industry and of the same level and position? Have you ever heard of your Sales Leader or your Sales Director actually knows all his or her clients very well? Is it a coincidence that these people actually know each other that much?
Yes, we have business events, networking, conferencing etc. etc. where all these places are typically the best platform to leverage on to expand your network and know people. But then again, how many business cards did you actually manage to contact and follow-up by the end of the day? And how much percentage of closing the deal happen from just meeting an acquaintance during events? Very unlikely you will need a period of 3-6 months to scout your client before that moment of truth can happen especially if the deal you're scouting for, involves such a big amount of money.
So, back to the question above, how did the CEOs and Sales Directors know people that much very well? Simple answer. Those people are their friends. At some point of life, they may have met either in school, college or university and be close to each other. A natural intervention without any strings attached. Just a casual talk which happened to be pre-destined of what's bigger to come - and by the time each of them decided to venture the business of their own or perhaps, work towards the top of the management hierarchy, eventually, both of them grow together - and this bond is an unshakable bond where no man can step in between. It is what I called 'ideal client/partner relationship'. This case happens rarely in our current era (especially with a current ongoing depleting economy and high cost of living) - but when it happens, businesses are likely becoming joint-ventures, corporations or sometimes even something that is larger than themselves. Even if no partnership did occur, businesses can also happen like a trade barter - exchange of services.
So, what's the lesson learn here? Make friends. And when I say make friends, you need to start this from a very young age. I was unfortunate that I didn’t learn these very keys (see below) towards a successful business back then. It is important to start your networking right from the start – by conveying a strong, leadership personality among your friends to earn their respect – and from this respect, a mutual bond towards business can easily be established due to that trust and respect from knowing you and what you are good at. Two examples I can give here are:
a) REAL LIFE EXAMPLE 1: Someone who was an all-rounder and respected back in high school, someone who was constantly there for any high school events, someone who can claim himself/herself to be the 'cool kid on the block' - now becoming a Top Sales Leader (a self-made millionaire) just by selling insurance. Remember, it is not insurance that made her the money - but it is the network and its quality that helped her climbed the ladder.
b) REAL LIFE EXAMPLE 2: Another person who actually was the Student's Council President. Due to his strong voice towards the university community, he became rich himself due to leveraging that voice by making each student his downline for his Multi-Level Marketing that he was into. Again, remember, it is not the MLM or the system that makes him rich - it is the network and its quality that helped him (the MLM structured commission scheme just made him even easier money) - same case as Example 1.
Okay, so what’s the equation again?
- Successful business = (First key) Amount of time + (Second key) Amount of friendship + (Third key) Amount of clients = Lifetime Contract. Simple. It’s not even a rocket science.
- And when you combine friendship and clients, what will you get?Friends. What happens when all friends are your clients?
'Contract' is a business layman's term. To sustain a contract is all what it takes to sustain your business. Try to reimagine the words: Having multiple lifetime friends who are devoted to your business are the same as having successful multiple contracts due to having devoted clients. You get to hinder your competition because your friends will definitely back you up just like how real friends do - you get to entertain your own friends (because why? Because you are happy and honest doing it! Not for the sake of money, but because you know them very well and in account management, we definitely call this client’s entertainment!) So, you can see - the higher the amount of organic and authenticity in your marketing, the higher the potential of winning the deal and keeping the business. Say no to fake (for the sake of keeping the contract) account/client management as the account deals will never be sustainable due to its high tendency and sensitivity to collapse should any external party choose to interfere. A successful account/client management is when you convert that client who was just an acquaintance into a friend of yours.
This is the main reason how a CEO knows the other CEOs of the same industry very well and so as your best Sales Rep of the Team tends to sustain his reputation. It’s because it doesn’t even take spammy techniques (the door-to-door sales, constant push notifications on your app, random daily email newsletter you receive on your inbox, a constant follow-up call right after your first sales pitch appointment) – No, it’s not even that. It’s just that natural technique of closing your deal by having that network of
clients friends where it makes your daily business very seamless and doesn’t even feel like it’s a business. The moment when you play golf with your ‘friend’ while talking about the business that both of you are passionate about, you can talk with ease because that mutual bond of trust and respect is already there.
If you think you have those 3 elements of the equation in your life, you can jump into any business right now without having to worry too much of having sufficient technical knowledge (well, I should advise you should do a business that you are passionate about and at the very least, have a bit of technical knowledge). But let me tell you this, technical knowledge is limitless – the more you spend time to be expert in one particular skill, the more you will likely waste your time as they evolve so fast and you may have a hard time catching up with the pace. The moment you thought you have mastered one skill, the education industry will evolve that skill to another thing in few years and you are back to square one. So, just know the groundwork and leverage your own hired staffs to do the flattery, flowery toppings.
Let me requote what Dale Carnegie used to say, “85% of your financial success is due to your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate and lead. Shockingly, only 15% is due to technical knowledge.” Therefore, balancing your interpersonal relationship skills and technical skills are important to excel in any endeavour. Too much of technical, you risk losing the trust and respect and the very cause of why people should listen to you on the first place. Too much of interpersonal, then you risk of looking like an empty can (someone who babble with no substance inside).
Same thing if you are a marketer, by having these ground rules in your equation, eventually, all your future sales or marketing campaigns will tend to be natural instead of being too 'forced' - when you are trying to tap the market as if they are already your friends, you will definitely channel the message in a right tone and manner - a message with an attitude - where you will eventually create a pulling effect from the market to you - just like how you want to gain respect from your friends - in branding, we call that the brand's pride in the market. Moreover, you will never see sales pitching the same way again - you will never be too scared or nervous to see new clients - because you are already visioning it in your head. It's not only about winning the contract with all your excellent skills and all those fancy points in your sales deck, but it is also about how good you can nurture a strong, long-term relationship with your client - and treating them as if they are already your friends.
Same thing goes when you want to carry out any campaign whether it is a newsletter, or an app push notification, or a YouTube/Facebook campaign, or when you want to push for an ATL advertising to launch a product; the very same rule applies - when you treat the market in a way that you are not too desperate to get them into making your customers - when you treat the market as if you are the market leader, you are the pioneer, the customers need you, not you need them - there goes the power of attraction.
Clients must be treated like how you will treat your friends because both of them have one thing in common; they are humans - they eat, they play, they socialize, they convey emotions, they want to be pampered, they seek social confirmation and validity among their community, they want to be heard, they constantly crave for financial freedom, they want to be recognized. These are the common traits that most CEOs and best Sales Leader recognize and they leverage based on these little things to win a contract deal.
And that carries the vision, "Client = Friends = Lifetime Contract."
Original post here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-secret-keys-unlock-your-businesss-success-nik-m-harith
The writer, Nic M Rayce or Nik Harith is the main vocal/rapper, an aspiring Malaysian artist for his own band, Nic M Rayce Musics, and is basically the principal producer for the all the songs from scratch till its very completion. Inspired by bands like Linkin Park, Blue Stahli and Within Temptation, Nic M Rayce Music aims to create a genre of their own - venturing wide from the range of alternative, rock, hip hop, electronica, ambient soundtrack to trip-hop - hunting for a sound on its own. His vocal style is mostly influenced by Chester Bennington, Bruno Mars, Jason Mraz, Adam Levine and Adam Young. Meanwhile, his rapping style is influenced by Rakim, Eminem, Mike Shinoda, Ryu of SOB, B.o.B. and Shawn Chrystopher. His musical style ranges from electronica with the likes of Pink Floyd and Depeche Mode, hip-hop like Fort Minor and Styles of Beyond, to modern rock like Blue Stahli, Linkin Park, Apoptygma Berzerk and Within Temptation. Hear his music here: Nic M Rayce Musics
Nic M Rayce basically owns a startup design agency back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and has been a website/multimedia designer since 2008 - serving both the government clients and the private sector's corporations - building collateral for their marketing campaigns on TV, radio and the social media. He aims to produce his own production studio & marketing agency by 2018 which helps bands both artistically and musically. Check his artwork out here: http://nikharith.deviantart.com
Nic M Rayce basically owns a startup design agency back in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - and has been a website/multimedia designer since 2008 - serving both the government clients and the private sector's corporations - building collateral for their marketing campaigns on TV, radio and the social media. He aims to produce his own production studio & marketing agency by 2018 which helps bands both artistically and musically. Check his artwork out here: http://nikharith.deviantart.com
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