By Martin Mundus Uwakwe
All my life, I have only been used to one type of suya - the beef suya and just recently, I was introduced to a different kind of Suya - the Ram suya and I can bet you, it's the second-best thing after fried plantain. You should try it😁
If you grew up in Nigeria, chances are that you have patronized a Suyaman before in your life. Chances are too, that your first taste of SUYA was from an uncle, aunt, or elder siblings and you probably didn’t get more than one or two pieces plus some onions, you remember right?
Interestingly, some of the best lessons about marketing that I have learned were from Suya sellers and I will go ahead to share them.
You see, the art of selling is highly psychological. While Psychology explores human nature, the psyche, and why people behave the way they do, selling/advertising explores the art of influencing human behavior to make certain purchase decisions.
The Suya seller most probably did not attend any business school but has mastered this art effortlessly.
What are you giving out for free?
When you stop by to buy Suya, it is most likely that the suya seller will welcome you by offering you a piece of the meat to ‘taste’. It doesn’t bother him if you leave after ‘tasting’ the suya. He knows from experience that you will most likely end up buying from him. There’s a law in Psychology called the ‘law of reciprocity and it states that if someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return.
Another angle to look at this is that people want to always make sure they are making the right purchase decision. A lot of people are scared of the “what you ordered” vs the “what you got” situation. Offering them a portion of your product/service for free is probably all you need to close a sale.
A few years ago, I used to sell Past Questions & Answers (for job recruitment and scholarship test) online. One of the biggest concerns my would-be customers had was the issue of trust. They were scared of making payments and not getting what they paid for. I had to apply this strategy by putting up a set of questions for free on my website. I would withhold the answers to the questions and ask them to make a payment if they are okay with the materials.
Guess what happened? Sales skyrocketed.
My mentor Akin Alabi did this with his book - Small Business, Big Money. He put out the first two chapters of his book online for free and allow you to decide if you want to buy the full book or not.
The ‘big players’ also understand this strategy. Apple is doing this with its 6 Months free trial for Apple Music. Youtube Premium also has a 1-Month free trial.
Whatever you have got to do to close that deal, do it!
Are you giving out Jara?
Everyone likes Jara. We (Igbos) call it ‘Nmezi’ while the Yorubas call it “Eni”. I was introduced to the concept of Jara very early in life as I followed my mom to the market on several occasions. Customers always want to get more than they pay for and they are usually very happy and excited when they get one.
This is why the Suyaman is very willing to offer a few pieces of meat to you as Jara. He knows you will likely come again because of that offer.
As a digital marketer, I use bonuses to help push undecided customers into making a purchase, and the easiest thing to offer as a bonus is a free complementary product or service. For example, if you are running an e-commerce store, you might decide to run a two-for-one offer.
I once worked on a digital marketing campaign for a real estate company last year and offered a bag of rice as a BONUS to everyone who made payment for a piece of land. Did I tell you that the cost of the bag of rice has already been factored in and included in the cost of the land? You didn’t hear it here.
My advice - know your numbers very well and your profit margin and be sure you are not making an offer that will leave you in ’severe pains’.
Finally, I have been wondering why all of my life, I haven’t seen an Igbo man selling Suya. I haven’t seen a Yoruba man sell it either. Maybe the ability to make good suya comes factory-fitted in the DNAs of our northern brothers. Lol!
Regardless, we have come to the shared consciousness that it's the exclusive reserve of the Northern people! If a Yoruba man decides to start selling Soya tomorrow, would you patronize him over a Hausa man? Establish Authority!
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