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A Little Story About Sales

Release date:

2020-04-02

Marketing is essentially the process of identifying needs and fulfilling them, so in our sales efforts, we must bravely spot mistakes, correct them promptly, and continuously strive to improve and surpass ourselves.

The story is about an elderly woman who goes to the vegetable market every day to buy vegetables and fruits.

One morning, she arrived at the vegetable market. She encountered To the first vendor, who was selling fruit, I asked: "Would you like to buy some fruit?" The elderly woman replied, "What kind of fruit do you have?" "Come on, I’ve got plums, peaches, apples, and bananas—what’ll it be? The old lady replied, 'I’m just about to…'"

The vendor quickly rushed to sell plums. Introducing this plum—it’s red, sweet, and extra-large—truly delicious! The old lady took a closer look and, sure enough, it was just as described. Yet, she shook her head instead. Didn't buy it; I left.

The elderly woman continued to wander around the vegetable market.

Encountered a second vendor. Like the first one, this vendor also asked the elderly woman what fruit she wanted to buy. The lady replied that she was looking for plums. The vendor then asked, "I’ve got plenty of plums here—some big, some small, some tart, and some sweet. Which ones would you like?" The old lady replied, "I’d like to buy the tart ones." "Hey, vendor," I said, "these plums of mine are super sour—want to give them a try?" The old lady took a bite and sure enough, they were tart as can be, instantly flooding her mouth with saliva. Though she couldn’t handle the intense sourness at first, the more she tasted it, the happier she became—and promptly bought herself a whole pound of plums.

But the old lady didn’t go home—she kept wandering around the market.

Encountering the third vendor, again, I asked the old lady what she was buying. She replied, "Plums." The vendor then asked, "What kind of plums?" and the old lady said, "I want sour plums." But he was curious and asked again, "Everyone else is buying sweet, big plums—why do you choose to buy the sour ones?" Plums? The old lady said, "My daughter-in-law is pregnant and craving something sour." The vendor immediately replied, "Old lady, you’re so kind to your daughter-in-law!" The vendor asked again, "Do you happen to know what kind of nutrients this pregnant woman needs most?" The old lady replied, "I have no idea." The vendor then said, "Actually..." Pregnant women need vitamins the most, as they’re essential for supplying the developing fetus. So eating sour foods alone isn’t enough—she’ll also need to take extra supplements. Vitamins. Among fruits, kiwifruit is the richest in vitamins—so if you want to keep your daughter-in-law healthy, you’d better make it a regular habit to buy her kiwis! That way… "Well, make sure your daughter-in-law gives birth to a beautiful, healthy baby." Upon hearing this, the old lady was overjoyed and immediately bought half a kilogram of kiwis. "When the elderly lady was about to leave, the vendor said, 'I set up shop here every day, and I always bring in the freshest fruits—so fresh, in fact, that you’ll want to come back next time.'" Come on over and buy from me—plus, I’ll even give you a special discount. From now on, this elderly lady buys her fruits here every day.

The first vendor was eager to push his product, completely failing to ask about the customer’s needs—instead, he simply assumed his offerings were plentiful.

Well, in the end, nothing was sold.

The second vendor was smarter than the first in two ways: first, his initial question was far more insightful than the one asked by the first vendor. First, it’s a facilitating type of questioning; second, after identifying the customer’s core needs, he doesn’t immediately recommend a product—instead, he delves even deeper. Identifying customer needs. Once the customer's requirements were clearly understood, he recommended the right product—and naturally achieved success.

The third vendor is a sales expert. His sales process is highly professional—he first identifies the customer’s deeper needs, Then, inspire the customer to feel a strong desire to fulfill their needs, and finally recommend the right product to meet those needs. His sales process primarily… It’s divided into six steps: Step 1: Identify the customer’s basic needs. Step 2: Use in-depth questioning to uncover the reasons behind those needs. Step 3 Step 1: Inspire customer needs; Step 2: Guide customers toward solving their problems; Step 3: Present the solution; Step 4: Close the deal. Establish customer relationships afterward.

Marketing is the process of identifying needs and fulfilling them, so we must be bold in our sales efforts. Identify mistakes and correct them promptly, continuously improving yourself and striving to surpass your own limits.

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