While relaxing, rejuvenating, and regrouping on Akumal Beach, Mexico
Every twenty minutes or so, there would be a beach vendor…
I kept trying to figure out how they were getting to the resort…
Resort security in Mexico is top notch…
You need a passport, itinerary, and all sorts of things to get past the barricaded fence and security guards…
But these entrepreneurs found a way around that…
The beachfront is public property…
So they would walk miles and miles up the beach front and peddle their wares…
They picked specific days and times, so not to annoy the guests…
They had a program…
Just what the heck does this have to do with IP?
Let me tell you the story…
So my wife & I got used to telling these guys no politely…
But one particular vendor, Miguel was a master entrepreneur…
He didn’t ask us do you see something you like…
What do you want…
He engaged with the emotion…
What are you guys celebrating…
Birthday, anniversary…how many years?
Do you have any kids?
What are their names?
Do you see them here?
Our kids names are unique and uncommon…
He picked up on that quickly…
This is when I learned that Miguel knew how to sell more than his products…
He understood how to sell his IP…
He said, what are you kids names?
I will make them these beautiful traditional Mexican bracelets customized for their names…
This will take me about 10-15 minutes for each one…
Let’s negotiate the price…
I didn’t beat up on the price too much as I respected Miguel’s hustle…
I know these probably cost $5 but he was selling me on the personalized service…
And his personal intellectual property which was his Know How and Expertise…
He could do this in 15 minutes per name…
That’s valuable…
After we agreed on price…
Miguel let us know he was going to move along the beach to sell more products
But he would continue working on our custom order the whole time…
💎Great lessons from Miguel the beach merchant entrepreneur…
💎Teamwork makes the dream work
Miguel passed along some of his products to his friends/coworkers so they could move up and down the shoreline while he was stationary making our custom bracelets…
This way, the selling never stopped…
💎Miguel didn’t stop at trying to sell his products…
💎Emotionally connect with your prospects
💎He took genuine interest in connecting with his customers…
Then using his know how to meet their needs…
He was very patient and respectful…
Once he closed the sale, he negotiated a delayed delivery…
Then continued to make other sales while working on delivery
A lot of times as business owners and startups, we focus too much on one aspect of business and forget that:
✅Selling never stops
✅Sell now, negotiate delivery later
✅Take genuine interest in your customers
✅Learn their needs
✅Always be respectful and patient with your customers