Swimming with Asian Sharks - Business Secrets from the Pacific Rim

It's Not What You Sell, It's How You Sell

The key to a good presentation is preparation.  I heard once that before any keynote presentation, Steve Jobs practiced months in advance.  While having dinner with Mr. Market, I picked up on the fact that we were to present LoyalPlus at the meetings the next day.  This was a new development, and we didn't have any slides ready.

After our dinner, Mr. Physics and I returned to the hotel and got to work preparing the slides.  It's important to cover the five Ws when making a presentation: who, what, where, when, and why.  If you are given even more time, the "how" can also be explored.  With this template in mind, we were each able to create our own presentations.  Mr. Physics would present the company as an overall picture, and I would present the technology.

We spent the next few hours presenting to each other, and correcting the slides to fix the flow.  Once we were satisfied we called it a night, as every good presentation starts with a good night's sleep.

We had two meetings this day, one with the managing director for a large credit card company, and with one of the largest loyalty programs in Malaysia.  Before our meeting, Mr. Physics and I ventured to try the local street food.  Just behind our hotel, there was a block of metal shanty huts, serving all manner of breakfast.  They were bustling with life, as people dressed in apparel from rags to suits came to eat.  All the restaurants consisted of rusted metal roofs, and cramped seating areas. Their saving grace was the delicious food.  After walking up and down the restaurants, we settled on a mixed noodle shop, where we were able to get a variety of bean curds, tofu, and vegetables all in one bowl for two American dollars.

After breakfast we met Mr. Market's friend, the managing director of a large credit card company in Malaysia.  I was impressed by the number and level of connections Mr. Market has created over the years.  Even though Mr. Market and his friend had not met in many years, Mr. Market was still able to influence him.

In the meeting, we did a micro pitch of LoyalPlus, summarizing the entire company in a few sentences, to Mr. Market's friend and we found out more about the situation and strategy of this credit card company within Malaysia.  This meeting is a warm-up meeting, to re-establish bonds, and test the waters for a potential future partnership.  It is a very useful tactic to keep your abilities fresh on the minds of people who can afford it.

After our meeting with the director, we started to walk over to the loyalty program's office.  The program was large enough to have its own point exchange centers, similar to a bank, where you can come and exchange your points for various goods and services.

After we were greeted warmly we were shuttled into a large meeting room.  Our expectation was that there would be about five people who would come and view the presentation.  To my surprise, over 15 people from their company came to see the presentation.  I took extra care to get everyone's business cards, and one tactic to remember their names, was to arrange the cards in the order of their seating.

Directors and VPs from every department had come to see this presentation.  The final person to show up was the President, and he was quite the character.  He greeted the three of us with a warm smile, and began talking to Mr. Marketing as if they were long-time friends.  It turns out that they had only met on Skype, and this was the first time they were meeting in person.

After the President gave a presentation of the company, it was our turn to present.  Mr. Marketing was first to present, which was well rehearsed.  He was followed by Mr. Physics, who also did a good job.  When it came to my turn, the practice and preparation paid off.  The crowd was paying attention and had some good questions.

What really broke the ice was when I started demoing the technology; the director of sales noticed the fake Android smartphone I was using in the demonstration.  It appears that the smartphone market in Malaysia had not taken off, and he was very impressed by the 5-inch screen.  A trick I learnt from Mr. Princeton was to have lots of technology.  The crowd will likely forget the presentation content, but they will remember the fancy equipment you used, and hence remember you for bringing it.  Instantly the crowd broke out into discussion and good cheer, as if the device were a puppy or a baby.

Some key takeaways were that the president of the company was listening extremely carefully and attentively; he had the qualities of good leader and he was able to joke with his staff, purely party jokes, not so much the staff laughing because the president was telling the joke, but jokes that were quite witty.  The president was able to make people feel at ease shortly after meeting him.

Practice pays off. The more you prepare the better. It was lucky that both Mr. Physics and I had given similar presentations before, so it was not hard to pull off in the short time we had.  The other point to take away is how you can measure a company's strength by the number of bodies.  As in any negotiation, have as many people on your side of the table as possible.  It allows for things to happen quickly, and gives you a massive presence.  Having a large team has many other benefits, as they can often cover for you when a question is asked that you don't have an answer for.  The physical intimidation of the large group make it harder to be cheated as well.