In my early years of high school, precisely my first and second year in high school, I stumbled upon the knowledge of “how to sell, sell and sell” or should I say the knowledge of “how to sell, sell and sell ” stumbled upon me. But one thing I am very sure about is that it still amazes me that I never knew that that opportunity was going to help me later in life and till now. Just like me, you can also learn from the experience of this ordinary 13 year old boy.
In those days, I go to school with my elder brother who attends a different school not far from my own school.In the wisdom of my parents, they give us transport fare in a currency denomination that compels us to share same bus to school even on days we have a fight!We developed our own way of working around it and on such days when we have a fight,there is an unwritten code: each of us must mind his own business, face his own way and we each end up trekking to school!!And the transport fare? We share it 50:50!!
But there comes a problem.How do we convert the currency note into lower denominations for each person to get his share?
It is in a bid to solve this problem that the situation gave rise to an opportunity for the 13 year old boy to acquire his business experience and stumble on the knowledge of how to sell, sell and sell.
For illustration purposes, I will share with you the step by step approach he took and relate it to the business knowledge taught in business schools or the one you read in business books.You can use this same knowledge to sell, sell and sell.
I used my share of the transport fare to buy a particular type of sugar cane(called Ireke in my local Yoruba Language) I had once bought and enjoyed. I hoped to resell the ireke to my classmates so I can recover my money.
To sell, the first knowledge you must acquire is a superior knowledge of your product or service.This is an obligation you owe yourself and your prospective customers.To achieve this purpose, you must daily work hard to develop, acquire and improve your knowledge about your product or service in particular and relate it to the competing product or service in the industry that you operate.As a 13 year old boy,I relied on my intuition and knowledge of a particular type of sugar cane and I bought no other type of sugar cane apart from that one because I know that
type of sugar cane I want to sell.To sell, your deep knowledge of your product or service counts.
Sunkanmi Vaughan is the host of ‘Bizlifelines With Sunkanmi Vaughan’ on radio and author of the most comprehensive business opportunity handbook; ‘1000+ Practical Business Ideas and Directory of Money Sources’