Taken at face value, salesmanship may seem to apply only to sales people pushing products. In fact, it relates to everyone. All of us are selling something - a merchandise, an idea or a service - at one time or another.

　　As special guest Mr. Kelvin Wong (District Director, Manulife (International) Limited and also President, The Life Underwriters Association of Hong Kong Limited) said, a kid who wants to get pocket money from his father also needs some salesmanship to succeed.

　　Professor Andrew Chan, Director of the CUHK EMBA Programme and co-host of the "New Thinking in Management" show, emphasized that successful salesmanship is more than reaching a sales target. A more important goal is customer satisfaction. A good merchandise salesman should not focus solely on selling the merchandise, but should try to understand the customer's needs, as well as whether and how the merchandise meets these needs.

　　In short, a sale should be a win-win deal, with both sides feeling happy.

　　Some sales jobs have more dimensions and require more careful strategizing than others.

　　Selling Article 23 to Hong Kong people, for example, is a mammoth task. The SAR Government has to look beyond its immediate customer - the legislators - to target their constituents as well as the domestic and international media who can wield enormous power in terms of shaping public opinions.

　　Professor Leo Sin of CUHK's Department of Marketing and also co-host of the show, pointed out that good salesmanship requires good conversational techniques, particularly in Hong Kong, where time is a premium for most people. A must-read for new salespeople is "EQ Salesmanship" by Pat L. Kwan.

　　Speaking from experience, Mr. Wong said there are four parts to the selling cycle: establish a rapport with the prospect -- identify a problem -- define the problem and provide a solution. Relationship with the customer is always the determining factor. "The decision to close a deal is made from the heart, not from the head," he pointed out.

　　Above all, sales professional should keep a good, positive attitude. Some deals may take a long time to close, or not close at all, in which case just regard the experience as a learning process.

　　Practise this to a finesse, and you may even succeed in selling ice to the Eskimos.

　　The above show featuring Mr. Kelvin Wong was aired on August 3, 2003, on RTHK Radio 1. The "New Thinking in Management" show is jointly organized by The Chinese University of Hong Kong's EMBA Programme and RTHK. It is a live show aired on Sunday, 2-4 p.m., on RTHK Radio 1. Co-hosts are Professors Andrew Chan (Director of the EMBA Programme) Leo Sin (Department of Marketing) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Ms. Jenny Lee of RTHK. The audience can phone in during the second half (3-4 pm.) of the show. This show debuted in July, and will run until December, 2003.

(from left to right) Professor C.F. Chan, Director of EMBA Programme; Mr. Kelvin Wong, District Director, Manulife (International) Ltd.; Professor Leo Sin, Dept. of Marketing; Ms Jenny Lee, RTHK.