How to sell ice to an Eskimo!

By Oceanid

In a world full of charlatans, who masquerade as experts and professionals in various fields, it was indeed a refreshing experience to meet a true savant, who knows his onions in and out, in his respective field of expertise.

He is Raja Mahendran, an International Strategic Business Consultant and Executive Coach based in Switzerland, operating worldwide. A combination of extensive experience, global presence, profound industry knowledge and a forthright nature makes Mahendran stand out in his field.

He is currently in Sri Lanka for three months, to impart his knowledge and expertise, to growth oriented companies and individuals.

Mahendran’s skills cover quite an impressive area including sales, marketing, strategy, leadership and communications. Years of working and consulting for Fortune 500 companies including Bayer, Novartis, BASF, Syngenta and Hayleys in Sri Lanka, as well as others, including in Australia, France, Switzerland and Singapore, give Mahendran a competitive edge.

He received his training in Strategic Management at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney Australia, and in Strategic Marketing at Harvard Business School. Since then, he has helped numerous companies transform their teams, to reach higher levels in sales, profitability, team development and professionalism.

The in-house company workshops he conducts, are not the usual boring stuff such workshops comprise. Mahendran helps individuals transform their mind-set, through individual transformation. “The process involves helping the individual, to transcend from being a mere expert in the product or service, to one who communicates better, inspires confidence, and is better liked and trusted by both clients and colleagues, as a result,” says Mahendran.

While some appear to have an inborn talent to convince an Eskimo to buy ice, others need to learn such soft skills, as they are usually not part of an academic curricular. 

Thus, participants who emerge from his workshops are more confident and charismatic, as they have been taught the art of breaking through their self-conscious shells, and project a more confident, reliable and an appealing image of themselves, to their customers as well as their colleagues. 

With the local market for goods and services growing in leaps and bounds, there are huge areas of opportunity opening up all the time, says Mahendran. “As such, the market for goods and services is also becoming increasingly crowded and competitive, with offers from high to ridiculously low prices. Thus, the consumer or the buyer is often confused and unable to make an intelligent decision, resulting in the client usually making a decision based only on price, as opposed to quality,” he adds.

So how does one stand out in such a market? How can one be seen as different? How does one secure business, by passing the price-trap?

“In the past, there was a clear distinction between products and or services, which made it easier and simpler to choose from. But today, it has become a serious challenge to identify one from the other, as both appear to be intertwined. However, there is a way out of it, that will make an impact on the consumer and buyer, in this confused and crowded market,” says Mahendran.

According to him, this is achieved entirely, by developing people who are accepted and trusted easily by the buyer. As people like to do business with those they like and trust, the priority for a growth oriented company is, to differentiate their product or service through their people. 

This individual transformation of personnel will not only maximise sales, profitability and team development, but overall professionalism and image of the company. 

“Above all, it will enable the consumer or buyer, to understand the difference between the more professional team, and the one with the appealing price, and help them make a more intelligent choice,” says Raja Mahendran in conclusion.