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When I left school I didn’t know what I wanted to do and ended up in electrical retail, selling just about everything from irons and kettles to washing machines, fridges, TV’s and cellphones.

I worked in a number of stores for 3 different retailers, over about a 6 year period. I eventually left because I got fed up with having to force those overpriced extended guarantees on people, but that’s another story.

I was one of those rare breeds of salesman who actually went out of my way to learn about the products I was selling, because I wanted to know what I was talking about, and be able to help my customers choose the best product for them.

Whenever it was quiet and I had the place looking great, I used get out the instruction manuals and learn all about the new products that had come in. If you’ve ever asked for assistance in an electrical retail store, I’m sure you already know that most salesman don’t have a clue what they are talking about.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I was the ‘go to guy’ whenever the other salesman had dug themselves into a hole and needed help. If a customer was on the phone or in the store, and didn’t know how to work something, I was there. If a customer was shouting and ranting and about to bite the managers head off, he’d pass them over to me and I’d have them sorted out in no time.

"I Knew The Service Would Be Very Popular,
But I Didn’t Know How To Make Money From It"

I knew from my own experience that people just weren’t getting the level of service they wanted from the electrical retail stores. I had this vision of me running my own business providing a much needed service, where people would ring me up and I’d talk them through stuff, and help them understand their new gadget.

The trouble was I kept looking at it from the wrong angle, and could only see obstacles with my idea. I spoke to about a dozen friends, and they all said they would use a service like I was proposing, but they would expect it to be provided for free by the retailer.

In the end I gave up on the idea, because I just didn’t know how to make it work.

Fast Forward About 10 Years And
Crispin Thomas Figured Out A Way

Unlike me Crispin wasn’t very good with technology, and soon realized how many other people suffered the same burden and needed help. Crispin’s idea was essentially the same as mine, but the big difference was, he looked at how he was going to profit from a another angle and on a much bigger scale.

He set up his company ‘Talk Me Through It‘ four years ago. Instead of asking the customers to pay, Crispin set up lucrative deals with cellphone manufacturers and retailers. Free vouchers are included with cellphones, allowing the customer to call the ‘Talk Me Through It’ call centre and get help from Crispin’s team of advisers.

This created a win win situation. The customers were able to get free expert advice from people who actually knew what they were talking about. In turn, this cut back on all the returned phones and customer service issues in the stores.

Crispin’s ‘Talk Me Through It’ service continues to grow and he’s expected to make £13 million, when he floats the company on the stock market next year.

If You Have A Great Idea But Can’t See
Where The Profit Will Come From…

I wanted to share this story with you, because it’s a great example of two people with the same idea, but with two very different outcomes.

It illustrates what can be achieved if you look at an opportunity from different angles.

• If you have a great idea, don’t give up on it without exploring a number of different options.
• Look at what’s being done in other markets to get ideas.
• Spend time brainstorming to identify companies that might benefit from your service or product, and consider creative ways of joint venturing them.

Where I went wrong is that I only considered the benefits to the customer buying the product, and overlooked how this type of service would also benefit the retailers and manufacturers.

For your reference you can find the ‘Talk Me Through It’ website here: http://www.tmti.net

Jason lewis