YaatraSmart Diary -2. An old BENZ and a story of selling technology to non techies

We started SpeedyGaadi (previous post - YaatraSmart Diary-1) and later renamed the same to Green Gaadi.

Our customers were auto drivers and we need to convince them to buy/use our product - a fleet management software which can  save their time, increase their take-home.

We used to talk long hours with drivers as we were convinced that we were making a making a positive  change in their life, they used to nod all the time and we leave happily thinking that they are with us. Later we found that something going wrong.   Our customers are not doing what they agreed in our conversation. In fact we are losing customers without even trying our product.

There is something wrong about our understanding or we are not doing a good marketing job.

We come up with a plan to solve this. We discovered the following learnings along the way which we thought we would share

 Facilitating interactive 2 way communication instead of a one way monologue - If people are just hearing and nodding their head  may not mean that they are believing us.  Allow them to talk, make them to share their thoughts.

Avoid techie buzzwords - The more we talk in English, the more we use the buzzwords we could feel that we are getting disconnected from the crowd. Once disconnected they pretend that they are listening but their involvement comes down.

Prioritize points, Talk about current benefits then talk about the vision

  Many of auto drivers are struggling  for daily bread and butter . May not able to appreciate if we start showcasing our vision. Show them the what is available now. Once they are convinced and interested talk about how we are going to change their life . Also don’t go too much details.

Don’t assume they don’t know technology

We found few drivers are engineer at heart. From spare parts fixing/replacement to electrical fittings or even factory resetting an android device they are comfortable. They enjoy a special status in the driver community. Any technical issues other drivers get their opinion.  Give them respect. Once these tech savvy guys are  convinced they can be brand ambassadors for our products.

An old Benz and our brand building

We implemented above and saw visible changes. We could see that auto drivers are becoming the part of the system and interactions improved day  by day . But we still had a problem, the above said techie drivers are almost ignoring us. And while they do ignore, others has some doubts about our motives. Somehow we need to capture attention of these intellect leaders to make our life easier.

We interacted with few of them and found out that they couldn't trust, companies doing good for them. They already had some bad experience with tech companies - according to them earlier companies who promised the sky and recruited them to convince other auto drivers. but didn't keep their word. Companies used them for some time and left. 

So we  realize that we need to create a special image/brand to convince them .

One among my hobby was buying and maintaining vintage vehicles. I have an old benz in my garage. One day instead of taking my bike we took that benz to Majestic,Bangalore and stopped nearby an auto stand. While drivers were curiously watching Aparna came out from car and  started explaining  about our concept. I could see that a new energy forming there. Probably the Benz brand might 've gave us a rich status, and auto drivers may have anticipated more benefit /help from rich guys ;) .  

I started listening to auto drives chit chats. Few energetic auto drivers started calling others and told that”. Hi these guys are doing something good for us . They are not here for money, they are helping auto drivers. Come fast”. I think those words had a special effect, more and more drivers  came with a positive mindset. Could see more engaged listeners. This attract even those  intellects also. Pretty soon I saw that those drivers started explaining our product to other drivers. They had many questions and our duty was just answer their queries. We recruited some of those techie drivers as part time auto managers. Later those guys helped us to capture the market more effectively.

"Normal can sometimes be boring and everything needs a little bit of branding every now & then.. perhaps even some posturing to create interest and break the ice.....& in came our old tottering but loyal mercedes benz to our rescue"

 -Naj

(previous post - YaatraSmart Diary-1)