EPM First Sale Story Ian Chong Starbucks, typical hustle and bustle with people in line and folks chilling at the various tables and counters. Waiting in line thinking about an initial chatterbox, I see a guy with his nose six inches from his laptop screen typing furiously, with assorted empty latte cups and several Starbuck cards scattered on his table. A typical sight in these environs. I look at him with interest and subtly target him, thinking of how to start up a chatterbox. I get my coffee and saunter over to a table next to his. Coincidentally he has paused, sat back in his chair and begins massaging his wrists and forearms, while opening and closing his hands. He casually looks up as I sit at my table and nods at me in casual acknowledgement. “Working hard?”I said. “Yeah, I have a deadline.” I look at his screen. “I see you are a code puncher. Who do you work for?” “Expedia” I ask “Your wrists hurting?” He replies “Always.” I do a mental fist pump! My Micro-niche sitting right in front of me. I say “I know you computer jockeys put in a lot of hours.” “Yeah, I’m working on a software patch, have to be done in a couple of days. Boss is on my case.” “Well do your sore wrists make it tough to keyboard, especially under deadline?” “Oh Yeah!” At this point I begin my presentation. “You know, there’s a specific reason your wrists hurt. It’s because of the position you take as you keyboard. Your have specific ulnar deviation, finger extension, and both are held in static loading by your forearm musculature which pulls the specific tendons connecting your fingers and palm through your wrist, especially through the carpal tunnel on the bottom of the wrist as well as through the volar ligament on the top of your wrists. That’s why you have continual pain. Your wrists and forearms are under constant loading.” I proceed to show him some anatomical diagrams from my book that I always carry in my shoulder bag, illustrating specifically the causes of his pain. He says “Are you a doctor, or physical therapist or something?” “Yeah, I’m an “or” something”, and in presenting my EPM title, “I take away peoples computer pain.” “Can you take away mine?” “Sure” I launch into my EMP chatterboxing. “I’m launching online coaching course to help folks like you eliminate their keyboarding pain. Do you think that would benefit you?” He says “Look, I work 12-15 hours per day. I got no time for online courses, I got minimal time for family. I barely have time to sleep and eat. Right now, I can’t schedule anything other than my work. My job depends on it. Can you do your thing right here?” I though for a few seconds. “Yeah, I can.” “What’ll it cost?” In thinking about a quality product and a guarantee, I said “Tell you what. If I can reduce your pain right here, right now, I’ll do it for one of your Starbuck cards and you can tip whatever you think it’s worth to your wrists and forearms.” “Deal.” I said, “Now that you understand what the problem is, lets begin with the solution.” I flipped to the specific wrist solution pages in my book and showed him how to fix his problem. I then pulled out of my shoulder bag a special split keyboard that would solve his problem. I just happened to have it as I was returning from a project requiring this special prop. I plugged it into his computer and showed how the separation fixed his pain generating postures, but the keyboard was still on the tabletop in front of his laptop. I placed a clipboard in his lap and put the keyboard and his mouse on it successfully pulling his arms and hands into a body-neutral posture, with an immediate significant reduction in his symptomology. When queried how much of a reduction he experienced, he said about a 50% immediate reduction. He asked if I marketed the keyboard and where I could get it. I replied that I did not sell equipment as it is a conflict of interest, but it is available on Amazon. He immediately went on the web, found it, ordered one and became excited his pain would be lessened in two days, He then asked where he could get my book “Barnes & Noble? “Amazon” I replied He immediately found it and ordered a copy. He then said “Thanks, and I gotta get back to this software patch.” He handed me a Starbucks card, pulled out his wallet and gave me a $100 bill. Mission Accomplished! Quite a success for 20 minutes of work. But I slipped up and didn’t provide a business card or do a referral pivot. Well ,at least my contact information is in the book. . Next time I’ll be sharper.