₦airaland Forum

Value Selling.

One of the things I mentioned in my last post is that I am a continuous sales student. As a salesperson, you never quite stop learning; and one of the things I have learnt over my 10 – 12-year sales career is that (believe it or not,) selling across various industries is the same! *Mind blowing right? *

As someone who has sold everything from food to mobile phones and software, I can tell you this with confidence. Customers want one thing and one thing only: VALUE!

If you cannot convince them that you can provide the value they seek, you have lost them forever.

Sometimes, your customers might not know what they want, and so, the onus on you is to understand this dilemma and not them provide a product or a service, but rather, a solution; a solution to their problem.

What does a hungry person want? Food? No. Satisfaction.

Why do I say this? Imagine a food court where they have different food stalls. Some of them sell the same kind of food. What differentiates them from each other and what determines whether a customer will purchase one kind of rice rather than another? The simple answer is: Value!

The customer either finds value in the appearance of the purchase (if it is a first-time customer) or value in the price of the purchase. At the end of the day, that single factor is what motivates customers irrespective of the sector.

Some customers might want to spend less money to get the solution they seek, while some don’t care how much they spend if they get the best value for their money. I have had a client say to me once, “I don’t care, I just want the newest technology”. All along, I was worried that the price would discourage him.

As salespeople, we must learn to understand how to sell value. To do this, one’s ability to listen and ask the right questions in order to understand the customer needs is what differentiates a salesperson from another.

As I earlier mentioned, consumers do not always know what they want. They know the problems they encounter but require the salesperson to proffer the solution. However, the key to providing a solution is to know the value proposition to the customer. Without this, you will be wasting both yours and your customer’s time. This could be disastrous because you do not want to lose customers to competition due to a lack of knowledge of a solution that addresses his requirements.

So, what am I saying in essence are as follows:

-Every customer wants value
-Understand your customer’s needs
-Ask the right questions
-Know your product

This last point is very important. As a salesperson, I will never talk to a customer about a product I don’t know about or don’t understand. As much as I’d like to believe that I am very bold and able to communicate effectively, what scares me above all else is not being able to confidently answer my customer’s questions. The only way to address this is to know your product and the value it brings to the customer.

If you need help getting settled, check out our http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/our-services/ that will make your Canadian relocation as smooth and successful as possible.

Check out our other installments of the Canada Reality Series on our blog
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/my-blog/

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Living the sales life.

The life of a sales person is like a roller coaster ride. Highs and lows, exciting and boring. Sometimes outright depressing.

But for those who are called to it, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve heard several people say, “God knows I can’t do sales!” which is understandable because being a salesperson is not an easy career path. To be a successful salesperson, a key skill required is having a strong heart / mind and a strong character. This is because disappointments and frustrations come with the terrain and your ability to handle them gracefully is what defines you as a salesperson.

There are the days when you believe a deal will come through, the indices are in your favor and out of the blue, the carpet is pulled out from under your feet when a potential customer tells you, I’m sorry but we have decided to go with another vendor.

In some cases, you and the customer have reached an agreement; “Yes, we are happy with the product. Send me the documents for signing”, and suddenly, they don’t take your calls anymore. For me, I find this scenario extremely amusing. But I am learning (because sales, like life is a continuous learning process) to accept people and situations as they come.

The rewards however are enormous; and I don’t just mean the financial rewards from meeting set targets or the commission you get from making a sale. I mean the exhilaration you feel when you exceed your target. The pride that comes with the feedback “good job!” cannot be quantified in monetary terms.

Don’t get me wrong, the money is important. Bills must be paid. But the thrill you get from signing that deal or hitting that target is a different kind of “high” that some of us cannot do without.

So, I understand when people say, I can’t do sales. But for a true salesperson, they can’t do anything else, and would not have it any other way. The disappointments don’t stop you. The closed doors do not deter you and the lost deals do not break you.

I had some of my colleagues tell me they’ve been asked to leave certain premises where they had gone cold calling. They were neither upset nor angry; for them it’s the thrill of the chase. Kind of like wooing a girl or hunting for prey. You wake up every morning with a renewed vigor to win!

Living the sales life is not for everyone. It requires a special kind of calling. You are either called to it or you are not. But if you are, you have no choice but to heed to it!

If you need help getting settled, check out our http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/our-services/ that will make your Canadian relocation as smooth and successful as possible.

Check out our other installments of the Canada Reality Series on our blog
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/my-blog/

For Further Enquires,Please Message Now:
info@mysoftlandingcanada.ca

Check our Website for more information to help you:
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/

You may Buy our Ebooks:

Step by Step Guide to Canada Express Entry
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/step-by-step-guide-to-canada-express-entry-ebook/

MOve to Canada with Ease 2.0 CANADA DAY SALE for only $19.99, you can get the EBOOK and 15 min FREE CONSULTATION with our Professional Immigration Consultant!
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Living a fuller healthier life.

So, after a rough year in 2018, I made two lifestyle changes: I started meditating and started going to the gym again. The latter more recently than the former.

I didn’t just come up with this idea. To be honest, I think I got whipped into it by my friend, Joan, who has been somewhat of a motivation to me over the last year.

I have also come to realize that religion or religiosity sometimes prevents us from living our best lives. In fact, religiosity is what kills us.

As Christians, we believe that God has blessed us with “divine” perfect health. Jesus Christ died so that we may have life and live abundantly. And of course, “by His strips we are healed”. But we also forget that God gave us this body to dwell in on this earth to live a full life. We are not just body, neither are we just soul and spirit. We are all 3 together and each one relies on the other.

We need to take care of all three aspects of us in order to live that full life that we all desire. You cannot be all spiritual and neglect your body; neither can you be all soul and neglect your spirit and ditto for being all spirit neglecting your soul. If you neglect any of these parts of us, be rest assured that you WILL die.

Recently, I lost my brother to stroke brought on by extreme high blood pressure. Although I am still grappling with the facts and reality of what happened, I know that he was duped of millions of Naira a while ago and he had invested a lot of his time, energy and emotions in trying to seek redress and get back his money. I realize now that this must have affected him more than we thought we knew.

I guess that he didn’t realize he had a high blood pressure. He recently joined a church, a spiritual church where they told him that someone was trying to kill him. So, when he began to feel the symptoms of the HBP, rather than go to the hospital to get himself checked, he went to church for prayers. Subsequently, he got a stroke at the church one day and after a few weeks, he passed away.

I learnt as a child that you don’t cry over spilled milk, but this is only in a matter of speaking. But if only he had gone to the hospital to get himself checked out instead of the church to seek spiritual help, maybe he would have still been with us today. So many “if onlys” but that’s all they are…if only.

A lot of us are like this today. Making this same mistake repeatedly and putting religiosity above everything else. I recall a time when I was still working at Sage, we had gone out for a cancer awareness walk and were handing out fliers in Lagos Island. While giving people the fliers, as soon as they saw the topic, they screamed, “God forbid! it is not my portion!!” and threw the fliers away instead of reading the information on the flier.

Do you know that early detection of cancer increases the chances of survival? A lot of people who die from cancer do so because detection and treatment started late. Even HIV is not a death sentence if it is detected and combated early. People who have been diagnosed with HIV continue to live healthy lives and have healthy families.

High Blood Pressure brought on by stress is killing a lot of young people today. Why are we so stressed out? We are stressed out because of a desire to impress our peers. To live in that house that we can’t afford. To drive that car that we can’t afford. To be seen to be better than who we are.

If only we could step back from the madness that has become our lives and see that we are not defined by what we are or think we are in this physical world. If only we could look inward and realize that we are capable of infinite possibilities and we have all we need to survive in this life and stop struggling. I am not talking about all we need to impress or oppress other people. I mean to live decent, comfortable lives and positively influence the lives of those around us.

One of the ways to step back is by going within to discover our true selves through meditation. Sometimes, we need to step away from the madness around us and step into that inner quiet to achieve inner peace which reflects on our outer bodies.

I cannot over emphasize the importance of exercise. This is coming from a couch potato like me. Our bodies are made to be active and not docile. Exercise stimulates your heart and your brain. It increases your energy levels and releases the hormones serotonin and norepinephrine, which helps relieve feelings of depression. Am I speaking with someone yet? More and more people are reportedly committing suicide brought on by depression and a lack of desire to live.

Eating healthy is also another way of taking care of your body. Try to eat a balanced diet. More fruits, vegetables and nuts and less “indomie” noodles (I am talking to myself now), “amala” and “pounded yam”.

For goodness sake, go for medical checkups also. If you are over 40 years old, check your blood pressure more regularly. If you feel sick, go to the hospital. God gave us doctors for a reason; stop self-medicating. If God didn’t see a need for doctors, He would not have made provision for them. Don’t always assume you have malaria and kill your liver and kidneys through self-medication. And for crying out loud, stop drinking “agbo”! At least not until enough research has been done to tell us the proper dosage and for what ailment.

Do I need to tell you about the dangers of smoking or re-emphasize the need to reduce alcohol consumption? I don’t think so.

And above all. Love yourself. Give yourself a treat. Invest in memory creating activities like going on holiday. You don’t have to be super rich to go on holiday with your family and/or partner. There are so many amazing resorts in Nigeria that you can hideaway to. I realize that as people, we don’t like others, we don’t like our neighbors because we do not like ourselves. Learn to love yourself so that self-love can be transferred to others and we can be more compassionate to the plight of others. Maybe this will help us to become better people, a better society and a healthier nation.

Check out our other installments of the Canada Reality Series on our blog

http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/selling-across-sectors/
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/superheroes-living-the-sales-life/
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/thinking-of-a-sales-career-in-canada/
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/d-i-y-canadian-lifestyle/
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/getting-a-professional-job-in-canada/

For Further Enquires,Please Message Now:
info@mysoftlandingcanada.ca

Check our Website for more information to help you:
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/]

You may Buy our Ebooks:

Step by Step Guide to Canada Express Entry
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/step-by-step-guide-to-canada-express-entry-ebook/]

MOve to Canada with Ease 2.0
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/move-to-canada-with-ease/]

Let me start by saying this, you can sell anywhere. The language of sales is the same all over the world. The dialect might be different, the product might be the different, different sales processes and even a different culture. But the principles and skills required to sell are the same.

So, if you are in sales and believe you can make it as a salesperson in Canada, then you are welcome because the opportunities are abundant.

When I first moved to Canada and I was asked what kind of job I was looking to get? I think I said something like, Account Management, Sales, Selling technology. The person who asked me looked at me and said, “In that case, the opportunities are endless.” Which is true.

In Canada, the sales opportunities are ample. Companies are constantly looking for Account managers, Business development managers, Sales leaders and all the fancy titles used to describe salespeople.

Though the sales industry can be described as a thriving one, there are a few things to note. In terms of salaries, most companies pay a base plus commission for salespeople. What you earn at the end of the year is determined by your employment letter but by your aggressiveness, skills and passion for success.

You can work either full time; where you are entitled to benefits like: health insurance; for treatments not covered by the government provided health Insurance, Life insurance and retirement benefits or you can work as a contract staff. It all depends on what you feel comfortable with.

Another important thing to note is that, for a lot of outside sales positions where you are required to go cold calling and visit clients, some companies might require that you have a car and a valid driver’s license. They will offer some payment for transportation or car allowance.

So, depending on the industry you are in or you want to work in, know that the sales career path will not be extinct or taken over by machines anytime soon. However, in order to land that juicy sales job, you desire, it is important to take note of the following:

You know what you are capable of and so do the people in your sphere of influence from your country of origin. They all know you are a superstar salesperson. Unfortunately, the recruiters in Canada do not know you and they have never heard about you. One of the things you want to do is build a strong resume. A resume so strong and so convincing that they will want to pick up the phone and call you immediately. Do not underestimate the power of a strong resume.

Once you get noticed and invited for an interview, DO NOT go with a defeatist attitude. Go with the same drive, passion, determination and boldness that made you a star in your country of origin. Employers want to see that you are bold enough to hold high level discussions with decision makers and C-Level executives in the companies you are trying to win.

And talking about communication, speak clearly. Don’t shout. We might not realize it, but we already have an accent. Don’t try to use and artificial one. And above all, be confident. Convince them that you are indeed who you say you are, you have done what you say you have, and you can do what you claim you can in your resume.

So, if you are thinking about a sales career in Canada, come with the right attitude and a determination to succeed and the sky will your steppingstone.

If you need help getting settled, check out our http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/our-services/ that will make your Canadian relocation as smooth and successful as possible.

Check out our other installments of the Canada Reality Series on our blog
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/my-blog/

For Further Enquires,Please Message Now:
info@mysoftlandingcanada.ca

Check our Website for more information to help you:
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/

You may Buy our Ebooks:

Step by Step Guide to Canada Express Entry
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/step-by-step-guide-to-canada-express-entry-ebook/

MOve to Canada with Ease 2.0
http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/move-to-canada-with-ease/

How easy is it to get a job in Canada?

This is probably one of the most searched questions for new immigrants heading to Canada, and they are right to be concerned. A quick search on the internet will reveal a plethora of horror stories of professionals who had abandoned their impressive jobs in their home countries, not to mention warm countries, in search of the Canadian dream, only to have that dream fall flat right before them.

Dreams of bagging jobs similar to previous ones or even better, having excess disposable income to spend each month, touring all the Caribbean islands, driving fancy cars, feasting at high-class restaurants and generally living a life filled with luxury quickly disappear a few weeks after arrival in Canada. The reality of the Canadian job market hits and you begin to wonder if relocating was such a good idea after all.

So, is it really impossible to get a professional job as a new immigrant? Do you need to start from entry level, must your first income be minimum wage? The simple answer is NO with a caveat on “preparedness”. I will speak from my personal experience and hopefully it can help someone.

I decided I was going to relocate to Canada in 2011. The first thing I did was get a visiting visa and come check out the terrain. This is not a necessary step as the only thing I learned on that trip was that winters in Canada are brutal and no matter how close you are with people, no one is coming to visit in winter. Winter is for hibernation!

Before I made any concrete plans to relocate, I asked myself some pertinent questions. What type of life will I want, what type of city would I like to live in and most importantly how much money would I like to earn. A quick research showed me my best chances of earning a six figure salary and always be employable because the demand would always exceed supply spelled, “TECHNOLOGY”. I knew I wasn’t technical in anyway and wasn’t interested in learning to write code at my age, I tried it when I was younger and that didn’t work out.

I looked into non-technical roles and came up with two options: Business Analysis and Project Management. I decided to study both and my first role in Canada was as a Project Manager. I didn’t hit the 6 figure mark with that first role but 6 months later I was well over the $100,000 mark.

The summary of my story is, a lot of people focus and expend a lot of energy on the immigration process and little effort in figuring out what they would do for work or make money here. A lot of roles in our countries of origin are not viable here and others pay so little it’s not worth the effort. New immigrants should focus on two things

Open your minds and be ready to switch careers – we all have things we are passionate about but you cannot limit yourself if those jobs are not readily available. Focus on getting a good job and over time your passion may re-surface or you may choose to float a company of your own.
Research! Research! Research! – there are tons of material on the internet, use them. You can find out what occupations thrive in different parts of Canada and where you can learn new skills.
Starting with a survival job is not always a bad thing but I keep seeing survival jobs become sole sources of livelihood. The menial jobs are over-saturated and it’s harder to find jobs at that level. Up-skill yourself and you will never have to look for work. If you need help identifying what jobs are hot, help with your resume or technology training, shoot us an email and we’ll be happy to work with you.

If you need help getting settled, check out our products and services that will make your Canadian relocation as smooth and successful as possible.

Check out our other installments of the Canada Reality Series on our blog
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/my-blog/]

For Further Enquires,Please Message Now:
info@mysoftlandingcanada.ca

Check our Website for more information to help you:
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/]

You may Buy our Ebooks:

Step by Step Guide to Canada Express Entry
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/step-by-step-guide-to-canada-express-entry-ebook/]

MOve to Canada with Ease 2.0
[http://mysoftlandingcanada.ca/product/move-to-canada-with-ease/]