Many Lessons in Business from the Prickly Pear Seller! (Part Two)

In the first part of this article, we mentioned some marketing lessons naturally applied by prickly pear sellers, and in this second part, we will continue these lessons.

Regarding pricing among prickly pear sellers, it’s a big school of learning.

You’ll find they offer three sizes of prickly pears, each with its own price, ranging from 1 to 3.5 EGP depending on the area. Usually, most customers avoid the smallest size and prefer the medium one because it’s larger and the difference in price with the large one isn’t worth it.

This is a pricing principle based on the Decoy Effect, which means the large size exists to boost sales of the medium size. Big companies follow this principle, and there have been studies conducted on this topic, which we’ll discuss later.

Another point I really like about their pricing strategy is that they rarely lower prices but offer deals instead. For example, you might be allowed to taste a piece of prickly pear for free. If you have your child with you, he might be given a piece for free in his hand. They may give you a small extra quantity if you buy a lot, or special offers if you are a regular customer.

The lesson here is to minimize or avoid haggling over your product’s price. Keep your price stable once set reasonably, but offer deals to your customers.

As for how they interact with customers, they treat everyone fairly.

• If someone wants to carefully choose the prickly pears, they won’t be stopped.

• If someone wants red, yellow, or green prickly pears, they won’t be forced to buy a specific type.

• If someone wants to pick the largest fruits, they won’t be refused.

In the end, they let each customer do as they wish so they feel they chose what they wanted themselves.

So, what do we learn?
Let your customer feel like a winner after the transaction, that they didn’t buy something against their will, that they got a special extra, and that they are smart and capable of making their own choices. Let your customer feel ownership of the experience, without pressure from pointless sales tactics.

And that was my story with the prickly pear seller this year!

Next time you buy prickly pears, know that you are standing in front of someone who instinctively understands business management and marketing—without complication.

What do you think?

This article was originally published on the Facebook page Thoughts on Business by Taher Abdel-Hameed.