Leap Walking

I just sold two of my cars recently, in preparation to move to the UK. The first car was a Perodua Kelisa, a locally manufactured supermini with a 3-cylinder 1000cc engine that’s simple, affordable, and popular. The second car, a 8-year-old Alfa Romeo 146, is an Italian made sedan that looks like a hatchback, drives like a tourer, sings like a diva, and requires more TLC than your average Toyota. This is a useful case study for passion vs. pop.

The Kelisa was easy to sell, but I didn’t get my way with pricing. There were hundreds of other Kelisas waiting to be picked up. I decided to settle for a quick deal, instead of haggling over price. This was despite knowing that I would be receiving a dozen more calls over the next few days about the car.

The Alfa was different. There were a very unique set of potential buyers. Most of them were Alfa owners previously. To other buyers, I had to explain the car to them, and describe its “Alfa-ness”. The person who ended up buying it was someone who previously owned an Italian car, understood its dynamics, and set his heart on getting one. It was about waiting for the right candidate. I didn’t have to flinch on price very much.

Job searching is very often like this. I want to move from a very common job role as a software programmer to a very niche role as a usability engineer. For me to get a job as a programmer is dead simple, but I probably won’t get my way with salary or benefits. As I set my sights towards becoming a usability engineer, I know that what I’m getting into will only attract certain hiring companies, with work conditions that are suitable for the role. The only issue is preparing myself, and waiting for that opportunity.

Without divulging too much information, that opportunity came knocking on my door recently. And in a place where no one hires usability workers, my profile stuck out a mile high.

My point is this, for everything you’re trying to sell – your employability, your car, your idea… whatever – there’s a market. And there’s a strategy for that sale to take place. You just need to position yourself in the right way, in order to communicate the value of the sale.

The point I didn’t make, however, is when you’re stuck in the Dip – the point between passion and pop, as described by Seth Godin. If you know you’re in the Dip, you have two options – find your way up, or find your way out. The hard part is finding out if you’re in the Dip or not.

While I was attempting to sell both cars, I wasn’t sure if I was in the Dip. I wasn’t quite happy that I quit really soon about the Kelisa. I quit fast and settled for a price I wasn’t that comfortable with. But now I’m glad I did. I wasn’t willing to take the hassle to deal with all the other buyers who were looking for quick wins. It wasn’t going to be worth it. So I quit, and went with the first buyer.

But for the Alfa, I didn’t quit. I held on to my price, because I knew it was a good price, and that someone out there was willing to appreciate the car at that value.

Nobody’s going to remember that I sold the Kelisa for the price I did. But everyone will remember the great deal I got on the sale of the Alfa. I get to keep my story. I managed to navigate both of my dips.

Navigating your own dips are very important to achieving your goals.

How well are you navigating yours?

I was manning a demo booth for my job at an exhibition the last three days, and had good opportunities to talk to all sorts of different people there. I was basically selling, even though there wasn’t a price tag involved. This made it a bit tricky to present, because most people assume you’re selling something with a price.

Selling without a price helped me a lot. I forced me to understand what the audience wanted, instead of assuming right off the bat. I also had the freedom to explain what we were actually promoting, instead of focusing on demo features.

Engaging the audience

Public speaking is not like regular talk. At different points in the presentation, I had to ask my audience what industry they were in, their experiences related to the demo, more or less trying to tease out who they were and why they were at my booth. I did that by making a guess, and by asking generic questions like “what industry are you based in?”. I also made it a point to introduce myself and what the booth was all about. Like I said, most people expect a point of sale, but I had to clarify it wasn’t.

Comfort zones

To me, public speaking isn’t really about coming out of a comfort zone as it is trying to find a new one. You see, once you get the hang of speaking to a stranger, you can speak to ANY stranger. Because strangers will start to look pretty much alike. Sure, it hurts to look stupid when you fumble over lines and such. Maybe you can do what I did – do away with lines altogether. Ask real questions, like, what does the audience want? Who am I to the audience? Stuff that you usually don’t ask yourself, because it’s too common sense.

Surprise yourself

There’s no way you can guarantee a sale. You can only find out who’s interested in what you’re talking about. Which is why people are prepared to pay the cost of a sale, which is the cost of doing the talking. You never know when you’ll make a connection until you start talking.

I surprised myself when people I thought had absolutely no reason for being at the booth signed up for more information about our program. They would not have signed up if I had not explained to them the gist of what the booth was about. And even though I didn’t walk them through the demo, they signed up anyway.

Screw the process

This totally screwed up the “process”, which was to draw in the crowd using the demos, then convince them to sign up for more information. When I explained the idea to them, who I was as a presenter, and asked them about their background, I had a far better response than trying to tease them in with fancy features. Of course, the demos were necessary, it created the perfect backdrop to the conversation. But it’s never the centerpiece of the show. The presenter controls the show, and the audience navigates through the messages.

Don’t lose the plot

It’s always okay to “just present the demo”, and not explain the purpose behind the show. People will sit and listen for entertainment’s sake. They’ll let you finish your sentence. They’ll be nice. But you’ll lose the plot. You’ll go back, asking yourself, what in the world was that all about, and so will your audience. The audiences’ response may not match up to expectations, but don’t ever lose the plot.

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