Tuesday. 09:00. The door opens with that theatrical pause Manolo uses when he's carrying a PowerPoint that, according to him, "changes everything." Coffee in one hand. Laptop in the other. Friday-afternoon pupils.
—Dude, I've got it: discounts, countdown timers, pop-ups, urgency.
—How modern. Did you travel back to 2013 with McFly, Manolo?
He opens the laptop.
Slide 1: "50% OFF TODAY ONLY".
Slide 2: "LAST 3 UNITS" (a lie).
Slide 3: "Coupon JAMONLOCO".
The "JAMONLOCO" thing has hit my frontal lobe directly... I have to tell him about it...
—Manolo —I say—, I've got a case for you that doesn't fit in your Excel. @maxiportes on X.
—And who is Maxi?
—The guy who sells ham by explaining ham. Every day. For free. First and last name attached. Threads about seals, cuts, curing times, when a "nuance" is a defect, how to carve without butchering the leg... He doesn't shout, he teaches.
Manolo frowns like a man who suspects someone's about to take away his "-50% until midnight" toy.
—And that sells?
—It sells because it removes fear. The customer stops buying blind. When they understand, they trust. When they trust, they pay. And when they pay, they come back.
Silence. The kind that smells of dehesa and uncomfortable truth.
—But folks want bargains.
—Folks want judgment so they don't feel like idiots afterwards. Bargains are a crutch; judgment is a leg.
I show him my phone. A thread by @maxiportes explaining why an acorn-fed ibérico doesn't taste the same in December as in April. Another on why a bad knife ruins the experience. Another on gifting "the good stuff" ham and not a Russian roulette with a label. All public, all useful, all firm. And, mind you, asking for nothing at the end except respect for the product.
—There's no aggressive CTA, Manolo. There's trust.
He goes quiet.
—Okay —he says—, so what do we do?
—First, burn your -50% slide, please... every time someone sees it, a kitten definitely dies.
Then, do what you don't want to do: talk like a person and teach what you know. Every day. Out in the open.
—And what if they copy us?
—Even better. That way they educate your future customers too.
He opens a blank document. Sighs.
—Give me a script.
—You don't need a script, you need truth. But I'll give you structure so you don't faceplant on your very first tweet, you big lump:
1. Typical customer fear: "I don't know what to buy." — Answer: a clear thread (three steps): who it's for, when, which piece. 2. Common mistake: carving badly. — Answer: a short video with the correct cut and "what NOT to do." 3. Expectation vs reality: why one leg turns out extraordinary and another "just good." — Answer: transparency about curing, batch, and variability. 4. Behind the counter: how you choose. — Answer: your own criteria, in writing. Sign it with your name.
—This isn't marketing, Jose.
—Correct. It's respect. And respect converts better than panic.
Two weeks later. Manolo walks in without a PowerPoint. He's carrying his phone.
—Dude... I published three threads!!!!! Just three damn threads!!! One explaining seals and real differences; another on how to carve; another on when to return a leg without shame.
—And?
—Fewer "price?" messages came in, and more "this one's for my dad, he likes it milder."
—That's called selling.
—And two people who work in restaurants wrote to me. They say they like how I tell it.
—That's called positioning, Manolo. Not the SEO kind: the kind inside the customer's head.
He sits down. Smiles.
—What if we add a 10% off at the end of each thread?
—What if you don't ruin it?
—Fine. No coupon.
—If you want to give something away, give away judgment.
### What Manolo learned today (the hard way)
That @maxiportes on X doesn't just sell ham: he sells trust. That today's thread is tomorrow's sale. That good urgency isn't a countdown timer, it's having few good pieces and saying so up front, without theatrics. That when you sign with your name, friction drops and respect rises. That if they follow you for what you teach, they buy for who you are.
> Manolo, stop training your customers to wait for a coupon. Train them to know how to choose even when you're not around. That way they win... and you sell.
Everything else is tacky FOMO that hurts the eyes.
Thanks for reading.
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