5 Unexpected & Proven Lessons on Selling Your Products From Drug Dealers
"Emulate drug dealers. Make your product so good, so addictive, so ‘can’t miss,’ that giving customers a small, free taste gets them coming back with cash in hand.” Rework, From the Founders of 37 Signals .
How would you reach customers if your product wasn’t even legal? That’s a question I’ve been pondering for about 8 years.
I’m Sarah Jordan, and I am a business junkie! But I didn’t go to any business school. Instead, I studied people. My degree is in Psychology. As an introverted “loner” who identifies with dogs more than people, I know there are business lessons to be found everywhere, from anyone.
These lessons just happen to be from people who are Drug Dealers.
Why Drug Dealers:
When I started my first makeup artistry business in 2009, I wanted to learn from people who made lots of money. I reasoned that most drug dealers deal drugs for the cash. I assumed that if they are willing to risk jail time and death, they would have know how to market and sell their products or it would not be worth their time otherwise.
At the time, my idea of drug dealers came from Half Baked starring Dave Chappell as Sampson Simpson, a weed-dealing kingpin who was rich AF. This idea intrigued me, so I started to read about other famous drug dealers, including Frank Lucas (known for ‘Blue Magic’ Heroin in the 70’s) who was later depicted in the movie, American Gangster.
This idea is life-changing, but it is not particularly original. Dozens of other marketers have written about this, including Neil Patel and John Moore. Here's my take on the subject.
Lesson One: Word of mouth is the best way to get customers.
We trust recommendations from friends. We assume that if they like it, it must be good.
Who would you rather listen to? A friend or some stranger with a biased opinion trying to hard sell your their products?
Most people will ask a friend for recommendations when shopping for anything, whether you are looking for a mechanic, a doctor, a restaurant, a house or even a movie.
I bet you’ve seen a movie based on a recommendation from a friend. Most people love giving their opinions because it validates them and makes them feel great for helping someone at the same time.
Drug dealers and smart marketers take advantage of word of mouth marketing.
Hack: You can actually create proven psychological triggers that will encourage people to share your message or products!
“When a product or service solves someone’s problem or is very valuable, funny or just plain outrageous, it’s ready to be shared.” David Meerman Scott, author of World Wide Rave.
You can go one step further and reward people who send you referrals in some way, whether that’s with a gift or giftcard.
Lesson Two: Sell to Low hanging fruit
In order to sell your product, you must sell to the right customers, not just any Joe Schmo.
Low hanging fruit means people you already know.
Think about it. If you are good friends with someone, you probably know what their habits (pun intended) and interests are. You will most likely know if they are a good fit for your products and services. And if they are not, they will most likely know someone who is a good fit.
According to The Beginners Guide to Marijuana Distribution, Drug dealers will only sell to people they already know and trust.
Lesson Three: It’s easier and far more lucrative to sell to existing clients than it is to find new ones
Repeat customers are the best kind of customers. They come back again and again.
Drug Dealers don’t look for new customers. Instead, they focus on giving the best service and products to their existing client base.
I used this tip to my advantage back when I built my hula hoop dance business back in 2010. I went from selling hundreds of hula hoops from my website each month, to selling an online course I created about hoop dance from my website. Who do you think bought the course? My existing clients.
That’s why most marketers will tell you to keep in touch with your clients and potential clients via email. It keeps you on their minds and cuts through the social media noise.
Lesson Four: Give ‘em a free taste
We all know from watching super cheesy after school specials that drug dealers give away samples to get people hooked. Ice cream parlors and bakeries do this too.
But why? This lesson is based on the principle of Reciprocity...if someone gives us something, we feel obligated to give them something back. My hero, Robert Cialdini, writes on this extensively in his fabulous book, Influence: Science and Practice.
Give It Away Give It Away Give It Away Now
Even if you sell something intangible like music or information, you can give away a song sample or an eBook so that people get a sense of your playing or writing style before they decide to invest in more.
This is why successful fiction writers give away their first kindle book. Especially if the book is a series.
This is why HBO gives away a free month. They know that once you get hooked on Curb Your Enthusiasm you will cave and join to watch the new shows.
Lesson Five: Stand Out or Blend In and Disappear
As children we are taught that in order to be liked and feel that we belong, we must blend in. This is total bullshit, especially in the world of business.
If you’ve seen Breaking Bad, you know that Walter White’s product was blue. It stood out not only in color, but because it was the best.
Starbucks does this too. Instead of typical cheap coffee in a foam cup, they made drinking coffee an upscale experience, complete with fancy names for drinks.
From person experience, I sold thousand of hula hoops because the hoops I created were different. The ones I created could fold down for easy travel.
Over to you: How can you innovate and be different with your product or service?
To summarize, use these powerful lessons from Drug Dealers and you too can grow your business:
- Word of Mouth is key.
- Sell to Low Hanging Fruit.
- Repeat Customers are the best kind.
- Give Freebies to build reciprocity.
- Stand out for Success.
Sources
Influence, Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini.
The Beginners Guide to Marijuana Distribution
Marketing Lessons From Drug Dealers
World Wide Rave by David Meerman Scott