Customer Care & Sales Techniques from El Jibarito de Adjuntas
I try to find lessons in how many people handle business and this is the first post out of two posts I plan to do on a man who can teach many of us awesome sales techniques but a good example on building a community of customers.
Searching for Coffee in The Mountains of Puerto Rico
I love coffee and I was searching for coffee the a few months ago so I decided to take trip up to Adjuntas that is north of Ponce, PR my hometown. We went up to Adjuntas stopped at coffee place and found Coffee that was ok under my standards. It was not what we where looking for but it served its purpose and was better coffee than what we found elsewhere.
Since we have a huge issue finding quality produce in our supermarkets we where scouting the side of the road on the lookout to find fresh vegetables and fruit stands. We spotted a small stand with very colorful fruits and vegetables. The fruit that was standing out was known as a pitihaya (also known as dragon fruit). We spoke to the gentleman better known to others as “El Jibarito” (real name Angel) from the car and he was full of so much energy that we had to get out of the car.
His Greeting Captured Us
Once we where out of the car he quickly packed our Breadfruit that originally it was going to be our only purchase. Lucy and I found the “pitihaya” to be very curious I had never seen one and asked “El Jibarito” what it was.
A business relationship lesson and a Fruit Sample
Angel quickly gave us an explanation on how it is eaten, the nutritional value, and even medicinal properties it has and quickly convinced me to take a few to sample them out. Where I was amazed was that Angel quickly stopped me from my purchase and opened one for Lucy and I to taste.
Angel states that although he was there to sell fruit and vegetables his main purpose was to be able to build his trust so I would return many times (increasing his Frequency part of the FRY model my friend @thebrandbuilder speaks about in Social Media ROI: Managing and Measuring Social Media Efforts in Your Organization (Amazon Affiliate Link)).
Increasing his Yield
Once we tried it and amazed by his way of seeing things very similar to mine I decided to buy a few more which ended up in him increasing his Yield (items purchased by transaction.
A Quick Sales Pitch for every item
Although I took a few more Dragon fruit Angel took the opportunity to make sure I left with some other stuff he had a 10 second pitch for each item on the table something many of us including me lack. I ended up buying enough plantain to share with family and friends (even a few spoiled since I bought so much).
Once we took off Angel sent us on our way letting us know that we did not need to stop feeling committed to buying from him. But it would be great if we come and say hi to him every once in a while because he loves having good relationships and meeting new people.
Many of us could learn a lot from Angel but overall I have to say that in just a few minutes there where so many lessons to be learned it became a bit overwhelming