The April Fool Prank that went right – 2014
VaultLife has its international launch 5 April 2014 so when we asked Bryan Pinehro and Donovan Black to pack for Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Nigeria they were none the wiser.
We explained to them that we could not send in the USA sales team. The quote had come back and the American medical aid and emergency evacuation insurances were too expensive. In addition the USA embassy had issued a cautionary to any USA citizen wanting to travel to these three countries.
They looked at us. We continued. .
We told them we would have to send in South African citizens who could take the heat i.e. Bryan and Donovan!
They nodded thoughtfully in our boardroom at 9am on 1 April 2014
Once in the various countries they would have to travel alone. They would be given a large amount of foreign currency that they could use at their discretion to get themselves out of difficult situations on the road. As Ebola, ecoli, yellow fever, malaria and blackwater fever are rife in these countries they needed to have a full set of inoculations before leaving.
They nodded thoughtfully.
They are asked to phone their parents to bring their passports so that we could start the visa applications.
Bryan spoke first. “Mike, I have committed to making 100 calls a day to recruit new VaultLife members. Please ensure that the phone I’m given has international roaming so that I don’t miss my targets while overseas”
Neither of them flinched although their eyes told a different story.
I value loyalty above anything else but I was blown away. These guys had what it takes. They have the passion and they have the vision. Doing business in Nigeria was do-able because they believed in their mission and in their product offering. Wow. Now there are brand ambassadors. The excitement of VaultLife overtook their fear of Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Rwanda. They knew they could tell the story and sell the dream.
At 11:45am they returned to the boardroom and began the visa application process. They filled in page one. They filled in page two. They turned to page three which only had two words ie April Fool.
We all laughed till years ran down our checks but I knew I had witnessed something special. Well done Bryan Pinhero and Donovan Black.