The news on Thursday, November 21

6. Promotion of God to Honest Traders

Let me first bring you two narrations to get your heart warmed up for trading, then I’ll mention an important point afterward.

See how God excites people through His promotions via the language of His Prophet, urging them to become traders.

It is narrated from the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) that He said:

The truthful merchant will be sheltered beneath the shade of God's throne on the Day of Judgment.

And it is narrated from Imam Sadiq (AS) that He said:

Three groups will enter Paradise without reckoning: A just Imam, a truthful merchant, and an elderly person who spent their life in obedience to God.

Similar narrations are found in Shia and general books, and the number exceeds one hundred narrations.

A question has been occupying my mind that I would like to share with you.

Why do we not have narrations about builders, carpenters, barbers, and honest service providers?

Why are there no narrations about honest workers or employees?

Why is it only a truthful trader who will enter Paradise without reckoning?

Why don’t truthful university professors or teachers enter Paradise without reckoning?

If there are any noble individuals who know narrations about workers, employees, teachers, drivers, or any other professions where truthfulness, honesty, or other good traits lead them to enter Paradise without reckoning or be under God’s throne or join the Prophets and Martyrs, please let the author know, as I do not want to die in ignorance. Despite my research, I found that this virtue is exclusively attributed to traders.

Why do we not have any good narrations about bankers, cryptocurrency traders, stock market participants, and other investment markets? In fact, every narration about these professions leads to punishment and hellfire.

I share this so that our belief in commerce becomes stronger, because belief in economy and trade is the first and second principle in Arad.

7. Pay Close Attention to This Point in Negotiations.

Write an important point down on paper for yourself.

Starting a conversation is difficult for people.

You can test this by asking people around you to talk about themselves for a few minutes.

You will see they can’t.

And strangely, when you tell them to introduce themselves, they will give you one response, which is:

You ask, and I will answer.

That means it is very hard for people to be the initiator. However, if you ask them, they no longer need to start; you do, and it becomes easier for them.

With this introduction, let’s move to a negotiation example.

The customer says: Hello.

Your response: Hello.

And you say nothing else.

Now, who should start?

The customer.

It doesn’t matter whether you say Hello or Hello, Good day.

Although adding "Good day" feels better, it doesn’t solve the problem of starting.

When you say "Hello" and don’t add anything else, it means the customer needs to start again, which is hard for them.

By just giving you the first greeting, they’ve already done well. From here on, don’t ask them to initiate again. Help them to be the one who responds instead.

Pay attention to this example.

Customer: Hello

You: Hello and good day. How can I assist you? What can I help with?

Since you asked a question, it’s easier for them to continue the conversation.

In reality, in this situation, he is not the initiator; rather, it is you who must take the lead, and he should follow your lead in the conversation.

According to official statistics, more than 99.7% of people are followers, meaning they do not have the mentality of being the commander or the first in line.

You, as traders and business enterprise owners, need to learn to be the commanders and lead them behind you.

Whenever a conversation reaches a point where it seems like it’s ending and the customer should initiate the next topic, understand that the likelihood of failure in the negotiation increases.

Always strive to be the initiator.

You’ve always heard that greeting brings seventy rewards, sixty-nine of which are for the one who greets, and one for the person who responds.

This is also a form of promotion that God uses to encourage believers to be the initiators. However, most people either don’t pay attention to these narrations or only apply them in the case of greetings. But if you look deeper, you’ll see how these narrations apply in commerce.

Therefore, we must always be the initiators, and the customer should be the one to respond to us, making the negotiation easier for them.

If the conversation reaches a point where they must initiate, and they don’t, the conversation will end, and you can expect to lose that customer.

8. Proper Effort in the Right Place

In the previous discussion, we mentioned that all of us, the Aradi members, share a common belief, which is in economy and trade.

And our struggle, meaning our effort, lies in seven key areas:

1. Increasing information
2. Expanding communication
3. Promotion in customer acquisition and motivating the target community in negotiations and follow-ups
4. Supply of goods
5. Logistics
6. Financial transactions and transfers
7. Independent media

If a new member who joins Arad today dedicates themselves to these areas, they will reach a suitable position in all seven within less than three months. So, please, if it seems complicated or difficult to you, know that it is a trick of Satan to frighten you. Otherwise, these words, although heavy for the general public, will soon become a pleasant melody for us Aradis in a short time.

To effectively advance these seven areas, you also need management, as without management, the work will become difficult.

Now, if we combine these two beliefs with the seven areas and add management, we reach the number 10, which corresponds to the ten commissions of the Arad Branding Policy Council.

If Aradi traders strengthen their connections with business enterprises, and if business owners do the same, and if business owners get closer to the Policy Council members, and if the members of the council, under the supervision of senior managers and Dr. Mohsen, Vice President of the Council, adjust their performance accordingly, remarkable events will occur, which I will explain further.

The first question is, is this difficult or easy?

It is very easy because we have all committed ourselves to trade.

Our days and nights are intertwined with commerce, and if one day we step away from trade due to life’s circumstances, we return even stronger to it the next day.

Now, the second question is, what happens?

All businesses will thrive.

Everyone in Arad will be successful.

Everyone will experience billion-dollar sales.

And all of these are the results of us Aradis.

How many factories have called upon workers, who were previously laid off, to return to work due to the trade and exports of us Aradis.

Every day, new people eagerly enter the world of commerce.

Our foreign representatives, when they see our efforts in Iran, will promote and market for us even more.

And all of this will lead to saving the country's economy from its current, cancerous state, God willing.

So, we just need to stand firm and make the right effort in the right place.

9. The Place for Silence and the Place for Speaking

A merchant must be able to speak where their expertise lies.

Where does our expertise lie?

In economy and commerce.

The more we are able to speak within this domain, the greater our negotiation power becomes.

Our ability to establish trust increases.

By speaking about economy and trade, our credibility rises significantly.

If we cannot speak on matters of economy and commerce, we cannot truly claim to be merchants or have a business enterprise.

People will question what kind of merchant cannot speak about economy and trade.

Speaking itself comes in various forms.

The most challenging form is speaking at a conference or seminar, where you stand on stage and hundreds of people are present, waiting for you to speak.

If it's your first time, you might find it difficult to breathe, sweat excessively, and struggle to utter a single word.

A step down from this is participating in panel discussions and gatherings, such as those we hold at the World Trade Center or in working groups with ambassadors and foreign representatives.

A level below that is engaging in B2B meetings.

Even simpler than that is speaking in virtual meetings, since they are not in-person.

The simplest form is speaking on the phone, where you have just one audience.

And the easiest form of all is chatting.

Arad's emphasis on leaving comments has various reasons, one of which is for negotiation practice.

When you are unable to leave comments on a website, chatting becomes even more challenging for you.

Speaking on the phone and other mediums will be harder as well.

However, when you practice commenting, you’ll find that each day your ability to engage in chats, phone conversations, meetings, and even in-person discussions improves.

If you find it difficult to leave a comment on a piece of news that covers multiple sections, simply select part of the text and comment on just that segment.

If your personality is more like that of a honeybee, you’ll pick a beautiful section of the text and write about it.

If your approach is more like that of a fly, you might choose a less attractive part of the text and write about that.

Regardless, practice expressing your opinion on economic and commercial topics.

Would you like me to share a secret on how to speak the most profound words about economy and trade?

Stay silent on everything that is not related to economy and trade.

If someone discusses culture, say, "I don’t know," even if you do, and pretend to be ignorant—acknowledge that while you might be knowledgeable, you claim no expertise in that area.

When politics comes up, say, "I don’t know".

If someone asks for your opinion on relatives, say, "Allah knows best," indicating that God knows them better than you do.

Practice staying silent about things you do not wish to become a brand in.

Do you want to become a brand in politics and culture?

Then remain silent on those topics.

Do you want to become a brand in economy and commerce?

Then, wherever you are, make sure you have an informed opinion on these matters.

Let people say that you are an expert in economy and commerce, and mute on everything else.

This is the essence of being a specialist.

This is something that is increasingly rare among the public and officials.

If you adopt this approach, you will shine like a treasure in a desolate desert, standing out and catching the eye.

Therefore, speak on economy and commerce, and remain silent on all other matters.