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The Champion Salesman

 

 

The Champion Salesperson, True Story

True story of Max Kumar, Managing Director.

Sales Coaching and Interview.

 

Max Kumar is 30 years old and he already has 15 years of experience with sales and marketing in places such as Dubai, Mumbai, Jamaica, United Kingdom and At Sea.

 

Can you get friendly with a stranger in less than 30 seconds?

 

Can you look at someone for the first time and figure out his or her credit card limit?

 

Have you sold one diamond ring for $30,000 US Dollars?

 

A man walks inside your store asking for a Rolex and wants to spend approx. $6,000 US Dollars and you end up selling him a watch for $15,000 US Dollars and the watch he has never heard of before in his entire life?

 

Have you sold a natural yellow fancy diamond bracelet worth $18,000 to a lady come on a cruise ship and walks in your store for the first time ever?

 

Exclusive Interview with Max Kumar.....

 

1)    Please tell us about how you entered sales and marketing?

“I started my sales career in Mumbai, India where I first started selling Standard Chartered credit cards in the year 2001 and I worked for Impact Marketing, Direct Sales Agents for Standard Chartered Bank.”

 

2)    Tell us about your first customer

“It was a job which involved cold calling and I was very nervous knowing that I will have to walk in someone’s office for the first time even though they had never seen me before and I am going there to sell them a credit card”.

 

3)    How was the experience of walking in a stranger’s office?

“It was terrible, I was shivering and nervous and my Manager who was training me had to accompany me in his office. I was running out of words. That customer did not buy from me”.

 

4)    What happened next?

“It was the first time I had to deal with failure and I was really finding it difficult to deal with but the positive outcome was I started thinking, what went wrong and then I started working on my sales and marketing strategies”.

 

5)    Did you want to quit?

“I had a never say die attitude and I was always stubborn, I decided to learn everything about sales and marketing”.

 

6)    Did you get any success from that job and experience of cold calling?

“Absolutely, within the next 6 months, I was one of their best salesman but not the best”.

 

7)    Wow, what a transformation, how did you manage that?

“I watched everybody, how they use their sales pitch, involve the customer with themselves in a conversation, the art of convincing and closing the sale”.

 

8)    How long did you work for them?

“Not very long, as I got an better offer from Andromedia Marketing, Direct Sales Agents for Citibank and this time I was selling Citibank credit cards”.

 

9)    How was your experience with Andromedia Marketing?

“I was good but unfortunately I did not stay with them for a long time as I became a part of Esscom Marketing, Direct Sales Agents for ICICI Bank”.

 

10)                       Why did you keep changing your jobs?

“Good question, Mumbai is a big city but all agencies keep an eye on the field salesmen and each company tries to get the best salesman in their organisation for better results in more sales, I was a victim too”.

 

11)                       How long it took you to be spotted by these agencies?

“Three Years, By this time I was good at selling sand to the Arabs”.

 

 

12)                       What was the next phase in your career with sales and marketing?

“Most of my family is settled in the Middle East, but as an individual I wanted to explore the Western World such as United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada etc. I kept reading the newspaper, Mid-Day especially on a Wednesday where you would find thousands of classifieds and see the jobs available abroad. It is because of this newspaper I found a job in Ocho-Rios, Jamaica, West Indies. This was a high end jewellery store, House of Diamonds with a couple of stores very close to the cruise ship pier and they were looking for a Manager who had some experience in sales and marketing”.

 

13)                       Please tell us about your experience in Jamaica?

“I worked in Jamaica for three years from 5th Apr 2004 to 11th July 2007”. Since this was a high end jewellery store, I had a lot of difficulties for the first six months”. The biggest problem was the cultural difference between India and Jamaica, language, lifestyle and me not knowing anything about jewellery”.

 

14)                       How did you manage working in such difficult conditions?

“During the first six months, I was learning everything about diamonds, gemstones, watches, gold, carat weight, colour, cut etc. I read books about diamonds and gemstones which my boss gave me and I kept reading that book till late in the nights because our store was very close to the cruise ship pier and next day we would have passengers coming on a cruise ship”.

 

15)                       Tell us about your first customer in Jamaica?

“A lady walked in the store for the first time, from the cruise ship and I did not want to speak to her as I did not know what to say, my boss asked me to speak to her, she wanted an everyday watch and I was showing her some Skagen watches and she liked one but did not buy because the crystals were inside the glass and not on the outside and she left the store, this is where the story of the champion salesman begins. My boss asked me the reason of that lady not buying the watch. I said the crystals and he was actually listening to my conversation with that lady and he said you could have said, the company does not do crystals on the outside anymore as people complaining of them coming off and they end up losing the crystals, that was an eye opener”.

 

16)                       Tell us more about your experience in Jamaica?

“Well there were some other obstacles that I needed to overcome. One of them was the geographical knowledge about United States of America. I have never been there. In sales general knowledge always helps. Let me give you some examples, if someone says Illinois, I said Chicago. If someone says Maryland, I said Baltimore. If someone says Texas, I said Austin. If someone says Kentucky, I said fried chicken. I read and studied the Atlas to get some general idea about United States of America and was trying to familiarise myself with different states, towns, counties, their specialities and if someone said Mid-West, what they were referring to?”

 

17)                       What was the major difference between selling Jamaica & Mumbai?

“Fantastic question, when I was in Mumbai, the job involved cold calling that means the salesperson approaching the suspects and it was a process of converting those suspects into prospects. In Jamaica, it was the other way around. I was in the store behind the counters and the passengers from the cruise ship approached me. Sales is like cars, surprised, let me explain please. You need to change gears according to product, service, concept, customer and various situations”.

 

18)                       Very interesting, tell us more about Jamaica?

“The company hired four boys from Mumbai, I was one of them. There were local Jamaican girls working in the store and the bosses who were brothers were always on the sales floor. They were the best salespeople, I have ever seen in my life. What makes me say that, I have seen them sell jewellery worth $98,000 to someone who has never seen them before and in fact has landed for the first time in Jamaica. I learnt a lot from them”.

 

19)                       How was your career progressing in Jamaica?

“Well I worked in Jamaica for just over three years, the first year was the learning process, the second year I was confident and the third year, I was the best salesman in that shopping mall, Taj Mahal Plaza as there were another 14 jewellery stores in the same mall and the competition was fierce. The other store managers and owners knew that once I start speaking to a customer, I will close the sale”.

 

20)                       What made you a champion salesman?

“Desire to win, learn, perform and show my colleagues what I am capable of on the sales floor and as actions speak louder than words, I was always in action”.

 

21)                       Can you remember some sales that you made in Jamaica?

“Absolutely, here is one example. On a Saturday morning, a couple was wandering around the mall. There was no cruise ship on that particular day. This couple walks inside my shop and bought a pair of plain gold earrings worth $50.00 US Dollars. I asked for $55.00 and they were bargaining for $5.00 US Dollars. What happened next was History. I then started showing a bracelet to the same lady, she liked it and was resistant to buy it which was $7,000 US Dollars. The man asked the lady if she likes it. She said yes. Immediately I commented, I have never seen that bracelet look so good on anybody ever. He gave me his credit card. I was shocked and surprised. The man was a president of some big organisation in Madison, Wisconsin. Since they were coming from the beach, they were wearing beach wear. So you never know, who you talking to and I wanted to learn more about people’s appearances”.

 

 

22)                       Was there a time you were not comfortable selling in Jamaica?

“This is going to make you laugh, when I landed in Jamaica, we had only one line of Skagen watches from Denmark which range from $50.00 USD to $150.00 USD. But the owner wanted to get high end watches. In the next few months after visiting the Basel show in Switzerland, he acquired some new watch lines such as Bertolucci, Maurice Lacroix, Paul Picot, Elini, Perrellet, Chase-Durer, Wenger etc. When I was a kid, I use to take my Casio watch to the watch guy to repair it and these lines, the watches ranged from $250.00 USD to $35,000 USD.

 

We received the watches and displayed them in the counter and went home. We had an company accommodation where all four Managers lived in separate rooms. After we had dinner, we had a little conversation. What you must say to the customer to convince him to buy these expensive watches. I had no clue about watches and this time my boss gave the Swiss Watch Manual with almost 500 pages. What this book was about, the history of different watch companies, their manufacturing process and location, their models, numbers, brand ambassadors etc.

 

In the next few months I was the watch encyclopaedia. I was selling Maurice Lacroix as if there was no tomorrow and Roger Federer was the brand ambassador for Maurice Lacroix those days. I sold a Perrellet watch to someone who came in asking for a Rolex. I sold him Perellet and he had never heard of it before and this watch was 18kt gold and worth $15,000 US Dollars. The customer wanted to spend 6k and I end up making him spend 15k. He was the owner of a golf course in Boston, M.A”. I was gifted an Elini watch worth $1200 US Dollars by the company for being the best salesperson in the Caribbean for their line and I was also regarded as the best Maurice Lacroix salesman in the Caribbean”.

 

 

23)                       Give us a demo of a live watch sale please?

“Max Kumar asking me, “What watch are you wearing, Citizen. What a nice watch, I like the gold plating, the dome shaped crystal, it really sits nice on your wrist and does not turn around, it must be a very comfy watch and it actually suits your personality as shoes and watch say everything about a man and this one just matches your stature. One of the best features of this watch is that it is kinetic and does not need a battery”.

 

24)                       What did you enjoy selling diamonds or watches?

“To be honest, watches but I sold diamonds as well. My highest sale for one diamond ring is $30,000 US Dollars”.

 

25)                       Amazing, tell us about that sale please?

Again there was no cruise ship on this day, this couple had come from Royal Plantations resort in Jamaica and I knew only rich people can afford to stay there, so I started showing a very expensive diamond ring to this lady and she fell in love with it. I asked her to walk outside the shop and see the ring in the sunlight as diamond needs light to dazzle and sparkle. She said are you sure, I said absolutely, please go ahead. She went out with her man and came back after 20 seconds. I was waiting with my heart in my mouth but this was a risk I had to take. She came back and then I asked her to see the ring in the mirror. It just blinded her as it was a special diamond cut by Lazare Diamond company and it weighed approx. 2.10 cts and the colour and clarity was F, VS1.

 

One can buy a ring like that for approx. $15,000 US Dollars with it but will have a couple of carbon spots on the diamond which takes away the beauty and this one was absolutely flawless. The lady likes it, now it all comes down to the man because he is buying. I offered him a beer and he gladly accepted it. I always followed the basic rule, praise the lady and tease the man. I said she is a very beautiful lady. He smiled and asked how much is the ring, I said $33,000 US Dollars and honestly I was not expecting him to buy it. He gave me his Black American Express credit card and politely asked, can you make it 30k please? I said yes but was shivering as this was my highest sale and my boss helped me get over it”.

 

26)                       What happened after Jamaica?

“I decided to work at Sea for Harding Brothers Ltd, based in Bristol, on the cruise ship, Ocean Village 2. Here my highest sale was £5300.00 Pounds to an old couple. I know you want to know the whole story about this sale”.

“Well our weekly target was £21,000 Pounds and we had done only £15,000 Pounds in that particular week, my manager who was a girl from New Zealand comes to me and says, Max you need to do something and I said the shops are closed and it is 11.00 pm. What can I do? The shops were open from 5.00 pm to 11.00 pm and the doors were shut.

This couple wanted to see me. They had seen me earlier in the week and I was showing them a three stone diamond ring. They come after the doors were shut and we were closed. I opened the doors and sold them a ring. This man was old and he said I am going to die soon and I asked why what happened? He said it was because of asbestos. I felt very sorry for him and asked him how many children he had? He replied three daughters and as I was showing them a three stone diamond ring, I said one for each daughter. That is it. He bought the ring. Sometimes you have to associate sentiments with purchase and people buy jewellery to celebrate anniversaries, birthdays, special occasions etc”.

 

27)                       How was the pressure of being a champion salesman?

“It was tough because every time I would speak to a customer, good results were expected and I needed to be consistent with my figures as I did $100,000 US Dollars every single month as we had an excel sheet with all the names and sales figures. I always wanted to lead. People at times said, Max can begin the conversation but not close the sale. I came up with a trick. My hobby was collecting police officers and firemen’s patches. I asked every customer to send me one patch from their town and in return I would give them a special price. This worked  and in no time, I had one patch from every town of United States of America and I got a lot of sales”.

 

28)                       Can we start with some Sales Coaching now?

“Please go ahead, I will now show you the magic of a champion salesman”.

 

29)                       What are the different types of selling?

“That is easy, product, service and concept selling”.

 

30)                       Which is the most difficult?

“All three but in all honesty I have sold everything and my experience says it is concept selling because there is no product or service but plain dreams that you are selling such as Time Share”.

 

31)                       Who are the best three salesmen?

“Car Salesman, Property Salesman and Jewellery Salesman”.

 

32)                       What are the qualities of a good salesman?

“Very good question, smart, cunning, instant, one that can overcome obstacles with a smile, good with words, one that has good general knowledge, product knowledge and one that can maintain constant eye contact, one who can understand the customer needs, knows competition etc”.

 

33)                       Tell us how you in past overcame an obstacle?

“I was in Jamaica and was showing a ring to a lady and she asked if this diamond was blood free because it was during this time that the movie came out, Blood Diamond. I told her it was blood free because the movie had just come out and this diamond was found a year ago. Does not make a lot of sense but it did the trick and closed the sale for $5,000 US Dollars”.

 

34)                       Three important things for a good salesman?

“A-S-K, Attitude, Skill and Knowledge”.

 

35)                       Tell us how you determine in seconds about the customer?

 

“By looking at people and their appearance, it is just like a book”.

A)    Clean Shaven, Suit needs very professional approach.

B)     Not shaven, wearing shorts needs an casual approach.

C)    Denim jeans, Rolex Watch, Clark Shoes definitely believes in Brands.

D)   Big guy, tattoos, pierced is very careless and becomes friendly instantly.

 

36)  Is there an formula to follow in Sales?

A)    Meet and Greet

B)    Introduction

C)    Presentation

D)   Short Stories

E)     Close

F)     Rehash

 

36)                       Any other ideas?

“Ask open and closed questions, such as would you like a beer or brandy? The person is forced to pick one of the two. That means the salesperson is in the Driver’s seat. These questions help the salesman determine which way the customer is heading towards. Also you need to make the customer talk and the salesperson should know what the customer wants to hear”.

 

37)                       What the customer wants to hear, please explain?

“There is a trick to break the ice and make the customer talk, you can simply break the ice by talking about profession, hobbies, culture, country, locations, sports, latest news and events etc. Hence a good salesperson needs to know what is going around in the world. For instance if the customer is from United States of America you will now talk about Barrack Obama or if the customer is from United Kingdom, Alan Sugar or X-Factor would be a good talk”.

 

38)                       How else can you determine about the customer?

“Very easy, expressions, looks and movements of the body.

A)    Rubbing his chest means not comfortable and does not trust salesman.

B)    Legs crossed, totally negative.

C)    Nodding his neck to your statements, the customer is listening to you.

D)   Sat backwards, feels that the salesperson is entering his/her personal area.

 

 

39)                       Can someone become a Champion Salesman?

“Absolutely, anyone can become a champion salesman provided he or she gets the right training”.

 

40)                       How can you help staff and employees or different organisations?

“I can give Sales Seminars for three hours and work with the sales staff. I can analyse immediately what they need to do and which areas they need to work and correct themselves. The Seminar would cost £500.00 GBP and I can visit any location in United Kingdom and after attending my seminar the sales team will triple their sales immediately. To make bookings in advance please e-mail me at Timesofbusiness@aol.com

 

Do you want to or train your staff and employees to become a champion salesman?

 

Courtesy:

Max Kumar.

Managing  Director.

Max Business Solutions Ltd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

About the Author

Max Kumar
Managing Director.
Max Business Solutions Ltd.