How to Win a Client and Keep him Forever!!!

Today’s corporate and business industry has seen a change like never before. Business and professional dealings have become more relationship-based than just product or price-based. Whatever you are out there to sell, whether holidays or education, the demand and the budget are already there.
To build a strong and loyal client base, you need to do more than sell; you need to build a relationship with them. Once that is done, your market share and performance to deliver results will rise considerably. Product and price being a constant, we prefer to deal with people who we get along with. Here are some simple yet powerful tips to build strong relationships with clients and make them loyal to your brand.

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR CLIENT LIKES

In most of my meetings, I often ask: “What do you like?’ What are your hobbies? What makes you happy?” One client told me the colour purple made her happy. I once sent her a custom-made purple diary with a note, “I saw a purple diary and thought of you”. Another client said he had a hobby of collecting pencils from hotels. Over three months, I collected pencils from all the hotel rooms that I stayed in, and sent him a shoebox full of pencils. My clients were so delighted. This was not just another gift, it was a gesture of friendship, of letting them know subtly that you care about them and what is important to them. I have such a strong relationship with them that they are the biggest promoters of my work.

GO WITH THE POSITIVES

Before you meet a client always do some research about them. LinkedIn, Facebook and Google will you give you information that will help you establish the relationship that will help your career soar to new heights. I hunted a client down on Facebook and his status spoke about his passion for directing plays for children. I brought that up in my meeting and complimented him for following his passion. We spoke for a solid two hours about ideas on theatre-based education and at every idea, encouraged him and complimented him for his energy and zest for creativity. My client is not only a super performer at work but he is also now the creative director at a theatre academy where he works over weekends. Business with him is one SMS away and no matter how busy his schedule is, he always accommodates my proposals.

KEEP YOUR PROMISE

In today’s fast and furious business environment, promises are made only to be broken. When you break your word to a client, it is the beginning of the end of your relationship. If trust is the foundation, then build it consciously. Make a promise and keep it. In every meeting that I attend, I always make a promise, whether personal or professional, and I keep it. In keeping my promise, I am letting the client know he can trust me. Even if the promise is, “I will send you a copy of my book,” or “I will email you the proposal in two hours,” I make sure the copy of my book leaves by courier the same day and the proposal reaches him in two hours. Everyone is out there selling a product and negotiating a price. That is hard work. Be different. Go out there and sell your credibility, your trust and your guarantee to a fulfilling relationship, and you will have clients that will grow to be your dearest friends and your greatest promoters.

MARKET YOUR OWN SELF "

You will not be respected unless you respect yourself,


People will not understand your value unless you recognize it yourself.


People won’t acknowledge your talent, unless you do it yourself.


In the era of communication explosion, marketing plays a very vital role. How you express yourself and your talents make a world of difference.


Some people say that if you are talented and capable then it would definitely be recognized one day. A good thought indeed, but it is not possible in the present scenario that talent could be recognized on its own. We come across innumerable talented people, but it’s a handful who make it to the pinnacle. Your capabilities remain buried inside if they do not find a proper outlet. We also meet certain persons who have miraculously reached the acme, leaving their contemporaries far behind. These people skillfully combine their exceptional talents with common sense.


In my view to be successful, common sense
is a far better pre-requisite than being a genius!!!


If you want to be an eminent singer, then you must make a superb resume & get right appreciation letters, Send them to various companies and music directors, accompanied by your audio recordings. You have to present your qualities in the best possible way. If you think that you can be identified without any effort from your side, then, My friend, you are very wrong. You have to sell yourself to the world. And you have to be good at it!!


You are very beautiful, and want to pursue acting or modeling as your career, then there are two ways in which you could proceed-
Keep on visiting restaurants, shopping malls and clubs frequently so that directors and photographers spot you and you get and opportunity. There is just one risk factor. May be you wanted to be a heroine, but by the time you got noticed, you were fit to act in character role.
The other way is to prepare an impressive portfolio and send it to various ad agencies. You can take part in beauty contests and come to the limelight.


In the initial stages, you have to do the propaganda of your talent. You have to speak high of yourself, as, in modern times to publicize oneself is not derogatory.


I remember a bio-data of an applicant even today. He wrote “I am an extraordinary man and can save lakhs of rupees of your company from day one. I can also provide extra staff without spending a rupee.”


The interview panel was naturally inquisitive, someone called him a fool, and, others extraordinary, and still others kind of brave, but audacious. But everyone wanted to listen to him. He had undoubtedly been able to attract all of them.


The first question that he was asked was, “Is it true what all you have written in your resume?


“Yes”


“How is it possible??”


He said, “ Before applying for the job, I thoroughly studied the work style of your company and your workers,


· I saw that almost 1000 workers come half an hour late and go half an hour early. So you are giving salary for 36,500 hours just for free.


· If your working hours are 8-10 hours, then because of the schedule of the workers, they are wasting 10% of their time.


· If it is made mandatory for everyone to reach in time, then


1. You save on the wasted salaries of 36,500 hours .


2. You will be increasing the working hours by 10%.


It goes without saying that this candidate was instantly selected. So you must always project yourself as special, capable and full of potentials. Meet people, impress them, write in newspapers, be a part of the headlines, Do what all you can do, but you must be different from the crowd.


When you market yourself, then people might
call you over-ambitious, opportunity seeker, servile,
and with all such names. Do not bother.
After a while they are going to call you
with just one name - Successful.


Present yourself neatly, elegantly. Wear presentable clothes and accessories because your appearance casts the first impression. Highlight your qualities; bring them to public’s notice. Do not bother about what they will say.

Position: ASSISTANT LEGAL COUNSEL!!!

Designation: ASSISTANT LEGAL COUNSEL

Responsibilities
§ Review of contracts & legal docs including those related to marine construction, charter parties, trade (sales, purchase, rental), tenders, financing & business development
§ Rendering of legal advice for commercial application & compliance requirements
§ Review/advise on litigation or potentially litigations cases including issuing internal legal notices of demand
§ Support of corporate secretarial & intellectual property matters

Requirements
1.LLB or similar legal qualification with approx 4-6 yrs PQE
2.Strong drafting, negotiation & legal analytical skills for commercial application
3 Experience with marine construction, tender & charter parties will be an advantage bt nt vital

Race: Open
Nationality: Malaysian or Singaporean only.
Gender: Female preferable

Progress Or Perfection!!!

Often persons whom we admire must have got things wrong, half right, almost right before they got it right. Committing mistakes is the unavoidable part of making progress. Many people get stuck in demanding perfection from themselves and from others. This leaves little or no room for appreciating the progress that might be happening. All of us are gifted with talents. They may be five, two or even one talent. Stop comparing with others. Talents only determine our potential and not our wishes. Persons having only one talent receive the same appraisal ‘well done’ as five talented people. The person who gets into trouble is the one who is afraid to take the risk; their biggest mistake is their unwillingness to make a mistake. Performance depends on ones commitment to practice. Wise people understand this and develop the discipline to do it. Even the smallest amount of progress is still progress. Try to appreciate, encourage on all improvements, even the smallest changes. If a task looks too big to accomplish, break it down into smaller, more manageable parts. Do a little bit more day by day. Recognize the process of change. Change never happens at one instance. Just enjoy the progress and remember in the battle between the rock and the river, the river always wins because the river just keeps at it. Successful people do what’s expected of them plus a little bit more. What lifts most successful individuals above the crowd is these four words : A LITTLE BIT MORE. PROGRESS OR PERFECTION……….. only practice and progress paves way for perfection.

Learning to cope with failures is the first and most crucial step towards success.!!!

AT age 10, Julio was a little Spanish boy with a dream. He wanted to play football for his favourite club – Real Madrid! He played all day, practised hard and became a very good goalkeeper.
By the time he was 20, the childhood dream was beginning to come true. He was signed up to play for Real Madrid. And most football pundits were predicting that young Julio would soon become Spain’s No.1 goalkeeper.
One evening in 1963, Julio and his friends set out in a car for a night of fun. It turned out to be a night of horror, as the car they were travelling in met with a terrible accident. And young Julio – soon-to-be star goalkeeper of Real Madrid and Spain – found himself in hospital, paralysed from the waist downwards. Doctors were unsure if he’d ever be able to walk again. They were pretty sure he would never play football again.
The road to recovery was long and painful. Julio spent the night thinking about what might have been. His mind was filled with sorrow, anger, regret. To lessen the pain, he took to writing songs and poems at night, with a tear in his eye and a pen in his hand. And to increase the dexterity in his hand, a nurse gave him a guitar. He had never touched a guitar in his life! But soon Julio began strumming the guitar and also singing the songs that he had been writing.
After being bed-ridden for 18 months, Julio gradually picked up the pieces of his life. Five years after the accident, Julio entered a singing competition – and won the first prize - singing a song called “Life goes on the same!”
He never played football again. But with a guitar in hand and a song on his lips, Julio Iglesias went on to become one of the top ten singers in the history of music, selling over 300 million albums. Just imagine. If not for that accident, Julio Iglesias would have probably been just another goalkeeper in Europe!
What happened to Julio that evening in 1963 could happen to any of us. A setback or an accident – or failure - can often appear to be the end of the road. But it seldom is. When one door shuts, usually another one opens. It’s just that we get so busy staring at the closed door and banging our head against it that we fail to spot the other door opening. Learning to cope with failure is often the first – and most critical step – towards success.
Never let failure impact your sense of self-belief. You are a star, with unique talents. Didn’t clear the entrance exam to engineering college? Maybe you weren’t meant to be an engineer. That’s all.
Even Albert Einstein didn’t clear the entrance exam to join a polytechnic. But he didn’t do too badly, did he? Maybe there is a better, brighter career waiting for you. The trick is to move on and like Julio, tell yourself that “Life goes on the same”.
Several years ago, a bright little boy in a government school in Kerala had a dream. He wanted to be a doctor. He did well in school, and everybody was convinced that this little boy would someday become a fine doctor. He wrote the entrance exam – but failed to make the cut! He was devastated.
His parents were shocked. He went on to do a BSc then a Masters degree, worked with an IT firm – and later went on to found Infosys. His name? Kris Gopalakrishnan, CEO, Infosys. Just imagine. Had Kris not failed the medical entrance, he may have been in some little town in Kerala today, prescribing antibiotics for a runny nose or a nagging flu. Imagine!
Good lesson to learn from Julio. And from Kris. When one door shuts, another one opens. Just believe in yourself. Next time you are faced with a failure or a setback, look out for the other door. Push it open. And go find your place in the sun!

HR Diary: SOCIAL MEDIA & ITS BENEFITS

HR Diary: SOCIAL MEDIA & ITS BENEFITS: "I will be putting out some basic principles I have learnt from social networks about business development through platforms such as LinkedI..."

SOCIAL MEDIA & ITS BENEFITS

I will be putting out some basic principles I have learnt from social networks about business development through platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.  Moving into the modern environment of business development, bringing about new relationships could well be pivotal for our business survival. Today we have a wealth of social networks operating with over 300 million users bringing about a fantastic marketing opportunity as well as a prospect database that we can all tap into.
Tip 1: using platforms such as LinkedIn allow you to build a highly effective public profile about yourself. I personally recommend that any profile you have about yourself is not used to openly advertise your business. I say this because potential clients will automatically be pulled away from your profile if they believe it to be a sales pitch. I would recommend listing your specialties to show to the public what you provide and building a public brand.
Tip 2: Have a full company profile! This is especially important for the smaller businesses out there. Having a full profile for your company as well as promoting each member of the team on this page gives your company maximum exposure to key markets as well as hidden markets. This is one of the fundamental flaws I have seen my research of companies on social networks.
Tip 3: You can also use this to also utilize the careers aspect of these sites. A very important part of managing sales globally is to have the correct management personnel in place in each of your countries spearheading the company goals. They caliber of people on LinkedIn, Plaxo etc. will bring you access to the type of people you need running a segment of a business, especially those new to running regions… it is a very different ball game to running a country with much more to do!
Tip 4: The lifeblood of any business is new business! Building on existing relationships brings us about some regular work but the most beneficial growth tool is new business. Social networks allow us to enter into new avenues of relationship building after which we can begin engaging in sales cycles. On the other side, also be responsive to those who may be able to help you. Gaining business partners through social networks could be the key to success!
Tip 5: Participate openly in the Q&A segment of these sites. Here you are again able to build a portfolio of being an expert in your field bringing new sales potentials and building your company’s network. This is also a great way of using Twitter which allows you to use a keyword search to see who is trending about your company or your services! Sales heaven!
There are so many more way in which we can use these networks to build our presence and sales pipeline. It is the modern executive, the learning executive, the humble executive who will take into consideration all the options available to them!