Selling is one of the most essential skills today whether you are in sales or not. In the evening of 25th November, Tsinghua MBA Student Family Business Club invited Mr. Eric Sim to deliver a lecture on “Super Selling Skills” at Room 513, Weilun Building, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management. 

Eric Sim, UBS Investment Bank managing director, family man, ex-bartender, engineer, mentor & friend, has worked across multiple sectors of M&A, IPO, Bonds, & Derivatives. He offers his clients throughout Asia expertise in risk management and financial solutions and teaches MBA students at campuses throughout the UK and China. Despite the freezing temperatures, students braved their way to SEM and staked their spots in the crowded room, eager to gather some insights about how to become smarter salesmen. 

Sim related his professional experience to his summers as a teenager selling durians for his aunt in Singapore. When a mother and son approached his aunt’s shop, he built rapport with the crying boy rather than the mother. The mother focused her attention on the durians while Eric played with the boy, and Sim even managed to encourage him to try the unpleasantly pungent fruit. This is how Sim sets the stage for the most important work of selling. He starts a conversation not about his product but to build a relationship and gain the trust of his customer.

              Eric Sim is giving lecture on "Super Selling Skills" to MBA students

The first step to the process of selling, Sim highlights, is to identify the target customer. The key is to understand not only professional but also personal priorities, which usually come first. The next step is to build rapport and trust, as Sim did with the mother and child. When we have identified the need, we present a solution to overcome all objections. Most importantly, the solution should sell benefits rather than particular features. For luxury products, we should build a story around the personal success of the customer while using this product rather than describe generic qualities customers already expect. 

Sim also describes the importance of execution, closing a deal before it gets cold. Successful business requires four types of salesmen: the “executioner” who delivers the service, the “closer” who brings in the deal, the “wine & diner” who does the relationship building, and the “consultant” who solves problems, with review and follow-up equally important. Sim builds lasting relationships with his clients, emphasizing that 15 good clients is better than 100 shallow ones. From weekends socializing with each other’s families to jogging and giving college advice to their kids, Sim’s relationships with clients extend beyond mere business transactions.

     Photo of Eric Sim and students

Sim’s analogies were especially relevant to our generation, in which overuse of technology and social media platforms has far exceeded our most basic interpersonal instincts reinforced by real life situations. While Sim shared basic concepts, he highlighted the key attributes of successful business leaders, ones that distinguish “wine and diners” from “executioners”. Start, he says, by paying attention to the details; ask for very little at first and then sell much more; and prioritize by first reducing decisions & distractions. He uses the example of convincing a buddy to stay at a bar with him for extra hour by asking for only 5 minutes, then using his next move to sell the entire night. Similarly, in our daily lives, we must sell to our employer as we would to a customer, mindful of our lasting reputation and brand. Many students stayed around to chat with Sim after his talk, adding him on WeChat and following him on LinkedIn to keep in touch and watch his other lessons, finding his advice especially relatable to both every day and complex business environments.

(By Stacey ZHAO, GMBA Class of 2017)

【About Tsinghua MBA Student Family Business Club】

Tsinghua MBA Student Family Business Club aims to provide students with an opportunity to understand and share their own experience of the dynamics of running family businesses and to create networking opportunities for students who are interested in or belong to family run businesses.