The Gloucester market was teaming with activity. From lunch, to jewellery, even strange wooden pendants – everything was available. This is real life shout marketing but the loudest voice doesn’t necessarily win. You need a strategy and this was best exampled by the optical cleaner who stood on the sideline.
His strategy was simple:
1) Place his stand near the opened doorway of the retail centre
2) Identify his customers (those wearing glasses)
3) Lure in his customers through a free test
Guess what, it works.
My dad walked out of the retail centre wearing his glasses (a prime target) and a soft voice came from the corner, “Would you like me to clean your glasses sir?”. The rest relies upon ratios between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ responses – my Dad said yes.
Standing at his stand the man proceeded to clean my Dad’s glasses whilst explaining the product. He had gained a captive audience, one who would not leave until he had finished his cleaning job. Once the glasses had been cleaned my Dad was impressed, this German cleaner was good and so my mum decided to have her jewellery cleaned.
The experienced ended with the man making two sales equating to £12 for 10 minutes of work. A tough strategy in the long-term but far more personal than the shout marketing efforts of fellow stands. Every product should come with a service, even in the Gloucester markets.
