Race for Space

By Ajay Kr Bhootra

Do you feel stuck while dealing with your customers? Are you using the right tools and

techniques for sales? Is your effort good enough to bring adequate rewards for you? In

Race for Space coach Ajay Kr Bhootra talks straight about why you slip and lose control

over your customers and how to get back in the driver’s seat.

 

· How can you release the brakes and keep your first step when you approach

your customer?

· What master plan you can devise to achieve great success in sales?

· Who all influence the decision making while making a purchase?

· How can you find a place in your customer’s mind and heart?

· How can your own experience add to your own skills?

 

Your attitude is the key, but only if you are passionate about it. If you are a performer

and if you want to improve, this book is for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Notion Press
• Release date: Nov 7, 2015
• ISBN: 9789352064526

Book preview

Khera

Preface

Life in the past was simple and short. People were illiterate for the most part, never gained access to a book or attended a classroom. They rarely ventured beyond their birthplace. Since then a profound transformation has occurred in their lives. As we live today, we are going through a period what could possibly see another epoch-making transition. Computer power, internet explosion and technological turbulence have all had our lifestyle, industry and business overturned and given rise to what may be called RACE…Race for Space. Everyone is competing with everyone in all sphere of life. Most noticeable change has been seen on the front of Retail Sale.

There have been many significant changes in the Retail Business. Today, Retailing is a very dynamic and exciting business opportunity like a raving race, especially for those who lead from the front, motivate the team, infuse passion and plan the winning strategy. What is most encouraging to observe is that value creation has set deeply in the minds of today’s retailers. Retail Stores – one of the oldest formats of buying and selling have also started looking at changes. There was a time when the consumer had limited options to buy from, but today he can choose one for him. Moreover, most consumers look for a unique reason to go to a particular store. Today retail store business success means that the top bosses, the professional sellers and the managerial class must bend down from their ivory tower; go back to the fundamentals of doing business which are so often ignored and get connected to the consumer. Besides, increase in consumer knowledge and product awareness has also added to challenges. With the consumer living in a world that is heavily influenced by technology, convenience and instant gratification, it is important for person engaged in selling business to understand that today success in retail selling is more relevant to the surface of mind of the consumer…making space into the brain and heart of the consumers. Meaning the incredible success in sales can be achieved only through A LITTLE MORE THAN SERVICE ORIENTED ATTITUDE.

Race for Space basically talks about those unique skills and procedures that are needed to CREATE SPACE in the mind and heart of the consumer. It is based on my rich experience of direct dealing with thousands of customers in one of India’s most premier optical retail store. Since my interaction with consumers was mostly for Eye Wear selling, the real life examples are taken from Optical Retail Selling. Success in selling eye wear needs a string of soft and technical skills together with highest degree of passion and commitment. MOST IDEAS AND CONCEPTIONS DISCUSSED IN THIS BOOK CAN BE EFFECTIVELY APPLIED TO ACHIEVE GREAT RESULTS IN MOST RETAIL BUSINESSES.

The idea for Race for Space came to my mind long back. I slept one night thinking about creating a sales training program for the employees of my company. Suddenly I thought what if I collect and synchronize all my selling experience that I had during my direct dealing with customers. Next day in the morning the first thing I did was that I took a pen and wrote whatever I had in my mind at that very moment. Of course it took lot of time and lot of work after that small beginning, but the truth is a small wild imagination gave birth to Race for Space…

Race

"When I run – you can see my record – I run to win"

– Carl Lewis

"Success in sales is the result of discipline, dedication

and sacrifice"

– Thomas Roy Cromwell

Sometimes back I was content with my own pre-formulated set of ideas and conceptions because I saw those ideas producing desired results for me day in and day out. It all changed one day when I experienced something that I never expected. We opened a new optical store in a new brand name. Since it was a new brand, people were not aware of it. We also did not initiate any marketing activity to make it popular before the launch. It was for the first time in my life I could really see that selling could be so difficult in a place that is not known to people, a place that does not carry the value of brand with itself and a place that has nothing in its heritage to put before the customers. All my expertise that I developed over the last 25 years in retail selling was not enough to reproduce similar impact on customers that I always enjoyed while selling under the banner of our other brand that had a heritage to talk about, that was well established and widely accepted and was an award winning retail brand.

It was an awful experience for me.

When I returned home in the evening I was crumpled and unnerved. A dead silence reigned in my room. No one knew what happened. I had a hard time to understand what went wrong. That was the moment when I realized that selling is not as easy as it looks. It really looks cool and simple while watching from outside.

A race also looks pretty easy and simple to an onlooker.

Isn’t it correct?

There are several forms of race. Running Race is a very popular event from the ancient days. Yachting is a kind of race where sailors race on boats against each other on river, lakes or ocean. The boats are propelled forward by the reaction force on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water. The race is highly competitive where fitness of the sailors and the environment are two challenges. Pattern of wind on windy day creates unpredictable challenge.

Swimming is another form of race where power and speed are critical. Swimmers move their arms and legs to push against the water and propel themselves forward. Most of the time their eyes are under the water. Knowing the position of the competitor with respect to your own position is the real challenge of swimming.

Driving is a race of excellent control. It is a visually sensitive race. The eyes and vision are particularly susceptible to many external and internal factors and at worst it could lead to drastic results in the race. A driver may have excellent skills to drive and control the car. But that’s only one part. The behavior of other drivers on the road is equally very important. The road itself may have its own influence.

Marathon is a long distance race that really needs sustained energy and commitment. In addition to physical strength mental strength is equally important in marathon. In fact the race is the real test of powerful desire to succeed.

Each form of race needs specific inventory of skills, talents and dexterity. You need to master the inventory mix to make your space. Sales is also very much similar to a form of race. To me sales is a race of passion, a race of commitment, a race of dedication and a race to find space in customer’s mind and heart. In Sales you persuade your customers to buy what you have to offer using verbal and non-verbal language. Demonstrate your products or services. Use various selling tools to create space in customer’s mind. Product knowledge, commitment and focused approach are important for being successful in sales. The driving factor for winning the race has to be in the athlete’s mind as he stepped out on the field. Similarly driving factor to win the deal in sales has to be within the sales person when he is on to the sales floor. Field condition, weather condition, wind and other environmental factors are the intangible elements of the race. Similarly in sales price, customer’s budget, product assortment and market competition are the intangible elements. When a sales person fails, he often shelters behind these intangible elements.

Well, you need to be ruthlessly honest to your chosen form of race. Sales persons, sailors, swimmers or runners – they all practice the art of their form of race, develop unique skills and talents needed to perform and make space in their form of race.

Yes, that’s one of the ways you can portray. In reality selling is just not all about competing to win or lose. Selling is more of a creative collaboration between you and your buyer. Every time you deal with a new customer, you get into the life of your customer, identify his known and unknown needs, and choreograph a seamless situation where your customer connects with you and thus work together to find goals. Unlike racing, the end is not with some one’s win or some one’s defeat; instead both buyer and the sellers get to their desired goals. In fact selling is more difficult than any form of race because you always have somebody who is staring at your customer to serve him better than you.

Probably that sounds more rational.

Just as the race starts as soon as the whistle is blown, the process of selling gets underway as soon as your customer walks into your store. You greet the new customer with all your professional competence, bring in your dialogues as songs and connect your customer to sing with you using selling tools as props to create powerful singing show that makes space in the mind of your customer.

I joined the sales team in my company at my early teens. It’s strange but true. It was because of my grandpa