Brief business stories about peer and customer relationships, business, crisis, opportunity, advertising, and even morality. Just enjoy a few wise parables.
"What to read about good sales?" When Oleg Makarov, the author of sales and marketing trainings, was once again asked about this, he came up with a collection of parables "The Way of Trade". These are short, cautionary stories about relationships with coworkers and customers, business, advertising, and even morality - everything a good salesperson needs to know. But unnecessary words are useless. Just enjoy a few wise parables from the book.
About crisis and opportunities
The disciple asked the Master:
“Master, I just can't understand the essence of what everyone admires. Namely: in Japanese, the character for the word "crisis" consists of two characters that mean "problem" and "opportunity." So what?
The teacher frowned.
- Do you really not understand ?! This is terrible! Get out of School!
The student was taken aback:
- But can I come back tomorrow?
“You will understand when you can return,” snapped the Teacher.
Two days later, this student knocked on the door of the School. The teacher came out to him and said:
- Don't say anything, I won't believe you! Leave!
The rest of the students stood behind him, afraid to even utter a word. Nobody understood what caused such anger of the Teacher … About a year passed, and the disciple again appeared on the threshold. The teacher examined him carefully, smiled and said:
- Now you really understand.
And when the student came in, the Teacher invited him to tell everything to the other students.
“The day after I left the School,” the student said, “the owner of the company where I worked said that he no longer needed my services. I guessed that it was not without the Teacher, and came, but, you remember, the Teacher drove me away again.
The teacher smiled:
- You have no idea how difficult it was to persuade the boss to part with you.
- I realized that later. I tried very hard to find a job, but I could not find a suitable one, and I had to support my family. Then I created my own company … Not even a year has passed - my company today is one of the largest in its industry … Now I really understood what these hieroglyphs mean and … there are no words, Teacher, how grateful I am to you!
“Thank the Way,” the Teacher said as usual.
About the wandering merchant
One day a traveling merchant knocked on the door of the Master's house:
- Hello, I want to offer you this wonderful encyclopedia! - he began quickly, pulling out a weighty volume. - It contains information about everything in the world! It contains hundreds of thousands of articles, there is not a single significant event in world history and not a single person who left a trace in history, not mentioned in this wonderful publication …
When he stopped to take a breath and continue his memorized monologue, Master smiled and said:
- Young man, you speak very well. Clearly and quickly. You managed to say a lot of good words to me about this book in such a short time … But you did not say a single word about me …
About brevity
One day a disciple asked the Master:
- Teacher, tell me what to do: I come to the client, tell about my product, and he says that he does not need such a product at all.
- Does he need it? - asked the Teacher.
- Yes, I'm sure of that! This is a very good product, everyone needs it!
- Prove that I need him.
And the student began to talk about his product. He spoke for a long time, but when he finished, Master frowned and said:
- Still, I'm not sure if I need this product. The disciple went home and prepared for seven days. Finally, he came to Master and asked permission to talk about his product again. The teacher listened to his brief speech and said:
- Yes, I need this product and I will actually buy it from you. Here, take the money. But what is the main thing you have understood during this week?
- I realized that I had to prepare.
- This is one lesson, - said the Teacher, - and the second?
- Second … what should I say more shortly? …
- Almost so. The longer you prepare, the shorter your speech.
You go quieter …
The teacher told the students:
- Autumn was coming, and it was time for the birds to fly over the sea. One boasted: “I trained all summer and I have a lot of strength! I can fly over the sea without stopping! " Another said, “No, I'm not as strong as you. I may not be able to overcome this path, but I will try. " “Well, do your best,” the first replied, “I hope you’re lucky. See you on the other side of the sea! " And they flew. The first flew, flapping its wings measuredly and powerfully, moving farther and farther away every minute, and soon disappeared over the horizon.
The second bird flew slowly, looking not only forward, but also down. As soon as she saw any objects floating on the sea under her, she would descend, and if they looked reliable enough, she would sit down and rest. She flew for a very long time, for many days, and finally reached the other side. And the first bird never appeared.
The teacher said:
- Rest when you still have enough strength.
About clarity
One day a disciple asked the Master:
- Teacher, I quite often fail to achieve mutual understanding with clients. How can I get stronger at this?
The teacher asked:
- How is this expressed?
- I sell very sophisticated equipment for factories. It contains a lot of the most modern electronics, some units and mechanisms were invented by our engineers, and nowhere else are there. But when I explain to customers how this or that device works, I see that many of them do not understand what I am saying. They pretend that everything is clear to them - most likely, in order to look professional, but in fact they do not know much and because of this they cannot understand all the advantages of our devices.
“It’s great,” said the Teacher, “that you are selling such a modern product. I understand, the only question is how you do it …
- No! - exclaimed the student. - The question is, they are not all tech-savvy! And they are entrusted with making decisions on which the fate of their enterprises depends.
- So … - the Teacher thought, - well try to sell me your equipment. Any one device.
- But the Teacher, with all due respect to you, you yourself said that you do not understand anything about technology!
“So what, sell it so that I understand,” exclaimed the Teacher. And, on reflection, he added:
- Sell the simplest device.
- Teacher, - the student blushed and bowed his head, - you still won't understand a word.
- But what about your customers ?! The teacher raised his eyebrows in surprise.
- But they are obliged to understand this, because they work in modern enterprises …
- They don't have to! They don't owe you anything! - exclaimed the Teacher. - It is you who must explain everything to them so that they understand. For me to understand. For a ten-year-old student to understand. And if everyone around understands and only the buyer does not understand, then what? he asked the student again.
- It means that only this buyer is ill-prepared for his job.
- Eh, - the Teacher sighed, - it means that you are ill-prepared to work with him.
About advertising
One day, a student brought a new advertising poster for his company to school to discuss with classmates before class. The teacher entered the room and noticed the poster. I looked at him for a couple of seconds, and then turned to the student who brought him with the words:
- Throw it away immediately.
The student was upset:
- Why, Teacher?
The rest of the students were also surprised, they thought the poster was quite good and by that moment had time to give their friend a few small but practical comments.
- Look what you have written here: "All kinds of electrical tools."
- But we really offer all types of instruments that exist in the country today, what's wrong with that?
- There is nothing bad about the fact that you have a uniquely wide assortment if it is profitable for business, - answered the Teacher, - but you cannot say in advertising “all kinds of something” or “all such and such goods” people simply do not believe it …
In the notebook of one of the students, where we found this story, it was added, apparently, later: "I talked to my clients, they all said that if an advertising offer, in their opinion, is overly attractive, they suspect it is a dirty trick."
About politics
One day the Teacher noticed that a student was reading a newspaper during a break. He asked him:
- What are you reading about?
The student replied that he was reading news about politics. The teacher chuckled, shook his head, and when classes resumed, he said to everyone:
“You can see the world as it is, or you can see the world as it is shown by those who need something from you. In the first case, you will live life the way you want, in the second - the way they want.
When we asked the First Student to comment on this entry we found in one of the notebooks, he said, “Master did not see much difference between business and politics. He said that, on average, there is a little more truth in business."
About the team
An apprentice who was a salaried director at a midsize company once asked:
- Teacher, it is clear that, say, a joint booze in order to unite the team is stupid.
- Of course, - the Teacher smiled, - joint drunkenness will unite alcoholics, drunkards and novice drinkers. And she will do it only for a while, while they drink together. What does work have to do with it?
- I think so too, - the student nodded, - but tell me, what methods are appropriate from the point of view of the Path in order to make the team more friendly?
- What do you mean when you say "friendly team"?
- Well, these are people who care about each other, help each other … like in a family …
- O! - said the Teacher. - As in the family. Fine! And how to make sure that all relatives in the family behave like this? Well, if, say, you were the head of a large family, a patriarch, what would you do?
- I, - the student thought, - I would probably show them this by my own example. I would love all my relatives and always try to support them …
- This is the answer! - said the Teacher, and the classes ended that day.
