3 Valuable Sales Lessons From Visiting a Farmers Market in Rio de Janeiro.

So besides to sample or buy exotic fruits and vegetables or to simply take in the sights and smells, it is possible to get real sales lessons from this interaction between sellers and potential customers (In case of Rio de Janeiro, some Portuguese is required).

So, I would like to list my learnings from a recently visit to one of those farmers markets so it will save you years of Portuguese learning and perhaps a negotiation course from Harvard business school.

Lesson 1 Sampling , Double Sampling , Triple Sampling it …

While I was walking through the jungle of choices, I was often offered freebies just like it would be given to any consumers in shopping malls, supermarkets, retail stores in a city. However, what captured my attention is that sometimes I was double sampling , triple sampling the same product by the same vendedor. Definitely, that is not something that often happen in a mortal retail store using its best practices in a “food sampling manual” written perhaps in the 80s. The catch: By double sampling (sometimes triple sampling) the seller’s product, you end up creating a bond with the vendedor via sympathy and if you are not one of those who are “born to be a free rider” type of being, you will probably buy the product (if it tasted good) as a way to say “thank you” for the over and over sampling.

Lesson 2 The mental movie in every product ….

While I was sampling fruits and vegetables, I was taught by the street vendors the story behind every fruit I tasted it, where it came from, how did it get there, how he bought it etc…. that creates a mental movie for each product. As a consumer, I was mentally building a movie inside of my head trying to picture and link all the seller’s info. For people who sell commodities products like them (fruits and vegetables) that transform consumer’s perception and make a simple fruit a differentiated product.

Lesson 3 You pick, and it is always the best.

No matter what you choose, the vendedor will boost your “fruit wizard ego” by saying it is a great pick (This mango is top !) was what I heard when I choose one. Here I have learned that a real good seller will not take the decision for you, but support your decisions when you pick one.

That’s it 3 simple sales lessons but perhaps the most valuable lesson of all was this one: Most of us often want to buy from grocery stores, supermarkets, retails and “the Walmart’s of life” while in the city because of the convenience factor (laziness sometimes), but I’d really recommend you to visit your local farmers market next time to pick up not only fresher fruits and vegetables but also good learnings.