Business and Money Tips

When people ask Tony Chen, CEO of Oppo, to cut his price for his company's latest flagship device R9 Plus to be way below Samsung Galaxy S7, here's what he says, "I prefer to add value". Oppo ended up selling 1 million units in 3 days!  Oppo's value add has 8 features that others don't have: 2-years warranty (vs others 1-year, worth at least S$400) First year free accidental cracked screen repair, worth S$180  One-to-one exchange for repair, worth the phone itself S$769) Free 4 screen protector replacements in first year (worth S$60) Free screen glass protector (worth S$15) Free back casing protective cover (worth S$15) Free headphone worth S$80 Free Oppo water bottle worth S$20 Total value add of Oppo: S$1,539 (double the value of the phone S$769) Discounting creates the perception that you are cheap. When you discount, you encourage price shoppers, not loyal customers. A far better way is to add value. There are 2 magical ways that you too

I just came back from an international convention attended by over 1,200 people.  Over a 3-days period, there were many discussions about leadership.  One person said that he was trained in leadership many years ago but now he needs refresher training.  Another said that many people are not trained in leadership and thus they were not as effective as desired. I was glad that nobody said that leadership is about having authority, title or expertise.  At least this organization of 54 years in existence has got the right understanding of leadership.  But I was surprised that nobody defined what exactly is leadership, which is strange because they spent so many hours discussing about leadership.   What's the best and most comprehensive definition of leadership?  It is Adding Value to People's Lives .  In this concept Adding Value includes Serving People .  So Servant Leadership is not one style of leadership, as what some people think, but one aspect of leadership.  Other aspe

Following my blog on Add Value, Not Add Work , 2 friends messaged me at facebook asking me to elaborate how we can add value to customers even if they don't buy.  Well, we know that if people that don't buy today they may buy tomorrow, and our job in business is to create happy relationships with people.   Business will come if you can add value.  Just look at how Facebook, Twitter and Youtube created value for over 2.5 billion people and you'll know what I mean. The following are the Top 6 Ways You Can Add Value to Customers Even When They Don't Buy: Show them the Pros and Cons of Your Company's Products and Services.  Most salespeople shy away from showing people their weaknesses for fear that customers will not buy if they know that. The reverse is true: c ustomers will trust a vendor more if they were to tell first-hand (without being asked) their weaknesses .  With trust, business will come. Show them How to Save Money .  Always start with the most val

If you are now selling base on price, do not read further. We teach people how to sell on value, not price.  Sell the sizzle, not the steak, and you can close every sale and sell ice to the Eskimos.   Even if your selling price is higher than your competitors, you will still be able to sell if you know how to add value to the customer .  There are 21 ways to add value: Better Service - comes in many forms including delivery, convenience, internet assistance, telephone answering, administration support, longer operating hours, and customer service Better Technical Support Longer Credit Terms or Higher Credit Limit Unique packaging or limited edition versions that add value to your product or service Salesperson Serving the Customer - fast prompt response, entertainment, listening, patience, problem solving, courteous service and go extra mile service Top Management Serving the Customer - imagine if the Prime Minister of Singapore serves you, price is no longer a concern, righ

(This article has been submitted to The Straits Times on 20 October 2016. Watch our 'Disruption' video at here ) As we know, nowadays our teams comprise of groups in our WhatsApp and WeChat groupchats.  Whether you are working in a business or self-employed, homemaker or student, retired or just born, you will belong to at least 3 groups: your family, your friends and the people you work with.  That's why in our Build Winning Virtual Teams seminar, we teach people how they can keep their chatgroups alive. There are 5 keys, know them or lose them: Key 1: Show Me the Money People join chatgroups initially to keep themselves updated, and for some people, to get motivated. But after a while, such motivations and information will become mundane, and people will be immune to such messages.  To keep people from coming back, you need to have show people the money.  Money includes monetary value and non-monetary value. People must see that there are benefits to their live

e veryone knows training pays, but is the return really infinite? I design this '4-Ways Training Leverage Chart' to illustrate how training pays: (the highlighted lines are the areas that training works on) No. of hours work         x Output per hour         = Output         x Quality of output         x Value Add        = Employee Value Now let's put in some numbers: No. of hours work is 40 x  Output per hour is 100 giving me output of 4,000 units If the  quality of each output is 80%  and the  value add is $10,  the employee value is simply 4,000 x 80% x $10 = $32,000 Suppossing the training increases this employee's productivity by 10%, all the  highlighted numbers  above will increase by 10%: No. of hours work              44 x                                         x Output per hour                110 =                                        = Output                             4,840 x                            

Yes, certain things are so important but they just don't tell you. Either they assume that you know or they find it hard to say it out.  But we know that misunderstanding is the cause of all work problems and clear communication, even to the extent of over-communication , is the safest policy. So managers and bosses should tell people the most important thing at work: Work Ethics. What is work ethics?  Many people equate it to honesty and integrity, when in reality it is more than that.  In our work with companies training over 81,131 people in 13 countries since 1996, other than integrity and honesty , the following are the 5 Key Elements of Work Ethics: Fairness - put in fair share of work and not take things for granted.  Do not work only when the boss is around, instead play fair by putting in the 8 hours that you're contracted with.  If you take time for facebooking and whatapping with your friends, make sure you pay back the lost time everyday .   Add Value - ever

Unknown to many people, many people are actually adding work at work and not adding value.  You see, when one person is untrained in his work, he is not only not doing his work, but adding work to his colleagues.  Similarly, when people have poor inter-personal skills , they create work friction and lots of misunderstandings. As a result, their bosses have to step in, run team-building trainings, and put in extra manpower, all just to get the house on order. Studies done by International HR consultants indicated that only about 30% to 50% of people are actually adding value in their work.  The rest are just adding work!  Worse still, some employees are adding trouble at work.  For example, they make careless mistakes and mislead customers.    So the key to success in management is to ensure that your people are adding value at work.  Here are 7 ways that all employees can do to add value in their work: Do Self Quality Control and Self Audit .  This will ensure that things ar

If you are now selling base on price, do not read further. We teach people how to sell on value, not price.   Sell the sizzle, not the steak , and you can close every sale and sell ice to the Eskimos.   Even if your selling price is higher than your competitors, you will still be able to sell if you know  how to add value to the customer .  There are 21 ways to add value: Better Service - comes in many forms including delivery, convenience, internet assistance, telephone answering, administration support, longer operating hours, and customer service Better Technical Support Longer Credit Terms or Higher Credit Limit Unique packaging or limited edition versions that add value to your product or service Salesperson Serving the Customer - fast prompt response, entertainment, listening, patience, problem solving, courteous service and go extra mile service Top Management Serving the Customer - imagine if the Prime Minister of Singapore serves you, price is no longer a conc

Customers are demanding lower prices. Factories are moving overseas. How can salespeople survive?  These are tough times for salespeople. Customers are demanding more services and lower prices.  Many are purchasing directly through the internet and from manufacturers. Salespeople find themselves caught in the middle - doing more for customers, making less money and wondering about their paycheck. The solution is simple.  Salespeople Must Add Value. How?  Salespeople add value in many ways - before, during and after the sale.    These services include product availability, problem solving and technical support, just to name a few. But customers often do not realize how these services translate into dollars-and-cents value. Why? Because salespeople are generally not trained in how to calculate this value for customers. Beyond product training   Customers are interested in more than product features and benefits. They want to know how these benefits translate into   dollars-and-cents

In any organization, there are 2 kinds of middle managers: The first type are those who get the work done but never think beyond what need to be completed in the medium term. Though they may work hard and have good intentions, they fail to see the big picture, and thus add little value to the functions they manage. In short, they are 'good managers'.  E.g the Finance Manager at JPMorgan Chase Bank who got the monthly accounts out on time but never warn the management about the risk in investing in so called 'secure' mortgage securities. The second type are those  High Value Middle Managers who see the big picture.  They know how to manage operational practices and execute tactical goals to support strategic initiatives. They add value to their organization and thus elevate their position from that of a middle man to a key player.  You know it when you come across one (or when you yourself are one). High Value Middle Managers operate at peak efficienc

Note: The author Andy Ng is a CA (Chartered Accountant) and a member with the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants (ISCA) since 1988 The other day I received a call from a friend who wants to know how much should his friend asked for when another business wants to buy over his business.  This subject is called Business Valuation, and it is taught in MBA schools.  Today in just 7 minutes, you an be an expert on this subject.  A business is worth what someone is willing (and able) to pay for it.  So the only true way to value your business is to put it on the open market and see what offers you receive. Having said that, there are some common methods to value your business which give you a starting point for negotiations and a rough idea as to what your business is worth. What’s more, knowing how to value your business can help you understand where the value lies and maximise your business’ worth. The most common method is based PE or Price Earning Approach.  This