Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Land More Clients: The Power of Genuine Networking

Transcript

Land More Clients: The Power of Genuine Networking · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the show. Today is another out and about
• 0:05
  episodes. We expect to hear some
• 0:06
  interruptions in the background. In fact, I've won up the windows
• 0:10
  because there's a guy next to me who's playing some nice reggae
• 0:13
  music, you know, quite, quite good actually.
• 0:16
  So just in case you hear it, just take it as a nice
• 0:18
  background to today's podcast episode.
• 0:21
  In fact, the fellow has got me thinking that I need to add some
• 0:25
  Peter Tosh and Bob Marley to my playlist just so I can, you
• 0:32
  know, get on some of those good reggae vibes, you know, just
• 0:34
  keep the mind cool, you know, when things are getting too, too
• 0:38
  hot mentally or financially. Just some music to help you feel
• 0:41
  all right. OK, let's see.
• 0:46
  OK, yesterday I did the detour. So today we're going to go back
• 0:50
  to our baby lawyer, Adenica today.
• 0:53
  Let's call her Adenica Ishiaku, and we're going to look at how
• 0:57
  we can use networking as a prospecting tool.
• 1:01
  Because remember how we started the conversation with Adenica
• 1:05
  was just to show how you can be deliberate at prospecting and
• 1:11
  using that to start your business.
• 1:13
  And the reason why I'm going with Adenica, by the way, not a
• 1:16
  real name. It's just that I want to show
• 1:18
  you guys how we can use it to apply to all manner of
• 1:22
  businesses because typically over here on the podcast when I
• 1:26
  was spoken about prospecting, I've always used physical
• 1:29
  products, you know, So in December of no, was that
• 1:35
  December, OK? I think December of 2023 there
• 1:39
  was that whole, was it catfish or something?
• 1:43
  OK, we need to see a pattern. Now.
• 1:44
  It looks like towards the end of every year or at the beginning
• 1:47
  of every year, I make a series on prospecting and then we do
• 1:51
  that with the case study. Interesting.
• 1:54
  OK, just occurred to me. So I've done I think catfish and
• 2:00
  let's see what else. But it always been something
• 2:02
  physical that you can sell. So I figured it was time to now
• 2:05
  come up with a case study that involves a service and not a
• 2:09
  common service at that, so that you guys can see how this
• 2:14
  principles can be fleshed out across a wide range of
• 2:18
  scenarios. Also because once in a while I
• 2:21
  run into some people who are, you know, doing things
• 2:25
  interesting in the tech space and stuff like that who listen
• 2:28
  to the podcast. So I figured, let me just go
• 2:30
  ahead and make a podcast recording for them.
• 2:32
  So this series that we're doing right now using Adenica as a
• 2:36
  baby lawyer who is trying to get into legal consulting, it's
• 2:39
  dedicated to you guys who are into all fancy and cerebral
• 2:43
  stuff. So that is why we're looking at
• 2:45
  the baby lawyer who's trying to break into the into the business
• 2:49
  of securities compliance. So let's see, OK, we've decided
• 2:57
  who it is she has to run after. We've decided the companies that
• 3:01
  she has to run after and we've looked at the title of the
• 3:05
  officers within the company that she should be interacting with.
• 3:08
  So now let's go straight to networking, because for this
• 3:11
  kind of business, you can't avoid networking as part of
• 3:14
  business development or as part of growing sales or as part of
• 3:17
  prospecting. Now, if you want to set up your
• 3:22
  catfish business, OK, then maybe networking is not that
• 3:25
  essential. And if you're going to become a
• 3:27
  distributor for Nigerian breweries or something or for
• 3:30
  Coca-Cola, you know, maybe networking is not as essential.
• 3:34
  But when it comes to some of these professional type
• 3:37
  engagements, we can't run away from networking as part and
• 3:39
  parcel of the marketing. So marketing or prospecting or
• 3:45
  whatever it is that you want to call it.
• 3:46
  So that's what we're going to look at today.
• 3:49
  Now for those of you who are listening to the show for the
• 3:52
  first time, I'm sure you've figured out that there's a
• 3:54
  larger context. So go and listen to the last
• 3:56
  three or 4 episodes and you get caught up to speed.
• 4:00
  And don't be confused by the changing nature of Adenica's
• 4:03
  name. The truth of matter is, the
• 4:04
  first name I picked for Adenica, I can't.
• 4:07
  In fact, I can't even remember if we started calling her
• 4:09
  Adenica. But The thing is, after the
• 4:10
  first episode, I lost my notes, so I couldn't remember what name
• 4:14
  we gave her. So the that's how I think the
• 4:17
  surname changed. And then since then, I've just
• 4:18
  been changing the surname just for the fun of it.
• 4:20
  So today we're going to call her Adenike Ishaku.
• 4:26
  Let's see, let's see, I'm prospecting.
• 4:30
  So now let's define prospecting. Now prospecting, for those of
• 4:33
  you who are new to the show, is just that part of your business
• 4:36
  journey where you're trying to figure out who might be
• 4:38
  interested in my product or my service, Where do they hang out
• 4:41
  in the real world, whether they hang out online, how can I go
• 4:45
  about starting conversations with them?
• 4:47
  That's the whole idea behind prospecting and it's central to
• 4:50
  growing your business. So this whole thing of you're
• 4:53
  getting ready to start business and then, you know, you talk to
• 4:57
  your mum, see, you know, this month you don't talk to anybody
• 5:00
  again. You talk to POPSY next month,
• 5:02
  then maybe in March you talk to two or three of your cousins.
• 5:05
  And then maybe in April you mentioned it to one person at
• 5:08
  work. I mean, that's not hard to rule,
• 5:09
  rule out your business. If that's all you're doing, then
• 5:12
  you haven't really started. And there's no way that you're
• 5:14
  going to be able to attract customers.
• 5:15
  So we have to be much more deliberate in our prospecting,
• 5:18
  running after customers. And and yeah, so I'm going to
• 5:23
  use our dedicated Sharku to flesh out these things.
• 5:25
  So like I said, this is your first time listening to the
• 5:27
  show. Why?
• 5:28
  Listen, there's a bunch of stuff that you've already missed.
• 5:32
  Also, I also forgot. If you'd love to connect with me
• 5:34
  to have a strategy session or a business audit or you have a
• 5:39
  bunch of questions, then you can reach out to me on 08064662140.
• 5:45
  The country code is +234 for those of you who are not
• 5:48
  Nigerian, and that's my WhatsApp number as well.
• 5:51
  Then you can connect with me on LinkedIn, the name to look for
• 5:54
  establishing my IED. So now we've defined
• 5:56
  prospecting. Now the next question we're
• 5:58
  going to ask ourselves actually is, is networking a viable tool
• 6:02
  for prospecting? Now, the reason why I want to
• 6:05
  tackle this question is because there's some people who say
• 6:08
  prospecting is one thing, networking is another thing.
• 6:10
  And I'm one of those people who disagree.
• 6:14
  You know, some people think of sales and prospecting and all
• 6:17
  these kinds of things like, you know, like a like a dirty
• 6:19
  something that is only low class people that get involved in
• 6:21
  these sorts of things. And I understand because in this
• 6:24
  part of the world, when you say a salesperson or a marketer, you
• 6:27
  think of people who are going around the mall giving Flyers,
• 6:31
  you know, very sweaty people. You know, the appies are
• 6:33
  sweating because they've been in the sun all day, you know, that
• 6:35
  kind of thing. And then for certain professions
• 6:38
  like the law, people find that kind of behavior beneath them.
• 6:42
  So they won't call that kind of thing.
• 6:45
  Don't call that kind of thing. I'm selling.
• 6:47
  So you would hear lawyers say things like, oh, no, no, no, a
• 6:50
  lawyer should never engage in sales.
• 6:51
  Like no, no, no, no. A lawyer should engage in
• 6:53
  networking. Yes, yes, yes, networking and
• 6:56
  business development. That is what lawyers should do.
• 6:59
  And you know, I'm one of you. My professional background and
• 7:03
  my educational background was in law.
• 7:04
  And I'm here to tell you that, look, I'm sitting on both sides
• 7:07
  of the aisle and unfortunately, whatever it is you want to call
• 7:10
  it on our sales, everything in sales.
• 7:14
  So networking is a viable tool for prospecting.
• 7:17
  And this is how. Because when people are
• 7:18
  prospecting, you're looking for who might be interested in my
• 7:21
  product or my service so that one day the person might
• 7:23
  eventually do business with me. Abby, now when you're
• 7:27
  networking, what the hell are you doing?
• 7:30
  You're trying to get some chance encounters so that you will run
• 7:33
  into people who might have a need for your specialty, whether
• 7:37
  today, tomorrow or next tomorrow.
• 7:39
  So what are we doing? All our sales, but then again,
• 7:43
  call it whatever makes you comfortable.
• 7:45
  So if you're a lawyer, you're an accountant, you studied medicine
• 7:49
  and you're like, oh, no sales is beneath me.
• 7:51
  No, I would never engage in in, in sales.
• 7:53
  That's unprofessional. That's unethical.
• 7:56
  But yes, I'll engage in networking.
• 7:57
  So whatever you want to call it, just, you know, call it, but
• 8:01
  should do it because regardless of whatever you call it, if you
• 8:04
  don't do it, then you're not helping yourself.
• 8:07
  So networking is a viable tool for prospecting.
• 8:11
  Networking is prospecting because we're just trying to
• 8:14
  orchestrate some chance encounters, either because we're
• 8:18
  not bold enough or because we think going to go and approach
• 8:22
  people to to now start trying to talk business one-on-one is is
• 8:25
  kind of tacky. It's kind of low class in
• 8:27
  whichever way. Sure.
• 8:29
  In networking we're just trying to orchestrate some encounters.
• 8:32
  You know, you go for MBA meetings, that's Nigerian Bar
• 8:35
  Association or you go for MD something conference, that's
• 8:39
  medical and dental, medical and dental practitioners something,
• 8:43
  something, you know, you go for the conference or you go for
• 8:45
  Abuja International Trade fair, you know, you know, all those
• 8:50
  sorts of things, you know, and Hangouts, you know, hobnob, you
• 8:53
  know. So it's all the same.
• 8:55
  We're just trying to create chance encounters using
• 8:58
  networking. Now, I'll also have to define
• 9:03
  networking because lots of people when they hear
• 9:05
  networking, they think networking is handing out
• 9:08
  business cards. And in fact, today I'm talking
• 9:11
  particularly to those of you who are lawyers, lawyers, and I can
• 9:17
  blast you guys because I used to be 1 of you lawyers think that
• 9:22
  networking is handing out business cards.
• 9:26
  You show up for these sorts of things and then you start
• 9:29
  boasting. I graduated first class, I went
• 9:33
  to Harvard. I did this, this and this and
• 9:36
  this and that and that and that. I have so, so and so cases at
• 9:39
  the Supreme Court have been put in this publication.
• 9:44
  I have been interviewed on channels TV and something,
• 9:47
  something, something. And here's my business card.
• 9:50
  I would love to connect, you know, that kind of thing.
• 9:52
  And look, that's absolutely, yes, that's not networking
• 9:57
  because you already know yourself.
• 10:02
  If you go to these sorts of events and then you spend 2, by
• 10:07
  the way, people that do this, like, I really, really, really
• 10:10
  respect you guys. You go to a networking event and
• 10:13
  you spend 4, four or five hours. OK, No, four or five is much,
• 10:16
  let's say two or three hours, and you do nothing but talk
• 10:18
  about yourself for two hours straight.
• 10:21
  Man, you guys are vain. Really, really vain.
• 10:24
  Anyway, but that's a separate podcast episode.
• 10:27
  So if you go there, you're reading it yourself and you talk
• 10:30
  about yourself for the two hours while you're there.
• 10:32
  When you leave, what, what, what have you gained?
• 10:34
  You might impress one or two people, but you haven't really
• 10:36
  gained anything. Now the sweet spot.
• 10:38
  The main thing about networking is not just handing out business
• 10:41
  cards, but actually it's it's about sorting through contacts.
• 10:45
  It's about going into the hall and trying to figure out who is
• 10:48
  worth building a relationship with after the event.
• 10:52
  Now keep your boasting for later.
• 10:54
  So like I didn't Care now for instance, ten years probably
• 10:58
  done her masters and has worked on lots of important cases and
• 11:02
  things like that. So keep keep your boasting.
• 11:05
  The boasting time will come where you will impress them with
• 11:08
  how educated you are, how sophisticated you and how
• 11:10
  refined you are. But at the networking session
• 11:14
  when you go for MBA meeting, remember MBA is Nigerian Bar
• 11:17
  Association. That's where lawyers hang out
• 11:19
  then or MDC that's medical and dental practitioners.
• 11:24
  Something, something, something, when you shop for all those
• 11:26
  sorts of things, enter into the room and then, you know, begin
• 11:30
  the scope. Look around.
• 11:32
  You're trying to figure out who is in this room that is worth
• 11:35
  building a relationship with after the event, that is where
• 11:39
  the paper is going to come from. So instead of going into this
• 11:43
  thing and spending two or three hours boasting about yourself,
• 11:45
  go there and try and figure out, are there four or five people
• 11:48
  here that I should know that by the time I leave this place we
• 11:51
  might be able to run one or two things with them.
• 11:53
  That's the whole point of networking.
• 11:55
  So networking is more about sorting through contacts rather
• 11:58
  than passing out your business card.
• 12:01
  In fact, in my own opinion, it will pay you, keep your business
• 12:04
  card in your pocket, have as many conversations as possible,
• 12:08
  try and figure people out, collect their own business
• 12:11
  cards. Then after this networking
• 12:14
  event, after this dinner, after this lecture, after this,
• 12:19
  whatever it is that you've gone, you've attended, you now pick up
• 12:22
  the phone and start calling these people.
• 12:24
  So oh, what's up? This is that young lady that you
• 12:26
  had a conversation with that time.
• 12:27
  So Oh yes, yes, yes, I remember that young lady from me fell.
• 12:30
  Oh yes, Sir, yes, that's me. And then you now start having a
• 12:32
  conversation. So keep your business cards, but
• 12:35
  make sure you collect other people's business cards and then
• 12:37
  reach out to them after the event.
• 12:39
  So networking is not about handing out your business cards
• 12:42
  and it's not about talking about you.
• 12:45
  Rather, it's about asking questions from other people and
• 12:48
  trying to figure out what they are up to so that you can align
• 12:52
  your own business interests with theirs.
• 12:54
  That's it. So when you talk to people and
• 12:58
  you figure out what they're about, try and gain feedback on
• 13:04
  what it is that you do and how it relates.
• 13:07
  See if there's any alignment. Give them some invites.
• 13:10
  That's why I say invites, some insights.
• 13:13
  And then what you try and do is you now try and gain some
• 13:16
  advancements. Advancement is just get things
• 13:18
  to move to the next step, which is you set up a meeting or you
• 13:21
  set up a future phone call or you go to their office or
• 13:23
  whatever. You know, that's how networking
• 13:25
  is done. Also, that's another thing I'm
• 13:28
  trying to disabuse you. Professional types of networking
• 13:31
  is not what goes on during the whole thing.
• 13:34
  Because like for those of us who have, who got our masters
• 13:39
  abroad, you know, typically your university, whether it's Harvard
• 13:42
  or whether it's London Business, London Business School or
• 13:45
  whether it's Kennedy School of Management or wherever it is
• 13:47
  that you went to, typically there'll be one week where they
• 13:49
  say it's networking week. And then, you know, you go to
• 13:52
  these events and then you know, blah, blah, blah, and stuff like
• 13:54
  that. So instead of going for these
• 13:56
  sorts of things, spending all the time talking about yourself,
• 13:58
  go try and figure out who's worth building a relationship
• 14:01
  with later. But then when networking week is
• 14:03
  done, a lot of you professional types, lawyers, accountants, who
• 14:08
  else do engineers do networking and maybe they do a KTS let me
• 14:13
  know. So after that thing, we now does
• 14:16
  think like, OK, I've done my networking for the quarter or my
• 14:19
  networking for the year. No, networking is what happens
• 14:22
  after the event, not during the event.
• 14:26
  During the event, you're just sorting through contacts.
• 14:28
  You're trying to figure out who's the guy or who's the very
• 14:30
  big that I need to to connect with.
• 14:35
  So let's go through. Let's just do a small case
• 14:38
  study. Remember this case study is
• 14:40
  fictional. So I didn't get Ishaku does not
• 14:43
  exist. But I know for sure that there's
• 14:45
  someone like her listening to this podcast right now who is 10
• 14:48
  years post call. That means you went to law
• 14:49
  school, you did your masters, you've been practicing for 10
• 14:52
  years. I didn't get Ishaku.
• 14:53
  If I remember correctly, we said that she practiced in Lagos
• 14:57
  under and Oga who was paying her crap like 100K every month.
• 15:01
  And so she decided, look, you know what?
• 15:03
  I'm smarter than this. I'm sharper than the guy and in
• 15:06
  fact, I've been responsible for the last four big briefs that we
• 15:10
  handled that ended up floating on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
• 15:13
  So let me go out and do it on my own.
• 15:14
  So she's doing her thing now and she's going around talking to
• 15:18
  people that she's into securities compliance.
• 15:22
  In one of the older episodes, I give an example about Adenica
• 15:26
  showing up to an event, Founder Friday.
• 15:30
  Now, Founder Friday is something that has been going on for quite
• 15:33
  a bit and it's when founders and potential investors and let's
• 15:39
  see what else sometimes business consultants, you know, get
• 15:43
  together and it's supposed to be, I'm not sure who is even in
• 15:47
  charge of the initiative self, but it's supposed to be one of
• 15:49
  these things that's supposed to boost the tech ecosystem in
• 15:53
  Niger. And I know that they have
• 15:55
  meetings in Abuja and I think Kaduna and I can't remember, I
• 15:59
  think Lagos, Abuja, Kaduna and Lagos, I think.
• 16:02
  But you know, just go on Google and and check, you know, if
• 16:05
  you're into that sort of thing. So in one of the episodes, I
• 16:08
  pretended that identity as Shaku shows up for founder Friday.
• 16:14
  So Lagos, Abuja branch. Now, let's pretend that during
• 16:19
  that meeting, she bumps into someone who is the founder of a
• 16:23
  real estate company who is using AI to do virtual inspections and
• 16:29
  to make buying and selling of real estate more easier.
• 16:32
  Well, by the way, that company does exist.
• 16:34
  They happen to be one of my clients that I'm, I'm advising
• 16:37
  them on, you know, trying to get their fancy ideas off the
• 16:41
  ground. So now let's say Adenica runs
• 16:43
  into this person. Now, let me go back to what I
• 16:48
  was trying to say from the beginning about what networking
• 16:50
  is. If Adenica says that networking
• 16:54
  is about going, excuse me and handing out business cards, If
• 16:58
  you give your business card to somebody like this and boast
• 17:02
  about yourself and then you leave the truth of matters, this
• 17:05
  kind of person does not even know whether he might need a
• 17:09
  compliance lawyer. So your card that you've given
• 17:12
  to him, this is all happened. He'll put it in his wallet and
• 17:15
  then he'll forget. He will see it in three years
• 17:18
  and then threw it away because by then he would have really had
• 17:21
  his own compliance lawyer or who put it inside his wallet.
• 17:25
  When he goes home, his children will play with it, pull it out
• 17:27
  and they might hear it and then that's it.
• 17:30
  So it won't profit you much going around handing out your
• 17:33
  business cards. But then rather if I didn't care
• 17:35
  flips the script and looks as if this way that is all about
• 17:38
  asking questions will be a matter of OK, the founder is a
• 17:43
  guy. But in this case, let's pretend
• 17:44
  that the founder is a lady. So how will I do it now?
• 17:49
  So I didn't care runs into this lady.
• 17:51
  And so oh, what brings you here? Tell me about your business.
• 17:54
  Oh, really? AI, virtual inspections, that
• 17:57
  kind of thing work in Nigeria. I mean, tell me more.
• 18:00
  So that's the whole scope. Like, OK, that sounds
• 18:02
  interesting. Tell me more.
• 18:03
  You're getting this other founder to talk from the way
• 18:07
  that the founder is talking, you will get to ask different things
• 18:10
  about the business origins, how they raise money for the
• 18:14
  investments, the kind of people that they're targeting, you
• 18:17
  know, things like that. How many share shares that
• 18:19
  they've raised so far and then the goal that they have for the
• 18:22
  business, whether it's something that they want to grow big and
• 18:25
  eventually listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
• 18:27
  You know, those sorts of things. Ball of this would be small
• 18:29
  talk, small talk. You know the person you're
• 18:32
  talking to just think like, wow, this person is a very engaging
• 18:35
  conversationalist and yes, you're being engaging, but The
• 18:37
  thing is with the goal that you have in mind, you're trying to
• 18:40
  figure out one or two things you're trying to figure out.
• 18:42
  Could this person be a potential collaborator, a potential
• 18:45
  client, a potential customer, or a potential, what's that word?
• 18:50
  Referee as in someone that will refer you to someone else?
• 18:52
  I'm not sure if that's a referee or a referral.
• 18:54
  So whatever is the proper word, you guys figure that out.
• 18:58
  So that's what you're trying to figure out.
• 19:00
  So it is after you get the person to talk about her amazing
• 19:04
  business idea for like 20-30 minutes that you can now
• 19:08
  remember what I said. You can now start gaining
• 19:10
  feedback on what it is you do and how it relates or giving
• 19:15
  insights. And then you go for the close,
• 19:18
  which is try and set up an advancement, which is set up a
• 19:20
  future meeting or set up a future phone call or set up a
• 19:23
  future office visit. That's where you'll now be able
• 19:26
  to ask questions about the equity investors.
• 19:31
  So you say, oh, OK, oh, you got your first investors from
• 19:34
  Otumba, this person, from Cabbie AC this person, and from Sugaba
• 19:39
  this person or Emia this person. And he asked more questions.
• 19:42
  OK, Therefore, for your round A, on what terms?
• 19:46
  So is it round A or B? Series A?
• 19:48
  Sorry, forgive me, I think it's called Series A.
• 19:50
  So for your Series A fundraising, on what terms?
• 19:53
  What kind of items did you typically have in the term
• 19:55
  sheet? You know, blah, blah, blah.
• 19:57
  From the questions that Adenica is asking this founder, the
• 20:00
  founder will begin to see that OK, this baby lawyer, she might
• 20:04
  look small, but she she sharp gone as in she knows her stuff.
• 20:09
  You see, now you're setting yourself apart.
• 20:11
  From other lawyers that this person has met before, because
• 20:14
  Nigerian lawyers like to believe that they're educated, but I
• 20:17
  would like Nigerian lawyers don't know, they don't know
• 20:19
  crap. We go to school, all we study is
• 20:21
  law. Then we come out and we have no
• 20:24
  appreciation for anything else. We have no appreciation for
• 20:27
  economics, no appreciation for finance, no appreciation for
• 20:31
  philosophy. And so you find that the
• 20:32
  Nigerian lawyer is a very insulated fellow and doesn't
• 20:35
  know much. So please, those of you lawyers
• 20:40
  listening to this podcast, I can say so because I'm one of you,
• 20:44
  I'm one of you, I'm your brother.
• 20:46
  So that's the reason why people don't respect us.
• 20:49
  That's the reason why we see all those stickers waiting lawyer.
• 20:51
  They do self, you know, and all those sorts of things because
• 20:55
  people look at us running around in our strange clothes, calling
• 20:58
  ourselves Leonard fellow, giving ourselves high 5.
• 21:01
  But people can't really see like like, I don't get it.
• 21:06
  They're supposed to be sharp people, but I don't get it.
• 21:09
  That is the reason why 'cause the legal education here very
• 21:13
  insular. Now I was in the UK on the USA
• 21:17
  for instance, where you would have gotten a first degree in
• 21:19
  accounting, cause law is typically a second degree in
• 21:22
  these in those climes. So you'd have gotten your first
• 21:25
  degree in something, economics, sociology, criminology or
• 21:30
  something. You now graduate and then do law
• 21:33
  as a second degree. You're coming up as a much more
• 21:35
  rounded fellow and you can see that there lawyers can have much
• 21:38
  more fruitful, enlightening, positive conversations on all
• 21:42
  manners of business or or policy or government or you know, and
• 21:50
  you sound like, OK, these are educated people that are
• 21:52
  talking. So please lawyers in Niger, you
• 21:55
  guys should develop yourself. Don't just go to OAU or go to
• 21:59
  union. Like you get your law degree,
• 22:01
  you come out and then start calling yourself the law and
• 22:03
  then people are supposed to respect you that you're
• 22:05
  educated. So please a lot more.
• 22:07
  Anyway, let me stop bashing lawyers.
• 22:09
  So what what I'm just trying to say is that this is how to find
• 22:11
  out. Now start saying that, OK, this
• 22:13
  identity, this baby lawyer that I'm talking to, this one is
• 22:15
  lawyer with distinction because I didn't care.
• 22:18
  And also somebody is asking the right questions.
• 22:21
  You asked a couple of questions about the equity investors,
• 22:24
  people that are put money into this deal and on what term, what
• 22:29
  terms Nigerian people who are starting the fintechs and stuff
• 22:35
  like that, they usually like to give, give ownership stake to
• 22:41
  some of the early staff and things like that.
• 22:43
  So you ask all those kinds of questions, you know, just asking
• 22:46
  questions like that. So those are the kind of
• 22:47
  questions that NDK will ask. And then from there, this is
• 22:50
  where the inside will start coming in now, OK, when you did
• 22:53
  this and you raised money from Alafi in this person, from
• 22:57
  Obwafi, this person, from Mazi, this person, did you do this?
• 23:00
  Did you do this, Have you considered that in the future
• 23:05
  you might have to do social, social filings with the SEC,
• 23:09
  that Securities and Exchange Commission?
• 23:10
  What kind of paperwork did you guys, did you guys look at where
• 23:16
  your term sheets? Is there any evidence you know,
• 23:20
  of the, I like what you know, evidence?
• 23:23
  What did you use to set the expectations for how things are
• 23:25
  going to go, go on moving forward?
• 23:27
  So it's from asking these kinds of probing questions.
• 23:30
  Listen to the person's idea, asking these kind of probing
• 23:32
  questions that the CEO founder will now start seeing that, OK,
• 23:38
  maybe I need the direction of a compliance lawyer going forward
• 23:46
  because there's one or two, three things that I didn't quite
• 23:50
  think through or I thought of it, but I didn't quite flesh it
• 23:55
  out too well. So I guess I need people like
• 23:57
  this. So after that kind of
• 23:59
  interesting conversation, you have spent 20-30 minutes letting
• 24:04
  the person talk about their business idea.
• 24:06
  Use another 4 or 5 minutes to ask some probing questions that
• 24:10
  has now given the person some insight.
• 24:12
  If you say I'm going to be in your part of town next week
• 24:16
  Tuesday, how about I stop by? Would you be available like
• 24:20
  10:00 AM? Of course the person will say,
• 24:22
  Oh yes, please, please drop by because you have shown yourself
• 24:27
  to be a valuable resource. So professional types, you
• 24:33
  wouldn't want to do sales, you don't want to do networking.
• 24:35
  This is how you do networking. Stop going around at MBA
• 24:39
  conference at MDC and all these things and you just be giving
• 24:42
  people your flyer, your flyer or you've done your website.
• 24:46
  Your website is flyer. Your website is cool.
• 24:48
  So you want everybody to know your website.
• 24:50
  So you're giving everybody your your law office website.
• 24:55
  So this is how you go about it. Make it about the other person
• 24:58
  trying to figure out who's in the room, trying to figure out
• 25:01
  what it is that they're working on.
• 25:02
  As they're telling you their life story and their business
• 25:04
  story and everything in your mind, you know, you're now doing
• 25:07
  the calculation now, OK, based on what these people do, based
• 25:10
  on what I do, there might be alignment here.
• 25:13
  There might be alignment there. Later on in the conversation,
• 25:16
  drop one or two insights. Then from there, how about we
• 25:21
  hook up later on? I'll be at your office.
• 25:23
  How about you come by my office? Let's talk some more.
• 25:26
  You know, that's how the meeting starts.
• 25:27
  That's how you start to do the rubbing of minds.
• 25:30
  And that is how networking and these chance encounters can lead
• 25:34
  to people who might have a need for your product or your
• 25:38
  specialty later on. Now, This is why networking is a
• 25:45
  good sales tool. It's a good prospecting tool.
• 25:48
  And so for me, networking is prospecting because for this
• 25:52
  fish seller who is doing direct prospecting, she's thinking who
• 25:56
  might be interested in my product or my service?
• 25:58
  Who wants to buy it retail for the house or who wants to buy
• 26:01
  it? Sorry, no, who wants to buy it
• 26:05
  private for the house or who wants to buy it retail, you
• 26:07
  know, buy and package and then sell to supermarkets or
• 26:10
  something like that. So that is networking.
• 26:16
  And I guess this is a much more, this is a kind of selling that
• 26:19
  you professional types, those of you who graduated from, you
• 26:22
  know, professional degrees in Nigeria, law, medicine,
• 26:27
  accounting, what else? I guess this is kind of sales or
• 26:34
  selling that you be comfortable with.
• 26:36
  So yeah, that's it. So go in and but remember, it's
• 26:42
  not about what you call it, excuse me, It's about whether
• 26:46
  you apply it or not. So that's my advice to any
• 26:50
  identical issue cause who are currently listening to the
• 26:52
  podcast right now starting our business, you're trying to
• 26:56
  prospect. Networking is a viable tool.
• 26:59
  This is how you go about it. Tomorrow, I would like us to
• 27:04
  look at cold calling. Cold calling just means you
• 27:08
  approach somebody, but there's no prior context.
• 27:12
  This person doesn't know you. You might, you don't know them,
• 27:15
  OK, maybe you know them small 'cause you've done some
• 27:17
  research. But the interaction is
• 27:19
  unsolicited. Unsolicited means I didn't beg
• 27:23
  you, I didn't send you. You're the one that is just
• 27:25
  showing up on your own. Networking is not unsolicited.
• 27:30
  It's not cool because when I go for a networking session, I have
• 27:35
  impliedly kind of put myself out there that I'm OK with strangers
• 27:40
  walking up to me to talk to me and to discuss one or two
• 27:43
  business ideas. I kind of have given permission
• 27:45
  for you to approach me. So networking is not called,
• 27:49
  even though all of us are strangers.
• 27:53
  Cold calling is purely unsolicited.
• 27:55
  I'm minding my business. I'm trying to have fun with my
• 27:57
  children at the mall. And somebody walks up to me and
• 28:01
  says, oh, Sir, we do Canadian visa.
• 28:04
  Something, something, something. Oh, thank you very much.
• 28:06
  I'm not trying to Jack bar and but Sir, once you consider it
• 28:08
  Canadian visa, this and this and this 20% off blah, blah, blah,
• 28:13
  you only you only we have guarantor.
• 28:14
  You don't have to raise the money.
• 28:16
  The guarantor that will bring for you will guarantee you to
• 28:19
  the level of 30 million naira something.
• 28:21
  So Oh, thank you very much. I'm just here with my family.
• 28:24
  I'm trying to have fun. We are not Japan.
• 28:26
  But Sir, consider see now that is that is really, really cold
• 28:32
  and that is unsolicited. Like I didn't beg you.
• 28:35
  I was just minding my business. You came, you know, I started
• 28:38
  trying to sell me stuff. So anyway, I'll look at cold
• 28:42
  calling so that lawyers like Adenica who want to use cold
• 28:46
  calling as a tactic for growing their business, whether you're
• 28:50
  going to call somebody up on the phone completely cold or they're
• 28:55
  going to meet somebody live and direct completely cold.
• 28:58
  Let's see how we can go about doing this.
• 29:02
  Now remember, for those of you who are not lawyers listening to
• 29:05
  the podcast, remember that the principle applies across
• 29:09
  different contexts. You also just to listen with a
• 29:11
  pencil or paper, write down something that you think is
• 29:14
  interesting and then see how you think can apply to your
• 29:16
  business. So if you're a hairstylist and
• 29:18
  you've been listening to Identity Care, the ideas we've
• 29:22
  been throwing up for Identity Care, you'll be writing it down
• 29:24
  like, OK, OK, I think I can try this.
• 29:26
  I think I can try this. I think I can try that.
• 29:29
  So make some notes about networking.
• 29:31
  Are there networking events that hairstylist go to?
• 29:34
  I remember a couple of years ago, I don't I haven't seen any
• 29:38
  movement in that regard. So I don't know.
• 29:40
  But there was a time when makeup and something is like, was this
• 29:45
  Nigeria, Nigeria makeup and something, something event that
• 29:49
  was about hair 'cause it will have like all these fancy
• 29:56
  weaves. You know, that one that you wear
• 29:58
  the, the wig and the wig is reaching your calf or reaching
• 30:01
  your ankles. You know, I don't know how many
• 30:03
  inches is it 50 something inches or whatever.
• 30:05
  Both are fantastic hair. So fantastic hair, fantastic
• 30:08
  makeup, you know, things like that.
• 30:10
  There used to be an Enugu edition, there used to be a Port
• 30:13
  Harcourt edition, there was a Lagos and Abuja edition, there
• 30:18
  was even a Benoit state edition. I'm surprised.
• 30:20
  I went to go visit my cousin and I saw the banners there.
• 30:24
  So I think his hair and beauty makeup something something, but
• 30:27
  it's been a long time. I've not been seeing their
• 30:29
  promo. I've not been seeing their their
• 30:32
  their adverts. So if you're a hair stylist, you
• 30:35
  know, you can write it down. Okay, networking.
• 30:37
  Is this something I can do? Do I need to go and buy stand at
• 30:42
  the next hair and beauty makeup something, something event or
• 30:46
  can I just walk in there as an ordinary person?
• 30:48
  What strategies am I going to do for networking?
• 30:51
  How am I going to be looking for potential customers?
• 30:54
  How am I going to be looking for stakeholders, potential
• 30:56
  partners, you know, things like that.
• 30:57
  So write all these things down, try and apply to your business
• 31:00
  and we should all be we should all be cool.
• 31:03
  Remember, if you'd love to connect for a business audit or
• 31:05
  a strategy session or you have a bunch of questions, the phone
• 31:08
  number is 08064662140. The country code is +234 and
• 31:15
  that's my WhatsApp number as well.
• 31:16
  Also connect with me on LinkedIn the name to look for establish
• 31:19
  my IED. If you know a podcast person,
• 31:21
  all of this wonderful material is on YouTube.
• 31:24
  So just search tavish my IED and you'll see there over 1030 video
• 31:29
  so far. So thank you very much for your
• 31:31
  time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next
• 31:32
  episode.