Uping the ante

I wrote my last entry while sitting in my local tea shop enjoying a cup of tea and a couple of croissants, and as you could probably tell, feeling sorry for myself and trying to work out my next move.


And then the phone rang... my god! I had given up hope that my advertisement would deliver anything. So I'm trying to sound vaguely professional on the phone to a customer in the middle of a bustling tea shop at lunch time on a Wednesday, with clattering cups all around me. For some reason the customer didn't seem that distracted and was willing to see me the next day.

Suddenly I had to get my skates on... no more dilly dallying... I need to finish the proposition, print off some point of sale examples, and prepare for the meeting. Oh and I had to work out the customers location... Bollox! He's in deepest darkest bumpkinville! Why can't he be in glamorous west London???!

After bouncing the proposition off my business buddy, I went to bed trembling with a mixture of excitement of fear & hope. Hope that this would work. That this would be the breakthrough moment I had hoped for. That this would prove one way or another that my idea was good. But what happened if the customer didn't like it? Arghhh... My dreams were riding on the next 16 hours. Perhaps my whole life was being decided by the next few hours.


I met up with the customer (after a long & eventful trip!) and delivered my proposition. I could tell there was mild curiosity but was not getting a strong buying signals from him about if he really wanted this product. Looking back on it now, I think I had over sold it to him. I had made it too specific to his profession when in actual fact it was much simpler & wider than he was thinking. We chatted a bit more, and then I realised he didn't know I was offering him a no lose situation - basically I was going to guarantee his level of sales by a couple of hundred pounds AND he didn't have to buy anything off me. Suddenly his demeanour changed. He started to ask questions about how to make it work as opposed to the preceeding questions about its purpose and what was wrong with it. He had seen the opportunity - this was my chance.


He now unbelievably offered me more - his brother also ran the same sort of business and offered me an introduction to him, and he worked just up the road. Would I be interested in seeing him. I took the opportunity and this time made the sell far more simple. It was for everybody, not just a specifif type of person. I tapped into a general need rather than a specific condition! His brother really bought into it and started asking me lots of questions about how it worked, giving me loads of buying signals. In actual fact he made some additional suggestions about the product which I was like "why didn't I think of that?" and "He really wants that - that's loads of value to him, but little cost to me" (the Oxo cube / Treasure Chest scenario).


So I left there in a bit of haze. Both guys were up for the test. Both wanted additional things. Both had called my bluff. Now I had to deliver. Where would I get the Point of Sale? Where would I get a secure website? ARGGGGHHHH!!! Why do I always fly by the seat of my pants!!!!


Afterwards I spoke to my business buddy and he was over the moon. Our theory of making the first £100 was vindicated. I knew I couldn´t have done it without him, as every time he progressed I felt I had to push on, which in turn made me progress and in turn made him push on.


As if to confirm the feeling of constantly upping the ante, he emailed me the following day "I can't tell you how great it was to hear that your meeting went well. That is a truely momentous step!... it's my turn next to step up to the plate."


This is now a game of poker where both players could & should actually win the pot!