Ever tell a lie to sell something? Well, what if that were your ENTIRE sales and marketing strategy?
Let me explain…Just about everybody in the free world knows that I was recently vacationing in sunny Jamaica. Here’s what happened on our way back from the touristic Dunn’s River Falls.
Giving Is Receiving
Both my husband and I were greeted by two different vendors on different corners as we entered the falls. My vendor high-fived my 4-year-old and immediately grabbed a wooden turtle as a ‘gift’ and started carving his name ‘LOGAN’ on the back to gift to him. He then started carving my name on another turtle as another ‘gift’. When I refused to take them, he said ‘help an honest man make a living, give me a little tip, a little something’. Well, I ended up giving him $15 for those two ugly turtles. My husband was ‘gifted’ 2 scary looking statuettes with our respective names carved in the back for the bargain price of $20!
Genius Strategy?
The marketing coach in me never sleeps (or vacations) so when I noticed 2 other vendors ‘gifting’ us their trinkets, I started noticing a strategy. Then I took note. I actually interviewed the next guy who came up to us and asked him about his close rate (success rate of sale). He said it was 60%. I was floored. I asked about the 40% who refused to buy and how they salvaged the trinket after personalizing it. They said that they just scraped the name off and polished the wood back up again like new. I certainly learned something new that day.
What’s Good About Lying?
I learned that even in a developed market like ours where I help clients sell and market their services, I teach them the same thing as what these poor, uneducated men from a developing country have learned by experience-you have to give something of value to gain the trust of a potential client and then you have the chance to ask for something back.
I argued with myself whether it was a good strategy to lie to sell me 4 total trinkets that have served as nothing but a memory of an interesting sales strategy and fodder for this blog. I would’ve preferred to buy something that I actually wanted instead of being stuck with these atrocious finds. However, I have to admire the ingenuity and the value of giving first before receiving.
What are you giving of value to your clients that builds trust between you before asking for anything of them at all?
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