MY esteemed readers, in our search for the truth towards making us better individuals, we, as usual, will feature not just my articles but also those of other great writers. In this light, we feature today an article by yet another of such people. Mrs. Bukola Ezeamaka is someone I have always challenged to write if she can do so as much as she talks. And she finally found time to do so. I call her a ‘talk-active’ person, and hope you will enjoy this piece of hers. It is another in what I call the Truth Eternal Series (TES). Please enjoy it:

About marketing
Marketing is an activity, which includes deciding how to advertise a product, what price to charge for it, sales and distribution of the product to make a profit, etc. The term can also be used to refer to a career in sales and marketing.

A marketer is therefore someone who sells goods and services. This is a career a lot of youths are venturing into because the demand for marketers in most vibrant companies is very high these days. There is scarcely any sector where marketers are not required to sell their products or services.

‘Inborn trait’
Marketing, however, should not be seen as a career but a trait, which is inborn and this is what makes the huge difference between someone who sees marketing as a profession and a born marketer.

It was discovered recently that some people are more gifted in the field of marketing than those who went to school to study marketing as a course or see it as a profession. Or what do we say about a young lady, about five years old whose mother sent to buy bread at the bakery in the next street and between two streets, she sold all the bread and went back several times, always selling before getting home. I have seen children sent out by the same parents to sell same goods. While one would sell all the wares, others may not be patronised at all. There is something the Yoruba refer to as Ori Aje, literally meaning the head that sells.

Four characteristics of an Ori Aje
A born marketer is always easy to recognise because of the following four characteristics displayed by him/her:
1. Passion: A born marketer is always passionate about his sales. Selling to him will look like a child’s play, which comes so natural. When you are very passionate about the marketing of a product, you pity those who are yet to hear or patronise the product because of the love you have for it because you will feel that they are missing a lot.

2. Enthusiasm: A strong feeling of interest in sales and enjoyment about it with the eagerness of a born marketer distinguishes him from others. Most marketers are always proud of their products and are ready to display it anywhere and even talk about it at any given time. Most marketers are ‘talk-atives’. When you are proud of a product, you are always moved to share your product with others with a view to gaining more customers.

3. Confidence: An introvert may not be too good as a marketer because a shy person cannot really advertise his or her product. As a marketer, you should have confidence in your product and be able to introduce it to people wherever you find yourself. A born marketer will never take ‘no’ for an answer from a prospective buyer but will rather convince the buyer why he needs the product at a given time.

4. Courtesy: A born marketer always gives respect and courtesy to his customers because customers are kings. A customer well attended to, though he may not need the product at the time the marketer introduces the product, could be swayed to buy the product because of the courtesy accorded him by the marketer.

You would hear people say Oro Aje (literally translated courteous pressure) makes them to buy a particular product. Born marketers are always nice and kind with their customers with soft words, drawing their customers so close that their customers find it too difficult to patronise another marketer who lacks courtesy.

Contributed by Bukola Ezeamaka, a staffer of the ANN Plc, publishers of the Tribune titles, 07029083722