Lesson #4: Make Your Market Your Manpower
Lesson #4: Make Your Market Your Manpower
“I am not satisfied in making money for myself,” Walker said. “I endeavour to provide employment for hundreds of the women of my race.” Throughout her decades in business, that is exactly what Walker was able to do. After moving her entire operation to Indianapolis – the crossroads for eight railway systems that would help her better distribute her products – Walker established the Walker College of Hair Culture. Here, Walker hoped to train students in not only styling hair, but also giving scalp treatments, manicures, and massages, as well as how to keep good business records and open up their own beauty salons.
At a time when most black women in the U.S. were menial workers and had little chance of improving their lot in life, Walker gave them not only hope, but also opportunity. She took great pride in the fact that her company was providing profitable employment to its staff. By 1916, Walker had over 20,000 people for her as sales agents throughout the U.S., most of who were black women.
For Walker, however, employing African American women was not just about providing opportunities. She also understood one thing, one crucial thing that helped propel her to success: her customers were her best salespeople. Walker made it her business to hire the very women who would be interested in using her products. She knew that not only would they be enthusiastic about their work, but that they would be able to tell other potential customers about their own personal experiences with the product. And, she hoped that sincerity would translate into more sales.
Walker hired black women for her company, but within that group were school teachers, housewives, cooks, washerwomen, and more. She built recruiting partnerships with black vocational schools and visited local Baptist churches. She also visited local black fraternal organizations, helped arrange demonstrations, and then proceeded to recruit agents – and take orders – at the demonstrations. Walker was sure to hire a vast range of candidates from within her target market. By helping them set up their own salons and letting them continue to work in their own locality, Walker was trying to utilize all of their unique networks to her advantage.
Walker understood success to mean giving others hope. But she also knew that success could best be achieved by making her customers her salespeople. She believed that their passion, honesty, and personal experience would make them her company’s best spokespeople.
Lesson 4 Make Your Market Your Manpower
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Walker knew who her market was and she knew what she had to do to reach them. While marketing strategies of the past focused mostly on advertising, Walker knew that the majority of black women at the time were unable to read. Thus, she began a uniquely successful campaign of face to face network marketing. But what made Walker a success was not just the fact that she knew and understood her market; she was, after all, her own best customer. Walker was able to get the market on her side by using it as manpower.
“I am not satisfied in making money for myself,” Walker said. “I endeavour to provide employment for hundreds of the women of my race.” Throughout her decades in business, that is exactly what Walker was able to do. After moving her entire operation to Indianapolis – the crossroads for eight railway systems that would help her better distribute her products – Walker established the Walker College of Hair Culture. Here, Walker hoped to train students in not only styling hair, but also giving scalp treatments, manicures, and massages, as well as how to keep good business records and open up their own beauty salons.
At a time when most black women in the U.S. were menial workers and had little chance of improving their lot in life, Walker gave them not only hope, but also opportunity. She took great pride in the fact that her company was providing profitable employment to its staff. By 1916, Walker had over 20,000 people for her as sales agents throughout the U.S., most of who were black women.
For Walker, however, employing African American women was not just about providing opportunities. She also understood one thing, one crucial thing that helped propel her to success: her customers were her best salespeople. Walker made it her business to hire the very women who would be interested in using her products. She knew that not only would they be enthusiastic about their work, but that they would be able to tell other potential customers about their own personal experiences with the product. And, she hoped that sincerity would translate into more sales.
Walker hired black women for her company, but within that group were school teachers, housewives, cooks, washerwomen, and more. She built recruiting partnerships with black vocational schools and visited local Baptist churches. She also visited local black fraternal organizations, helped arrange demonstrations, and then proceeded to recruit agents – and take orders – at the demonstrations. Walker was sure to hire a vast range of candidates from within her target market. By helping them set up their own salons and letting them continue to work in their own locality, Walker was trying to utilize all of their unique networks to her advantage.
Walker understood success to mean giving others hope. But she also knew that success could best be achieved by making her customers her salespeople. She believed that their passion, honesty, and personal experience would make them her company’s best spokespeople.
Lesson 4 Make Your Market Your Manpower
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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