What Jos-Abuja highway traders do to win the loyalty of travellers
They don’t only sell and bid customers bye, they engaged in other forms of social conversations. They ask questions about Abuja and its lifestyle. They often exchange telephone numbers with customers and keep the phone taps open in a bid to keep their customers’ loyalty. Welcome to the roadside markets shortly before approaching the popular […]
They don’t only sell and bid customers bye, they engaged in other forms of social conversations. They ask questions about Abuja and its lifestyle. They often exchange telephone numbers with customers and keep the phone taps open in a bid to keep their customers’ loyalty.
Welcome to the roadside markets shortly before approaching the popular Hawan Kibo, on your way to Abuja from Jos. As if they graduated from a marketing school, they have their innate marketing skills and techniques which often make the customers remain loyal or overshoot their budgets to make some more purchases. Their persuasive techniques and friendly dispositions are some of their magic wands.
Though their prices are slightly higher than what is obtainable in markets inside Jos and Bukuru metropolis, the quality of their products, no doubt, is highier.
Madam Rose, one of the traders, said they had no option than to display and sell the freshest of whatever they want to sell because it has to be good enough to last the duration of the journey.
“Our food stuff: vegetables, fruits are always the best. We are conscious of the fact that our customers are travellers, hence what we sell them must stand the journey’s rigour.
It is against this backdrop that we select the best from our suppliers.
Most of the goods, fresh items you see on display are not from our farms; we are mostly subsistence farmers. We do not produce enough to consume, so we buy like any other traders in town.”
She said most customers were loyal to them because of the quality of what they purchased from then while in transit to Abuja.
She also said: “I personally get some of my things in Wareng or Barikin Ladi but due to the incessant crises, the prices of farm produce have increased. Even at that, we have decent and reasonable prices for our wares.”
Meanwhile, a young Grace said she was selling her wares in Barikin Ladi but had to return to the Railway market, along the Jos-Abuja road because of low sales.
“I was selling my wares at Barikin Ladi but the customer turn-out has been poor, thus, I relocated to this place. This is a good and promising market; the turnout is encouraging, although whenever there is any slight security problem, the number of vehicles and travellers often reduce.”
“We always pray for peace to return to Jos and our villages because the crisis has affected our economic fortunes. There are fewer travellers now, which means less business activities. The strength of our sales is in the number of travellers,” she said.
Our reporter, who happens to be a regular customer, observed that these traders attempt to maintain a regular contacts with their patronizers, to create an avenue for repeat sales. A regular traveller and Abuja based civil servant, who patronises these traders, Mr Tunshak Iliya, corroborated this.
“It has become a ritual for me, whenever I am travelling, I must stop by to purchase food items from them. I have now become a friend of the market. The last time we stopped by with some of my colleagues, I didn’t buy anything because I had most of the things I needed back at home, but some of these women gave me some items as gifts. That’s how generous they are to regular customers. ”
With such gestures, quality and good food stuffs, friendliness, the Jos-Abuja road traders are surely bound to reap the loyalty of their customers, regardless of the price difference with other markets.