What Singaporean firms can learn from the durian seller

Being a local, there are always few key months when durians are in season. That's when the best durians cost as low as a dollar! However, it's not in season now, and I was surprised by the sight of a pop-up durian stall near my house. Immediately, I stopped. I shouldn't have stopped. The durian-seller started his pitch, more aggresively than the typical durian seller during peak season...

I saw his marketing and sales techniques in action! 15 minutes later, I carried 2 durians home. From these 2 durians, I gained 3 insights on how everyone can market better like the durian seller at my neighbourhood, month in month out!

1) Give People Options

People who stopped already showed an intention that they are his target market. When I stopped by his shop, the durian seller started pitching his durians. One for $5, the other for $8, and last one was $25 (1kg= $12). He opened the conversation with "Which durian do you want?" instead of "Do you want to buy durians?" My internal dialogue was, "Oh sure, let's check it out, no harm, since the cheapest was $5."

2) Condition and Anchor People At A Higher Price Point

The durian seller started pitching his most expensive durian to me. He opened the conversation by informing he is going to give me a discount for the super premium range (in my opinion he shouldn't have done so at the outset.). 

I kept going back to the $5 or $8 dollar durian range but he kept suggesting for me to buy the super premium ones. Finally, I chose a mid range durian. He relented and started to push for me to buy another one. This leads me to the most important point.

3) People Will Buy A More Expensive Item If It is Within Their Range

I felt the gravity of this point after I experienced it whilst purchasing durians. My intention was just to purchase the cheapest durian. However, after being anchored on the super premium range, I felt slightly guilty to purchase the cheapest of the lot. Finally, I settled on the mid range durian. Studies have repeatedly conducted similar studies on this too. When there is an opportunity, the consumer would choose a slightly more premium item if it is within their budget. 

Well, marketing aside, the durians were tasty despite being slightly off season. But more importantly, durian sellers are kingpins of marketing and sales.

What's your experience with durian sellers (besides the grumpy ones)?

P.S. I know one particular durian stall have a database of customers. He sends WhatsApp messages to them when durians are in season. Talk about database marketing man...