The news on Saturday, December 21

A connection and initial communication have been made between the trader and the client.

This is not a supermarket where the client purchases chips on the first visit, and you put it in a bag, take the money, and it’s done.

This is trade. Rarely does a client pay on the first contact.

The first contact must lead to the second, third, and subsequent interactions for it to result in a payment.

The follow-ups after the first contact are what we call “follow-ups.”

The first question is: who should initiate the follow-up, the client or the trader?

Certainly, the trader.

Some traders claim that certain clients should not be followed up to secure payment. This belief is entirely wrong.

Maybe there are clients you didn’t follow up with who eventually came on their own and made purchases. But there are many clients you lost simply because you didn’t follow up. Since you only see loss as something that takes money out of your pocket or something tangible that you possess being taken away, you don’t feel the pain of missed opportunities. However, as Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "One who grieves over what they lose is also worthy of grieving over what they could have gained but failed to achieve."

If you ask for our opinion, follow-ups should always be initiated by the trader.

Take the example of a king and queen, or a boy and girl; the follow-up must come from the boy, from the king.

If the girl follows up on the boy, she will soon feel uncomfortable and regret it.

Similarly, if a client follows up with you on their own, your business is bound to be unstable.

At some point, in their private thoughts, they will question: "What sense does this make?

I have to pay the money and also follow up myself?"

Eventually, they’ll decide not to proceed and look for someone else to work with.

This is why honorable traders often say: "We don’t know why this client suddenly cut ties with us when nothing unusual happened."

The answer lies in the sense of inferiority you instilled in them. They followed up with you out of necessity, but at the first opportunity, they sought to escape that feeling.

Now, let me ask you.

Who took the initiative when you joined Arad?

Was it you who reached out to the business enterprises, or was it them?

Who made the follow-up calls, you or them?

A common complaint among those who claim they didn’t succeed in business is this:

"Before joining Arad, the consultant called me several times, but after I joined, they abandoned me."

May God bless your soul; so you agree that it was he who made the first contact with you and followed up until you made the payment?

And yet, you neither make the first contact nor handle follow-ups yourself, which is why you fail to see results in your business.

You expect the client to call you first, follow up with you, and then ask for your bank details to transfer the money.

If you paid Arad using this method, then your client might do the same.

Look at yourself and how you were willing to take money out of your own pocket; the client is exactly like you.

So make a commitment to yourself: I will handle both the first contact and all follow-ups.

And whisper to yourself this hadith of Imam Hussein (peace be upon him), who said:

'Greeting has seventy rewards, sixty-nine of which are for the one who greets and one for the one who responds.'

Do not use this narration only for greeting your aunts, but bring it into your business as well. Always take the responsibility of making the first greeting, and you will see how wealth will come your way.

Whenever you feel bad about making the first greeting or following up, know that it is a trick of Satan.

Tell yourself: 'If I don’t have money...'

Fill those three dots with the thousands of miseries and hardships that come from not having money, and then you will see that the bad feeling about the first greeting and follow-up will disappear from within you.

Certainly, the client’s mind is filled with questions, and if you put them together, it ultimately leads to this question.

"If I collaborate with you, will I profit or not?"

It’s like a girl who, when deciding whether to say yes to a boy, is asking herself: "If I marry you, will I be happy or not?"

You’ve seen that when boys want to propose, they strongly emphasize this word: "I promise that if you allow your daughter to marry me, I will make her happy."

They don’t say: "If you give me your daughter, I’ll give her pizza once a week," or "If you give me your daughter, I’ll take her on a trip once a year."

Because eating pizza and traveling are secondary; the main thing is making her happy.

I heard a trader tell his client: "I promise you that if you buy this soap, it will lather so much, you’ll think you bought shampoo."

He was trying to emphasize the soap’s quality.

But dear friend, the person who is buying soap from you is probably a soap seller himself.

Does he want to rub the soap on his head just to make it foam more and feel happy?

No, he is looking to make a profit from the soap trade with you.

Is your main promise that the soap foams a lot?

The most important promise and commitment you should make is that if they do business with you, they will make a good profit from it.

Talk about that.

In their mind, they have questions of this nature that worry them: they fear they might not profit from working with you.

You need to address these concerns.

For example, they might be worried that you could be a fraud, take their money, and never answer their calls.

Or they fear you might take their money and not deliver the goods as promised.

Or perhaps you will take their money and deliver the goods late.

When you focus on these concerns, you’ll see that the root cause of all of them is that they are worried about losing their money.

Because whether you get their money or not, if you deliver bad goods, or even if you deliver good goods but late, it ultimately harms them.

Either their money is at risk, or their reputation or character is damaged.

In short, they are worried about losing.

But let me ask you: if they develop trust in their mind that working with you will lead to a profit, would they be foolish enough not to collaborate?

Thus, your main focus should be to remove their concerns about potential losses, in any way possible, from their mind.

It is not the case that even if you follow up, he should express everything he is thinking.

For example, a girl meets a boy and is worried about whether this boy will stay loyal to her or may cheat. However, she cannot bring herself to ask the boy, "Will you be loyal to me or will you cheat after marriage?"

Here, if the boy is clever, he can tell from the expression on her face, as they say, and understand her inner worries, and answer her, reassuring her.

But let's assume he is not that clever. It is enough for him to make the girl feel that she should not hesitate to ask even the most uncomfortable questions, and that she should not be worried.

In trade, it is enough to give your customer space to express their concerns without any fear or hesitation, because if they do not express them, they remain in their heart, and you won’t know what they are, and in the end, they won’t collaborate with you.

You just need to assure them that even if they have the worst suspicions about you, you won’t be upset.

I admire the Prophets of God, for how easily they gave people the space to express any suspicions they had, until God describes many of them in such words that their people called them the worst of names, and they responded.

The leaders of the people of Hud (peace be upon him), who were disbelievers, said to him, "Indeed, we see you in foolishness, and indeed we think you are among the liars."

And may my soul be sacrificed for the Messenger of God, for people would come to him:

And they said, "O you upon whom the message has been sent down, indeed you are mad." Surah Al-Hijr, Verse 6

God, to comfort His Prophet, says:

"And before you, We sent messengers to their nations, and no messenger came to them except that they ridiculed him.

Such is the manner and approach of the hearts of the wrongdoers.

They do not believe in the truths, and this is an enduring tradition from the beginning of creation."

Indeed, the Prophets also heard these consoling words of God, and their hearts were soothed.

Our respected merchant came angrily and said he wanted to leave the trade.

We asked, "Why?"

He replied, "A certain customer told me, 'I feel like you are a fraud.'"

We asked, "So what happened after he said this?"

He said, "He insulted my personality, my intelligence, my status, and my honor collapsed."

My dear, the Prophets of God heard insults and curses every day, but their honor did not decrease. A random customer says you are a fraud, and your honor is destroyed?!!!

You leave business, and poverty crushes you and your family, yet your honor remains intact. But when a stranger, whom you have never seen or known, speaks, your honor is trampled upon?

These are all whispers from Satan, who makes you believe that the humiliation and disgrace of poverty and being penniless will not break you. Yet, when a customer says something, you crumble as if you have been insulted by the king of seventy nations.

If accusing someone causes the loss of their honor, then the Prophets of God should have had no honor, for those servants of God were daily accused, insulted, slandered, and cursed by their closest relatives. Yet, this is the word of God, who says that not a bit of their honor was diminished.

The hypocrites said, "If we return to the city, we will surely expel them and turn their honor into humiliation. But honor belongs to God and to His Messenger and to the believers, but the hypocrites do not know."

So, honor is not something that can be taken away by the words of a few people.

They accuse you of things.

Are you really what they say you are?

No.

So why are you disturbed?

If the accusations against you are true, then be disturbed. But if they are not true, stay calm.

Just as when they accused Hud (peace be upon him) of being foolish and a liar, he responded:

He said, "O my people, there is no foolishness in me. Rather, I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds."

It is enough to firmly tell your customer that what they are thinking is not true, and then tell them what is true.

We have previously discussed this negotiation style: first, you must clarify what you are not, and then tell them what you are.

Here, you see that Hud (peace be upon him) first says he is not foolish, then says he is a messenger of God.

This is because the listener’s mind is occupied with worries like "What if this is true, what if that is true?"

Until you remove those concerns from their mind, they won’t hear what you truly are and what benefit you aim to bring them.

10. Conclusion

Thus, we have understood that follow-up must come from the trader, not the customer. If it comes from the customer, sooner or later they will sever ties, thinking, "They take my money and yet show no regard for me."

Esteemed businessmen, if this matter is not rectified by you, kindly let the women take charge of it.

You, esteemed ladies, if you are not followed up on in your relationship with your husbands.

If your husbands do not take the initiative to start a conversation with you, and you are always forced to take the lead, what feelings would you develop toward such a man?

You would feel exactly this: I want to distance myself from him and stay only out of necessity; if it weren’t for obligations, I would seek separation.

The customer feels the same way.

So, at the very least, correct your approach.

Then we said that in follow-up, what matters most is addressing their mental concern—assuring them that they will not incur a loss in dealing with us but will instead gain a benefit.

Additionally, we emphasized that even if the customer says the harshest things, it does not warrant losing composure or pretending as though our dignity has been trampled.

True dignity is trampled by poverty and financial ruin, not by words.

Otherwise, stay in trade, be wealthy, ethical, and compassionate toward people, and let's see who dares to bring down your dignity.

Always remember, dignity belongs to God, who grants it to His Messenger and the believers. It cannot be diminished by anyone's words or actions.

Be at peace.

Take a look at Arad. Week by week, its dignity increases, despite all the accusations hurled against it, both behind its back and to its face.

But praise be to God, for dignity is in His hands, not the hands of creation.

So, persevere confidently on the sacred path of trade, for God is with us.