The GDI Story - Mike and Alan Go to Samoa To Make Their Pitch
Mike and Alan, landed in Honolulu where they boarded their connecting flight to Samoa. Everything was going right, they were prepared to present their proposal to the government of Somoa, and they were finally beginning to relax. Then, three hours into the flight the pilot announced the plane had encountered some mechanical problems. The landing lights on the plane were not working, and there were no repair facilities open in Samoa. As a result of this problem, the pilot turned the plane around and headed back to Hawaii.
"We were completely dejected," Mike said. "All of our preparation came to a screeching halt … all because some light bulbs weren't working!"
Once the plane landed safely back in Honolulu, the glum business partners entered a deserted Hawaiian terminal.
However, Lady Luck must have smiled on their enterprise as an Air New Zealand flight that travels to Samoa only once a week happened to be at the terminal. It was scheduled to leave in less than 45 minutes.
"We were shocked and thrilled. I've never run so fast in my life!" says Alan.
They hopped onto the Air New Zealand flight hoping this plane's landing lights worked!
Our two intrepid heroes eventually arrived at their destination with only two hours to spare,
"Mike was looking a bit ragged but I looked good," Alan says with a laugh. "We went over our presentation one last time, trying to get into the mind-set as to how a true Samoan would give the presentation."
All the appropriate government members were present as Mike and Alan pitched the Prime Minister on the fact that the domain extension they presently owned, .WS, would be perfectly suited to market worldwide. With the correct marketing idea behind it, they told the PM, there was no reason why the .WS extension could not be recognized as "the" major alternative to dot com.
Everyone representing Samoa studied the 20-page proposal that Mike and Alan had actually finalized on their midnight flight from Honolulu.
HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY
"The Samoans do things with a great deal of trust and understanding of the people involved," Mike says. "Because of our due diligence, we knew that providing a detailed legal agreement might have actually worked against us. So, the clincher was more about the fact that we came across as sincere and honest."
"We needed to give them reasons to trust us," Mike continued. "I believe we did just that."
A subsequent visit to the King's home was possibly the clincher which helped cement a relationship they hoped would become long-term.
"He was a kind, gentle person, concerned that what we wanted to do was in the best interest of his people," Alan said.
The meetings between the two company officers representing Global Domains International (GDI), and the Samoan officials ended on a congenial note with Mike and Alan satisfied that they had successfully completed the task they had set out to accomplish. Since their flight was not leaving the island for a few days, they slipped into vacation mode, spending the time they had left exploring Samoa's beautiful, pristine beaches and lush tropical forests.
Now certain that negotiations had been concluded and that all they had to do was wait for confirmation, Mike and Alan flew back to the States. Unfortunately, they actually waited another few months, only to eventually learn that their proposal had, in fact, been rejected.
When one company comes up with a good idea, it often happens that others recognize its value as well.
What happened was, that after making their presentation, no less than a half dozen companies from the United States and other countries also requested and were granted an opportunity to offer similar presentations to the Samoan government. By the time all this had taken place, so much time had passed since Mike and Alan's initial visit, that it was just about inevitable that the Samoans would be deluged with other information, including claims of potential profits by other groups wanting to do a similar deal.
"I wanted to give up," Alan said. "I felt we had given it our best shot, but it just wasn't meant to be."
Lucky for them, however, Mike had another idea.
Mike got busy and tracked down the local Samoan government's majority-owned technology company that had ultimately been granted the domain contract, and placed a call to its General Manager.
"The company was local on the island, so I had a hunch that their ability to market the domains globally would be limited," says Mike. "I had to change my way of thinking. So, I pitched him on the idea that we should partner together, and he accepted."
