Likeability and transactability

Yesterday I had an unusual encounter in Wailuku (in Maui). I went to a garage sale with a list of things I wanted to get. Nearly 2 hours later, I bought things that were not on my list.

• Shower curtain $4: I already have one.
• Orange, red, and yellow striped table cloth $3: I don’t need it. My table is just fine without it.
• Hamilton Beach hand mixer $5: I don’t plan on baking.
• Cucina table top blender $5: I’ve never used anything like this before. Not sure if I can make green smoothies with it.
• Bronze over the door coat hooks $2: I’ve never used this before, but the owner convinced me it’s very useful.
• Orange mug $2: I thought the owner was offering a mug for the above, so I chose my favourite colour.

To use the above items, I’d have to wash them first (except the bronze hooks) and create opportunities to use them. I’d have to find space in my apartment in Hawaii to store them until I find use for them. What I really wanted were book cases and a bed (mattress etc).

What happened? The owner did an amazing sales job on me. She nearly sold me her used water filter container, small kettle, fruit basket, and other things that are not THAT important right now. I am still wondering how I spent $20 and 2 hours on buying things I did not want. I can only conclude that she is a brilliant sales woman.

She was persuasive but not pushy. She seemed well-connected. She was helpful. Most of all, she was likeable. I enjoyed listening to her talk about her life, her 15 years on the island, and her passions, interrupted by her attempts to sell me everything she owned so she could get out of here.

I concluded that her likeability made me vulnerable to transact with her. I became a buyer of her goods without intending to.

Maui-based search engine optimisation (SEO) and communications expert Bob Sommers, also known as the likeability guy, created the concept of likeability. He postulated several laws of likeability which he examines in a series of articles on his website. They are short and easy to read. I will learn tons about how to deal with strangers and get them to like me and engage my piano guitar duo. His article “How to be dislikeable in one easy step” is a must read for everyone who is competent but comes across as being arrogant —- a common misperception of talented but introverted musicians and professors.

People tell me that art, ornaments, and clothes are hardest to sell at yard sales. I remember a golden piano clock I had bought brand new while touring the west coast of England. It was handmade and interesting. As soon as I brought it home, I saw there was no place for it in my Victorian cottage in London. Friends who visited remarked that it was kitschy. At my open house declutter sale, I was surprised that somebody wanted to buy it as a present for his wife.

Piano clock sold in London

Dare I conclude the following:

• You can be likeable on the telephone. This is what makes cold calls work.
• You can appear likeable on stage. People will come up to you when you get off stage.
• You can be likeable via e-mail. People will want to reply to your e-mails and carry a correspondence with you.
• You can be likeable in a chat such as MSN messenger or skype.
• If you come across as a likeable person, even strangers would go overboard to help you.
• Every time you appear likeable, you increase the chance of getting what you want.

Audience development: the art of creating demand

One of the worries a seller has is how to get buyers to want your stuff. The things you sell may bear history and laden with value to yourself, but they are absolutely meaningless to a stranger.

Similarly, musicians and concert producers love their music. They too worry whether enough people will show up. How do they get people to come to a concert? Posters and invitations may not suffice.

Audience development means getting people to come to an event. It’s also about creating demand. There are many alternative ways to spend a Saturday evening in a big city. How do you get someone to choose you over other possibilities?

The keyboard and guitar that found new homes

How is this similar to a garage sale?

I spoke to a lady at a yard sale today about how I managed to get rid of my things to free myself to leave London for the Netherlands. I held an Open House, baked cakes and cookies, and invited my neighbours and friends to visit. All four rooms (living room, dining room, bedroom, and study) were filled with things I wanted to sell.

One man’s medicine is another man’s poison. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Nobody wanted to buy my flowery summer dresses or conservative business suits. I had to think of innovative ways to get rid of my stuff.

Spend at least 5 pounds and get the solar calculator for free. The solar calculator and various knick knacks were giveaways at the conferences I attended. I didn’t care about the calculator at all. I did not know that this offer was attractive until I spotted a bassoonist selecting various paperback books to get the 5 pound total. He got his solar calculator.

My friend, the late London-based architect Ayyub Malik desperately wanted a piece of cake. I told him he had to buy something first. There was nothing he wanted except for a piece of cake. I encouraged him to buy an umbrella that he might need (in case his broke). He got his cake.

How do you get people to want something? How do you get people to buy what they do not need? Or what they do not realise that they need or want?

The answer: find out what they really want.

A concert is not just about the music. An economist told me so. “If you think people come to your concerts just to hear you, you are wrong.”

People go to concerts for all sorts of reasons.

The trick is to find and give reasons for people to come to your concert.

[Note: this blog post was inspired by my visit to two yard sales in Maui. People go to yard sales to get things at a discount. Some people go to discover what they did not know they needed. For instance, I bought a shower curtain even though I already have one.]

Local knowledge, inside information, community building (part 1)

Part 1: Yard sales, garage sales, moving sales, open house

Newcomers without affiliation or local connections, such as tourists or short-term visitors to Maui, depend on published and public information to get around. They pay the highest prices for the fewest choices. Locals know where to do their shopping, when to avoid the queues, and how to negotiate the best deals. Newcomers don’t have that advantage.

Public and published sources such as newspapers, free ad-based bulletins and magazines, posters, and online websites are not the earliest or most comprehensive broadcasters of information. There is an inverse relationship between information availability and value — the more available it is, the less valuable.  I don’t know how true this is, but I’m finding out on this island of Maui.

This morning we woke up early to drive to a Yard Sale.  Also known as garage sale, it is a popular American phenomenon but very uncommon in the Netherlands. In the latter, it’s a national activity conducted on one day of the year — Queen’s Birthday on 30th April.

In the USA, people open up their garages or spill over to their front gardens and sell anything or everything, whether they are leaving home or not. You can spend your weekends on a yard sale shopping spree, the way the English do pub crawling on a Friday night. Some people make a habit of visiting yard sales, often queuing with other fanatics before the doors open at 7 am. Some of these folks resell the items at their own yard sales.

Freshly brewed coffee and well-marked signs (mentioned in Craigslist website) lured us to upcountry Wailuku. I had expected a lot more items on sale. We were a day too late. The sale started yesterday morning. Only motorcycles, martial arts tools, DVDs, and other items I did not need were left. While trying in vain to find something I wanted to make the uphill drive worthwhile, I overheard Robert asking about good beaches for surfing. I was curious how the family made a living on the island, given the high cost of living and the downturn in the economy. As nobody else was about, we learned a lot from chatting with the owners who had moved to the island 4 years ago.

We left with a desk lamp for $7 and a snorkeling set (flippers, snorkels, mask, and shoulder bag) for $5.

On the way back, we spotted two boxes on both sides of the road: MOVING SALE. Again, we were too late. Most of the things had gone the day before. But this did not stop us from making conversation with the owner who told us the importance of filtering our water and other local matters.

One can see that a yard sale is not just about the quick disposal of possessions at a discount. It’s also a way for newcomers to find out things that are not mentioned in guidebooks such as shopping tips to save money in a place where it could easily become unaffordable. The average price of petrol at $4 per gallon is considered the highest in the USA, despite being only half of what we used to pay in the Netherlands ($8 per gallon).

Like house concerts, yard sales are places where people gather and chat. Information is exchanged. Communities are built at a very local level. Of course, this would be less likely if the seller is moving and leaving the place for good.

I am reminded of my own attempt to declutter and empty my home in London to move to the Netherlands years ago. I baked cakes and cookies to lure people to visit and stay. Not everything was sold or given away. I got to know my neighbours better. Letting go was the hardest part. Perhaps that’s why I still keep the photos online.

Declutter sale - open house