John Ilhan Quotes
120 John Ilhan Quotes
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You don't lose touch with the average Aussie battler. And a bit of honesty, honesty goes a long way, be honest with the customer.
John Ilhan
I dropped phone prices down and the market hated me, all my competitors just hated my guts.
John Ilhan
You can have your goals and your business but if you haven’t got loved ones around you like your family who love you unconditionally then what’s the point of it all.
John Ilhan
It was war. But you know you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to get a sale.
John Ilhan
If people say that business is not personal, you bet your life it’s personal.
John Ilhan
People can make the company or break the company…
John Ilhan
You have to take some risks.
John Ilhan
[On seeing again the two bedroom house he grew up in at Broadmeadows] It hasn’t changed much at all. It’s massive extremes isn’t it? My life has gone from one extreme to another.
John Ilhan
[On a tough childhood] It taught you how to deal with people. It taught me to make friends. I talked my way out of trouble. That’s why I’m a great salesmen I suppose.
John Ilhan
Can I sell you a phone?
John Ilhan
I was Strathfield’s best salesmen. I started making too much money and they started cutting my commissions. You can’t do that. Why would you commissions? They owed me a lot of money and they stopped paying me. And you don’t do that to your best salesmen. That started frustrating me. So I left.
John Ilhan
[On his parents remortgaging their house for $8,000 to help give him his start in his first business] For me it was almost like life or death. My parents house is at stake. So I had to get a sale no matter what. I had to think of all the angles all the best ways to get the sale.
John Ilhan
I took phone prices down ahead of their time and the market hated me. All the competitors just hated my guts. They slashed my car, smashed the windows, threatened my staff and leave notes on my windscreen saying ‘You’re going to die, we’re going to get you.’ All this sort of nonsense. Because I was hurting their pockets. Hurting their revenues.
John Ilhan
That’s what the message was I was trying to get out there. We’re crazy because of our prices and our phone deals. And it worked. We never spent much on marketing because the name itself said a lot. It caught the attention of the consumer.
John Ilhan
We used sport as a way to build our brand. Australian’s love sport. So we sponsored a lot of sporting events, football, cricket, netball teams, surf lifesaving. So sport is a really good way to cut through in business Australia.
John Ilhan
[On the house he built for his parents known as ‘The Castle’] I think it’s the only $2 million dollar property in Broadmeadows mate. So it wasn’t a good investment. It wasn’t to get a return.
John Ilhan
Mum’s always there… She’s the best mum.
John Ilhan
[On his parents] They were my backbone, they were everything to me. Anything to do with business or anything to do with personal issues I’d go and talk to mum and dad about it. They were my only mentors. I owe them everything I have.
John Ilhan
[On playing ‘pool’ and having a $17,000 pool table.] It’s a great game. Once again it’s all about the best strategy you see that will help me in business.
John Ilhan
She want’s to tell me about what I can buy. When it comes to big amounts because there’s things that she wants. She says ‘Don’t spend that money in the account, because I want that for the new home.’
John Ilhan
What’s success? It’s having a loving family. It’s not monetary. I’ve got three beautiful girls, now a boy. That’s where the wealth is. Being able to provide a good life for them. Does that cost you $200 - $300 grand whatever that may be. As long as you can say we’re comfortable. And that’s pretty cool.
John Ilhan
[To his newborn infant boy] Who has the best phone deals? [Paraphrased] My Daddy.
John Ilhan
When it comes to my business Crazy John’s, that’s my baby. No one can tell me what to do with that business. That is my trade. If I didn’t have my business what would I do?
John Ilhan
Do you know we are looking at opening 100 stores in New Zealand. It’s going to be a global business.
John Ilhan
There are hundreds of thousands of people out there. Why can’t all of those people have a Crazy John’s phone.
John Ilhan
I grew up in Broadmeadows. I went to Latrobe university and dropped out half way through the first year at university. It wasn’t for me. I was going through that teenage stage… I thought defer it for a year and go back. But I never went back.
John Ilhan
I went to the Ford motor company and stayed there for three and a half years… [First on the production line and later in sales] They all the promotions to graduates.
John Ilhan
I kind of fell into it not really understanding the risks.
John Ilhan
I thought one little shop would do and I’d just get on with it, it won’t be too difficult, I know the product. I did believe in the product.
John Ilhan
The first two years were quite tough… Once I was locked into a lease I couldn’t get out. Because who was going to pay for the balance of the lease? Mum and Dad didn’t have the money. I was basically in a situation I had to get out of on my own. Make it work. It taught me a lot of things…
John Ilhan
How to sell, what do I sell? Do I sell second hand phones rather than brand new phones?
John Ilhan
[On today] We have over 600 employees. We have over 100 stores nationwide… It’s the biggest [phone] retailer in Australia.
John Ilhan
With our brand because it’s a fun brand you can do some funny fun things… It’s caused some controversy of course… And it works.
John Ilhan
We get our mascot out onto the football field… It’s a bit naughty and it gives us great exposure.
John Ilhan
You need to differentiate your self from your competition otherwise you’d be the same.
John Ilhan
That’s what we do. We have a fun brand. Have a bit of fun. Do things differently. Give the customer a different experience
John Ilhan
Advertising a key. First to market with good offers. It’s all about the customer you see. You have a good offer to the customer. If you have good people selling the product, if you’re first to market. If the customer knows their getting good value.
John Ilhan
So the deals first. Back that with promotions and advertising. And the best people around you to sell those products.
John Ilhan
We try and employ the best people out there in the marketplace. So we go out and poach them. Obviously when I say poach them we go out and find the best people to employ experts in those areas. But internally we also train the young guys and develop them so they can grow within the organisation. Sales people don’t want to stay as sales people in a shop forever. So we can develop those guys to move into head office into HR, into advertising, administration so they’re the important factors. And a lot of companies don’t do that I suppose. Help to develop their young people to grow within the organization.
John Ilhan
[On why he doesn’t retire.] Why does a cricketer keep playing keep batting? It’s the same thing. What else would you do. You can’t retire really. You can’t play golf every day. You’ve just got to keep working until you’re eighty or ninety.
John Ilhan
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