Edmond Chan

The selling secrets of Moroccans, the world’s greatest salesmen

· · 2 Comments

fes medina
In the Fes medina

I’ve just come back from a trip to Morocco, which was incredible.

One of the things that struck me most was how damn good the Moroccans are at selling stuff.

We bought so many things that we just didn’t need!

If you’ve been to Morocco, particularly Marrakech, then you know what I mean.

The souks of Marrakech are filled with master salesmen.

I’ve thought about how they do it and what we can learn from them.

Make a connection, no matter how small

The first thing a shopkeeper in the souks will do is to engage you. He doesn’t care how he does it. He will say something to get you to look around.

Even if you say ‘no thanks’, he will say, ‘where are you from?’ or ‘not selling, just come and take a look’.

He lowers your guard against him. Once you hesitate walking away, he has you.

What we can learn:

Say hello with good eye contact. Be genuinely friendly. Smile with your eyes as well as your mouth.

Physical contact as soon as possible

You’ve stopped, next he will shake your hand. Often with two hands on your hand. The contact will go on for as long as he can without making you feel uncomfortable.

What we can learn:

Get in your handshake as early as you can. Get someone you trust to assess the quality of your handshake. Err on the side of gripping too hard than gripping too softly. A wet limp of a handshake undermines you.

Put you at ease

Now you are in his shop, the hard sell goes away and you are encouraged just to enjoy the experience. You are asked to touch various products and the moment you like something, you’re hooked.

What we learn:

Don’t go hard sell all the time. Your customer knows you’re selling; there’s no need to be aggressive all the time. Don’t scare your prospect. Allow their guard to drop.

No prices

It’s likely that you are from a richer country than Morocco, so you probably think something is more expensive than the shopkeeper would think it might sell for.

He uses this anchoring to his advantage and lets you pluck a figure from the air.

He knows that you probably don’t want to offend him, so you will err on the high side.

What we can learn:

This is tricky if you only have fixed prices.

But we can see that there’s always a market if we move the price.

If you’re pitching your services, and you’re not getting any takers at the higher price, try reducing them or asking what they’re willing to pay.

marrakech souk
In the Marrakech souks

Assign value to the product

Everything will be ‘handmade’, ‘genuine Berber’, ‘made locally’. All words designed to increase your perceived value of the product.

What we can learn:

Whatever you’re selling, find the words that add value for your product or service. Whether it be ‘bespoke’, ‘tailor-made’, ‘customised’, ‘artisanal’ etc. Find those words and make sure you communicate them clearly.

There’s always a call to action.

They NEVER forget to ask you to buy it.

What we can learn:

Ask your prospect to do what you want them to do.

Crush your OCD with this one question

· · Leave a Comment

Last Thursday, I did my usual OCD lockdown routine when I left the office.

I checked that the windows were closed, the taps were off, the lights were off, and when I locked the door, I pushed it 30 times to make sure it was closed.

Jesus, that sounds crazy just writing that down.

As I walked down the street, I wrestled with OCD insistently asking me whether I truly locked.

I suddenly asked myself a question.

‘Do I trust myself?’

This literally stopped me where I stood.

Of course, my lockdown routine and insistent voice in my head would suggest that I didn’t trust myself.

But it’s almost impossible to say to yourself that you don’t trust yourself.

It’s like it’s incongruent with your sense of self.

I asked myself again: ‘Do I trust myself?’

Of course I trust myself!

Do I trust that I can competently lock a door? Yes!

Ask yourself again and out loud: ‘Do I trust myself?’

YES!

Then get on with your day. When the next episode comes up, ask yourself again: ‘Do I trust myself?’

Let me know in the comments below if this works for you.

An unexpected reminder that all that matters is love

· · Leave a Comment

Every year on the 2nd of July, my family meets in Epsom to spend the day together to remember my mum who died on this day in 2011.

Yesterday, we met at the church for a mass. As usual, it took me a while to get into the spirit of remembering. I’m always fidgeting in church and unable to concentrate. I’m always distracted and thinking of mischief.

It wasn’t until we got down to the hospice that I remembered.

The Princess Alice Hospice in Esher is an incredible institution.

They gave my mum dignity and kindness in her last days, making sure that she was cared for.

We went into the hospice chapel and I picked up the book of messages.

People write messages in this book for their loved ones who are dying or that have died.

The writing in this book is so raw. So real.

There’s no filter. No worry about other people reading them.

People write how much they miss someone. How they hope there’s no pain anymore.

How they can’t forget someone.

Reading these jolted me back into the present.

It reminded me of a great post by Mike Cernovich on Danger and Play (here), where he writes about the proper response to mass shootings (this was after Orlando).

The first thing to note is that you never know when you might be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You never know when you might be a victim of a mass shooting.

Cernovich says that you should be ready.

Tell your loved ones that you love them. Be ready for death.

I was reminded of this when I read those messages.

I told my family afterwards that I loved them and that they meant so much to me.

I felt lighter and better.

Do it now. Tell your loved ones that you love them.

Be ready for death.

All that matters is love.

Make a big bet to make yourself take action

· · 2 Comments

Cash

A good friend of mine asked me how it was going with my blog. (I have another website called How To Be Dapper)

I said it was going okay. I’d hit a plateau of email subscribers and the traffic wasn’t really picking up.

‘What do you need to do to improve it?’ he said.

I needed to make some videos.

‘Why haven’t you done it yet?’

I needed some equipment and to learn how to edit videos.

My reasons as to why I hadn’t done it sounded lame.

I realised I needed some accountability to take action.

I’d read from several sources (Tim Ferriss, Nerd Fitness and Timothy Marc) that sizeable cash bets are powerful motivators.

So I said, ‘How about if I don’t put up a video on my site by the end of the month, then I owe you £500?’

£500 is a lot of money.

I have it but it would hurt to have to cough that up.

He said, ‘Okay but do it by the end of next week.’

I immediately started to backtrack and said two weeks.

He said ‘What would Arnie do? He’d have it done. No excuses.’

Okay. That was convincing.

As I shook his hand, I was excited.

It was exhilarating.

It was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I felt the rush of making a commitment.

I immediately started planning how I would execute.

I would need to order the equipment that day to arrive on Amazon Prime next day.

Then write a script.

Then practice and film.

Then edit on iMovie.

Then upload it to YouTube.

Then embed it on my website.

In the end, I uploaded it two days early.

So if you want to take action but find yourself procrastinating, try making a big cash bet, proportionate to your net worth. So you have a lot of money, make it a bigger amount. If you don’t, then adjust accordingly.

Whatever the figure, it should hurt if you don’t execute.

Really sting.

£500 would have been a kick in the balls.

Make the timeframe specific and make it tight.

The shorter the deadline, the better because it forces you to take action today.

If I had to deliver the video in 3 days, I would have had to make it happen.

What do you need help taking action with? Let me know in the comments.

Defeating anxiety and stress

· · 1 Comment

anxiety

I’m an anxious person.

I’m a happy person but I can also be an anxious person.

Those who know me, know that I have OCD as well as general worry about things.

My OCD is pretty standard as things go.

I have a routine upon leaving the house.

I check the balcony door is locked. I check the hob. I check the taps are shut off in the kitchen.

I turn off all power sockets.

I check that the shower is off. I check that the bathroom taps are shut off.

Then I get to the front door.

I check this is locked by pushing the door 30 times.

This must sound utterly insane to someone who has no OCD tendencies.

And it is.

I know it’s crazy but still I do it.

Why do I continue to do it?

Because it gives me reassurance that it’s done.

I’ve been down the street before and come back to the house to check that I’d turned the hob off.

In case it was on and the flat burned down.

How does this make me feel?

Like I have a mental problem.

I feel powerless and frustrated that I can’t control my thoughts.

That my irrational fears are in control of me.

The routine helps me get on with my day.

With the routine done properly, I’m able to trust that it’s done and everything is squared away.

I know that when I’ve done it, that my house isn’t going to burn down, get burgled, or get flooded.

Insane I know. But it helps me get on with living.

It isn’t at the point where it’s life debilitating.

I’m a functioning member of society.

I can work.

I have great friends and family.

I can work on projects like this blog.

I can have a great time doing things I love.

But I know that I’d love to go through life without this worry.

In practical terms, it wastes my time and my mental energy.

It disempowers me.

When people try to ‘cure’, I can rationalise it.

But it’s an irrational urge.

The thoughts keep pushing their way into my mind.

To the point where I can’t concentrate on anything else.

So I get to the point where I think that my routine is a small price to pay for being able to get on with my day.

A small price, but a price all the same.

I know it’s not ideal.

Why am I writing about this?

Because anxiety is an epidemic crippling people’s mental well-being

If I can help just a bit, then writing this will be more than worth it.

So many people I know have anxiety to the point where they recognise they have it and they believe that’s it’s affecting their happiness.

And often more.

I won’t go into names because that wouldn’t be right.

One thing they’ve all got in common is that from the outside, they’ve got it together.

They’re generally extroverts who are sociable, likeable and fun to be around.

People think they’re confident alpha-types.

And they are.

But they’re also battling with worry and anxiety.

Things like have they offended someone? Are they being judged?

I thought a lot about how to get rid or at least reduce anxiety particularly when five people I knew told me about their anxiety.

I recommended to one person to concentrate on pulling levers.

Pulling levers

Stress and anxiety can be exacerbated by excess cortisol in the body.

Cortisol is the stress hormone.

It has an evolutionary purpose. It prepares the body for fight or flight.

It’s incredibly useful for life and death situations much like adrenaline.

However, it’s supposed to leave the body a short time after it’s produced.

When it doesn’t, that’s when we started seeing problems.

In today’s world, we see people suffering from long-term, low levels of constant cortisol.

This is the source of stress.

We’re not supposed to be stressed and anxious all the time.

Stress makes us depressed.

It makes us fat and unhappy.

Stress is literally killing us.

If cortisol is responsible for making us stressed, then it makes sense to reduce the levels of cortisol in our systems.

Pulling levers is a broad brush term I use for actions that reduce cortisol.

Get enough sleep.

Sleep is huge. Think about it this way. If you slept 5 hours a night for a month, you would be more susceptible to stress and anxiety.

In men, the opposite of cortisol is testosterone.

Testosterone is only produced by the body at night time during sleep.

If you sleep less, then you produce less of cortisol’s nemesis and you’ll be a walking cortisol factory.

Eat enough

Dieting is stressful.

When you restrict calories, you become unhappier.

If you’re down and depressed, then dieting is the last thing you should do.

Eat carbohydrates.

Pasta, noodles, rice, potatoes, bread.

These are nature’s comfort foods.

They may make you fatter in large amounts but you will be happier.

Lift heavy

I started lifting heavy in January 2016.

It’s been the best change I’ve made ever.

One reason is it flushes out cortisol.

It releases endorphins and testosterone.

The deadlift and the squat feel incredible.

After a good session, I sleep like a baby.

Have sex

Sex releases oxytocin, the kissing hormone.

You know that relaxing, soothing feeling when you’re hugging someone, kissing someone, having sex, that’s the oxytocin.

It makes you feel good. So do more of it.

Get out of your head

Too often we live too much in our own heads.

We forget about the body and how linked the mind and body are.

If you’re stressing about something at work or about whether you turned off the hob, then you’re in your head and not in your body.

You’re not grounded.

Your mind is running away from you.

How do we get out of our heads.

Do bodily things.

Do 100 pushups.

Run on the spot.

Be mindful. Feel your body. What are you touching? What are you looking at? What can you smell?

Concentrate on something you can see.

Keep doing these exercises and you’ll see a difference.

It might not rid you of all anxiety and stress but it will reduce it.

Let me know if these work for you or if you have any other suggestions.