A combination of skill, teamwork and the drive to succeed put these go-getters ahead of the rest
THE AWARD-WINNING sales team from HSBC includes a young go-getter who started selling before she reached primary school.
Crystal Yuen Ka-man, 24, used to help her uncle sell Barbie dolls at a Sham Wan flea market when she was in kindergarten, using her winning childish grin to close deals. Ms Yuen, an Outstanding Young Salesperson Award winner, is now a financial planning manager for HSBC in Central. And her sales skills are considerably more polished.
Sincerity and listening skills are crucial for a financial planner, who must understand a customer's appetite for risk and total portfolio before recommending products, she said.
She enjoys the challenge of selling products which, unlike a handbag or mobile phone, are intangible: 'If you can sell insurance or unit trusts, I think you would have no problem selling other goods.'
She also likes being part of the team. 'If I don't have good selling skills, no matter how many referrals colleagues give me, the team gets zero points. I'm the goal shooter. Colleagues will give me the ball and I have to shoot it.'
She attributes her award to teamwork by HSBC, which runs an extensive internal training programme before choosing nominees for the competition.