Marketing Lessions from a Mall Kiosk Vendor

I love to go to the local Mall and browse the wares of the kiosk vendors. On busy Saturdays there is almost a carnival atmosphere.

Last Saturday one particular vendor caught my attention. He was a young man about college age. Now, if you notice most kiosk venders just sit back and wait for customers to come and start looking at their products. Not this guy. His was out there talking to people as they walked by and roping them in.

He was selling a glass cleaning and polishing product. What he would do is look for people wearing glasses and right before they got to his kiosk he would step up to them and say, "Excuse me Sir. (or Ms.) your glasses look scratched. If you will allow me to polish them I think I can remove the scratches." Most people hand him their glasses and he sprays a few drops from a spray bottle and then quickly polishes the glasses with a cloth, hands them back to the owner and says, "There you go. Good as new. Check for yourself." Of course everyone put's their glasses back on and are amazed to find that the scratches are gone. The first thing they say is "what is that stuff?" And you know what? At that point he's got them. He doesn't even have to ask for the sale. They have sold themselves. It now just becomes a matter of whether they will buy the small bottle or the large bottle. Of course if they buy the large bottle (at $29.99!!!) they get this bonus and that bonus and oh, I'll throw in a small bottle as well. This young guy was marketing master.

I watched him for about 15 minutes and then got to talking to him. He said he used to work for a distributer and sold the stuff door to door. He eventually wised up and contacted the manufacturer himself. The manufacturer gave him the idea to put up a kiosk in a high traffic mall.

Incidently, I was curious what kind of rent he paid and he told me it was $2000.00 a month. I commented that he must have to sell a lot of bottles to cover that expense and he grined and said he makes that much on one Saturday.




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