Love of a Little boy...!!

I was walking around in a Target store, when I saw a Cashier hand this little boy some money back.

The boy couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.

The Cashier said, 'I'm sorry, but you don't have enough money to buy this doll.

Then the little boy turned to the old woman next to him: ''Granny, are you sure I don't have enough money?''

The old lady replied: ''You know that you don't have enough money to buy this doll, my dear.''

Then she asked him to stay there for just 5 minutes while she went to look around. She left quickly. The little boy was still holding the doll in his hand.

Finally, I walked toward him and I asked him who he wished to give this doll to…

'It's the doll that my sister loved most and wanted so much for Christmas…

She was sure that Santa Claus would bring it to her.

I replied to him that maybe Santa Claus would bring it to her after all, and not to worry.

But he replied to me sadly. 'No, Santa Claus can't bring it to her where she is now. I have to give the doll to my mommy so that she can give it to my sister when she goes there.'

His eyes were so sad while saying this. 'My Sister has gone to be with God. Daddy says that Mommy is going to see God very soon too, so I thought that she could take the doll with her to give it to my sister.''

My heart nearly stopped.

The little boy looked up at me and said: 'I told daddy to tell mommy not to go yet. I need her to wait until I come back from the mall.'

Then he showed me a very nice photo of himself. He was laughing. He then told me 'I want mommy to take my picture with her so she won't forget me.'

'I love my mommy and I wish she didn't have to leave me, but daddy says that she has to go to be with my little sister.'

Then he looked again at the doll with sad eyes, very quietly.

I quickly reached for my wallet and said to the boy. 'Suppose we check again, just in case you do have enough money for the doll!''

'OK' he said, 'I hope I do have enough.' I added some of my money to his without him seeing and we started to count it. There was enough for the doll and even some spare money.

The little boy said: 'Thank you God for giving me enough money!'

Then he looked at me and added, 'I asked last night before I went to sleep for God to make sure I had enough money to buy this doll, so that mommy could give it to my sister. He heard me!''

'I also wanted to have enough money to buy a white rose for my mommy, but I didn't dare to ask God for too much. But He gave me enough to buy the doll and a white rose.''

'My mommy loves white roses.'

A few minutes later, the old lady returned and I left with my basket. I finished my shopping in a totally different state of mind from when I started.

I couldn't get the little boy out of my mind. Then I remembered a local news paper article two days ago, which mentioned a drunk man in a truck, who hit a car occupied by a young woman and a little girl. The little girl died right away, and the mother was left in a critical state. The family had to decide whether to pull the plug on the life-sustaining machine, because the young woman would not be able to recover from the coma.

Was this the family of the little boy?

Two days after this encounter with the little boy, I read in the news paper that the young woman had passed away.

I couldn't stop myself as I bought a bunch of white roses and I went to the funeral home where the body of the young woman was for people to see and make last wishes before her burial.

She was there, in her coffin, holding a beautiful white rose in her hand with the photo of the little boy and the doll placed over her chest.

I left the place, teary-eyed, feeling that my life had been changed for ever.. The love that the little boy had for his mother and his sister is still, to this day, hard to imagine.

And in a fraction of a second, a drunk driver had taken all this away from him.

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno: 'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, 'Are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

I am touched with this – and thought to share with you all – I believe that the value of a man or woman resides in what he or she gives, not in what they are capable of receiving = Give it a thought!

How to face Traumatic Situations…!!!

I recently came across a traumatic situation where my communication skills got challenged. I was speaking with one of my client and during our conversation he says – Varun I have news to share, I am getting divorced tomorrow…!!

Since I had never faced such situation before, I went blank for sometime – thinking how to respond and how to take this conversation ahead. Somehow I managed that time, but this conversation made me think to explore more on how we should face traumatic situations at professional end.

I believe that our communication plays crucial role in our professional growth and due to this we generally know what to say and speak when it comes to discuss topics like – Sales presentation, meetings, birthdays, anniversaries, interviews, requesting for referrals, business plans etc. I have learnt to speak on these topics from my seniors, supervisors and others.

However, I never saw anyone facing situations like, death in a family, house fires, divorce, serious illness, bankruptcy etc. I remember how I felt during my conversation – awkward and unqualified to help him. I just told that I am sure you are going through tough time - unfortunately I wouldn’t know what to say – just be calm!

But that was not the right answer and to be honest, till now I actually don’t know what to say. I am sure some of you also have faced the similar situation, which have not - here are few tips which I came across during my search.

1) We don’t need to creative words while responding – sometimes your presence will says enough! I am sure – that person is not going to remember you after you hang up or leave that place. Your presence is what will be remembered!

2) Stay in touch with them - It’s not just that you paid your respect on that day and its over. If you stay in touch – there is lot of meaning to that - as I said before, your presence will do more than your words!


3) Listen to the person – don’t rush to talk and share the similar incidents or any thing. Be a listener – that will be more than enough for that person to be comfortable. We should encourage the person to talk more so as they wont go in stress mode.

4) Offer help – but not for the sake of showing your concern – be practical and specific. A person in stress will welcome all help. For example – Feel free to call me if you need me!

If you face such situation – try these tips – I am sure these will work for you and you will be able to take your relationship that you have been building to next level.

Recession Pricing Do's and Don'ts...!

I have been hearing news that in this recession time/period companies are trying to revise their pricings. Though this is very natural for companies to think in to this direction – however I feel that revising the pricing strategy in this economic downturn would be very tricky and risky. There are cases when companies only cut the prices to gain more market share and attract new customers – but right approach can help a company to compete and sustain in recession time.

During my search for what should we do and we should not when it comes to revise the pricing strategy – I came across different articles and views of different experts. Below are few tips – which I found are useful:

We may like to consider:

• Analyze the value we are offering to our customers: Customers always feel comfortable if we educate them about the value we are delivering which in turn helps us to be more confident on our pricing.

• Categorize our value offerings: We can bundle our products & services and establish their prices accordingly, which will allow us to appease both cost and value conscious customers without cutting prices.

• Improving internal processes: The best way to adjust in this period is to streamline our company's processes and expenses. We can’t get very far in this competition with just a price cut.

• Innovate our offerings: Personally – I would like to invest a bit more on R&D. This step will surely help us to offer our products and services in a different way and will also allow us to negotiate flexibility with customers. It has been proved that innovation gives us an edge over competitors when customers are looking for something new.

We may not like to consider:

• Giving discounts on our products or services: In this economic downturn it would not be wise to get in to a price war with our competitors, especially without analyzing the value of the product or service. If we get in to this way – that too in this scenario, we can’t survive for a long and most importantly no body is going to win in this.

• Cutting prices on our high-value products and services: It wouldn’t be wise to touch our high value products during economic downturn. The better approach would be to focus on marketing our low value products and services.

• Give importance to price-driven customers: Ws should never encourage customers who threaten to take their business elsewhere especially in recession time. If scenario arises, either – share the unique value that our product and service offers, which justify the price we are charging confidently or let the customer take their business to our competitors and watch them going nuts.

Tips to convert Cold Leads into Hot Leads

This week I got a chance to participate in a small club party – where few of my friends who are in to sales were also present. While the party was going on its full space, one of our friend raised a topic – How Can we convert cold lead to hot one – in simple words – how to turn the cold prospect in to buyer! Since every one seems to be expert – they shared their views and came on some conclusion which I bet - no one remembered after the party.

But this topic has provoked me to do some research and thanks to different search engines I got to see few articles which were relevant. I picked few of them and prepared this document. [This document is only for reference purpose and its resources can be shared based on request].

To start with - I am sure we all have seen and face issues like prospects giving us the run-around, they had expressed an interest in our products or services when we first contacted them but now they don't return our calls, reply to our emails or seem interested in making a buying decision.

I firmly believe that in order to solve this or any sales related issue – the best weapon is Persistence. It’s an essential trait that all successful sales people should possess. This defines the ability to stick with a specific task, continue in the face of adversity, or use different strategies to achieve our goals.

However, there is a distinct difference between this and beating our head against a wall trying to convince the prospects to buy our products or services. I am sure that we all have gone through the phase where we thought - we are going to win every deal which comes our way – but later realized that we let that deal went away! But now since we got some experience under our belts – I guess it our duty to make sure that our team won’t face the same issues and start striking the deals with 100% success rate.

Below are few tips from experts that we can share with our teams and help them to be more successful and aggressive hunter :D :

1. Email Campaign: We should consider creating an email list of all the prospects and those who said no to our products or services due to some reasons. We can add these peoples into a monthly email campaign – considering some of them will have their situation change and still others are simply very busy with something that is more urgent. Without monthly email follow-up, we may lose the people that were temporarily distracted as well as those whose situation changed.

2. Account Mapping/Mining: This step is very crucial in current business scenarios. We should map the account and try to find other contacts too, since if we have another contact in the company, we can ask them for inputs or to find out why the decision has been stalled. This is particularly very effective if we have developed a good relationship with this person.

3. “Remember us” Campaign: We can also think about developing a “Remember us” campaign to keep our name in their mind. They may not be ready to buy now, but their situation could change in the future and we want them to remember us. We can stay in touch via postcards, letters, articles, newsletters, etc.

4. Respect Gatekeepers: I strongly believe that we should maintain good relationship with the decision-maker's executive assistant. Through this we can easily tap into that individual's insight and knowledge. In some cases, the E.A. can even help us to find a different way to approach the executives. They may also be able to share the reasons of why the sale did not happen or even what we could do differently in the future.

5. Effort Analysis: To become a successful salesperson we are supposed to be proactive. Before we put our efforts in any deal – we should ask ourselves 'How important is this sale?' If our answer is 'important', than determine what other actions or approaches we are willing to take to make this sales happen. We have to identify a best and creative way to pursue it.

To add - no solution is full proof and this is very much fair to raise the questions such as - What if this approach won’t work? What is the cold lead is still the cold one and not moving forward? Considering my experience, my answer probably would be – to drop that lead and focus on new opportunities. We have to realize that we have limited time with us to meet and exceed our targets and hence we need to wisely design our approach.

I have seen and heard that many times salesperson don’t realize the value of their time and they ended up running behind the deal which wont worth that much efforts.

It will always favorable if we follow the simple rule of thumb – wherein we ask ourselves - "What is the best use of my time, right now?" We should also consider the potential value of each sales opportunity. Chasing a high-value sale is a better use of your time than following up on a sale that is of low value (revenue and/or profit).

Samsung Omnia i900

Gizmo time: I am big fan of Samsung Omnia - Thanks to its killer looks and style!! I was thinking to buy this phone - but dropped an idea due to its huge cost - I guess its in the range of INR - 35K to 40K , competiting Apple's Iphone. But yes - this phone is worth to try :) I have collected its specifications, let me know if I have missed something:

Network Technology: GPRS, EDGE, 3G

Hardware/Processor:
1) 624MHz Marvell PXA312 processor
2) Windows Mobile PPC 6.1 (O.S)

Dimensions (mm): 112 x 56.9 x 12.5 mm

Weight (g): 125

Display:

Screen Size: 3.2 Inches
Screen Color: TFT 65 K
Menu Type: Touch Wiz UI

Design:

Type: Candy bar
Navigation Key: 5 -way block
Antenna: Fixed Internal

Memory:

Phonebook: Practically unlimited entries and fields
Internal(MB): 8 GB/16 GB internal memory
Expansion: microSD (TransFlash), up to 16GB

Battery:

Battery Type: Standard battery, Li-Ion 1440 mAh
Stand-by (hrs): up to 430 h (2.5G) up to 450 h(3G)
TalkTime(min): up to 10 h (2.5G) up to 6.5 h (3G)

Entertainment:

Ringtones: Polyphonic
MP3: Yes
A2DP: Yes
TV Receiver: Null
FM Radio: Yes
Video Record: Yes
Video Support: TV Out, DivX, XviD, WMV, MP4, H.264, H.263
Audio Support: MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA/OGG/AMR
Voice Support: Voice dial, Voice memo, Voice Record, Voice Command
Games: Yes + Java downloadable

Messaging:

SMS: Yes
MMS: Yes
EMS: Yes
Email: Yes, Push Email
Push-To-Talk: Yes

Connectivity:

HSDPA: Yes, 7.2 mbpss
EDGE: Yes, Class 10, 236.8 kbps
Bluetooth: Yes
3G: Yes
GPRS: Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots)
Infrared (IrDA): No
USB Port: Yes
WIFI/WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g

Software:

Java (J2ME): Yes ,JAVA MIDP 2.0
WAP: Yes
Browser: Yes, WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML, RSS feeds
PIM Application: Calculator, Calendar, Reminders, Currency converter, Synchronization
Other Application: Built-in GPS: NMEA 0183, Handwriting recognition, MSOffice document viewer

Camera:

Lens Type: CMOS, 5.0 Megapixel
Digital zoom: Digital Zoom (x4)
Max. Resolution: 2592х1944 pixels
Flash: Yes
Night Mode: Yes
Extra Features: autofocus, image stabiliser, secondary videocall camera, Wide Dynamic Range
Video: Yes
Video Format: MPEG4/H.263/H.264/WMV/Dvix/Xvid

I have tried to cover maximum information, if you feel that some information is missing or not correct, please let me know :)

Recession - How to make our competition irrelevant??

Further to my previous blog on Power of Recession - Favorable or Unfavorable – the next thing came to my mind is – Can we destroy our competition in this period too? Is there an easy way to make the competition irrelevant, especially when there is an easy access to information, bombardment of advertisements and commercials?

What could be the best strategies, arms and ammunitions one can need to help our customers in making easy decision to buy?

During my search, I came across different articles over my topic and also got a chance to discuss with different industry experts. Result of my study was a big document, however to share the relevant information I have divided in to few points - which I believe can help us in making our competition useless.

Below are the points for your review:

1) We must create a differentiation: The best way to move ahead during the recession time is to create differentiation within our own products or services. If we have a range of products or services to offer, we should identify the differentiation on the priority basis. For example: Products can be differentiated based on size, color, components, combinations or accessories. However differentiations for services include performance, quality, responsiveness, availability, ease or integration.

2) We must focus on the Moment of Truth: The moment of truth is the moment that the customer has an option to make a purchase decision, to buy your products, invest in your services or hires you. This is the moment that you need to put your good, better and best foot forward.

For example - In a retail environment this may be the end-cap, a wall display, shelf space or a counter display. Over Internet this may be an on-line store, e-bay or our personal web site. It could even be part of an email communication.

3) Follow Thumb rule – Provide Good, Better and Best: The best approach would be to provide our customer three options. Show them something good, show them something better and show them our best. Though it may sound simple formula – It takes a little care and creativity also while crafting our message.

We should be able to clearly define our values, the features, benefits and advantages of what we have to offer. Even if we have hundreds of customized solutions or products, we should select and present these three options. Study shows that - In the decision process, human beings can easily compare and contrast three options. Their mind can juggle three prices and three sets of features for a quick and easy decision process.

If we give too many options to our customers, then they will need to spend more time to consider the alternatives, and while they are weighing our multiple options they may start to consider the competition as well.

4) Add the Value Proposition: For better success of our efforts, we have to provide a value proposition for each option that we present to the potential customer. Our value proposition should be something that can be conveyed in three to five bullet points, three to five sentences, or spoken in forty seconds or less. Our message should be precise and succinct and covers customer point of view also.

For example, rather saying "Delivery process may take 3-5 days ", we can say "the product will typically arrive at your door in 3-5 days".

A value proposition typically contains the essential elements of Feature, Advantage, Benefit, Image and Offer. This is a reference to a specific important feature of our offer, the advantage as compared to the competition, and the benefit to the customer.

5) We must Plan, Do, Measure and Adjust: Best strategy to win the game is to plan our offers and the value proposition carefully. Once we introduce our three offers measure the success rate of each option by the corresponding sales rate (This can be done with the help of market research, analysis of reports etc).


The Key is - as long as our customers continue to make a selection between our options and the value propositions, the competition is irrelevant and can be destroyed easily. Our customers can get what they want, and they will remain our customers!!

Recession Power - Favorable or Unfavorable

Recession Power: Is it possible for Companies Rise to the Top, Even in Down Times…

Thanks to our news channels and papers, I got curios towards a subject called Recession and its possible impact. The way they all are covering this topic – it’s not very far that we all are going to loose our business, jobs and money.

To find out the truth - I did some online research and prepared this document – which shows that we don’t need to press the Panic button as yet. It’s just a normal economic cycle.

I am sure, we all agree that Recession is one of the most distorted, counterproductive words in the English language. We are in economic downturn that may get worse before it gets better. It has generated a fear in the minds of consumers and business owners – a fear of defeat!

But if we see its positive side, it has forced us to get more conscious about our money and spending. Through this we have realized that we have to get rid of waste and conserve our resources where most needed.

If we go by the words of management gurus “Recession IS strictly a matter of our perception". It’s we who perceives and responds to a recession and determine whether our business grows profitably or fights for survival.

This document proves that companies can actually do better during recession, if –

1) We can transform external threats into opportunities: The Japanese are masters at crisis management and look at situations like recessions as polarities. That means, neither all good nor all bad, but a mixture of both. The Japanese symbol for crises is a representation of two separate symbols: danger and opportunity. Such a perspective encourages responsiveness - not reactive ness. As a result, the Japanese focus not on the problem, but on new solutions - not on survivability, but on growth - not on short-term losses, on but long-term prospects.

Give a Thought - How do we perceive the current downturn - as a threat or an opportunity? How might the recession actually be an opportunity for our business?

2) We can take advantage of and profit from changing dynamics in the marketplace: A business can grow and profit during a recession if it understands the underlying dynamics of the marketplace. Crises tend to stimulate change in people. The challenge is to respond to such changes in a timely and direct fashion. To take advantage of these shifts, we have to consider 5 "W's."

¨ WHO: Who is doing the buying now? Although overall spending may be down, such trends cannot be generalized across all industries and business segments. Buying behavior shifts, changes and refocuses more than it declines. What new markets can we address that are actually on the rise?

¨ WHAT: What needs and benefits are priorities for our customers at this time? Are there new products or services that might address these shifts or serve as alternatives to satisfy the status quo?
¨ WHEN: What needs must the customer have satisfied now VS later? What special incentives will motivate the consumer to buy today?

¨ WHERE: During a downturn, customers often rethink their buying loyalties. From what sources are they currently buying? How can we make our products more accessible to our target market to buy?

¨ WHY: The "why" addresses customers' underlying motivations for buying. What motivations are driving customers' buying decisions today? What are customers' expectations of the future? How will these expectations affect their buying behavior today?

3) We can catalyze seemingly "negative" times into positive moves: In recessionary times, we have to aggressively look for the "silver lining in the cloud" and mobilize resources to seize those hidden opportunities. We have to act, not react.

4) We can make room for new growth by "de-cluttering" that which is marginal or ineffective: During times of growth and expansion, it's easy to get hooked into over-spending, "over-doing" and over-confidence. Sloppy behaviors, attitudes and habits often creep in and get masked.

We have to take advantage of down times to de-clutter "excesses" - i.e. any drains on time, money or people resources generating little or no return, have to scale back to what they do best in order to be at their best. We have to make room for new growth and profits.

5) We can build our resilience muscle to thrive in tough times: In the 21st century, accelerating change, increasing complexity and escalating risks have become the new business reality. To withstand external shocks that can destroy a business, we have to build our resilience capacity.

Resilience, first, is a mindset. Resilience thinking transforms uncertainty into confidence, fear into action and adversity into advantage. On an organizational level, resilience comes from a strong culture based on operational flexibility, employee loyalty and team collaboration.

6) We can aggressively position our selves ahead of the competition during economic downturns: During economic downturns, most companies go on the defensive -- cutting back costs, downsizing marketing efforts and commoditizing products and services - just to survive. But to fight we have to do just the opposite.

In recessionary times, we have to position our selves to win -- ramping up promotions, accelerating new product introductions, and keeping a visible profile. By taking advantage of the emerging opportunities, we not only differentiate our selves during the downturn but also position our selves for explosive growth after its turnaround.

7) We can find the "learning" and the "grander purpose" hidden within challenging times: Our greatest challenges are our greatest teachers. Their "grander purpose" is to shift our thinking, behaviors, strategies and actions and ultimately aid us in our future growth.

Companies negatively impacted by a recession never see the grander purpose such times can offer them. Instead, they perceive only the worst, react out of fear and shrink to a victim mentality.

While on the other hand, we have to see recessions as learning opportunities. We have to recognize that yesterday's thinking and strategies will not address today's challenges.

PS: Sources can be shared on request!!