Silliest Question?

Questions help to, both, teach and learn effectively.

Towards the beginning of my Training, during the "expectations" session, I generally tend to ask "Which is the silliest question?" I get many interesting / funny replies. Finally, I share my thoughts with the participants.

The silliest question has got to be the question that is not asked.

We have the tendency to hold ourselves for fear of being laughed at, sound ignorant, lost and all sorts of unnecessary ifs and buts. Questions are important for us to grow as mature individuals. Questions are a great way to share and learn. They help in critical thinking.

The onus is on the trainer to ensure the participants are encouraged to ask questions. This will depend on the rapport the Trainer develops with the participants. I assure my audience that I may not have all answers, but we will attempt to find the solutions.

As mature people, we need to get into the habit of asking questions: intelligent ones at that, and it comes with practice. They are a means to, both, teach and learn effectively.

Picture courtesy: http://www.inc.com

Opportunities come: Rarely though

Opportunities are blessings in disguise. They come without a knock on the door and they come for a reason.

An Opportunity is basically your environment challenging you. Your environment has complete faith in you, hence it provides you this challenge. The question, then, is - Do you have faith in YOURSELF?
When an opportunity comes in, the trick is to take it. Of course, it means coming out of your comfort zone and doing something beyond your normal routine, with a fair chance that it may not all go well. That is why it is called an Opportunity, right?

It is your testing time, time to prove YOURSELF to yourself.

So how do you go further, after taking the opportunity.
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare: The idea is to give it your 100%, so that you do not have to regret later. Even if the result is not fully as you expected, you would have the satisfaction that you gave it your best shot.
What could be the learnings from taking an opportunity.
1) How far can I go? Opportunities help us to understand our capabilities. We have a limited view of what we can do. With these challenges, we realize the latent strengths within ourselves which we never foresaw before. They increase our risk taking appetite and help us to grow as more confident individuals. The next time an opportunity arrives, we will be better prepared.
2) Lateral Thinking: When faced with challenges, our brain comes up with new and unexpected ways of doing things, which perhaps we would never imagine during normal times. Out of the box solutions come in when the mind is pushed to the brim and these ideas can be used for future as well.
3) Learning for future: Every opportunity teaches us how to cope up with them better the next time. The flaws in our handling the present opportunity (which there will be) gear up to tackle them better the next time. Every opportunity is a great learning experience and it brings with is a wealth of knowledge for future.
4) Support for Acquaintances: When our close ones see us handle opportunities (with ease), they begin to have greater faith is us and see us as a valuable support.
5) Great Moral Booster: In our difficult times, it is these opportunities which give us strength and remind us that we are winners. We have won in the past and handled several situations effectively. Undoubtedly, we would come out of future ones just as well.
Opportunities do not come often. However, when they do come, we need to accept them and give it our best shot. Thereafter, inhale in the success, learn from your failures and let these situations give you the boost to handle future ones.
Would like to hear about opportunities (blessings) that came your way and how you handled them.
Let them flow in.

Using The FAB Approach in Sales

All products and services have three characteristics to them: Features, Advantages and Benefits (FAB).

While Features tell us about the physical attributes of the product, Advantages spell out the direct use of the feature and Benefits identify what the product can do for the customer. it is the benefits which finally matter to the client

Features merely define the product. They do not solve the customers problem / need.It is then up to the customer to decide how the feature will benefit them.

To make Features more productive, we add Advantages to them. Advantages show how the Feature will work for the client or what it will do for him/her. However, Advantages are general, and not client based: they do not explain how the product will solve the client's specific problem. At times, they may focus on certain features which the customer does not care about, thus reducing the VFM (Value for Money) factor for the client.

Benefits are ultimately the final attribute which help to sell the product. Benefits help to identify the Features and Advantages which relate to the customers needs. At a call with the client, the sales person is required to understand the needs of the customer. This is a crucial time when we need to show interest, concern and empathy. Correct questions need to be asked to show the customer we care and would like to clarify details. This is what will guide us as to which Features and Advantages to present to the client so as to create Benefits.

Once the client explains the underlying needs, they expect a solution from us.

Remember, with all client interactions that takes place, the customer has her/his WIFM (Whats in It For Me) in mind...

No sales call is fruitful until the customer is satisfied that (s)he has received something out of the interaction or the time invested. It could be a possible solution to the customer needs, some statistics you may share, some market intelligence, your rich experience or a physical gift (i.e. if the organization allows them)

Benefits are derived from the Customers and are Motivators for a customer to buy the product. They define what the customer will achieve by purchasing the product. Some benefits which matter are self esteem, time saving, cost reduction and increase in productivity.(Feature Dumping Doesn't Work Do This Instead, David Jacoby, salesreadinggroup.com)

At a training program with some sales people, we came up with an example: Suppose I buy a Jewellery set for my wife, what would be the FAB attributes. The answers we received for the benefits ranged from self esteem to extraordinarily good food and the fact that there would be no big demands for the next six months!!