Stepping out of comfort zone.

"You sure ar, to let me speak at your event?!" i asked the organiser, Jack who has known me for a decade. ?

Doing presentations is our usual task as sales person but panel speaking is new to me. Standing in front of APAC countries reps presenting on SWOT, how to achieve sales quota, how to close gap is a yearly kind of routine when we were in medical & laboratory field. We got to stand straight and present proudly that there is only one scientific research university in Brunei, the clients have bought this half a million dollars machine last year, and hence, we are not expecting any deals for this business unit. (While Philippines partners mapping out their target of 100 machines in the same BU). Yape, we have gone through that and if Jack doesn’t worry about me ruining his event, JUST DO IT LA!?

Here are some of the interesting questions being asked during the event:?

1. What if I wanted to start business but I didn’t want to take care of the operational part (toilet cleaning, delivery, doing accounting, etc)?

I remember Sylvester (Traphy Sport Therapy) has answered this question. At the beginning, somehow business owners will need to do it themselves, until the cashflow is stable and able to outsource. But Sylvester mentioned the flow of work, which I fully agreed. You just got to experience it yourself so you are able to understand the time needed, the effort you need to put in and how it will affect the flow of work, or even how it will affect your capital management. It’s easier to pitch if you understand the A-Z of the business.?

2. Do business owners have “me-time”??

Interestingly, the speakers share different opinions. I guess the answer is different depending on the stage of their current business. Fahmin (Synapse BN) is actually enjoying both his work and me-time because he just enjoys looking at the screen. When?you are in love with your business, it doesn’t matter if it is work or personal. ?

3. I’m glad to have a question directly attention to me where it said, what are the differences between selling?physical products and now selling services? (Thank you very much for asking, it meant a lot! I’m thankful you guys are actually listening).?

No difference, to be honest. From reading specification sheet, package insert, check thru tender requirements to now attending never-ending internal courses in IWG Academy, reading case studies of other centers, highlighting important points of TnC, it’s all about treating myself as a client and thinking what kind of service I would love to receive. It’s difficult at the beginning because connections need to be re-built and are still being built. Often, people buy from you due to your reputation and way of handling. ?

I had a great session yesterday and I'm giving myself 5/10. I failed to create as much resonance (interaction) as other speakers. And I actually shared my point of view as an employee when this talk was about Developing Entrepreneur Mindset. This group of audience is yet to decide whether to be an entrepreneur or continue to be employed in their career path. Shared with them, I knew myself doesn’t have the personality to be a boss, and thus I strike hard in my employment. Hope this sharing could provide a little help.