Surviving - and Thriving - During the Slowdown

MEDIA RELEASE

26 February, 2009

Surviving - and Thriving - During the Economic Slowdown

In order to cope with the current worldwide economic crisis, some business people seek to display bravado; others ‘brace themselves’ for the coming tide of difficult ‘conditions’.  There is another, more effective, approach; the collective use of brainpower and a brave stance to generate good results in bad times using ‘positive aggression’.

Business sales and marketing expert John Lees has developed the term ‘positive aggression’ to demonstrate that a positive offensive stance is preferable to a negative defensive posture, especially during ‘external’ circumstances beyond our control.

John argues that there are many internal factors in a business that we can control and it is by focusing on these aspects that business leaders can have the greatest influence on the success of their business in a tough market.

Visiting New Zealand in February, as part of The Knowledge Gym’s programme of Knowledge Workouts - which provides Kiwis with coaching from top business achievers and mentors from around the world – John says that during difficult times people quite often can’t see opportunities available to them.

“The key lies in truly understanding the people and the market you are selling to,” he says. “Knowing more about our customers than our competitors do, improving the ‘propositions’ that we sell to make them more appealing, achieving more from our partially developed customers and learning from businesses that constantly record excellent results even during harsh trading situations. Each of these key initiatives is critical to sales success in a difficult market.”

A large proportion of people who have purchased products or services do not enjoy the best results with them.  John argues that many businesses are missing a key opportunity here – purchasers need not only the product or service but also to be given ideas that will help them achieve the best results and the involvement of the supplier to show them how to do this.

“Most organisations sell items, they don’t sell intelligence,” he says. “In the current financial climate, it is more vital than ever to be offering more than your competition and by ensuring your customers get the best from their purchase, you are dramatically increasing the odds that they’ll do business with you again.”

“Having the ability to achieve more for current, partially developed customers and an understanding of how to win new customers by creating new and better results for them will set you apart from the bulk of your competition.”

At workshops to be held in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, John will provide many such insights for both the sales person and the sales manager, giving real life examples of sales success achieved by both organisations and individuals.

“Rather than keeping your head down and hoping you’ll get by, proactively seeking to improve your business in a range of different ways will set you in good stead for not only the current difficult times but also the long-range future,” says John.

“Could you handle more quality clients and do more for the ones you’ve got?  Could your staff be more productive?  Could you link to other businesses so you can learn about what they do and how they get results?  These are things you can control within a business and are opportunities for you to make use of.”

The Knowledge Gym provides New Zealand businesspeople with key insights and coaching from top business achievers and mentors from around the world.  For more information on The Knowledge Gym’s programme of ‘Knowledge Workouts’ and their other initiatives to expand your business know-how, or to register for John Lees’ presentation, please visit www.theknowledgegym.com

John Lees has a notable background in business; is a consultant to progressive organizations; a prolific author of business books; and a creator of numerous business systems.

John led the Australian and New Zealand operations of Schwarzkopf, growing the largest market share and becoming the most profitable and successful regional operation for the organisation worldwide during his tenure.

After 10 years as Marketing and Sales Director with Schwarzkopf, John was appointed International Marketing Consultant for the German multinational, supervising the introduction of his advanced marketing, service and sales concepts into the American, Canadian, British, South African and leading European markets.

He has written 11 books on the subjects of sales, marketing and leadership. John is without a doubt one of Australia's leading motivators, trainers and speakers, delivering original ideas in an entertaining way.

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