As soon as I speak, I can convince everyone

Chapter 16 Difficult problems are challenges, but also a good opportunity to show yourself (1)
Learn some public relations eloquence from Jack Ma and turn adversity into prosperity
Handle the "topic trap" freely

People always encounter troubles, and what to do and how to say it at this time depends on a person's ability.Some people are not good at dealing with these problems, and when asked which one is better, they or another person like themselves, the answer is always wrong.Either exaggerating oneself and belittling the other party to offend others out of thin air, or exaggerating the other party and belittling oneself so as to give people an image of self-deprecating.

Generally speaking, in the face of this kind of problem, it is enough to list the advantages and disadvantages of each other, tell the objective facts, and let the listener interpret the rest by himself.

Ma Yun encountered such a problem when he accepted an exclusive interview with Liu Yi, a reporter from Hong Kong's "South China Morning Post".

Reporter: You also mentioned just now that Ali may be the best Internet company in China. Public opinion now generally believes that in China, there are three Internet companies that have truly entered the international Internet market: Ali, Tencent and Baidu. What do you think of this judgment of public opinion?

Ma Yun: Since the public opinion says there are three, then there are three.I'm not saying we are the best, in terms of management, we are ahead.Tencent is a bit stronger in products and engineering, and Baidu is a bit ahead in search technology.When it comes to management, we are the best of the three.I also talked about this problem in front of the two of them. If we add another [-] employees, we can still do well, but they may not be able to handle it.In terms of search technology, if we want to advance today, there is a distance between us and Baidu; in terms of the richness of products, the grasp of communication products and the experience of customer service, there is a distance between us and Tencent. All have their own characteristics.Tencent is strong in product management, and Baidu is strong in search technology, but the Internet is not just about search technology, and it is a bit more tiring in terms of other technologies.We are strong in comprehensive processing, comprehensive technology, products and engineering.We may not have anything better than others, but in terms of culture and management, we are relatively better, so everything is ordinary, but the overall competitiveness is not bad.

Of course, there is no doubt that these three companies in China are the best in terms of overall comprehensive strength today.However, the traditional industry is "Hedong for 60 years and Hexi for 60 years". In the industrial age, it is "Hedong for 30 years and Hexi for 30 years". Now, it is "Hedong for three years and Hexi for three years". It's hard to say.

This reporter's question is very sharp, but it is actually a hidden trap. Whether it is comparing oneself with others or comparing two other people together, conflicts are always easy to arise.Once you say something bad, it becomes a subject of talk and is talked about by others.

Ma Yun answered very well. He didn't flatter himself, didn't give people a sense of arrogance, and didn't highlight his opponents, making people feel insincere. Instead, he listed the advantages and disadvantages of several companies objectively and factually.In this way, the question is answered without causing controversy.

Whether you are a public figure or an ordinary person, you will always encounter some deliberately provocative questions, or some questions that offend others even though the person asking them has no intention of answering them poorly.For example, which of the two women is more beautiful.At this time, no matter who you say is beautiful, you will offend people, and if you give a vague answer, it will give people a smooth and insincere impression.

At this time, you might as well use Ma Yun's method to point out the respective advantages of the two people, but don't give the final conclusion, let the listener think for themselves.This will not make the reviewer feel hurt, but also answer the question well.

When faced with difficult problems, don't panic, it is the most unwise choice to speak out.We have to think about which expression is the most appropriate.Of course, the most important thing is not to say things that hurt others.

When facing other people's questions, you must think clearly about the hidden meaning behind the question, and don't just look at the surface.Some questions are simple on the surface, but after a simple answer, the problem becomes complicated.Just like the previous example, which of the two women is more beautiful is a simple question, and you only need to name one of them.But if you really say a person's name for the first time, then the problem becomes complicated.The other must hate the speaker, feel that he has belittled himself, and be dissatisfied.

Speech, on the surface, is a matter of the mouth, but it is actually a matter of the brain.Only by staying awake at all times can we not say things that embarrass ourselves.

In the face of criticism, it is best to respond with facts

Things don’t always go our way, we always encounter problems of one kind or another, and people will ask us very direct questions, and the questions are very sharp.Some are things we don't want to mention, and some point directly at our shortcomings.When faced with such a question, how to answer will test a person's wisdom.

Some people will be furious, thinking that the other party has malicious intentions, is targeting us and embarrassing us.But treating such a problem with anger and irrationality does nothing but embarrass us more.Some avoid the problem, and when they encounter such a problem, they talk about him from left to right.That's not a good way to answer either.We will not answer this time, and someone will ask similar questions next time.You know, questions don't disappear just because we don't answer them.It only goes away because we give concrete, satisfying answers.

Therefore, when someone asks a sharp question, it is still necessary to answer it, but don't answer it emotionally, but to be tit-for-tat, strong enough in attitude, and convincing enough in theory to answer and close the problem.

Ma Yun encountered a similar problem in an interview with "Mr. Esquire".

Reporter: There is a saying that after the Wei Zhe incident, Ali’s lack of good managers was exposed. Is that true?
Ma Yun: What is the lack of good managers?

Reporter: At that time, it was Lao Lu (Lu Zhaoxi) who went to the top.Lao Lu seems to have become a person who can do everything and fight fires everywhere.

Ma Yun: People's strengths are people's weaknesses, and people's weaknesses can also become people's strengths.Your weakness may be another person's strength.Lao Lu met a lot of people in the company.I was talking to Lao Lu on the phone that day, Lao Lu, he has done a lot, from Alibaba to Alipay, from Alipay to Taobao, from Taobao to Alibaba, it’s time to take a break, let’s rest for a year or two.Do something retreat.

Old Lu is more pragmatic, but not pragmatic enough.I asked him to do some retreat things, the virtual ones are the most practical.False things should be done in reality, and real things should be done in a false way.This is a different training for a person.For example, Lao Lu, Taobao has grown rapidly, and Lao Lu just took advantage of the trend.Everyone has their own era, and what kind of people are used in any era.In another era, he will start to retreat, and Lao Lu will be short of breath, so he will practice it.Only people who are capable of reality and reality can... It's just that when you saw it, Lao Lu was just placed in the position of reality.

The reporter asked a very sharp question. In his question, he directly brought out the words of lack of management. Although he ended with the tone of the question, it still made people uncomfortable.Faced with this kind of problem, Jack Ma did not show any displeasure, nor did he directly refute that our company has no management problems.Instead, they confronted each other and asked the other party a question, that is, where do you think there are deficiencies in our management, and where are the deficiencies?Wait for the other party to say something specific, and then answer according to his question, which is well-founded, not only to fight the rumors, but also to make the other party have nothing to say.

This is Jack Ma's speech, speaking in the way of solving problems, not in the way of venting.

If after listening to the other party's question, you directly say that our company has no problem, maybe you don't ask about the convenience anymore, but in the mind of the listener, this question still exists.And this kind of questioning first, and then answering after clarifying the specific situation, is naturally better.

We will definitely encounter similar problems in our lives. We might as well learn from Ma Yun. Don’t vent your emotions first, but let the other party explain the problem clearly and then give an answer.This is more beneficial to us.

Of course, don't avoid it, things happen, and they always have to be resolved.If the other person is indeed aggressive, the more we avoid them, the more aggressive they become.Find out what their purpose is, and then respond.Know that avoidance is one of the worst possible options when faced with tough questions.

boasting of skill, boasting of oneself from the perspective of others
Ma Yun is a business elite, but also a marketing master.He is always able to grab the attention of others at the first time, making people listen to him and be used by him.The ability to do this lies in his wonderful eloquence.

Ma Yun can speak, and even more so.For the same reason, he can speak very concisely and very contagiously.The same story is boring when told by others, but it will become vivid after Ma Yun's mouth.This is the charm of Ma Yun, who will always attract others.

In terms of marketing, Ma Yun also has a strong strength.Ordinary people, when selling their products to others, always talk about how good our products are, thinking that others will recognize their products.But I don't know, this is not a good way, because when people make a decision, what they consider is not how good the choice is, but how much benefit it can bring to themselves, or how much trouble it will save.No one will be interested if you always tell it from your own perspective.

In this regard, Jack Ma has done a good job. The following is a speech of his. Let's see how Jack Ma introduces his own advantages.

Our second step is how to make those honest online merchants rich. Deng Xiaoping said that let some people get rich first, and we hope to make honest online merchants rich.

Alibaba hopes to make credit equal to wealth.A few years ago, at the Internet Business Conference, we called on banks to fully support SMEs, but banks have their own difficulties.Who has no problems?Everyone has their own difficulties, and their models make it difficult for them to truly serve online merchants and SMEs well.

Therefore, Ali is going to advance in an all-round way here, not because we want to earn more money, but because we feel that in this era, we need to use Internet thinking and Internet technology to support the reconstruction of the future financial system of the entire society.

In this financial system, we don't need mortgages, we need credit; we don't need relationships, we need credit; we don't need how much money you make, we need you to serve customers in a down-to-earth manner.

The two-year experiment tells us that nearly a few hundred of our employees have completed loans to 15 companies, and the average loan to each company is 4.7 RMB. This is just the beginning, and we will use the best technology to evaluate Credit, so that the present and countless online business groups can get financial services.

Because you are the hope and future of China, and for the hope of the future, we can only make efforts and help.Of course, helping everyone is also helping us. We do not want to lose money, and we will not lose money. It is immoral not to make money.

"In this financial system, we don't need mortgages, we need credit, we don't need relationships" are all boasting of their own advantages, but they can resonate with others.The key is that he is boasting himself, but from the perspective of others.When many people introduce how good their company is, they always say how much market share we have. That is your company's business and has nothing to do with other people. Therefore, no matter how high your market share is, it will not resonate with others.But these few words of Ma Yun are different. The advantages of his company he listed are all closely related to users and involve the interests of users.

When users hear his words, such a picture will immediately appear in their minds. To open a physical store, they need to prepare registration funds, and if the funds are not enough, they need to find various relationships to help plan.These are all troubles, and they are extremely troublesome.When these troubles appear in people's minds, they are naturally willing to choose Ma Yun, and those who have already chosen Ma Yun will be very grateful, thinking that they have made the right choice.

This is Ma Yun's marketing technique, not from his own point of view, but from the point of view of others.When we bring convenience to others, others will definitely agree with us.If we only state our own convenience that has nothing to do with others, then people will naturally not agree with us.

No one is willing to pay for the excellence of others, people are only willing to pay for their own excellence.Therefore, if we want to let people cooperate with us through our excellence, we must emphasize that our excellence can bring convenience to them.From this point of view, the problem can be easily solved naturally.

Peel the bamboo shoots layer by layer, let the listener convince himself

Some people say that people who speak too much "I" will not be popular unless their status or achievements are very high.The reason for this is that everyone cares about things related to themselves, and is not willing to use other people's thinking to think about problems.Therefore, when people communicate with each other, it is easy to have cognitive dislocation.Many times, what you find interesting may be boring to others. You think a thing is important to you, but it may be insignificant in the eyes of others.This is why people who always say "I" are generally not very popular.Too selfish, ignoring the feelings of others.

However, there is a group of people who are very special. They often start with "I" and have a lot of "I" in their speech, but they are very popular.This type of person is someone who speaks from the standpoint of others.

In this regard, the most representative one is Jack Ma.Anyone who is familiar with Ma Yun knows that he always talks about himself in public, but he can always resonate with others. The key point is that he can use his speech skills very skillfully.

In 2006, Ma Yun gave a wonderful speech at the China Science and Humanities Forum in the Small Auditorium of the Great Hall of the People. Here is a part of it, so that everyone can experience how Ma Yun persuaded others.

Then there is the sense of mission.A sense of mission is very important. Alibaba's mission is to make it easy for the world to do business, to help them earn money, help them save money, and help them manage their employees.Sina, Sohu, and Netease are luckier than us, they can imitate Yahoo, but Alibaba B2B is our own idea.In which direction is Alibaba going?I was depressed for a month until I met the Clintons at the New York Forum. I asked Clinton this question, and he said it was a good question.He said that the United States is the largest country in the world in terms of military and economics, and he said that the sense of mission drives me as the president to go.

After we proposed to make it easy for the world to do business, we took this as the only criterion for any service and product launched by Alibaba.We used to say that at least one free product should be launched. Our engineers, product designers, and sales staff immediately thought that making it more complicated for free, and making it simpler for charging in the future will do.So our products became more and more complicated. When asked what our mission is, all our employees said that there is no difficult business in the world, so why make the products so complicated?Right off the bat, we make our products really simple.Making it easier for customers and leaving the troubles to ourselves was driven by the sense of mission at that time.

(End of this chapter)