THIS IS A LONG READ BUT WITH SOME GREAT LESSONS. WILL YOU READ TO THE END? Today provided a great reminder of some keys to success. As we say in the training arena, CONTEXT is more important than CONTENT as I will demonstrate through this note. Also, what do you think is more important? Due Diligence or Gut Instinct? I will give you my insight on that as well. So here I am in Bangkok, Thailand getting ready to start an MMI on Friday. My wife Roxanne and I decided to come a few days early and be tourists as she has never been here before. We Googled things to do and see while here and today decided to use the transit system as well as taxis and Tuk Tuks to get around and see where the day took us. After seeing a few sights we hopped in a taxi and asked to go to a certain venue. I realized quickly that our driver was going in the wrong direction and called up my Maps App and tried to tell him where we wanted to go. He was not listening and so I told him to pull over and we got out. We were dropped off near the King Palace and immediately became bombarded with vendors wanting us to buy their stuff every where we turned. All of a sudden a very nice gentleman offered to assist us with our touring. Since we were right near the King Palace we decided to go there, unfortunately he informed us that because we were wearing shorts and not long pants we would be unable to go in and would have to look at going the next day when we were dressed appropriately (context). At this point he suggested a few other temples that we would be able to visit as well as sight seeing spots, and because of the slow tourist season here (due to the unrest) we would not have to pay for any admittance (context). The gentleman was then nice enough to negotiate a great rate on a Tuk Tuk to be our guide to all of the spots as a taxi would be so much more expensive. He waved the Tuk Tuk down and gave the driver all of the instructions with the spots circled on the map. We were very happy and impressed with him and went about our journey. Most of the stops were for temples and he also suggested a place called the Export Centre where major gem dealers from around the world buy their sapphires. You have to be a dealer to buy gems here but they some times open up to the general public and allow them to buy at wholesale prices and duty free. We thought this might be interesting since we are here for our 25th anniversary and I would love to get something for Roxanne. The first temple we visited was the temple of the White Buddha or Sitting Buddha which was beautiful and quite with only 2 people there. As we were taking everything in we ended up striking up a conversation with an asian gentleman from Singapore who lives in London. As we talked we instantly connected and he was telling us about different things to do and see and we told him about where we were looking at going on the map. He travels a lot between London and Singapore but likes to stop into Bangkok and pick up jewellery at this Export Centre we were told to visit. In fact because they dont charge duty to the public at certain times it saves 195% tax and duty on up to 3 items per person. This allows him to buy nice stuff for his girlfriend and family while selling the other pieces to jewellery stores in Singapore at a discount to them and a profit to him. Another thing he likes about this place is that the prices are set so there is no negotiating needed to be done which gives him the best prices and saves a lot of time. In fact he had just been a the store that morning and showed us pictures of the 3 items he had just bought (context). He is able to make enough to pay for his entire trip but again on a maximum of 3 items for personal use (context). Of course at this point our Spidey Sense is going off but he seemed nice and we had a lot in common including having a friend in our hometown. Next we were off to the Export Centre. When we arrived they verified all of the information regarding the limited sale that ends today (context) and you are allowed the maximum of 3 items with no more of a value than $3500 USD each on our first visit (context) and started to show us some very nice items that seemed to be quite pricy. At this time I decided to start some due diligence and make sure things were legitimate. While Roxanne is looking at rings, earrings and pendants, I pull out my phone and google the name of the store. They are watching me very closely. Wouldnt you know it but I come across a story that reads almost identically to the one I am writing, right down to meeting a nice guy from Singapore at one of the temples. Their attitude changes and when we tell them that we are not buying and that we are leaving they are happy to get us out of the store. LESSONS: #1 They were good at setting a context to hold the space that unsuspecting tourists would believe that everything was legitimate including setting a limited time to take action, reasons why they can do the deals, how a person could afford the products and that there is no need for negotiating. Think about this, every person that does buy there ends up paying full, or more than full price which more than covers the costs of their team salaries, commissions etc. Even though they are using it for taking advantage of people, if used properly and ethically, a person could create great success by using the same context systems. The key of course is being legal, ethical and delivering a ton of value to your customers. #2 As I asked at the beginning, what is more important Due Diligence or Gut Instinct? In my opinion they are both just as important. Learn to listen to your gut and always do your due diligence when looking at business deals. Wealthy people will take the time to check things out especially if their gut is telling them that something is not quite right. In the example I just gave, not checking the company out online would have got us some nice jewellery but it would have cost us thousands of dollars more than they were worth. I hope these lessons help and I want to thank you for reading to the end :-) With Passion Robert Riopel
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 17:53:35 +0000
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