3 sales tactics that may (or may not) work for you

As many of you know, I was in Jamaica last week. Of course, it was absolutely amazing. I won't waste your time talking about the warm sandy beaches, or the clear blue Caribbean water, or the fresh-cut fruit I had every morning. No, instead this week's post will be dedicated to a sales story that takes place at the market in Ocho Rios:

This was my fifth time in Jamaica, so I've been to the market a handful of times (though it's been a couple years). The difference was that this time, I have a lot more experience in sales and marketing. So, it was interesting for me to see the different types of sales tactics they had going on. Here's what I noticed:

1. "The Suck-Up" The second I approached this woman's tent, she would not stop telling me how pretty I was. Don't get me wrong, it was quite flattering and I wasn't going to tell her to stop - but I knew exactly what she was doing. Did it work? Yes. But only because I really liked the "one love" tank top she had.

2. "The Switcheroo" I may have gotten a bit lost, and all the tents may have started to look the same, but I totally caught on to this guy. Some of the sales people would switch tents with each other.

So, for example, I walked by one tent twice. I was looking at this wooden crab, but the guy there didn't sell me on it. He wanted 8 bucks, and I was only willing to give him $5. So, I walked away empty handed.

A half hour later I walked by again, and there was a new guy sitting in the same tent, wooden crab in hand. "Don't tell my friend, but I'll give you this nice crab for 5 dollars."

Other people may have thought he was just being nice, but I knew they were in on it together, and were likely going to split the profit.

Did it work? Yes. Come on! Who doesn't need a hand-carved wooden crab?!

3. "The 2 for 1" At one tent, a man was selling bamboo beer mugs.

"How much?" I asked.

"For you? $10."

"5" I demanded.

Rather than going back and forth on price, this guy offered it to me for $8 and threw in a bracelet that I'll probably never wear.

Did it work? Duh.

I know what you're thinking - if you knew their sales tactics, why did you buy into them? Now before you get all judge-y on me I'd like to see you go into a market in Jamaica and come out not having spent a dime!

Plus, have we not realized how easily I'm sold on stuff I don't need?

Jeffrey Gitomer once said "people don't like to be sold, but they love to buy."

This is absolutely true in this case. It wasn't that I fell for their tactics - I knew exactly what was going on. I just wanted to buy stuff. Perhaps if they had caught wind of that, they would have gotten a lot more money from me.

In the case you don't have clients that will respond well to you calling them pretty, check out Dale Carnegie's Sale Advantage Course.

One love!

Hannah