China and more China

This week was a very interesting one.

Richard came down early in the week, and he said:
- You have to be fearless
- In order to sell, I have to get my head around the numbers and what it means
- I have to protect our company's interest
- Most Sales people sell harder internally
He could tell I was uncomfortable with Sales, and I wonder if it is an inital phase or just a nature thing.

Things I have to consider if I stay in this line:
- Can i meet my targets? It resets every year. Can I create new sales every month? Can I upsell to an exisiting customer?
- Do i enjoy talking to people? Yes, but i do not enjoy pushing my product overly. I tend to lose focus when I get too caught up with the details/process, and do not enjoy myself as much as I would like to.
- Sales people are who they are in front of the customer and at home. Bubbly, positive. Is that who I am?
- Customers buy Person, then Company, Product. They have to buy me. Can I be confident to sell myself?
- Is it out of my comfort zone? It is natural for me to feel a little nervous, everytime I meet a client? I find it hard to phantom what they are thinking, and that requires judgement and relationship building on my part. I have to think more before I speak, as Chinese people need a lot of face, and more times than not, I shoot my mouth off.

What Happens if I say yes?
- I will have at least a mil quota for next year.
- It will be full-time sales
- I have to do cold calls, road trips, network a lot more. Be if coffee, dinner, beer. To me, I will do it if I am comfortable with the client, and if I am not the only one going alone.
- More money, but I have to perform. Am i up to it? It will be China & HK market, bearing in mind someone else is coming into the picture to help.
- I have to develop my own sales style, what am I good at?
- This is a different skillset that i have previously developed. Coming from a Banking background, there is very little thinking, but more specialization. Now, things are less unplanned, and i have to think on the fly, and make formulate clever ideas, and pitchings quickly. I am a bit retarded in that aspect, because I am a more of a research, gather ideas, then present kinda person. I have to switch gear and be more spontaneous, and get used to the attention that people give me.

If no?
- Is account management an option? Yes, and No. It could be less agressive, more passive role. May be suitable for me, as I will be within my comfort zone.
- Can I troubleshoot product related problems for clients? No, i have not been very good at that.
- Am I dead accurate when i help them rebuild reports? I fall asleep while keying in the numbers for them, and make mistakes sometimes.

What am I good at?
- Talking to people - I like to find out about them, and the job that they do, the lives that they lead, being very different nationalities from me. I am a little curious sometimes. It helps to foster a good relationship, and continually talk to clients, and trade market news. This will help for them remembering me, selling, and upselling. But more importantly, I see them as friends rather business contacts.
- Likeable - People respond well to my cold calls, and we have quite a few repeat customers. We have built up a solid base of potential clients in China. Of course, there is more to come from the region, and HK.
- Hardworking - I usually take pride when I am tasked something to do.
- Giving people ideas, and making it work for them - Sales presentations are my favorites, that helps is if I know the product well

Tips to survive in Chinese Banks (from Chong Mien & Winga)
1) America this, America that
2) We did this for XXX Big Bank
3) Give them FACE, flatter them, never imply they are STUPID or WRONG
4) Buy them gifts, visit them
5) Call them to talk to them about themselves, family, what they do for leisure etc
6) Trade market information as information is a little restricted in China
7) Cheap may not be an appealing factor for them
8) Whites may be a good advantage