3 Sales Tips From Bali

I went to Bali for the first time to relax and balance the equation between work and play. Whilst doing so I observed a gentle race of people who are masters in the art of relationship building and selling. The Balinese!

Let’s explore the three universal sales laws observed by the Bali locals.

Sales Tip No. One: Define your target market

Some might say the Balinese will hound anyone to achieve a sale, and yet, I observed a more targeted approach. They have a simple criteria…

 1.   If you haven’t yet got a tan… you’re a newcomer and your worth approaching because you may not understand the bartering game… you might pay double the going rate!

2.   They observe what you are not wearing… and approach about that item. For example, one day I ventured out without wearing my glasses, and was approached by approx. 20 people selling sunglasses. It didn’t happen the days I had the sunnies on! I was constantly hounded about shorts and t-shirts - until I bought one set and wore them shopping…end of hounding!

No matter what the product, service or market, the Balinese put some thought into a set of criteria that must exist before they will waste their limited amount of time approaching potential clients. By doing so you will increase your conversion rate of prospect to order, and dramatically increase your effectiveness.

Call to action: Have you and your sales colleagues spent some time defining your target criteria?

 Sales Tip No. Two: Know your ratio’s

We had escaped the heat in a local bar when we were approached by a guy called Wyn. He asked if we would come to his shop, and once he finally accepted that we wouldn’t budge, he did accept the offer for a cold drink from us. 

 Over a coldie, we discussed his sales philosophy… “Simple…” he said, “it’s a numbers game. If I approach 20 people, one will come to the shop. I need to get 10 people into the shop of which 7 will spend an average of 300,000 rupee. It’s just a numbers game.”

Effective sales people track and know their key conversion ratio’s. They know their numbers, and can therefore pro-actively determine the amount of activity that will be required to achieve the result. So my advice to you is to track and measure your key numbers and start getting ahead of the game…instead of playing catch-up!

 Sales Tip No. Three: Build Rapport

People do business with people they like! The Balinese understand the power of building rapport and getting on the same wave-length as the customer. Sub-conscious rapport occurs when we reduce differences and increase similarities. One waiter at a Legian Beach-front cafe took the time to talk to us… to get to know our likes and dislikes. He effectively built strong rapport!

Where do you think we ate on a regular basis?

Call to action: Have you honed your rapport building skills lately?

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Yours in sales success

Ian Stephens