Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Are You Losing Deals by Being Too Formal?

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Are You Losing Deals by Being Too Formal? · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at whether
• 0:04
  selling is different when you are in a formal situation than
• 0:10
  when you are in an informal situation.
• 0:12
  So in other words, today we're going to be looking at this
• 0:15
  whole issue, this whole matter that lots of Nigerians seem to
• 0:18
  believe that when you are in a formal setting, you're supposed
• 0:23
  to sell one way. When you are in an informal
• 0:26
  setting, you're supposed to sell, you're supposed to
• 0:28
  package, you're supposed to compose yourself in another way.
• 0:32
  So we're going to look at some questions about whether this is
• 0:37
  true, whether we should even be worrying about whether we are
• 0:42
  formal or not, whether this distinction is helpful, you
• 0:48
  know, formal selling situations and then informal selling
• 0:51
  situations. And then what is the proper way
• 0:54
  that we should think about selling, about how to combat
• 0:58
  ourselves whenever we're in situations and whenever we're in
• 1:01
  context that seem to change, you know, from time to time because
• 1:07
  it's not every single time that you are selling that also about
• 1:12
  the noise in the background. Friendly back home, excuse me,
• 1:16
  Friendly back home in Abuja and the family holiday is over.
• 1:20
  But anyway, you know how it is. Now, those of you who have been
• 1:24
  listening to the podcast for a long time, you know, back at
• 1:27
  home. And I live in a fairly big
• 1:29
  neighborhood, so lots of neighbors.
• 1:31
  And my neighbor downstairs seems to have started off this year on
• 1:36
  a very, very, very good note because they have a brand new
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  Jaguar parked outside. But you know, the Jaguar seems
• 1:45
  to be very, all I say, the Jaguar seems to be very
• 1:49
  sensitive. So anytime somebody walks past
• 1:53
  and your clothes just brush the Jaguar, they think would go pom,
• 1:56
  pom, pom, pom. So that's all the noise that
• 1:58
  you're hearing out there. It's just people tripping off
• 2:02
  the alarm of the Jaguar. And that has been happening all
• 2:05
  night. So if you're one of these, you
• 2:10
  know, wealthy Nigerians and you decided to start off 2026 on a
• 2:13
  very good note, you know, you went out and you bought yourself
• 2:16
  a fancy Jaguar, you know, you come and pack it in the
• 2:19
  compound. I beg adjust the security
• 2:23
  settings, you know, so that you don't disturb other people in
• 2:26
  the house because I'm making this recording at about 8:30 on
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  a Sunday morning and I'm not telling you lies between 9:00
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  and 8:30. Now that alarm don't blow like 5
• 2:39
  times and it's, it's annoying honestly.
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  We're not a Niger is now if I go down, I'll rake those hours.
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  It is more important because you you don't get money, you know,
• 2:47
  if you buy Jaguar, that's the reason why me I'm breaking.
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  So let me just respect myself for now.
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  Anyway, the time will come when I go and buy my my Tesla cyber
• 3:00
  truck. Even me to when I buy my own
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  Tesla cyber truck, That's how I'll kill them in this
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  neighborhood, any small team, my Tesla would go pomp, pomp, pomp,
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  pomp, pomp. So yeah, that's it.
• 3:12
  Anyway, so I'm making today's recording at home, so I expect
• 3:15
  to hear the usual interruptions. In fact, everybody's sleeping.
• 3:18
  So I ran to the kitchen just to make this recording.
• 3:21
  Hopefully nobody will come and interrupt me here.
• 3:24
  So back to the primary question for today.
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  Is selling different in formal situations than in informal
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  situations? When you are in a formal
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  setting, should you comport yourself one way?
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  When you are in an informal situation, should you comport
• 3:43
  yourself another way? This is your first time
• 3:46
  listening to the podcast. My name is Tavishima Aide, I'm
• 3:49
  the host of the podcast. I'm a former lawyer turned
• 3:52
  business consultant. So if you love these kinds of
• 3:55
  topics, subscribe on Spotify, on YouTube, on Apple, or any player
• 4:00
  of your choice. And if you'd love to connect
• 4:03
  with me, you can call, you can send me a text message or you
• 4:06
  can send me a WhatsApp message on 08064 662140.
• 4:13
  For those of you who are regular listeners, remember we're now in
• 4:17
  January of 2026. And so we are a couple of days
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  away from the start of the training that will run from the
• 4:25
  12th until the 23rd of January 2026, where we'll be talking
• 4:31
  about how we'll be trying to teach people how to sell
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  effectively over the phone. How to talk to strangers over
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  the phone, how to get them to become paid clients, how to
• 4:45
  build relationships, how to haggle, how to negotiate, how to
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  price, how to package yourself well on the phone, how to build
• 4:54
  relationships over the phone so you can maximize customer
• 4:57
  lifetime value. All these interesting stuff.
• 4:59
  These are things that we'll be paying attention to from the
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  12th of January until the 23rd of January, 20, 26.
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  OK, so, so forgive me, I have a bit of a cold because, you know,
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  we're back to Abuja, Hammatan. All right.
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  Now, first of all, what is selling?
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  Because we're talking about selling.
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  Should you sell one way when you're in a formal situation and
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  then another way when you are in formal setting?
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  So what is selling? Some people think of selling as
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  pitching or toasting. That is the most common idea
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  that I hear about sales in this part of the world.
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  People think that sales is pitching, that you're sitting
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  somewhere. When you're standing somewhere,
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  you're talking to someone and you have the skill of being able
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  to throw the right words at them, throw the right words at
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  them. That will elicit curiosity, that
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  will elicit attention, that will elicit desire.
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  And don't make people want to rush and bang most Nigerians,
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  they think that is what sales is.
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  Sales is that selling and sales is pitching.
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  It is toasting that if you can find the right words, you can
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  post somebody to want to do business with you.
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  That's what lots of people think that selling is.
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  And by the way, selling is not pitching is not toasting.
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  However, if you are good at pitching and if you are good at
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  toasting, yes, it will help you. But selling is beyond that.
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  Then in order to correct this wrong idea about sales, there's
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  some other people who sell who say that sales is about sales is
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  about serving and helping. Now, you hear these sorts of
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  ideas if you're listening to Western podcasts, you know,
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  sales podcasts from America in particular, and then the UK,
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  people talk about serving and helping.
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  And in a sense, yes, that is correct, because when we sell,
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  we are trying to serve people because they have goals, they
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  have aims, and we're trying to make sure that they achieve
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  their goals. And yes, we are trying to help
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  them. But the problem with this idea
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  about selling is then people now end up in this whole slave
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  mentality or account maintenance mentality where if the customer
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  jumps, you say how high, where you are totally at the behest,
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  totally at the whim, totally at the Caprice of the customer, the
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  person that you're talking to. Now there's an element of truth
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  to this idea of sales or selling as serving people or helping
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  people. So if you're good at serving, it
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  will help you. If you're good at helping
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  customers, it will help you. But there is more to sales than
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  serving and helping. So whichever cab you belong to,
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  the pitching and toasting or the serving and helping, just know
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  that your perspective about sales and selling is incomplete.
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  This is the proper way to look at what selling is or what sales
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  is. Selling or sales is just about
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  aligning motives because me that I'm standing in front of you
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  right now making this recording. I have my own agenda.
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  You are listening to this podcast right now.
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  You have your own agenda. When you finish listening to
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  this podcast, you have your own agenda.
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  When you approach a potential customer, you get waiting.
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  You know there's something on your mind that you're chasing.
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  Your own customer today is something on their own mind that
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  they are chasing. So sales is all about figuring
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  out these motives and aligning the motives.
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  I want to make sure that my agenda and your agenda, they
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  align. There's a blending and then I
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  make a proposal that everybody is happy with.
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  That is what selling is. I have my own agenda.
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  You, you have your own agenda. Let's discover the agenda.
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  Then let me as a salesperson make a proposal that is sweet
• 9:06
  for you, sweet for me. At the end of the day, I carry
• 9:09
  my money and the end of the day you get the result that you
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  desire. That is what selling is.
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  Figure out people's motives, align the motives, and then
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  propose A mutually beneficial outcome, an outcome that will be
• 9:25
  good for me in my bank account, and an outcome that will be good
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  for you as well. And during that process, yes,
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  you will do some pitching, you will do some toasting, you will
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  do some surfing, and you will do some helping.
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  What you can see that selling is beyond pitching, toasting,
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  serving, helping. It's about figuring out motives,
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  aligning those motives, and then proposing mutually beneficial
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  outcomes and outcome that both people will be happy with.
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  So excuse me then on to the next thing.
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  Why should we worry about whether we're in a formal
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  situation or whether we're in informal situation?
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  And the answer is obvious. We worry about whether we're in
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  a formal situation or informal situation, because obviously we
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  suppose package ourselves well. We want to dress well, we want
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  to sound well, we want to look well.
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  We want to play by all the rules of the context, the written
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  rules, the unwritten rules. So yes, those of you who are
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  worried, should I be formal? Should I be informal?
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  Your your intuition is in the right place because you don't
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  want to be in a formal situation and then you show up in in jeans
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  and T-shirt or the other way around.
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  Yes, we should always dress the part.
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  We should always act the part. We should always play by the
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  rules of the game. So yes, we should be worried
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  about whether we are in a formal situation or an informal
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  situation. However, is this distinction
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  helpful thinking of things informal versus informal?
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  The answer is no, because if you're thinking in terms of
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  formal or informal, you end up making the mistake that lots of
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  sales people make, which is you ever end up being too stuffy or
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  you end up being too playful. I repeat, we have all bought
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  things from people before. And so we all know of that
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  salesperson that was too playful, too on serious, too one
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  kind. And then we also know that
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  salesperson who was too, you know, like, like Bros relax, you
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  know, because they're too uptight.
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  So if you're thinking about it in terms of formal versus
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  informal, those are the dangers that you can run into.
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  You can either be too stuffy or too playful.
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  And then plus, to be honest, it's very, very hard to be able
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  to figure out, oh, am I in the formal setting or in an informal
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  setting? For instance, if you go to go
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  and see the president, you have an agenda that you want to
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  pursue. And then the president is like,
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  oh, young man, come in. Oh, have a seat, blah.
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  What do you say your name is again?
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  Oh, and everybody's chatting nice and everything.
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  That kind of situation. Should you be formal or should
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  you be informal? Trying to figure that out.
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  Actually, it's hard because not presidency.
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  So you feel as if it's something that should be formal.
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  Now, boy, as you enter president, don't begin to shine
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  teeth. You know everybody, they laugh,
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  everybody's cool, alcohol on the floor.
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  You know, what are you supposed to do?
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  Bottom up and be relaxed. So for some of you who are good
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  at reading social context, you have no problem whatsoever.
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  But for some of us, you know, it's hard.
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  Should I be formal or informal? Now, this is the proper
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  distinction. This is the proper way that you
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  should be looking at things. Don't look at things in terms of
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  formal versus informal. It will confuse you.
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  Lots of you think of this thing in terms of simple versus
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  complex, whether you're in a simple sales scenario or whether
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  you're in a complex sales scenario.
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  For those of you who've been listening to the podcast for a
• 13:18
  while, you already know about this line of thinking.
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  But let me continue to talk for those who are discovering this
• 13:24
  podcast for the very first time. I've never heard about this.
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  So the proper way to think is, are you in a simple sales
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  situation or a complex sales situation?
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  Don't think in terms of the setting.
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  Oh, I'm in front of the president, therefore I must be
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  formal or I'm in front of my uncles and aunties, therefore I
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  should be informal. It is not the setting that would
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  determine. There's one of my teachers used
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  to say that he needs to say determine who say determine.
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  So it's not the setting that would determine whether we are
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  formal or informal. It is whether we are in a simple
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  sale or whether in a complex hill.
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  So in other words, if you're in front of your uncles and
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  aunties, people that carried you as a baby and wipe your bomb, if
• 14:12
  you're in a complex situation anywhere, you guys be formal.
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  But if you're in front of presidency and it's a simple
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  sales situation, everything is soft, everything cool.
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  You can't be informal. So are you in a simple sales
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  situation? Are you in a complex sales
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  situation? Now this is how we tell the
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  difference. There's some factors that you
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  have to look at that will help you figure out whether you're in
• 14:37
  a simple sales scenario, a simple sales context, or whether
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  you are in a complex sales scenario, a complex sales
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  context. One of them is price.
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  Let me just call them out this price, there's complexity,
• 14:52
  there's relationship. Sorry about that guys.
• 14:54
  You know, the horn keeps going on and on and on.
• 14:56
  Like I told you guys, the situation, this guy has bought
• 14:59
  brand new Jaguar, you know, and I thank God for his life, but
• 15:02
  really he's killing us in this neighborhood.
• 15:04
  He's really, really killing us. Somebody can't sleep again
• 15:07
  because you're born Jaguar anyway.
• 15:10
  See, that's why money is necessary so that you can go and
• 15:14
  buy a nice mansion to yourself. You know, what's it called
• 15:19
  Ministerial Valley and what's it called in Abuja?
• 15:22
  You know, you go and buy a nice mansion to yourself, plenty of
• 15:26
  space, plenty of acres so that whatever people are doing in
• 15:29
  their compound, no concern you, you're just living Peace of
• 15:32
  Mind. That's the reason why I'm making
• 15:34
  this podcast and that's the reason why we need this money in
• 15:36
  2026 so that we can move to a neighborhood where neighbors are
• 15:41
  not going to kill us because they are both brand new car.
• 15:45
  Now where was I? So the things that help you
• 15:50
  determine whether you're in a simple sales situation or
• 15:52
  whether you're in a complex sales situation.
• 15:55
  Now the first one is price. After that complexity, after
• 15:59
  that relationship, after that risk, after that sales cycle and
• 16:04
  then parties. Don't worry if you didn't get
• 16:07
  everything. I want to explain step by step,
• 16:11
  first of all, this price, the more inexpensive something is.
• 16:18
  By the way, on this podcast, we don't say cheap, we say
• 16:20
  inexpensive. So the more inexpensive
• 16:23
  something is, the more simple the sales scenario, the more
• 16:31
  expensive something is, the more complex the sales scenario.
• 16:38
  So for this my neighbor now we don't buy Jaguar.
• 16:42
  The Jaguar is not anyhow anyhow kind of car.
• 16:44
  You don't see it anyhow on Nigerian roads.
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  It's an expensive car. It's auk kind of something.
• 16:51
  So you gas imported. If I have people who have that
• 16:56
  kind of money, you don't go and buy this thing secondhand.
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  So you gas cheaper brand new. It's pricey.
• 17:04
  That is a complex situation because the thing costs.
• 17:11
  Meanwhile, if I want to buy, OK, I'm in the kitchen now making
• 17:15
  this recording. My wife says I don't like this
• 17:17
  chopping board. Let's go and buy a new chopping
• 17:19
  board. It's not too expensive.
• 17:23
  So you can say that you're in a simple sales scenario, or rather
• 17:26
  in a simpler sales scenario. Chopping board in No2 costs.
• 17:32
  So that one if I relax and informal, no big deal.
• 17:35
  However, to go and buy brand new Jag, brand new Jaguar 2026 model
• 17:42
  tear rubber, brand new spanking, brand new expensive something,
• 17:50
  now we gas shine our eyes. If we're excessively formal,
• 17:53
  nobody who vex will understand because people are dropping 10s
• 17:57
  of millions, hundreds of millions just to acquire one
• 18:00
  single Moto. So this is how price comes into
• 18:05
  play. If it's affordable, you're in a
• 18:08
  simple sales situation. If it's complex, sorry.
• 18:12
  If it's affordable, you're in a simple sales situation.
• 18:15
  If it's pricey, the chances are you are in a complex sale
• 18:18
  situation. Then next, the level of
• 18:21
  complexity. Complexity just means how many
• 18:24
  moving parts or how many things do you have to juggle when you
• 18:28
  want to buy this thing. Now for chopping board, since
• 18:31
  I'm in the kitchen, what are the things you need to consider?
• 18:35
  Chopping board is either wood or plastic or ceramic.
• 18:41
  Me, I don't like wood because as you're chopping the wood would
• 18:43
  be breaking up. So me, I prefer plastic, but
• 18:45
  some people say I don't buy plastic because of micro fibers.
• 18:48
  So the truly big boys and big girls, when they buy chopping
• 18:51
  board, what they buy is marble, marble chopping board.
• 18:57
  But you can see that the things you're trying to balance here is
• 19:00
  not plenty. Is it wood?
• 19:03
  Is it plastic? Is it marble?
• 19:05
  The next thing is the size. The chopping board that we have
• 19:08
  now is a small chopping board because you know, it's just me
• 19:10
  and my wife and my kids. So no stress.
• 19:14
  But then my sister-in-law on the other hand, she's a professional
• 19:17
  Baker and a caterer. So when she came into the house
• 19:20
  now and she saw the new chopping board, Cosmo was proud of this
• 19:23
  chopping board that we have. My sister-in-law came as I said,
• 19:26
  what is this? I said this chopping board.
• 19:27
  Now she said no, this is not chopping board.
• 19:30
  So you look at this and this is too small.
• 19:31
  I say how small? OK, what do you want?
• 19:33
  Again she said that the chopping board of different size.
• 19:36
  I say which size? So you see this chopping board.
• 19:39
  Now this chopping board will be like plate and say anything
• 19:42
  works, I don't care. And she said there's medium
• 19:45
  size. Which one is medium size?
• 19:46
  She now pointed to the sink. The whole length of the sink
• 19:50
  said that's like medium sized I think.
• 19:53
  How can I buy a chopping board that big?
• 19:54
  Is it human being or cotton? She laugh.
• 19:57
  Is it there's even chopping board that is bigger?
• 20:00
  She now spread her arms, by the way.
• 20:02
  She's not very big by the way. So for me, my own span is 6
• 20:05
  feet. When I spread my arms, I can
• 20:06
  cover 6 feet, but she's smaller than me, so she can't cover 6
• 20:08
  feet. So she spread her arms.
• 20:10
  She said there's even chopping board this size.
• 20:12
  I say. You say yes now.
• 20:14
  When you're in a restaurant or you're an industrial kitchen,
• 20:17
  when you're in something, something you need to cut like
• 20:19
  this, you need to cut like that, you know, so, so I was like, how
• 20:24
  did I ever enter this thing? Anyway?
• 20:26
  I can't remember how I got here, but sure.
• 20:29
  The most modern thing is when it comes to chomping board, you can
• 20:32
  see that it's not too complex. The number of things you have to
• 20:35
  consider is not too much. What is the material?
• 20:38
  What is the cost? What is the size finish?
• 20:43
  No Jaguar. Now on the other hand, what are
• 20:46
  the things you have to consider? Well, of course you look at
• 20:50
  money and how much we have. You now look at whether the car
• 20:54
  is suitable for Nigerian road or not.
• 20:57
  Then definitely you want to make a kind statement, you know
• 21:00
  because you want to buy that kind of card.
• 21:01
  Once you pack in the compound, your neighbors be like wow.
• 21:04
  And honestly, when I came back from Macadi and I saw that
• 21:08
  Jaguar, I say, hey, I say see machine, see correct car.
• 21:13
  I say may the Lord do it. As I looked the car, I touched
• 21:17
  it. I say may the Lord do it for me.
• 21:19
  As I touch it, the car begin to blow.
• 21:20
  Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul, Paul.
• 21:22
  I say, hey, OK, now this car doesn't like Nigeria.
• 21:27
  So you consider the kind of car that will make a statement.
• 21:32
  Then you also consider, OK, this car that I'm buying now, where
• 21:35
  will I be able to find spare parts?
• 21:37
  Where will I be able to find mechanic if the car breaks down?
• 21:41
  Where are we going to service it?
• 21:43
  Is there going to be any warranty?
• 21:45
  Is there going to be any after service?
• 21:48
  What else? You know, on and on and on and
• 21:52
  on. You can see that there are lots
• 21:53
  of things to consider when it comes to buying a car that you
• 21:56
  don't consider when you're buying a chopping board for your
• 22:00
  kitchen. So the complexity involved in
• 22:04
  buying a chopping board is small.
• 22:06
  The complexity involved in buying a car is big.
• 22:11
  The car has more moving parts, the car has more things that you
• 22:14
  need to consider before you transfer the money.
• 22:18
  So these are the things that help you realize whether you're
• 22:21
  in a simple sales situation or whether in a complex sales
• 22:23
  situation. So if you're a business person
• 22:27
  and you sell things like chopping board, knife, pot and
• 22:31
  pan, things like that, chances are most of the times you are in
• 22:35
  a simple sales situation. But then if you are someone who
• 22:39
  sells cars, you sell Tesla cyber truck, you sell Jaguars, you
• 22:43
  sell Rolls, Rolls Royce, Range Rover in all those kind of cars.
• 22:48
  You know, you're not selling, you know, Jelly weather, you're
• 22:50
  not selling Toyota Camry and all those kind of cars.
• 22:53
  You're selling big, big cars, correct cars, cars that men
• 22:56
  drive. You understand, no cars are
• 22:59
  small boys like to drive. So if you're in that situation,
• 23:02
  you're typically in a complex sale scenario.
• 23:06
  So I hope as you're listening, you can now see where you fall
• 23:10
  within the scale and you now know how to be comforting
• 23:13
  yourself. It's not according to whether
• 23:16
  it's formal or informal. It's according to whether this
• 23:18
  is a simple sale or a complex sale.
• 23:20
  We're in a simple sale. You can afford to relax when you
• 23:24
  sell chopping board, cooks, cooking pots and pan.
• 23:27
  We can be jovial, we can be relaxing.
• 23:29
  We can be cool, you understand. But if you're selling Jaguar,
• 23:35
  you're selling Range Rover. You can still be jovial.
• 23:38
  But if people begin the formal lines and begin they shine their
• 23:41
  eye, don't be surprised. You know, play accordingly.
• 23:43
  This is a complex sale scenario. So everybody wants to be on
• 23:46
  their game. Nobody wants to drop money and
• 23:49
  find out that they drop money for rubbish.
• 23:52
  Then relationship. That's the next factor.
• 23:56
  In simple sales, relationships are not important.
• 23:59
  Relationships are not inquired, not required.
• 24:02
  So to buy chopping board, relationship not needed, I go
• 24:06
  there. Madam, we have chopping board.
• 24:08
  This is the one that I have. Madam, don't give me a mobile,
• 24:11
  mobile is too expensive. Let me see wood or plastic Wood,
• 24:14
  OK. The wood of this cost is how
• 24:16
  much. The plastic of this cost is how
• 24:19
  much. Madam, give me this one by we go
• 24:21
  and we never have to talk to each other again.
• 24:23
  Relationship not needed For complex sales On the other hand
• 24:29
  a relationship is needed is required because when you buy
• 24:35
  this Jaguar and you ship it down to Nigeria, you need to have
• 24:39
  good relationships with the people who sold you the car from
• 24:42
  Obudo Ibo so that they can recommend you to service
• 24:46
  stations in Nigeria because you can't be bad driving.
• 24:51
  Jaguar brand new 2026 model looking like it has been driven
• 24:57
  by the gods. Then when they think it has
• 24:59
  problem, you now come and call roadside mechanic To now touch
• 25:03
  up your car is not done. By the way, this is one thing
• 25:07
  that annoys me. I'll be there in the mechanic
• 25:11
  with my Toyota Corolla. We're fixing it.
• 25:14
  Somebody will now pull up with Bentley.
• 25:16
  Gonna be like, what kind of rubbish is this?
• 25:18
  How can you be driving Bentley and then when your car has a
• 25:21
  problem, you don't go to roadside mechanic, It's not
• 25:23
  done. It doesn't make sense.
• 25:25
  If you're driving Bentley and there's a problem with your
• 25:26
  Bentley, fly that thing abroad. I big and have a proper
• 25:30
  mechanic, a proper, you know, surgical Dr. of cars, have a
• 25:35
  proper, you know, give your car the special treatment.
• 25:39
  I can be here in a mechanic with Toyota Corolla.
• 25:43
  You will now come and bring your Bentley.
• 25:44
  What is that? If you don't have money for, you
• 25:49
  know, to give your car good pampering treatment, don't buy
• 25:52
  that kind of car. I think they vex me.
• 25:56
  Seriously, if you buy Bentley, make sure you have Bentley money
• 26:00
  for Bentley upkeep. Anyway, what was I?
• 26:04
  I had relationships. So when you buy that Jaguar from
• 26:10
  the UK and you ship the Jaguar down to Nigeria, you need to be
• 26:14
  in a good relationship with the dealer over there so that when
• 26:17
  there's problem, you can call them up to say, hey, Bob,
• 26:20
  Remember Me? This is the chief, the Otoku who
• 26:23
  bought the Jaguar. Something, something, something
• 26:26
  you know, and then you have a conversation, begin to
• 26:28
  troubleshoot that the satellite navigation is not working.
• 26:31
  They will help you out or something has happened with the
• 26:35
  car. Small key leg here, they'll be
• 26:36
  able to say, oh, we have recommended partners in JAWS or
• 26:40
  recommended service partners in Lagos.
• 26:42
  Here's the phone number. You can deliver the car to them,
• 26:45
  they'll sort you out, you know, that kind of thing.
• 26:47
  So when it comes to complex selling situations,
• 26:51
  relationships are required. Relationships smooth over the
• 26:56
  whole process. So if you're selling pots and
• 27:03
  pans and chopping board and knife and kitchen scissors and
• 27:08
  kitchen spoon, you don't. If you engage in relationship
• 27:12
  building, it will be good. But if you don't engage in
• 27:14
  relationship building, it won't really hurt you like that.
• 27:18
  But trust me, if you're selling complex items, you're in a
• 27:22
  complex hill scenario, the more relationships you're able to
• 27:25
  build, the better for you. And the more money you will
• 27:29
  make, the more progress you will make as a salesperson, as a
• 27:33
  business person. So if you're in a complex hill
• 27:35
  scenario, make sure you're doing a good job of building
• 27:38
  relationships. Now, I hope as we're listening
• 27:40
  to the podcast, you're beginning to see yourself, you're
• 27:43
  beginning to rank yourself, you're beginning to place
• 27:45
  yourself where you fall when it comes to levels of simplicity or
• 27:51
  levels of complexity. Open BDC.
• 27:55
  Why I say formal and only formal is not really helpful nor will
• 27:59
  help you, but rather simple versus complex.
• 28:03
  Then the level of risk that is involved also determines whether
• 28:07
  in a simple sales scenario or the complex sales scenario.
• 28:10
  If I buy a wooden shopping board and I come home and my wife
• 28:12
  says, what is this, go and buy marble.
• 28:15
  Yeah, I'll go and buy marble. The risk is not, you know, I've
• 28:18
  lost a few thousand, no big deal.
• 28:21
  But on the other hand, if I go and buy my Tesla cyber truck and
• 28:24
  I park in front of the house and my wife says why is this thing
• 28:27
  resemble Bangalore? And by the way, that's what my
• 28:29
  wife says I like the Tesla cyber truck.
• 28:32
  It looks cool. My children like the Tesla cyber
• 28:35
  truck. They say look sci-fi, it looks
• 28:37
  futuristic. My wife look at it and she said
• 28:39
  the thing resemble Bangalore. She say if I buy it, she won't
• 28:41
  drive, which is not a problem for now because the one that I
• 28:46
  like the cyber cyber truck, very big purple color is currently
• 28:51
  going for 430 million naira 430 million.
• 28:56
  Unfortunately, if you take me up and down and shake me, you won't
• 29:00
  get up to 100 million at least for now anyway, I will get
• 29:03
  there. So right now that's not even a
• 29:05
  problem. So if you're selling expensive
• 29:07
  equipment like Jaguars and Tesla cyber trucks, you had better be
• 29:12
  good at building, maintaining, sustaining relationships.
• 29:18
  It's a key part of your success. Sorry, look at me.
• 29:24
  Sorry, forgive me. We had gone beyond
• 29:25
  relationships. I was talking about risk.
• 29:27
  So for risk, if I buy the wrong board, the risk is just I waste
• 29:31
  a few thousand. My wife would be angry.
• 29:32
  But the risk involved if I buy the wrong car is I will end up
• 29:36
  in serious problem. I can buy a car that comes into
• 29:40
  Nigeria that we cannot maintain in Nigeria or that maintaining
• 29:45
  in Nigeria is just too expensive and it doesn't make the on.
• 29:49
  I put it, it doesn't justify the cost, which is the reason why
• 29:54
  I'll be my mechanic with my Toyota Corolla and I'll see
• 29:58
  somebody bringing Bentley for roadside mechanic to come and
• 30:01
  touch up. If you're one of those people,
• 30:03
  stop that rubbish. Please take your Bentley to the
• 30:06
  right, to the proper mechanic and give it a five star
• 30:09
  treatment. If you don't have the money,
• 30:11
  then don't buy Bentley, don't buy Jaguar, don't buy
• 30:14
  Cybertruck. It's not by force.
• 30:17
  In fact, if I see anybody bring Tesla, Cybertruck to roadside
• 30:21
  mechanic and we'll beat the person there live or beat them.
• 30:27
  It's abuse of motor. You can't be abusing your cars
• 30:29
  like that. All right, so that is risk then
• 30:33
  sales cycle. Sales cycle is the length of
• 30:37
  time that it takes traditionally for the deal to close from when
• 30:42
  people say good morning, good afternoon, do you have blah,
• 30:45
  blah, blah, until the time when they transfer the money.
• 30:48
  That is what we call the sales cycle.
• 30:50
  Now traditionally for some items, the sales cycle is short
• 30:54
  and for some items, the sales cycle traditionally is long.
• 30:59
  When it comes to buying. What's it called now?
• 31:04
  Kitchen chopping board, because I'm still in the kitchen.
• 31:08
  When it comes to buying shopping board, the sales cycle
• 31:11
  traditionally is short. Those of you who sell pots and
• 31:15
  pans, shopping board, knife, cooking spoon, all those kinds
• 31:19
  of things, you know it's short. Typically somebody will come
• 31:22
  into your shop in less than 30 minutes.
• 31:25
  They have bought what they want to buy and they have left, or
• 31:30
  they have asked the question that they want to ask and they
• 31:32
  have left anybody who is staying there.
• 31:35
  One hours, two hours even. You.
• 31:38
  You will now be feeling as if How can I get this idiot out of
• 31:41
  the shop? He is wasting my time because
• 31:44
  the sales cycle for these kinds of items is short.
• 31:47
  It is minutes. Somebody comes in.
• 31:51
  Madam, do you have marble chopping board?
• 31:54
  All you have is OK. Good.
• 31:55
  What about ceramic knife? Do you have it all?
• 31:57
  Fantastic. What about pots?
• 32:00
  Do you have pots that are Teflon coated?
• 32:02
  Oh, do you have it OK? Or like a set of 12?
• 32:05
  How much do they cost? Then you have go back and forth,
• 32:09
  you price a bit. You say, OK, can I pay 80%
• 32:14
  deposit now? I'll transfer the rest later.
• 32:16
  OK, Madam, no problem. And the person transfers you 80%
• 32:19
  deposit, you know, 4.5 M And then the next day the government
• 32:22
  settled the rest. You sell pots and pans, all
• 32:26
  these sorts of things, Minutes. And the person is gone 30 to 45
• 32:32
  minutes. They come the price they take it
• 32:34
  or they don't take it, they leave.
• 32:38
  Besides cycles, the sales cycle for buying the car on the other
• 32:41
  hand is typically is traditionally a bit longer.
• 32:46
  Somebody will come and look at different models because you'll
• 32:49
  just go there and buy the only Jaguar you see.
• 32:52
  And this remember I said my neighbor bought Jaguar and oh
• 32:56
  boy, that is a beautiful machine.
• 32:58
  I won't lie, a beautiful, beautiful car, Beautiful,
• 33:01
  beautiful car, silver verifying car.
• 33:06
  So obviously he didn't just go and say give me this Jaguar.
• 33:09
  He went there obviously during the halls because we're in
• 33:13
  general. So guy probably traveled in
• 33:15
  December, you know, with the family abroad.
• 33:17
  And then while he was there was looking at some cars.
• 33:20
  So you go to the dealership and they look around.
• 33:23
  So I'm thinking of buying the car.
• 33:25
  What Jaguars do you have here? In fact, maybe even went there
• 33:28
  thinking, let me buy Bentley. And then maybe he now saw the
• 33:32
  Jaguar section and say, now Jaguar BDS say, yes, Sir, they
• 33:36
  will take you there. They'll show you different
• 33:38
  models, different ranges. You think about it.
• 33:41
  You go home, discuss your wife, discuss with your brother.
• 33:46
  Maybe you now come back again with your brother and your
• 33:47
  sister-in-law. So I'm thinking of buying a
• 33:49
  Jaguar. So one nice car.
• 33:51
  I bet you should follow me. Come and see this car.
• 33:54
  You go back, you look again, they'll now say more do test
• 33:58
  drive. You drive the car around a bit
• 34:00
  the streets of London, you know, you drive it, you put the top
• 34:04
  down, you put the top back up. You blow AC, you do satellite
• 34:08
  navigation, you try Internet radio, you try every, every, you
• 34:12
  know, just have a good time. Just drive the car, come back it
• 34:15
  again. Maybe you come back again.
• 34:20
  Don't want to review your social OK, no credit.
• 34:24
  Does it apply? OK, if you're a Nigerian buying
• 34:26
  a car from the UK, bringing it back here, I guess your credit
• 34:30
  score doesn't matter much. But if you're a local person,
• 34:32
  maybe they might have to look at your credit score and the status
• 34:35
  of your insurance and stuff like that.
• 34:36
  But the point I'm trying to make is if it is to buy a car, then
• 34:42
  it's not going to, traditionally speaking, it's not going to be a
• 34:44
  quick thing. It's not going to be you come
• 34:46
  and then 30 minutes later you leave with a car, you come back.
• 34:51
  You know this small Gocom buying a car, the sales cycle could be
• 34:55
  a couple of days, could be a couple of weeks.
• 34:58
  So traditionally speaking, if your sales cycle is short,
• 35:02
  people expect to walk out or pay within minutes.
• 35:05
  You're in a simple sales scenario.
• 35:07
  You people expect to pay or work out or whatever a couple of days
• 35:11
  later, a couple of weeks later. In fact, there's some things
• 35:14
  that it will be a couple of years later, then you're in a
• 35:17
  complex sales scenario. Then also the number of parties
• 35:21
  involved determine how simple or how complex the sales scenario
• 35:25
  is. When his kitchen board only
• 35:29
  talking to one man, the person who is in front of you to buy
• 35:33
  the board or one woman. When it comes to buying Jaguar,
• 35:39
  you know you're talking to a couple of people.
• 35:40
  The man will come and go. The next time he comes, you'll
• 35:43
  come with his wife. After that he comes, you'll come
• 35:45
  with mechanic. You know, if he has adult
• 35:47
  children, you know, he might even show up with his adult
• 35:49
  children, you know, come with his first son.
• 35:52
  So buy on to buy a Jaguar. What do you think?
• 35:55
  So as a salesperson who sells chopping boards, pots and pans,
• 35:59
  things like that, you're used to talking to one person only,
• 36:02
  maybe 2 husband and wife show up.
• 36:04
  But then for the person who sells cars, you're used to
• 36:07
  talking to a couple more people, 345, maybe 6.
• 36:12
  It depends. If you're based in the UK and
• 36:16
  the partner lives, the person who wants to buy the car lives
• 36:18
  in the UK, then you're going to do, you're going to check their
• 36:21
  credit score, you're going to check the insurance.
• 36:23
  So you're not only having conversations with the person,
• 36:26
  you're also having conversations with their insurance carrier,
• 36:29
  with their bank, you know, on and on.
• 36:31
  So conversation was plenty. So these are some of the things
• 36:39
  to consider when we're trying to figure out, are you in a simple
• 36:44
  sales scenario or are you in a complex sales scenario?
• 36:49
  OK, so we've currently done 30 minutes and let me bring today's
• 36:52
  episode to a close because I don't want this to be a very
• 36:54
  long 1. So what we'll do is tomorrow
• 36:57
  we're going to continue where we're now going to look at the
• 36:59
  implications. Now that you've figured out
• 37:02
  you're in a simple sales scenario or you're in a complex
• 37:04
  sales scenario, how does that affect how you sell?
• 37:08
  How does that affect how you comport yourself?
• 37:11
  How does that affect how you comport yourself, how you
• 37:13
  package yourself, how you step into the room, how you handle
• 37:21
  things? So we'll start looking at that
• 37:23
  tomorrow. What are the implications for
• 37:25
  how you sell when you're in a simple sales scenario, on a
• 37:28
  complex sales scenario? And then we'll cap it off with a
• 37:31
  few simple examples. I like this example that I came
• 37:34
  up with, you know, like when you're selling in front of the
• 37:36
  presidency. So tomorrow we'll answer that.
• 37:38
  When you're selling in front of the president, should you be
• 37:41
  formal? Should you be informal?
• 37:43
  It is. Is it a simple sales scenario or
• 37:45
  is it a complex sales scenario? So with that, we'll cap it off
• 37:50
  today. And if it is your first time
• 37:52
  listening to the podcast, I hope you've gotten some value out of
• 37:54
  it. And please make sure you
• 37:56
  subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of your
• 37:59
  choice. And if you'd love to connect
• 38:02
  with me, you can call, send a text message or WhatsApp message
• 38:06
  on 08064662140. Don't forget sales trading
• 38:14
  starts on the 12th of January to the 23rd of January 2026 already
• 38:19
  in January. So the time is now if you would
• 38:22
  love to sell effectively using the phone because whether you
• 38:27
  sell pots and pans or whether you sell cars, there are times
• 38:30
  where you might have to collect somebody's phone number because
• 38:33
  you want to follow up or because you want to get them to be a
• 38:35
  repeat customer or because you're trying to get a referral
• 38:38
  or you're trying to get a review or something.
• 38:41
  So all of us listening to the podcast at the moment, at some
• 38:45
  point we have to learn how to sell using the phone.
• 38:48
  So if you're curious and you want to learn how to be
• 38:50
  effective at using the phone, reach out to me, call, send me a
• 38:55
  text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
• 39:02
  Let's have a chat. I'd love to know who you are.
• 39:05
  I'd love to know the business you're involved in.
• 39:07
  I'd love to know your goals for 2026 because I want to make sure
• 39:11
  that this training is going to be suitable for you and is going
• 39:13
  to help you achieve your business goals or your personal
• 39:17
  goals. So that's it.
• 39:19
  Thank you very much for listening.
• 39:20
  I'll catch you all some other time.