Lessons from Bali Beach Sales Peeps

“No thank you, I’m not interested” is a standard response that will make most new Western salespeople cringe with embarrassment at their failed attempt to grab a prospective customer’s attention, but this is not the reaction you can expect from Bali beach sales peeps.

If you want to train a sales force you could do a lot worse than sending your team to the beaches of Bali to observe and copy some sales gurus in action.

Firstly, they are very adept at building rapport with a suspect. A welcoming greeting is usually followed up with seemingly Innocent questions, like “I’m Ketut. What’s your name?”, then “Where are you from?” and “How long you stay?”

Think about the information you have empowered them with. With your name and where you are from, they can address you appropriately, crack a relevant joke or bring in some reference to your homeland, like a “G’day mate! How are you today. Mr Tony?” (And they have excellent listening skills and memories!)

They also know from the length of stay question and your divulged travel plans, how many cracks (sales opportunities) at you they can get. If you’re only here a short time, they will cut to the chase, but if they can build rapport over a few days, they will be more subtle in developing a relationship, with an increased social obligation to buy something.

There is no malicious intent to manipulate – with a predominantly Hindu philosophy of Karmic awareness that is not in their nature. They are simply great salespeople.

“You have a look in my shop? I give you good price” is a fair and reasonable question to attempt to grab your attention, given the massive amount of competition. It’s really no different to a Western mall store having ‘Sale’ posters in their windows and we all love to think we’re grabbing a bargain because  it makes us feel successful and smarter than the average bear.

One tip here for the unsuspecting tourist is ‘Be polite but be honest and straight’ in your response. Never say ‘Tomorrow’ or ‘later’ if you don’t really mean it. They will definitely remember that response and will consider that you have made a commitment to return to look at their wares.

If they do succeed in getting your attention and upgrading you from suspect to prospect, they will soon have you trying on clothing, telling you that this dress or tee-shirt colour or style really suits you and offering you deals like ‘buy three, get one free’ or simply a vague “I will do you a really good price’.”

They are great at throwing in low margin bonus products (necklaces, bracelets etc) to cement the relationship and they are exceptionally good at striking while the iron is hot – i.e. upselling you to a whole wardrobe full of new clothes, because correctly applied sales psychology works on all of us. We want to feel good in our personal appearance; we want to feel special; we want to feel ‘listened to’; and we want to feel appreciated.

Most of us Aussies are well aware that Balinese wages are way lower than ours and the majority of us like to feel that we have helped someone and their family to put food on the table and pay for their children’s education. We see these hardworking ladies walking along the beach, baskets full of sarongs, tee-shirts, dresses and necklaces balanced on their heads from dawn to dusk and we want to help. Most of the guys sell sunglasses, watches, lasers (man toys), toy boats (to play with your kids and revisit your own childhood) or men’s clothing, and they too know how to flatter a man’s ego. They are friendly and cheerful, and usually gracious when rejected.

One reason they don’t lose their cool is that they know about statistics. They know that your first (or even your third) “No thanks” is a conditioned response, so they ignore it and don’t take it personally. They know it’s a ‘numbers game’ and they will try a different angle, turning any excuse (objection) you offer into a positive possibility.

“No, I have enough sarongs”, is met with something like, “But these ones are high quality. They are batik – special, and I do you special price.” Or “Maybe you like a dress for the lady?” she asks the husband, “Make your wife feel special?” Most husbands know the golden rule of ‘Happy wife, happy life’, so a little look can’t do any harm, can it?

To sum up then, the Bali beach sales peeps are excellent at building rapport, masters of connecting with emotional trigger responses, brilliant at ignoring or overcoming objections, and tremendous at upselling, cross-selling and closing.

I almost forgot about the children. If you are visiting Bali, I can guarantee that at some point, you will be visited by a child or a group of children, who will either read out or hand you a piece of paper that tells you about how they are raising money for their school, so can you please buy some bracelets (that you neither need nor want), but that will make you feel you are donating to a worthy cause – and in my humble view, you ARE. After all, you are on holiday and what are a few dollars to you? Not much, but in local currency, it can really help them and their families. Just remember though that they will soon tell all their friends about your generosity, so set a few limits and boundaries if you want to sunbathe in peace!

My wife and I are multiple repeat visitors to beautiful Bali and we are very happy to have helped out the local economies on every occasion, (especially after the COVID lockdowns and no tourists for two years) and some of them have become good friends in that time, So, if you want a sarong in Perth, “Come see me – I give you good price!”