By Francis:
Growing up as a child, I was introduced to hawking at a very early age. I carried my wares on my head in search of my customers. During those years, I never knew that those experiences are culminating to a lesson that has today helped my marketing experience as a professional.
I believe you must have come across Hawkers before. You must have patronized one in the past, if not today. And I know each of those moments, there is a side of you that feels bad for them, or better put makes you see them as very poor individuals that are merely surviving.
Be that as it may be, I want to draw your attention to some lessons you can draw from hawkers and how to apply them to your business to generate more sales, more leads, more engagements, more sign-ups or whatever your marketing objective may be.
LESSONS ONE
They don’t wait around waiting for customers, rather they go in search of them. Have you seen a hawker who sits at a place with his goods and expects to make sales? No, I haven’t seen, and I am sure you haven’t either. They move from place to place towards the direction of their customers. They don’t wait for customers to come and meet them, they meet customers in their very locations.
Many business people and entrepreneurs have high quality goods or product that solve human problems, but yet are struggling to make sales. Why? They believe the product is good and thus must sell itself. It doesn’t work like that. You have to sit up and sell the hell out of whatever you are selling. Have you not seen those guys? They can even risk their lives to make a sale in traffic. Why? They believe the customer deserves it, and time and chance shouldn’t stop them from having those products. What are you currently selling? What products do you have? Are you making enough sales? Are you hitting your business goals day-in-day-out? If not what stops you? Why not make that sales pitch. Why not advertise that your product, why not shout about the awesomeness of your products at the roof top so that everybody can hear?
The next time you see a hawker, remember this, they are committed to making sales that nothing is strong enough to stop them from going out in search of their customers.
Jesus who was selling salvation didn’t stay in heaven to sell salvation to us. He came to earth and sold it to us. So why must you remain there with your product. Start looking for ways to sell the hell out of them.
LESSON TWO
Look for the Ideal market where your customers are.
Have you not noticed, that people who hawk carry their products to only places where they have tested and confirmed that their customers are? By virtue of trying out the market, they are able to accurately know where their target audience is, and once they discover it, they concentrate there. Have you wondered why some hawkers are only seen on traffic? You can never see them in the market or in the streets. Why? Their market is where their customer is, and that is in the heat of traffic. Think about it, where is your ideal customer located? What stops you from meeting them? Nothing should stop you from testing to know where your ideal customers reside. This will save you so many stress, money and energy.
Imagine if these guys with their level of understanding know about these things and they are applying it and it is working wonders for them, what about you? Imagine the amount of sales you can make.
I have more lessons from this series I would love to share. Don’t miss out.
To your prosperity,
Okechukwu Francis Okoronkwo
Wow. I love this, sir