When I was in sixth grade, age 12, I created two drawings that were selected to adorn the school walls during parents night – when parents came to meet the teachers and discuss how their child was progressing.
One of the colored drawings was of a Northwest Mounted Policeman on a house. The other was of the Taj Mahal. Interesting that I came to live in Canada for most of my adult life, and traveled to India for two and a half months to develop an Amway business.
My travel to India began when I sponsored my good friend Pankaj Chand into the Amway business in Canada. It must have been in the summer of 1995. He was referred by a nurse who worked at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener, ON. We hit it off immediately. Pankaj, and later his wife Rose, and son Arun have been in my life since, much to my blessings.
In a quip, I mentioned to Pankaj that India would someday be open for Amway development. He stated that when it did he would go there to develop business in his country of heritage. Without so much as a thought of what it would entail, I said, “Well, if you go, I will go as well”.
The date of Amway opening business in India became a reality in May 1998. Pankaj, Rajeev, and I traveled to India to prepare for the opening in March 1998.
Rajeev and wife to be, Suzy at Toronto airport getting ready to board our first flight leg to London. Rajeev and Suzy had recently returned from Disney World. I had asked Rajeev to purchase three Micky Mouse hats to bring with us on our travels, which he did. When we arrived at Heathrow in London, we were required to disembark, clear customs and board a second plane to India. While standing in line to access the second plane, I ask Rajeev for the hats and the three of us placed them on our heads. As the line approached the security check, the officer could be seen stamping passport documents and then look up to peer at the three of us in line. We were in suits and everyone else was adorned with India garb. We stood out beyond comparison. As we finally reached the guard, he stamped our passports, then could not contain himself any longer. He burst out with, “What are you doing with those hats?”. Being as we were in England, my plan had gone completely noticed as I calmly remarked, “We are the three Mousketeers. traveling to India”. Although he saw the humor, he had to contain his amusement as he just shook his head and said please pass.
Nothing in my previous travels throughout S. America and Mexico could have prepared me for what became my India excursion. Upon arrival in Delhi, Pankaj and I booked a hotel, while Rajeev went to stay with relatives in the area. Here is a picture from our hotel room the first morning.
Pankaj did his best to help me acclimate to the sights, sounds, cultures, and extreme time change in the first couple of days before we went in separate directions across the country.
The day we arrived, I went to the American Express office to obtain some local currency. As the teller handed me my cash, he said, “Happy Birthday!”. I was dumb founded. How could he know it was my birthday, so I asked him. He flatly stated, that is the day your American Express card expires. The look on my face must have given away my chagrin. He said, you do have your replacement with you do you not? I had to confess that in the chaos of preparation, I had not opened the mail that contained my replacement card. What followed was a testament to perseverance and guts on my part. I had to get a new card issued through Delhi, New York, and Toronto. The challenge was that because of the method to have it replaced, every time I used it for airfare, hotels, etc, it would be declined and American Express had to be called to verify that it was me using it and then they would authorize it’s used to the person making the charge. Now realize how a hotel employee in India would react when I would be checking out of the hotel, and say, now when you put this through, it will be declined, but don’t panic. We are doing to call this toll free number and they will authorize its use. Where upon they would call, while being extremely suspicious of me and this scheme. It always seemed to get to the same person at American Express, Rajeev (another one, of which there are a lot), who would ask to speak to me. I would swoon, Rajeev!, and he would say, Mr. Frank, so good to hear from you again, please pass the phone back to the attendant, whereupon, he would authorize the cards to use. This happened for twenty-five airline flights and more hotels than I remember, across ten of the twenty-five states in India. Needless to say, Rajeev and I became good friends by the time I left India.
Here are a few reflective notes that I made on the way back from India.
Transcribed notes made during and after two and a half months in India, developing an Amway business.
India #1 word – flexibility Don’t look left, right – stay focused, no comparisons with anybody, 25 flights, 10/25 states visited. Pay the price, $10,000, over 2 months away from wife and family Drive 1 hr to get an initial kit. Went with a mission. 1-Create plan showers in depth, not show plan, 2-Create urgency – looking for business owners while I’m here.
You’re so blessed here in N. America, air, water. People here are same as there – everybody wants tomorrow to be better than today and their family to be looked after – here the quiet desperation is exactly the same – just less obvious -they think they are OK – in India, they can’t try to fool you as much – just know they all want to come to N. America
The people are desperately looking for leadership. That is why they question you and give objections. When they question, the game starts. Handle objections in Plan:4 shifts in thinking. Mkt vs. Elect. Dist.Product pricing. Next step is your house, or come back here
Unsung heroes – Molly at home. When a string is taught, when one end moves the other end feels it. Molly was in trenches here.
Greg Lalonde – don’t give me (Molly & I) time splits, we are just going all out.