It's 3:20am, 29 April, 2007 now and finally I am back in my room, after a trip to Singapore and KL which started on wednesday. Tired? Yes, I am. But also quite glad as I am one step closer to what I had set out to do for the past 2 weeks.
The interview in Singtel on 26 April, 2007 was good. It was a wet thursday morning. I had just sat thru a 10-hour bus ride to get there. The bus ride wasn't that bad. It couldn't be, I paid RM70 for the 'snoozer seat' with individual LCD TV screen in front of each of the 18 seats in the bus. Imagine a first class flight seat and you will know what I am talking about.
After 2 movies and dozens of mp3 songs, the bus finally arrived at Tuas checkpoint instead of the normal Woodlands. It was a very welcome surprise if you know what it's like at 8am in the morning at the JB customs and Woodlands checkpoint in Singapore.
When we arrived at the Golden Mile Complex in Beach Road, it was still raining, or rather drizzling. From there I went on to hunt for breakfast and later took the mrt to Raffles City. After a quick change of clothes there, I took the mrt again to Somerset station. I reached the Comcentre where the walk-in interview was being conducted around 9am. Waited in the lobby for almost an hour before the interview was scheduled to start at 10. Talk about being kia-su. hahaha..
Anyway, all that paid off because I was the first one to be interviewed for that position. Not bad after all. After that I went back to Raffles City, got the daily paper and started flipping thru the recruitment section when I bumped into Ken Chee. I can't remember when was the last time I met him, but he could recognise and remember who I was. Maybe it was cos i wrote nice things about him in his friendster testi. (Hehe). Justin Timberlake, you're right, what goes around comes around.
After a few disappointments and encounters with so called 'con' multinational companies seeking to recruit people who can 'start immediately', I decided enough was enough and took the mrt to Bugis station to go to the Malaysian bus terminal to take the SJE back to JB.
That was the jist of my 'business trip' to Singapore.
Reflection of the trip: The position which I walked-in to interview for was a Performance Management Executive position in the Contact Centre of Singtel. What made me take the step to go to the interview was that, I was really confident that my experience was relevant to the job which they advertised for. My 2-year Mobileone stint and my 1 year manegement experience was in line with what they wanted in the candidate.
Another thing was that, I was attracted to working for such a big and well known organization coming out from Singapore, which can be considered among the stars like SIA, Creative Technologies, ST Engineering etc. Singtel is up there among the top. After all, I wanted something which is more long term and gives me the motivation to stay on for the next 25 years maybe? In 25 years time, when it's time to retire, I can't boast that I had worked in a certain industry for the past 35 years like my parents did, but at least if I got in to a good reputable company, I could at least boast that I had worked in Singtel for the past 25 years. Now how's that for staying power?
This was the first time I had gone for an interview with my resume and all my documents in tact and I believe that I was well prepared to handle all the questions being directed at me. Although there were 3 of them inside the room interviewing me, the other 2, were merely observers, because they hardly spoke a word. Maybe it was a tag team in their marathon interview run for the whole day. Being the 2nd one in there I couldn't judge the effectiveness of the system they put in place because the day was still fresh and 3 people conducting an interview is quite a waste of resources.
Right now I am building up my faith and hope that the position is already mine and they are drafting the offer letter to me now. Time shall tell what the result may be.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
MAD (Make a Difference) in Sales
2 days ago I was hanging out in my friend's office having a chat with one of his colleague about what he had in common. You see we were both in the training arena for quite a while and while he could be considered an industry veteran, I can be considered an on/off veteran since 2001. Nevertheless, we both had something in common, which was our passion for all things that had Training & Development and Education written on it.
Before I got up to leave to beat the evening rush hour home, he pulled out a brochure and said to me, "Dave, if you know of anyone who would be interested, I've got a public program in Sales coming up and we've still got a couple of seats left." I said I'll try my best to help him fill those seats up so that the program would be a roaring success.
So, here's a little bit about the program, there are only 20 seats lefts and they are going really fast. First come first serve. Give yourself a reason to come to Penang! The training is on from Friday to Saturday, then stay another day to enjoy Penang's famous food like Char Koey Teow, Assam Laksa, Hokkien Prawn Noodles, Nasi Kandar etc. Give your sales team a treat they deserve, with a little 'tour of duty' vacation to Penang for this program. They'll thank you for it. After all it's 100% claimable under the PSMB SBL Scheme.
Also Good news for Real Estate Agents and Registered Negotiators. This program gives you 10 CPD hours! So what are you waiting for?! You'll be nuts to miss this program. Now, another thing to note is, if you are familiar with the training industry, programs by Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd in KL normally goes for over RM1k per pax. Check out how much we are offering it for?
2-days Intensive Workshop Titled:
MAKING A DIFFERENCE (MAD) IN SALES
Putting the will in place, an experiential learning experience program for the sales force
This workshop is conducted by:
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd
and facilitated in Penang by:
Sunflower Training & Consultancy - (Together Towards Excellence)
Workshop Details:
Date: 20 & 21 April 2007 (Friday & Saturday)
Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm
Venue: Sunway Georgetown Hotel, Penang
Fees (Per Pax): RM730, Group Rate (3 pax above): RM650.
(Fees inclusive of Study & Training Materials, Certificate, Folder and Meals
The MAD in Sales program is designed to help Sales-forces understand how their own internal state of condition will affect sales, how the surrounding environment or the product itself is secondary to their internal influence towards their performance. This will help provide them knowledge in discovering their maximum potential and to perform at their level best, breaking free from status qio. In short, MAD in Sales helps sales professionals manage change and challenges better, by rediscovering the threshold of true potential within each individual.
MAD is a practical down-to-earth skills training that changes participants from within. Through its simple yet unique methods, participants will be able to immediately apply the teachings at work as well as at home. In short it:-
Anas Zubedy is one of the leading Training Consultants in Malaysia today. He is the principal consultant for Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd.
He was exposed to sales, sales promotion and brand management during his work in Nestle Malaysia. His sales experience provided him with hands-on knowledge in working with large sales and customer service teams in the multinational, both in the day-to-day operations, as well as the organizing of motivational training workshops, conventions, conferences and trips. He was also involved in the training and coordination of the Nescafe Service Unit and with the Sales Promotion Executives for Grocery Two Business Unit nationwide.
As Brand person, he was responsible for launching new products as well as creating new markets for the coffee groups, "Nescafe and Coffee-mate". As such, Anas has extensive and in-depth exposure in marketing research, advertising, branding and promotions spanning from the conceptual stage to strategy and implementation. Moreover after Nestle, he spent 2 years writing advertisement copies and campaigns. After Nestle, Anas embarked on his own business in the area of training and consulting. Since then he has trained more than a thousand participants from top-level management right down to clerks and dispatchers from many different industries. Among those who have attended his training are technical and general management staff, trainers and non-technical staff from IT based companies, securities companies, financial institutions etc.
Outside work he is also an active speaker at local universities and colleges. From 1993 till 1995, he was an external fellow in one of the colleges of University Malaya. Currently Anas consults in the area of change and marketing, helping organizations set directions and change for the better as well as advice on strategy. He acted as a marketing and branding consultant to a local bank. He was also Resident Consultant to a local financial institution. As a facilitator and trainer, he consults and teaches soft skills especially in the area of change, marketing, presentation and self-improvement.
Activities Overview:
Day 1
Exercise 1 - The Watch
Day2
Exercise 1 - D.E.A.R Method
Before I got up to leave to beat the evening rush hour home, he pulled out a brochure and said to me, "Dave, if you know of anyone who would be interested, I've got a public program in Sales coming up and we've still got a couple of seats left." I said I'll try my best to help him fill those seats up so that the program would be a roaring success.
So, here's a little bit about the program, there are only 20 seats lefts and they are going really fast. First come first serve. Give yourself a reason to come to Penang! The training is on from Friday to Saturday, then stay another day to enjoy Penang's famous food like Char Koey Teow, Assam Laksa, Hokkien Prawn Noodles, Nasi Kandar etc. Give your sales team a treat they deserve, with a little 'tour of duty' vacation to Penang for this program. They'll thank you for it. After all it's 100% claimable under the PSMB SBL Scheme.
Also Good news for Real Estate Agents and Registered Negotiators. This program gives you 10 CPD hours! So what are you waiting for?! You'll be nuts to miss this program. Now, another thing to note is, if you are familiar with the training industry, programs by Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd in KL normally goes for over RM1k per pax. Check out how much we are offering it for?
2-days Intensive Workshop Titled:
MAKING A DIFFERENCE (MAD) IN SALES
Putting the will in place, an experiential learning experience program for the sales force
This workshop is conducted by:
Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd
and facilitated in Penang by:
Sunflower Training & Consultancy - (Together Towards Excellence)
Workshop Details:
Date: 20 & 21 April 2007 (Friday & Saturday)
Time: 9.00am to 5.00pm
Venue: Sunway Georgetown Hotel, Penang
Fees (Per Pax): RM730, Group Rate (3 pax above): RM650.
(Fees inclusive of Study & Training Materials, Certificate, Folder and Meals
The MAD in Sales program is designed to help Sales-forces understand how their own internal state of condition will affect sales, how the surrounding environment or the product itself is secondary to their internal influence towards their performance. This will help provide them knowledge in discovering their maximum potential and to perform at their level best, breaking free from status qio. In short, MAD in Sales helps sales professionals manage change and challenges better, by rediscovering the threshold of true potential within each individual.
MAD is a practical down-to-earth skills training that changes participants from within. Through its simple yet unique methods, participants will be able to immediately apply the teachings at work as well as at home. In short it:-
- Brings out the best of each individual participant with the goal of assisting them achieve maximum potential in their respective sales profession.
- Assist participants in changing their mindset to take initiative and channel their energy towards achieving their "real potential" in sales.
- Equip the participants with the ability to take actions in any given situation, thus making them more tolerant to stress.
- Experiential learning through games, exercises and group dynamics that are skewed towards self and group realization.
- Involvement from participants to evaluate themselves and what they have learned in groups.
- The methods used are fun, exciting and purposeful but serious in the subject matters, each participant will learn differently from his or her own experiences. Such learning is powerful as the impact is strong and will plant within participants the desire to achieve even greater heights.
Anas Zubedy is one of the leading Training Consultants in Malaysia today. He is the principal consultant for Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd.
He was exposed to sales, sales promotion and brand management during his work in Nestle Malaysia. His sales experience provided him with hands-on knowledge in working with large sales and customer service teams in the multinational, both in the day-to-day operations, as well as the organizing of motivational training workshops, conventions, conferences and trips. He was also involved in the training and coordination of the Nescafe Service Unit and with the Sales Promotion Executives for Grocery Two Business Unit nationwide.
As Brand person, he was responsible for launching new products as well as creating new markets for the coffee groups, "Nescafe and Coffee-mate". As such, Anas has extensive and in-depth exposure in marketing research, advertising, branding and promotions spanning from the conceptual stage to strategy and implementation. Moreover after Nestle, he spent 2 years writing advertisement copies and campaigns. After Nestle, Anas embarked on his own business in the area of training and consulting. Since then he has trained more than a thousand participants from top-level management right down to clerks and dispatchers from many different industries. Among those who have attended his training are technical and general management staff, trainers and non-technical staff from IT based companies, securities companies, financial institutions etc.
Outside work he is also an active speaker at local universities and colleges. From 1993 till 1995, he was an external fellow in one of the colleges of University Malaya. Currently Anas consults in the area of change and marketing, helping organizations set directions and change for the better as well as advice on strategy. He acted as a marketing and branding consultant to a local bank. He was also Resident Consultant to a local financial institution. As a facilitator and trainer, he consults and teaches soft skills especially in the area of change, marketing, presentation and self-improvement.
Activities Overview:
Day 1
Exercise 1 - The Watch
- The basic principles of change management and undergoing the 'transition period' successfully.
- Participants realize their true potential and be achievement oriented
- Participants discover that commitment is the key to achieving results
- What motivates you?
- Help participants translate the motivating forces P1 & P2 to P3 and make things happen.
- Use Situational Analysis and SWOT analysis to define reality
- Transform the uncontrollable push and pull into a controllable force
Day2
Exercise 1 - D.E.A.R Method
- Drawing concrete goals that are within reach, goals that are clear, specific, and easy to measure
- Discover the three major skills needed in an organization
- To help participants break free from limitations and mental blocks
- Be conscious of, and work at, clear and effective communication
- To help participants discover what governs our daily interaction
- Be aware that positive interaction brings positive results
- Use visualization techniques to achieve the level of success they desire
- Positively visualized success - Roadmap to success
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