What “Smoke Alley” can teach you about maximizing sales

Nov 18-23

La Ceiba, Honduras

“This is it, I’m sure. Look at all the smoke.” ?

Today, I am writing from an eco-lodge, in a rainforest of Honduras. Over my shoulder, I can see mountains rising 8000 feet a short distance from here. In the foreground are a profusion of tropical plants, towering trees and brilliant flowers of scarlet and orange. Buzzing back and forth are 4 or 5 species of hummingbirds, from florescent green to bright red. From tiny 3-4 inches to large, 7 and 8.?

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And we’re only a few kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean.

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I’m told that here is the origin of pineapples. That this ubiquitous fruit was exported to Hawaii. We North Americans, then buy the fruit from there. Sounds more sexy – Hawaiian pineapple versus Honduras pineapple.?

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I can tell you, however, that the pineapple here is the best tasting, freshest, juiciest I have ever had. Add a high-quality, local rum and you get a pina colada to die for….

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It’s an oasis after the hecticness of our past weeks in Mexico.

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While that country’s capital takes the cake for its crush of people, every other city too feels crowded with an infrastructure that is not capable of handling the everyday onslaught.?

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Mind you, it is what makes their centers so vibrant and the markets so interesting.

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One such market is aptly called “smoke alley”.

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We found it by accident, just across the street, but around a corner, from another large market. The latter with vendors selling everything from roasted crickets, raw cuts of beef, pork and chicken to every kind of vegetable under the sun.

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I happened to look to the right and saw a narrow alley just full of smoke. This has got to be it, I thought.

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Upon entering the dark entrance, you are immediately assaulted by the smoke, smell and sounds from dozens of small, open fires and coals, barbequing an array of thinly sliced beef, pork, chicken and chorizo sausages.

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Then you are bombarded by the cooks and their helpers, yelling and gesticulating, for you to sample and buy from them. Packed into every nook and corner were people doing just that. Having their lunch and afternoon meal.

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On top of this, are others selling you sauces and add-ons for your meat and then short little “grandmas” selling you their freshly made and hot tortillas, with which to eat your freshly cooked “asado”.

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It was an experience.

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What’s the lesson in all this?

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Firstly, unless you are absolutely the best, by a large margin, and have created a marketing campaign that lets the world know about it, thus drawing in your buyers because of your dominating position; you are better off joining and being a part of, a marketplace, where there are other players/competitors.

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Its why markets developed wherever civilization began, and people congregated. Buyers like and want variety and many vendors will draw prospects.

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This is great for buyers and for most sellers. They get traffic and if there are enough vendors and those vendors are good – a lot of traffic.?

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The challenge for the vendor then is; how to capture an adequate number of that traffic to make a decent profit.

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The top guys seemed to do a few things, slightly better. Here’s what they did.

1. They had sellers in the middle of the alley, working at directing visitors to their stall.?
2. They had packages of a selection of the meats they were cooking to make the choice easier.
3. The packages all seemed extremely inexpensive – thus a good deal.
4. They had areas just off to the side, where they could sit customers. Not all of the small businesses had this, so another advantage.
5. Once you had a place to sit and eat, the “grandmas” would come around and sell you their warm tortillas and the “seller” would sell beer, soft drinks and your “side” of sauces and addons to spice up your “asado”.

In a nutshell, if you don’t have a clear market dominating position, you need to have a clear and excellent selling strategy and process, by which you sell the buyer a main product and then increase the average sale via upsell and cross sell tactics.?

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Too few businesses do this. I know from experience that most could add an additional 30 – 100% to their profits if they did.?

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What about you? Are you maximizing your conversion of "traffic" to your store or business, then your sales per customer?

If not, why not??

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If you plan on doing so, when?

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Until next week,

Stay healthy and focus on profit!?

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- Hugh? The “Profit Accelerator” Expert

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