What do I have to do to spend some money in here?

I've used the this sentence in a number of outlets in Malaysia. Spending money is tough. Sometimes I walk into a store and I'm ignored! literally. Now I know I look like a tramp but here in Malaysia there are some very wealthy timber tycoons who could use a little tailor time so that really isn't an excuse. Is it because the staff aren't trained properly? More likely. Certainly these two examples would suggest this is the reason. Last week I had a whinge about the office products industry. This week I'm going to talk about the automotive industry. These are two recent personal examples of the automotive industry.
I'm in the market for a new car. I walked into the Peugeot showroom in Petaling Jaya a week ago. I have 3 kids and two maids. that makes seven. Most MPV's seat seven. Ideal for a family like ours right? Right. But how does a salesman know that if he doesn't ask me? In fact how can anyone sell me or anyone else anything if they don't know what I want? So anyway, I asked the salesman who attended me if I could see the MPV. he said they didn't have any stock. I said I saw one as I walked in. He replied that this is a demo car. OK, I said, can I see the demo car. Sure he said. 10 minutes later after he finally found the keys for the demo car, he took me outside and let me have a look around. I told him it was nice and asked when they would have some more stock. I don't know he replied. OK, I said. Sooner or later? he said may six months. Six months! Malaysians are eating MPV's for breakfast and Peugeot won't have any in for 6 months! OK I said. Thanks. And he let me go. Didn't even ask for a business card. At no time during the conversation did he attempt to ask any questions. It was almost as if it was a chore that he had to show me round the car and he couldn't wait to get rid of me.
Next stop was the Citroen garage. Now I have to say the product knowledge of the representative here were far better than those of the Peugeot representative and my issues were more with the fact that Citroen had imported the bottom of the range C8 to Malaysia. However even this representative was more reactive and did not ask one qualifying question that would give him the opportunity to start selling to my needs.
Frustrated and desperate to spend some money, I dropped into the Renault garage on the way home. I met with a similar response to the one I received at the Peugeot dealer, namely that we didn't have the Espace in stock and wouldn't have for the next six months. Admittedly he did ask for my business card and we'll see if anything happens.
Meanwhile, anyone selling an MPV?

Time to invest in sales training

I've lived in Malaysia for 12 years. During that time, although Malaysians are more talented than they give themselves credit for, I've noticed how bad they are at selling. I know why. When you are an Asian tiger, and MNC's are begging you to take their FDI dollars, there is little incentive to develop sales skills. Alas, like all good things, that era is over. We're now entering the era of AFTA, WTO, globalisation, FTA's and so on. Now, more than ever, the corporate playing field is as level as it will probably ever be. If you can't sell, you are not going to survive.
I see this transformation day in day out. In the retail sector Malaysia is striving to market itself as a shopping haven and yet whilst retail sector sales are good, they could be so much better if sales staff were taught to sell. But this will never happen till business owners begin to change their attitude to sales staff. Essentially, they need to stop seeing sales training as a cost and looking at it as an investment. Sales staff are key to increasing sales. Sales reps are not just about folding clothes, putting them in a bag, taking money and operating a cash register. And yet, i would suspect, and i will try to confirm this over the coming months, that retail owners probably spend more time and money training staff to use a cash register than they do teaching them how to put more money in the thing!
Training is key to the success of a sales driven industry. If want to be able to sit here in 12 years time, and say that Malaysia has grown as much as it has over the past 12 years, then there have got to be significant investments in sales training.

case study number one

New keyphone system required
We invited 2 telephone system suppliers to visit our office to discuss our requirements.
One represented Toshiba, the other represented Panasonic.

The scenario
The Toshiba representative was well presentable with impressive product knowledge although her mobile phone rang during the discussion and we had to wait while she answered the call. The Toshiba representative submitted a well presented and personalised quote for around RM14,000 within 24 hours.
It took a fair amount of effort on our part to persuade the Panasonic representative to come to our office. Eventually, a sales manager spoke to us and we explained our requirements to him and arranged to meet the next day. He arrived without the correct brochure but knew his product. He submitted a poorly presented quotation 5 days later (including a weekend). He promised to send over the brochure however two weeks later it is yet to arrive.

The result
Neither representative has followed up. Why? Is the order too small? Are they pre-occupied with all the foreign investors lining up to use Kuala Lumpur as an HQ? Is it because our office is a mess (we're going through renovations)?

Solution.
Both organisations need to qualify the incoming calls. Not just for the requirements of the prospect but also for what they do. Is it a new company? Why are they looking for a new system? Will they be three years from now? Will the system they think they need now be adequate then? These sorts of questions will qualify the potential of the client and determine whether they are serious and what level of representative should be assigned to the account.
It is the oldest piece of advise given to sales reps - MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BOX OF BROCHURES IN THE BOOT OF YOUR CAR AND TOP IT UP ON A REGULAR BASIS.
If you send a quote you obviously want the business so spend a little more time personalising the quote.
Follow up with a courtesy call to ensure it has been received and to enquire if the client needs anything else.
Follow up with the close!!

A (very) brief history of selling part 1

The USA is acknowledged as the birth place of sales, the exploits of book agents selling Ulysses S Grant's memoirs, John Patterson's revolutionary ideas at National Cash Register, Ford, Chevrolet and others are all well documented. However many of these men were amateurs - Ford failed at three businesses before doing alright with some motors. Others were first movers in a new space. Some of them were crooks, best illustrated by what they sold - lightning rods in the nineteenth century or by how much they sold and to whom - double glazing to old aged pensioners and financial instruments to unsuspecting members of the middle classes in the 20th century. Indeed the exploits of many of these sharks is probably why in a post-WWII survey of mothers asking what they hoped their "sons" would grow up to be, salesman was bottom of the list!

The term "Salesmanship" comes from the turn of the century, a neccesary result of mass production. Managers put together teams of well turned out, honest hard working salesmen who portrayed honesty and integrity instead of hustler or dodgy bloke to sell the results of efficient production lines. People became prospects; leads were generated, scripts were required, prospects homes became territories and closing was born.