Are you earmarking a sales position? Are you already accepted the appointment as a business
development executive? Or are you going to do anything with sales position to kick start 2009??
New sales people or “Freshman” is common whenever we are kicking the new year. Our company set a
new target therefore recruiting new team members. Usually the target is incremental in nature. Expect
range from 5% - 20% or more!! Trying times like this would make 5% tumultuous. God bless all of us!

Freshman or new sales people usually find themselves in sandwich position. In between the boss who’ve
hired them and seniors whom, they’ve to work with or reporting to. If they are too much with the boss,
freshman is seen as “kaki kipas” but when they need to learn from the seniors, some form of “ragging”
are common. Ragging comes in many forms. It could be reports writing, make morning coffee or “temp
secretary”. Report writing increases learning curve!! What would be your pick??

For any Freshman, it’s OK to feel awkward. It is normal because you are entirely in a new place. No one
feels cool in a new place. You should also know that the boss who has hired you said many things about
you to your seniors or team. Therefore they know something you might not know. But the first thing you
should do is BE NICE. By being nice, you break barriers. Start with a smile and say “Hi, I am new here and
my name is James.” A reminder: Don’t expect nice response!! But still BE NICE.

As Freshman, it is also very important to KNOW YOUR BOSS or person you reported to. Try to chat with
him / her. Usually sales people are high spirited and they will normally feel there is a need to prove they
can do it all alone. This is a mistake you should avoid. We are in a team, because we will not win in the
battlefield alone. Ask your superior your job areas and specifications. Whenever possible, be nice to
people around you. “You are as good as your last picture”, therefore who cares what were you doing in
your previous company?! Do you always tend to refer to your last job and paint greater picture about it?
Why you left at the first place?? Move on friends.

Say you have no sales experience; well you need to work harder. It’s best to SPEND MORE TIME with the
person you reported to. This relationship you build will speed up your learning and make you on par. As
some says, “you got to hit the ground running pal!”. Your superior is your book of knowledge. Find as
much time to engage with him or her. Prepare questions in advance.

These superiors are there for reasons. Don’t spend time at all to uncover why he/she is not supposed to
be there. Learn to like him or her. They are human and they have friends. They are likeable and
manageable. Other than mastering the products, another key thing to master is to learn to LIKE YOUR
SUPERIORS. Without them, your life is difficult especially if you are in a large organization.

How to make them to like you?? I can hear that….Here some useful guidelines.

1. Be PROACTIVE: Successful people are proactive. For Freshman, do the first step by initiating the
contact with your superior. They will appreciate it.

2. Be GENUINE: Your superior knows when you are being fake. Prepare real questions and genuinely ask
them. Real and genuine questions usually sound stupid at first but it’s very important to you. For
example: “Is it difficult to close sales?”. It matters to you, so go and ask.

3. Be RESPONSIBLE: Say you are given a small task to do and you don’t finish it. Admit your mistake and
say it won’t happen again. Don’t create nanny stories friends, your superior will know. Be responsible for
your mistake and move on.

4. Be a PERFORMER: It means, exceed expectations. Not because you want to please people, simply
because you are deeply interested and care about it. Your superior will normally throw you few simple
tasks to know your interest level, you never know when and how it looks like.

5. Be PREPARED: Only one who is prepared will get it. Many opportunities knocked our doors, but
sometimes we have to pass because we aren’t prepared. Let’s change to be more prepared.

6. Be a HARD WORKER: From the quality of your work, your superior knows how many hours you put in.
It’s OK if people say you put too much because it’s so much better than too little! Hard work always pays
off.

7. Be CONSISTENT: In your duties and character, you need to be consistent. Make it predictable and
manageable. Your superior can assess your abilities and provide constructive feedbacks so you can excel
in your duties.

8. Be DARING: But don’t be stupid. Use unconventional ideas or methods to make things progressing.
Always think ahead. Be creative and challenge complacency.

9. Be BIGGER: Accept criticism openly. It can be from your colleagues or superior. Being bigger and
compassionate are admirable traits for your superior. Take it from the positive angle and clarify to avoid
animosity. Just don’t fake it!

10. Be COMMITTED: Once you are ON, don’t look back. Be a great follower and focus on the goals.
Practice rigid flexibility where it allows movement coupled with stringent control. Don’t always
complaint for changes made; buy the idea and contribute. You will get there.

“If I have made no mention of such qualities of honesty, integrity, courage, perseverance, sincerity and
willingness to work, it is not because I consider them unimportant. It is because I have taken it for
granted that you possess them.” – Tunku Abdul Rahman

Quickies!
Do you know your strengths? Do you know areas to improve so you can become a better person? Do
you want to know your abilities which only cost you time to do it? Do you know you have big potentials?
This time around Quickies! would like to share with you a tool that will enable you to assess and know
yourself better. You will be able to find out your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
This tool is very powerful and has helped many to assess their skills, solve problems and achieve more
sales in shorter time.

Some may have heard and used, for those who finds this tool new; this tool is called S W O T.

How to use it?
Let’s summarize it into 5 steps and get moving.

1. Take a piece of clean A4 paper.
2. Write a subject/title/situation: SALES TARGET YEAR 2009
3. Draw a quadrant and write each S W O T letter in each quadrant.
4. Think deep, deliberate & focusing on your subject/title/situation.
5. List down as many as you can.

Once you are done with S W O T, you need to make an Action Plan. For Action Plan, we will share it in
the next Newsletter “Salesman-That’s Me!”. For now, perhaps you can start by looking for an A4 paper!
☺ and follow the 5 steps. First timer will realize “Hey, what to write??”, therefore you got to think hard
and feel it. Start writing for example “2009 Plan/Resolution”?

For a seasoned SWOT user, “Hey wouldn’t you think it’s time to take stocks for 2009??”
Move on friends.

“Sell-able Quote”

- “Respect has to be earned.” – Anonymous

Don’t forget to circulate this to your salesman, sales friends, sales mates and sales boss. You can attach
this to your bulletin board if you want. Perhaps, you can also forward us your colleagues or friends email
too so we can send to them directly. Please ask their permission first okay! And please, this newsletter is
not for sale. Sigh…

Feedback and Suggestions:
info@omera2u.com