Bruce Baker, an artist and columnist of Craft Report Magazine, said that he encountered a straw market vendor on Bay Street who insisted a product made in Indonesia was native to the Bahamas.
“Everyone has a ‘BS’ meter. Many of the questions people ask they already know the answer to – they’re just testing you. ‘Will it tarnish, will it shrink, will it fade?’ Don’t lie, figure out how to solve the objection,” said Mr Baker.
Mr Baker was speaking at a two-day event organised by the Authentically Bahamian Department of the Ministry of Tourism, to train arts and crafts vendors in the sale and marketing of their products.
Rowena Rolle, general manager of the department, invited Mr Baker to bring his workshop to Nassau to educate vendors about cutting-edge booth design, sales and marketing strategies.
“At so many of our tradeshows, including our annual Christmas show, the booths were cluttered and not pleasing in appearance, so we felt we needed a more professional way for artisans to display their items” said Ms Rolle.
Mr Baker, who has given more than 700 presentations throughout the United States and Canada, said that participants were “very responsive” to his message.
In the workshop Mr Baker stressed that selling is a “yes” business and identified some major “no-nos”.
He explained that a cluttered booth is one of the main flaws he noticed while scouting the “raw market”.
“So many of the peopie here are conditioned by North Americans focusing on the price but it isn’t about the price, its about the benefit that object will bring to the customer,” said Mr Baker.
He said if you deal on price alone, then it will never be about the love and beauty that artists put into their work.
Mr Baker gave the vendors tips about product presentation, body language, proper sales speech, differences between dealing with men and women, and even how to relate to introverted customers.
He suggested using. a catch phrase, making one’s booth a “happy place”, not using too much technical jargon and maintaining a “successful” appearance.
Three growing tremds in North America that he said should influence the product lines of Bahamian artisans are gardening, gifts for pets, and diving.
Tips
Mr Baker pointed out that while touring the straw market, he saw no merchandise for visitors to put in their gardens or to buy for their pets.
He said that divers have disposable income and often like to collect replicas of new things they sited on dive trips.
Around 40 vendors, including some from Family Islands, attended the workshop and found the information invaluable.
“Much of what Bruce had to say was hands-on with the arts and crafts – things about your opening, your closing and dealing with the customer to make the sale,” said Debbie Strachan, a straw handbag weaver and owner of Depre Collections.
“The reason I am attending this seminar is to get a better idea of how to present my product to the local market and also get a feel for how to’ interact with my customers,” said Terou Bannister of Sea Gems Sea Salt. Sharon Ferguson of Rose of Sharon Soaps actually enclosed her carport to make a place to create her soaps; lotions and other lusciouslv scented potions. She is active in all of the Ministry of Tourism’s trade shows and also sells at Radisson on Wednesday and Friday evenings.
She found the seminar very useful for her business: “This seminar today has really opened my eyes to using my booth to its maximurn potential — how to have it organised so that it will attract customers and increase sales and productivity.”
Rowena Rolle was happy with the turn-out at the workshop and the enthusiasm of the participants.
“I think they learned a lot,” she said. “They opened up to many new ideas – it’s taking them to another level, to a professional level, a global level and I think that is what we really need.”
Source: The Tribune
