How Best to Advise ECAs on Which Products to Sell

I am of the view that it is not part of your business to advise your ECAs which products to sell and what prices they should charge. I hardly know how any outfit can be rightly called an ECA if they do not know what to sell and even the prices to charge for their products. I believe you may be stepping out of line if you make these assumptions. This is because it is possible that many ECAs may be very experienced e-commerce business outfits and many may even be more experienced in the business than you are. That you introduced them to SFI/TripleClicks does not necessarily mean that they can’t find their ways around such business. ECAs (except you personally own them) are in no way answerable to you whether they succeed in the business or not. Granted that it is in your best interest to see them succeed, I have no doubt they too also want to succeed with or without your undue interference in their business.

What I think is important is for you to encourage your ECAs to study TripleClicks listing rules thoroughly and to comply fully with the rules. You can offer yourself as a stand-by advisor but that advice must first be solicited by the ECA. If not, please allow your ECAs the freedom to do their business as they see fit with minimal interference.

Best wishes.

 

How to Lead PSAs and CSAs by Example

Your PSAs and CSAs look up to you as a sponsor and they always ask questions with that in mind. That is why in SFI, you must “walk your talk” all the time. It is easier to answer questions about what you know and do routinely than what you do not do. Since you can never tell what questions your PSAs and CSAs can ask you at the anytime, be fully prepared by doing all that SFI recommends that its affiliates should routinely do. Specifically you should:

1. Log in to your SFI website daily and perform the “to-do” tasks to earn VersaPoints.
2. Work to reach at least the rank of EA2 every month.
3. Communicate very regularly with your downline.
4. Join and participate in the forums.
5. Read SFI news and other lessons.
6. Accept SFI regular tips and use them in your business.
7. Play the Trivia Games to have fun.
8. Participate in the Auctions.
9. Promote SFI Gateways intensely and widely.
10. Help to sell products on TripleClicks to earn commissions.
11. Become an ECA yourself if you have products to sell.
12. Recognize and help mark the anniversaries and achievements of your affiliates.
13. Encourage them to ask you questions and endeavor to provide answers and references which can help them.

By doing the foregoing, you will be sufficiently confident to answer questions from your PSAs and CSAs and to request them to do as you do. That is how best you can lead by example and to demonstrate it to them.

 

You Need Good Communication Skills to Sell

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

Anyone who can’t express themselves can not by any stretch of imagination be good Salespersons. Salespersons are generally good talkers. I recently read an advert where the advertiser, was looking for someone “who can sell refrigerators to Eskimos.” This advertiser was obviously looking for good persuaders as Salespersons. You must be a good and effective communicator before you can succeed in persuading anyone. Both written and verbal communication is very important. I have heard it said that “it is not what you say that matters but what they hear.” Communication is not about talking to yourself but talking to someone else. You must be able to size-up your customer accurately to know how you can deliver your message. If you go around speaking “Queen’s English” to someone who has never been to school, you will sooner than later find out that you are wasting your time and the person’s time, particularly the person’s time. If you can’t get the message across effectively, you are not communicating. I once had a hobby that kept me amused no end. I used to collect pieces of communications I came across that appeared to convey meanings different from what the communicators meant. I will share just a few of them here with you.

“Don’t let overwork kill your wife. Let electricity do it.”___ Advert for a new electrical gadget.

“All flights have been cancelled for managerial reasons.”___ Sign at airline booking desk.

“The Doctor arrived too late to save my husband. He recovered by himself.”__Elated house-wife to a neighbor.

 “Pregnant women are allowed here without their babies.”___ Sign at the door of an Irish pub.

“We are the ones who dig the shit. They just sit there and eat it.”___ Complain from a frustrated laborer.

“Women are not allowed to entertain men in the rooms. They can do it in the restaurant.”___ Sign in a hotel lobby.

The person whose message conveys what he or she intends to say is the person who is communicating. These messages do not meet this test. It is your duty to learn and use effective communication if you want to be a good Salesperson.

 

You Must Have a Can-Do Attitude To Sell

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

This is one indispensable requirement for salesmanship. All Salespersons must be self-motivating. Your “Can-Do Attitude” is what the bulk of this book is all about. You must therefore be already familiar with some of the requirements that can give you a “Can-Do Attitude.” A Salesperson is someone who is always able and willing to sell no matter the limitations. To be a good Salesperson with this attitude therefore, you must posses:

Unlimited enthusiasm

Solid belief in yourself and your abilities

Belief in your merchandise

Definiteness of purpose

Unselfishness

Abiding faith

Versatility

Imagination

Positive thoughts

Sincerity of purpose

Are You a Good Salesperson?

“Everybody lives by selling something.” --- Robert Louis Stevenson

“No matter who you are or how much you know, you will not succeed unless you are a salesman. You must sell your services. You must sell your knowledge. You must sell yourself. You must sell your personality.”—Napoleon Hill

Preparing to meet and deal with a Customer is like preparing to meet and deal with a potential employer. Everyone agrees that this is the time you need to look and act your best. This is the stage to put your best foot forward. The Customer is the reason why you are in business. Without him, you are out in the cold broke and courting bankruptcy. You therefore can’t be too careful at courting the Customer. Before you can sell anything to a Customer, you must be able to sell yourself first. You must therefore acquire and nurture some marketing skills and qualities.