The first meaning of this concept is that after selling a copier, you should consider selling a fax machine, word processor, computer or camera to the same customer. I call this situation "Canon with Canon", that is, selling other Canon products to people who have already bought a Canon product.
This concept also has a second meaning, that is, "Canon with Canon". As long as Canon sells a copier, the real sales work will begin, including after-sales service, paper, toner and even paper recycling. Sales staff also provide other very important things-information, so that customers are closely linked with Canon, and they will buy a new copier in four or five years. Using this strategy, we can prevent our competitors from poaching their customers.
The concept of "Canon with Canon" is very important. In Japan, there are currently 800,000 Canon copiers in use. If these photocopiers are replaced by competitors' products, our company will go bankrupt. On the other hand, it is worth remembering that these 800,000 users of Canon copiers are potential customers of Canon fax machines.
After completing the first step of sales, continue to promote sales. Salespeople who do this are capable pioneers in bringing any product to market. The problem, of course, is to ensure that our salespeople have this attitude. I ask all employees to work like members of a think tank (a company that relies on creative development). All employees are thinking and creating instead of spending time on what the company has been doing.
In this way, Canon employees will continue to put forward ideas for the new sales era. In the off-season, we send employees from a certain department to work in new sales channels, for example, selling 8 mm home cameras to stores opened by large Japanese companies for employees. I call it a profitable activity.
Another task of this action is to strengthen the relationship between units that own Canon copiers. We not only sell them paper, but also try out a plan to collect and recycle users' waste paper.
I am most worried that Canon will catch the "big company disease", that is, the organization will become hidebound and lack imagination. The best vaccine against this disease is to constantly put forward new ideas and sell them to new and old customers.
Promotion is our company's specialty. I must let everyone enjoy the promotion, otherwise we won't last long. How to do this? My plan can be summed up in three basic elements. First, I think it will not be a pleasure to just promote the same old product and pursue a certain quota. So now we have to move on. We solve business problems for our customers, not by selling them Canon products, but by providing a combination of hardware and software from different manufacturers. This has brought new products, new technologies and new sales methods.
The second element is to understand and pursue the concept of globalization. I always remind employees that Canon Sales Company is not a regional organization, although its business license is only in Japan. Canon is strong in imaging equipment and technology, but not very strong in computers. We must introduce computer functions, so employees should be pioneers in introducing new ideas and new products. By combining with Canon products, we will have an excellent combined system, so that we can provide services to customers from a global perspective.
Third, give employees more holidays and make them enthusiastic about their work. After employees have worked in the company for several years, I no longer reward them with gifts such as watches, but give them extra holidays. Take a holiday with your family (this is rare in Japan), or go out and enjoy a real holiday. My opinion is that everyone must study hard, work hard, make money and have fun.
To motivate salespeople, salespeople must first be confident. My trick is to let them taste the sweetness of victory first. I usually assign dealers and customers who are easy to clinch a deal to new salesmen, so that they can taste the joy of taking orders and get used to winning. After that, the salesman will bravely receive any potential customers, and 120% can give full play to his work ability.
In Japan, competitive sales are more intense than in the United States, but there is not much difference in giving commissions to Japanese salespeople. Japanese salesmen demand that at least 90% of the remuneration be fixed salary, while American salesmen prefer 20% salary plus 80% commission.
I found some more effective ways to motivate salespeople. Our best salespeople go out to meet customers most of the time every day. What is the flow of people who don't sit in the office in Urumqi? But I insist on assigning desks to every salesperson. This will give them a sense of status, and more importantly, give them confidence.
Our largest sales organization (Canon Eiken) works in groups of five people. Each group is led by an experienced salesperson who helps others in the group to deal with their problems. People's Hospital of Urumqi Traditionally, Japan attaches importance to qualifications, but we measure everyone's performance according to sales performance. The group leader is not necessarily the oldest. But it must be the best job. It's just that selling more than others is not reflected in the remuneration. The team leader only gets 60 dollars more a month.
Openly queuing the performance of salespeople also helps to promote their work. 1979, I announced the establishment of the dealer star sales experts association. The top seller is called a five-star expert, the following is a four-star expert, and so on.
I even opened a private club in Ginza, Tokyo's entertainment district, as a means to encourage dealers to sell. It's called Club 3000, and any dealer who makes 3,000 Canon copiers in use can get the membership of the club. The club has 70 members, whose names are engraved on the big sign at the entrance. This gives dealers great honor, especially when they bring customers or their employees to the club. The drinks in this club are much cheaper than those in any similar place in Japan.
With the development of sales ability, the company's sales have naturally been rising steadily. More importantly, it has achieved the oath of occupying the largest share in the Japanese plain paper copier market. We grew from the initial share of almost less than 10% to 30% now, and it took 15 years to achieve this result, and all this started with establishing the self-confidence of every salesperson.
Entrepreneurship One of the unusual things I did was to send a brochure to every employee: Entrepreneurship. It briefly summarizes the general principles of my business and dealing with people. This gives people a sense of belonging to the company, but it is far from enough to keep the sales organization at its peak. Therefore, we should constantly update the information and link my principles with the difficult reality of the current business environment.
If there is no energetic enthusiasm and passion to start a new career and try new methods, the company will be full of tired and negative middle-aged people. A company full of employees who know everything and do nothing will not be attractive. You can't tell whether such an employee is dead or alive. This kind of company blocks the way forward, and the society would be better without it.
What can the company do to ensure that it will not deteriorate and eventually die? It must not be afraid of difficulties, constantly accept new challenges, and must have the free spirit of entrepreneurs. Its employees should even be a little impulsive, but don't make the same mistake twice. If people always make repetitive mistakes, the company's safe will be emptied soon.
We have a slogan, "Make sales promotion interesting." However, it is impossible to make things interesting without being good at thinking. Everyone must become a think tank and try to imitate the strengths of others.
Everyone who works above and below should give advice and find a way. Wisdom comes from above and below. Employees should not be afraid of different opinions, because the collision of ideas will produce new things.
Our young salespeople don't often visit the dealership owner. Instead, they often go to the store to chat with employees. It is difficult for a 40-year-old salesman to visit a 60-year-old boss. People like to deal with people of similar age. But if you are in sales, this is absolutely inappropriate. I was about 45 years old when I was the chairman of Canon Sales Company. In retrospect, I don't like meeting people in their sixties and seventies all the time. This is really not pleasant at all. But this is an extremely important part of the work, and we must do it.
Similarly, you must try to find the same topic with the dealership owner, and you can talk about golf or something. It is worthwhile to keep in touch with the shopkeeper and develop friendship, even if it takes several years. In this way, you have priceless sales capital and trust relationship.
The following is our basic strategy. First of all, strive to innovate and build our comprehensive image and information system capabilities. Second, continuously improve the ability to respond to customers' various needs. Third, promote internationalization by actively encouraging introduction.
The best way to realize these strategies is to create a pleasant working environment and express our gratitude to employees and their families by encouraging them to take vacations. We must always promote it so that we can benefit from the expertise and experience of every employee.