Instinctive Sellers

By Segun O. Adio

Most business books teach the art of conventional salesmanship but, with Instinctive Sellers, you are learning what it is to be an alternative salesman - one who has mastered the art of selling with native intelligence - using the experience of three dominant trading populations from Nigeria.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Segun O. Adio
• Release date: Jul 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463599501

Segun O. Adio

Segun O. Adio is a clinical engineer and holds a master’s degree in Business Administration. Segun and his wife, Omoleegho, live in Ibadan and they are blessed with a daughter, Moyinoluwa.

Book preview

Instinctive Sellers:

The Ijesa trader, the Igbo businessman & the Hausa moneychanger

Segun O. Adio

Copyright © 2018 Segun O. Adio

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

All Rights Reserved

Editing by Seun Makanjuola

Front cover image by Victor Onuka

Book cover design by Creativewings

Visit www.bizlabel.blogspot.com

Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change

-Stephen Hawking

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

1. A working definition of selling

2. Commerce in Nigeria

THE IJESA TRADER

3. Merchants of the South-West

4. Life as an Osomaalo

5. Peculiar Selling Skills of the Ijesa Trader

THE IGBO BUSINESSMAN

6. Ingenuity meets Industry

7. Skills and Family Setting

8. Shrewdness of Igbo Businessmen

9. Supporting Structures and Systems

THE HAUSA MONEYCHANGER

10. Money-making by Money-changing

11. Trading Background

12. Peculiar Selling Skills of the Hausa Moneychanger

13. Some final thoughts

End Notes

About the Author

Acknowledgements

The task of writing Instinctive Sellers was made possible by the invaluable inputs of the following respondents:

Mr. Babalola Oni, Mrs. Obe, Mr. S. Abiodun and Mr. Ayeni on the Ijesha Trader.

Mr. Ebere, Mr. Ken and Mr. Sunday on the Igbo businessman.

Alhaji Ali Attahiru (Alh. Lolo) and Alhaji Abdurazzak on the Hausa moneychanger.

This work is the product of all the long hours they devoted to answering my questions and I thank them all.

I also acknowledge Mr. and Mrs. Thomas for critiquing the book and Deji Yesufu for proofreading it. Special thanks to my extra meticulous and patient editor, Seun Makanjuola.

I thank my parents who taught me to put pen to paper and started me on the journey to writing.

And especially, I thank my darling wife, Omoleegho, for always spurring me to live up to my potential, and Moyinoluwa, our adorable daughter, whose two-year old fingers always type next to mine.

Above all, I thank God for giving me inspiration.

Segun O. Adio

Introduction

In Nigeria, about fourteen per cent of workers are engaged by the trade sector[1] and over fifty-five per cent of retail trade takes place in the unreported markets of the informal sector.[2]

A closer inspection of the retail sector reveals that certain ethnic groups of the country are famed for trading in specific products than others. After conducting a wide survey, the peculiar experiences of these groups, both in their favoured niche and in the general art of selling, were gathered and presented in this book, Instinctive Sellers.

This publication presents the forte of three major trading populations in Nigeria with the aim of giving the readers an insight into their salesmanship, their motivations and beliefs. Although the book focuses on specific tribes, it is however not an attempt to stereotype any ethnic group or make generalizations about them. Rather, it is an effort at taking the reader on a journey to examine the mercantile characteristics of these peoples and also to draw lessons from them.

If this book fulfils its aim, readers will be able to appreciate these unique traders, and also come to understand what selling with native intelligence has to offer in making better salesmen and saleswomen out of us all.

1. A working definition of selling

Selling is when someone buys something from you… When they want something from you and you give it to them and collect money from them.

The above is the submission of a six year old when asked to explain what selling meant to her. While her definition was spot-on because it encapsulates the essence of selling, defining the art of selling is not as simple.

Paul W. Ivey defines salesmanship as "the art