When
was the last time you sat in a town bus in a village and enjoyed the
surroundings ?– life at small towns can be leisurely and enjoyable !! -
The recent trip to Nagercoil provided
ample opportunity and this post is on the persuasive selling skills seen ! ….. in every bus stand, vendors would get
into the bus selling – biscuits, condiments,
plantain, guava, pineapple, orange and other fruits; water packet and
cool drinks, ground nuts and many other eatables; something like towels,
shirts, nighties too. A few years back, in every bus stand, there were small
shops selling lottery tickets. There were so many Raffle deals, mostly from
North Eastern States – some companies made big fortune selling tickets – which
people would easily buy dreaming to become millionaires. It helped small time vendors which included
blind and handicapped people was the only solace, though many were losing big
chunk of their salary - getting addicted to single number lottery.
Nagercoil
(நாகர்கோவில்) is a municipal town and administrative headquarters of
Kanyakumari District. Locked with the
Western Ghats on all sides, it was a part of Kerala, the erstwhile Travancore
state, till almost a decade after India's Independence from Britain in 1947. In
1956, it was merged with Tamil Nadu. In its earlier days, the town and its
surroundings were known as Nanjilnadu. Nagercoil came under the rule of various
kingdoms, notably the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms, at various points in
time; historical records reveal that these kingdoms fought over the control of
the fertile area of Nanjilnadu and Kottar, a town mentioned in old Tamil
writings and maps of ancient India. The
town came to prominence during and after the reign of Maharaja MarthandaVarma,
the king of Travancore, the capital of which was Padmanabhapuram, about 20 km
to the north of Nagercoil.
There are two bus
stands in Nagercoil – Anna bus stand and Vadasery bus stand. Long distance
buses ply from Vadasery.
Selling
is an art ~people are trained on selling skills for marketing the products
better. There are dozens of selling skills that sales people should know. From prospecting to calling, presenting,
highlighting and persuading them in to buying there are various techniques
adopted. Yet people struggle to meet their sales
targets is also a fact. Modern day companies go a long way spending huge
amounts to get databases of prospective customers, seeking referrals,
cold-calling and the like to sell. They
try to promote their products with advertisements in print and visual media,
trying to make their presence felt and trying to create a brand awareness.
One may never
understand for example, a company manufacturing tyres for aircrafts,
advertising on television – who are the target audience and what they are
trying to impact ? – there are surrogate advertisements – there are many
attempts to create an impression in the subconscious mind – the name, the
brand, its perceived quality and more.
From the handheld presentations that Medical representatives used to
carry to glitzy powerpoints, there are various presentation modules and skills
to captivate customers. Developing a
connection is still important in today’s sales environment even though we rely
heavily on technology. People still buy from people.
As I sat patiently
for the bus to start, a middle aged man looking lot pleasant and cheerful,
boarded the bus and went around surveying – looking for a seat, one first thought. As the bus filled up – he stood in front –
firmly placed to capture the attention and started with a majestic voice.
He positively spoke
about our beloved APJ [Dr Abdul Kalam] who was born in the neighbouring
Rameswaramisland and rose to great heights.
He reeled out his achievements of the missile man, right from his birth,
education, becoming the President of India, being conferred Bharat Ratna. He eulogised APJ for his humbleness and
greatness.
The small speech of
note more than 2 minutes was heard with rapt attention – then he asked people
around – on whether they knew authentic details of the great man. People do know APJ but not details with
authenticity. He started distributing a
book titled ‘life history of Dr Abdul Kalam’ – telling people that they can
have a look at the book, even if they do not intend buying.
The sales pitch
reached a crescendo – he told the audience that from now on, all interviews,
selection examinations and GK contests – would have Qs on APJ for sure and it
is imperative to know factual details, as contained in the book. The book which was priced at Rs.50/- was
being sold at Rs.20/- to benefit the common man.
I was
really impressed by the selling skills, the honest attempt to earn, of this ordinary person ~ and brought a couple
of books. ~upon telling him that the purchases are being made more appreciating
his approach and skill – he parted a pleasant smile.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
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