Thursday, September 27, 2018

Who you are?

"YOU LEARN WHO YOU ARE BY UNLEARNING WHO THEY TAUGHT YOU TO BE"

Somehow I can relate to this quote. I used to become an engineer because everybody said that it is the way to go. If you are excellent in your studies, go and become engineer, doctor, accountant. Back in the 90’s, we did this test called Holland Code. I identified that I am an Artistic person. When I reflected back then, it make sense. I used to love drawing, I love playing guitar and sing. But somehow, the same counsellor that gave me that test told me that I should be an engineer, simply because we are in the science school. The govt wants to produced thousands of engineers for future worker. And he said “we are not here to produce artistic people.” My heart was crushed back then. And kept on thinking he was right. Until I found myself back somewhere in 2011 where I decided to become a trainer and a speaker. And I always believe that I am a performer. I just have to perform on stage. That is why I am so much into profiling tools. Profiling is great tools, but some people who are using it is not been train in the philosophy behind all those profiling tools. It is not about the results, but what you do about the results that count.

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Apabila membaca quote ni saya sangat dapat relate dengan apa yang diperkatakan. Dulu saya seorang engineer. Kenapa saya jadi seorang engineer? Kerana saya membuat keputusan atas pendapat orang. Bukan siapa saya sebenarnya.
Zaman saya belajar dulu, semua yang excel dalam pelajaran disuruh ambil subjek sains. Pekerjaan seperti engineer, doktor, akauntan dilihat lebih sesuai untuk budak-budak pandai. Aliran sastera atau seni dianggap aliran kedua (sebab tu kita tak ramai golongan seni yang berkualiti di Malaysia).
Sebenarnya pada hujung 90-an saya diberikan satu ujian profiling dipanggil Holland Code. Saya mendapati saya seorang 'Artistik'. Bila saya reflect semula, patut la saya dulu suka melukis, suka bermain gitar dan menyanyi. Semua ciri-ciri artistik. Malah semasa di tingkatan satu, saya sangat gemar menulis tulisan caligraphy.
Tetapi, kaunselor yang memberikan saya ujian tersebut pula mengatakan saya perlu ambil engineering. Katanya, kita sekolah sains. "Kita nak lahirkan pekerja dalam jurusan sains. Kita bukan nak lahirkan orang-orang artistik!"
Agak tersentap seketika, dan saya fikir mungkin ada kebenarannya. Di universiti walaupun saya ambil jurusan engineering, saya lebih gila bermain gitar dan saya sangat 'ketagih' untuk perform atas pentas. CGPA pun tak seberapa.
Bekerja sebagai engineer, dalam tahun ketiga saya sudah mula rasa bosan dan tak dapat bayangkan kehidupan sebagai engineer yang perlu saya tempoh selama 10 - 20 tahun mendatang. Saya lantas quit dan selepas buat soul searching, saya sebenarnya masih suka perform atas pentas. Selepas bergelut dengan diri sendiri, saya kemudian terjumpa semula diri saya yang asal. Saya seorang performer. Dan kerjaya saya sebagai Professional Speaker dan Trainer memberi saya ruang untuk berkarya dan mengeluarkan bakat 'artistik' saya.
Sebenarnya saya dah jumpa diri saya lama dulu. Sebab itu sekarang saya sangat obses dengan profiling tools. Tetapi ramai yang sekadar membuat ujian, tanpa memahami falsafah di sebalik tools yang ada. Sebenarnya bukan berapa banyak ujian yang kita ambil, tetapi apakah keputusan yang kita buat selepas mengambil ujian, itulah yang memberikan perbezaan terhadap hasil kita.

#johanirwan

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

The Golden Triangle of Selling

"Everyone in sales now, but sales is not what it used to be!" That is a quote that stick in my mind from Daniel Pink. In his book, To Sell is Human, he explains why the landscape of selling has changed.

THE REALITY IN SALES

1. Today we have more seller than buyer.  - In a recent networking event, I was asking how many of you in this group are selling insurance? Three hands went up. Then I asked, in this group how many of you want to buy insurance? One hand went up. The reality is, today, we have more seller than buyer.

2. Customers are more demanding. - We have choices nowadays. In the past, there is limited products and we have to use whatever available in the market. Let say in the 80s, if I want to have a telephone, the only company that have the solutions is only Telekom Malaysia. Now, we have so many devices, and so many providers. So customers can choose.

3. Closing is harder. - Because customers are more demanding, closing is getting much harder. Hence we need a strategy to get better in sales.

WHAT WE ASSOCIATED SALES WITH?