The Day I Learned More About Sales From A Bus Salesman Than From Any Guru (And What You Can Learn Too)

One day I was going to Medellin from my hometown. I usually go by bus, but I live 45 minutes away anyway, so it’s not a big deal.

If you’ve ever been on a bus you know how boring it is.

Because of that, I always listen to a podcast and take notes. That’s the only thing that keeps me sane while I arrive to the city. That day, I was listening to The Game by Alex Hormozi (highly recommended.)

That was until a dude got on the bus.

You see, here some people get on the bus to sell you stuff or to beg for money.

Either way, I always listen to what the people who get in have to say. It feels like a sign of respect for the other person.

If they sound convincing enough, I pay attention. Otherwise, I just keep doing what I was doing. So I paused my podcast and paid attention to the guy.

At first, he looked like a regular beggar.

I was already expecting him to ask for money.

But then I looked at his clothes.

He was well-dressed. Because of that, I was inclined to pay attention to the dude.

Then, he pulled out a headset with an amplifier plugged in.

By this point, I was hooked.

I was interested in what he had to say.

This might not sound that interesting, but to me, he broke a pattern, and he did it splendidly.

With two little things, he separated himself from the rest of the beggars.

Anyway, the dude started introducing himself to the people.

And then he did something clever.

He said he worked in a random government institution.

And before you say something, yes, I didn’t believe him either. But some people may be a little bit less smart and fall for that, which gives him credibility and authority.

Now is not some random dude yapping about something, now is an “authority” talking directly to people.

Smart.

Now, people on buses are tired most of the time, either people working or going to college.

But what he did to get the attention of those tired people was also clever.

He didn’t start pitching or begging right away.

He first established trust with people by being polite and by saying he was not begging nor selling (which was a lie lol.) This made people put their guard down and be more open to his words.

Now onto the pitch, the way he began was amazing.

Dude was prepared, he had cards and images, that complemented his pitch very nicely.

He then began by talking about parasites.

No one likes parasites. They are disgusting.

He even had one inside of a small bottle (which I also don’t believe was real but hey, bro was selling fear like no one.)

Now I don’t remember his “script” word by word.

But I do remember the structure of his pitch:

1. He began by informing people about the problems parasites caused.

2. He had a bunch of disgusting images of kids dying because of these parasites (lots of people have kids so props to him.)

3. The symptoms, what causes them, and how disgusting and long they can be (2 meters!?)

He did one of two things:

1. For those who didn’t know about these parasites, he put a problem inside their heads, a necessity, the necessity to purge their bodies.

2. For those who already knew (like me), he sealed the need, he created urgency in his pitch by talking about how quickly one of these parasites can kill you, so you’d buy.

Long story short, the pitch was superb.

He didn’t tell people he was selling until the end.

It sounded like he was informing, at the end of the day he “worked” for the government.

By the time he made the offer, about 90% of the bus bought the product.

A $2 little packet.

The packet was so ugly, with zero graphic design or branding. But it didn’t matter, people bought it because he created a need.

He first explained the problem with a bit of fear here and there, then, gave people the solution (he even made it clear that they were 100% organic, for those scared of chemicals).

He then got off the bus with his money onto the next one.

This was the day I learned more about sales from a dude on a bus than from any course or book.

Props to you my guy.

I think it’s pretty curious how a simple dude getting on a bus can teach you so much.

That’s why I always try to pay attention to the world.

It is always talking to us and trying to teach us.

Now, about the dude, I think there are some things we can take and put into practice from his pitch.

A quick recap of things you can put into practice from this guy to increase your sales:

1) Always be prepared.

The guy was well-dressed.

He had cards, images, and even a parasite inside of a bottle to support his pitch.

He had a headset plugged into an amplifier so people could hear him well.

You could tell he was ready and that he prepared himself.

What makes you think you shouldn’t?

All professional sales reps do.

So before giving a pitch make sure you look good and that you have material to support what you’re saying.

2) Increase your perceived authority.

You need to have some sort of credibility for your point to go across.

You need to establish authority before even speaking.

People have to believe what’s gonna come out of your mouth before you even speak.

The dude from the bus did it by saying we worked for a government organization.

In whatever niche you are in, something like that would most likely reduce your authority.

So, how can you increase your perceived authority?

• Become an expert in your niche.

• Build a strong brand.

• Have solid case studies.

• Consistently create good content.

• Help people for free.

These are all things that can boost how you’re perceived, and help you get more sales.

3) Get people into the right frame.

He didn’t start pitching or selling right away.

He first built a little bit of trust with people.

Then he talked about all the bad things about parasites.

A little bit of fear-mongering here and there.

And now people were in the right frame to buy.

Now people felt like they needed to purge their bodies.

Only then, he pitched his product.

And lots of people bought it.

That’s the power of pre-suasion.

Before actually selling anything, try to establish any sort of trust with those you want to buy.

Make sure you are making them feel what you want them to feel (fear, greed, pride) before pitching.

That right there is the tale of how an ordinary bus ride turned into a sales lesson.

If you liked this letter, please let me know so I can keep making content like this.

If you didn’t, also let me know what you didn’t like so I can improve my content for you.

In both cases, thank you for reading this letter. You’re a G.

PS - If you liked this, you’ll probably like the rest of my stuff, go check it out here.

That is all from me.

Tu amigo,
- Manuel