Home Loan… that killing you silently! August 28, 2008

Home Loan : Guide to Choosing A Home Loan

To many, being able to afford a new home is indeed exciting but can be stressful. After months of reviewing potential homes, you finally have the financial means to choose the best of the lot. But now comes the mind-boggling task of selecting a suitable home loan.

1. Choosing a suitable home loan
Choosing a home loan for most of us is the beginning of a long-term commitment, one that can stretch up to thirty (30) years! Selecting the right package is important. If this is not planned carefully, you may find your finances strained. So, shop around and know your options before selecting the best package that suits your needs.

2. What are your needs?
Identify and list down your needs and match the benefits offered by each housing loan package. You may want to consider some key points such as: What margin of financing do you need? Any pre-payment fee for early or partial settlement? Does the package subsidize moving costs? Any risks in fluctuations in interest rates? If interest rates fluctuate, will I be in the financial position to take this risk? Any insurance protection required? It is always prudent for the customers to ensure that they know the features of the mortgage when securing the housing loan and ideally the package must be able to meet their needs.

3. Types of housing loan packages
There are basically two types of interest computation for home loan packages in the market:

1. Floating Rate Mortgages whereby interest rates are pegged to the Base Lending Rate (BLR).
2. Fixed Rate Mortgages where interest rates are fixed for the entire loan period.

Floating Rate Mortgages
If the customers opt for the floating rate mortgages, interest rates will fluctuate according to the BLR determined by the Bank from time to time. As such, customers must be prepared for such eventualities if interest rates were to increase during their tenure of the loan. This is because a rise in interest rates could potentially hurt household income, as borrowers will face higher financial obligations if they are not prepared for such risks.

 

Discipline : Self Organization August 28, 2008

Being out of my comfort zone and now running my unit on my own, i realised that the commitment is much higher than i expected. I was introduced by my leader to block my time for better and focus results. Herewith i would like to share a little bit bout how i getting organise in my new environment.

 

Designate a set period of time each week for self Organization, Planning your week, getting things in order:

• Get up one hour earlier each day. Use this time to read and study.
• Keep your weekly and daily plan visible
• Be ruthless with your time
• Commit to bringing more order to your work and your personal life. The secret of freedom from anxiety over not having enough time lies not in working more hours, but in the proper planning of those hours.

 

Learning to Sell… (part 2) August 28, 2008

continue….

 

6.         Be Charitable – Have the heart to give back part of what you earn to charity as the   old saying “you should reap what you sow” hold much truth.

7.         Positive Energy – Selling is tough, no doubt about that and it is all the more reason why, you should always evoke positive energy. This benefits not only yourself but also those around you.

8.         Listen – People say sales people are often sweet talker and in reality, sales people talk so much that they failed to listen. Listening is key to selling – only when you listen to your potential customers, will you know their true needs.

9.         Good Prospects – Approaching prospects from all walks of life is well and good, but there are times when a prospect doesn’t need what we’re selling. So, go for quality prospects, one you know with a need for what you’re offering.

10.     Commitment – Being committed always shows, so when you’re done with your initial presentation and sales talk, follow-up. Waiting after submitting a proposal is one of the biggest time waster, so be sure you always get some commitment as to when you can follow-up on the next cause of action.

 

Learning to Sell… (part 1) August 21, 2008

Hei guys, here are some great stuff which i’ve learned (it’s made sense to me & with no doubt i’m sure it gonna helps in your sales or running your business… Selling is undoubtedly an art – One that requires you to muster much courage, have perseverance and be persistent. 

Here are some insights that will help broaden your reach in this challenging job.

1. MULTIPLE STRATEGIES – There are a few multiple strategies when it comes to reaching out to your clients and how many of those are you fully ultilizing? Emails, Blogs, Forums, Pay-per-clicks, Search Engine Optimization, newsletters, direct mails, articles, press releases, books speeches, joint-ventures, referrals and seminars, telemarketing, up-sell, cross-sell, social networking sites and the list goes on and on…
2. Research and Survey – This is just another way of saying we’re always keeping in touch with our customers, to find out how we can help them as well as keep ourselves abreast of what’s happening in different industries.
3. Be Brave – At times, we pride ourselves on having the nerves to offer outrageous guarantees. You would have heard of money-back guarantees as well as guarantees that something will help your increase sales. Our competitors may not have th courage to do this and so, we should maintain this niche.
4. High Pricing – Low pricing attract the messes but it may n help position your unique product strategically. If you are able to create a niche products / service with great value proposition, go for high pricing.
5. True Testimonials – Testimonial from satisfied and heppy clients are always good. Document their encouraging comments and use this in your sales presentations.

<< to be continue >>

No more roadblocks! August 21, 2008

Too busy? Disorganized? Don’t let these excuses keep you from reaching your goals.

 

Perhaps the most frequent questions I hear in my sales-coaching practice are: “Can you help me get organized once and for all?” and “I don’t have enough time each day to accomplish everything that needs to get done. Can you help me?”

 

Are these people saying they don’t know how to get organized or manage their day? Probably not… The answer to these questions lies in a deeper, more fundamental problems: getting started and following through on goals and strategies. Disorganization and busyness are two obstacles that can keep us focusing on the larger picture-our goals, or finding ways to work less and earn more.

 

 

The Best Intentions.

As human beings, we want to improve and achieve and that’s good thing. However, human nature also leads us down the path of lest resistance, which interferes with our ability to follow through on our goals or the promises we make to ourselves. Each day, we are faced with man choices of what to do and how to do it. We move forward what gives us pleasure and away from painful or uncomfortable things.

 

Don’t be too discouraged, though. There are strategies you can use to overcome this natural tendency to do what feels good instead of what you need to do to accomplish your goal.

 

Story of a 3-layer tea? August 18, 2008

If this is not my cup of tea? Then… which one is mine?

How would you react when someone approaches you to become an insurance agent??? <Ahaik> Just like anyone of you… “Insurance is not my cup of tea”. Ever since small, i’ve been hearing the folks saying, Insurance is for those who cant find a proper job, someone who thick face approaching others for business for the sake of commission, many people will be afraid of you if you become insurance agent and always struggle to meet their target set by the companies. All these myths had create my perception ever since i was young. 

But “SENSE” is something that triggle my thought when i was introduced to one of the Open-Day held in Tropicana Country Club. The question that comes across my mind was, “After all these years, i’ve been working for others… Where does the effort goes?”. An obvious answer was to someone who owns the company. Does this make sense? At the end of the day, do we ourselves get the minimum satisfaction we wanted e.g.

• Recognized for the effort?
• Getting the pay that we’ve been wanted to have a better lifestyle?
• Relying on our month end pay-cheque to settle our credit etc? 
• Achieved something for ourselves
• Stop being a robot?

Throughout my 5 years of working experience, i’ve climbed the corporate ladder progressively. One step after another… that’s what others would called it as “Career”. But no one would realiazed that, career is something that you aim to achieved with sacrifices and once you had achieve it, you finalised that is this what you really want in life? Which is my cup of tea then???

During my trip to Kuching, I was introduced to try 3-layer tea, one of the local favourite tea that goes along with toast. With the typical mindset, i’m still having doubt of that drink i was recommended. With the urge to try out, without second thought i took up the straw and give it a shot. The taste had hit me right to paradise and indeed it’s out of my expectation that a tea could ever taste this good. Through out the trip in Kuching, this 3-layer tea became my early dooze of energy each day. From this philosophy, i realised that if you never take a sip on this tea, you will never know if it’s the best teas for you in life. 

On 19th Aug 2008, i’ve decided to stick on to this 3-layer tea and carry on my journey with a purpose. If you happen to be in Kuching, try to order this 3-layer tea at any of the chinese coffee-shop. If you never try it, you’ll never know! From here, i’ve officially left the corporate world of working for others.