If you have never been shopping in Mexico, the experience can be initially jarring. As you walk down a street (in a tourist area) you have person after person after person come up to you and beg you to come into their store. They might entice you by telling you their merchandise is totally different (which at a glance you can see is not true). They sometimes compliment you and tell you how their items will match your beauty. My favorite is the juke where they pretend that you know each other (they will notice your armband and say they work at the resort you are staying). You have to admire the hustle. On the other hand, after 50 people come up to you saying the same exact thing, you get really good at tuning them out. You get really good at saying no. You might even get a little more comfortable being rude. They have trained you to mistrust them. And by hustling through the marketplace, you might really miss some good things. It’s a shame, really. But it’s just too much. Though we might think that this is just “the culture,” I think all of us do this a lot in sales. We engage with prospects on a very crowded street (of competitors) and try to convince them why we are different, or better. We might make claims about our goods and service. We might pretend to be impressed with them. Heck, we might even pretend we know them. But we don’t spend nearly enough time trying to make our offering be better, or different or more valuable. On that very same street, a small bar and restaurant has an acoustic band. They are playing cover songs, but playing them really well. They have live music. And on street where there is activity galore, they are the only ones offering this value for free. Here are two questions: As a shopper, where are you most likely to stop? And as a business, how can you add that real value to make you stand out on a very crowded street? To make sure you never miss an update, please sign up for our VIP list here!
