Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / The Art of Handling Objections and Closing the Deal

Transcript

The Art of Handling Objections and Closing the Deal · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:02
  Hello, everyone, and welcome to the show.
• 0:04
  Before we begin, this is going to be another noisy podcast
• 0:07
  recording because, well, there's noise around, so expect to hear
• 0:13
  some noise. Let's just put it that way.
• 0:15
  So let's see. OK, so today we're going to go
• 0:18
  into a new series that we're going to discuss.
• 0:21
  And the next couple of podcast episodes, maybe five or six, are
• 0:24
  going to be devoted to how we can overcome common sales
• 0:28
  objections, how we can handle rejection when it comes to
• 0:33
  closing the deal. So for those of you who are
• 0:36
  newbies, this is your first time of listening to the show.
• 0:39
  We're going to go into some definitions so you can figure
• 0:41
  out what it is that we're talking about today because
• 0:44
  we've spoken about, OK, let's see, I've mentioned overcoming,
• 0:48
  I've mentioned objections, I've mentioned rejections.
• 0:52
  So what does it, what does it mean to overcome?
• 0:55
  What is an objection and what is rejection?
• 0:59
  All these different things being signposts on the way to closing
• 1:02
  the deal. So let's get straight into our
• 1:05
  definitions. Now, for those of you who've
• 1:08
  been listening for a very long time, you know that the
• 1:10
  definitions that I use here are simple, everyday definitions
• 1:14
  that the everyday man, the everyday woman can understand.
• 1:17
  So bear in mind that if you listen to other podcasts, or if
• 1:20
  you're going to use business textbooks and things like that,
• 1:23
  you're going to find much more fuller and richer and much more
• 1:26
  technically precise definitions. But I deliberately keep
• 1:29
  definitions very simple on the podcast because I want you guys
• 1:32
  to remember all the things that we've discussed.
• 1:35
  Because if you can remember and if it's at the back of your
• 1:37
  pocket at all times, you can easily apply in your day-to-day.
• 1:42
  And that is what I am aiming for on the show.
• 1:45
  So an objection is any reason that someone gives for not
• 1:49
  wanting to go ahead with the sale or the relationship or
• 1:53
  whatever agenda it is that you're trying to promote.
• 1:56
  Because most of us listening to the podcast, we're going to be
• 1:59
  in situations where we are trying to drive a sale from
• 2:03
  beginning to the end and sometimes little micro steps are
• 2:11
  involved along the way. Relationship building is
• 2:14
  involved, relationship nurturing is involved, and people often
• 2:18
  have reasons for why they don't want to go ahead from this stage
• 2:21
  to the next. So back to my wedding
• 2:23
  photographer days. If I went to a bridal show and
• 2:27
  the bride and groom came by, I hit it off with them.
• 2:29
  It looked like everything was all good.
• 2:31
  The next stage often would be I go over to the office where I
• 2:34
  have them come over to the studio so we can sit down.
• 2:37
  Because bridal Expos and business expositions in general
• 2:41
  are very, very noisy affairs. So in the business Expo, you're
• 2:45
  there, there are hundreds of vendors, the music is loud,
• 2:47
  there might be 3 or 4 DJs, everybody trying to compete.
• 2:52
  And so there's people shouting and you can't have a decent
• 2:55
  conversation under those circumstances.
• 2:57
  So as a wedding photographer, I consider it a good practice.
• 3:00
  I still do. And I still tell people that
• 3:03
  when you're in that kind of setting, the most that you can
• 3:05
  do is try and get a sense of who they are, what they're about,
• 3:09
  whether there's a problem you might be able to solve or
• 3:12
  whether there's a vision that your product or service can help
• 3:15
  them achieve. And then the next thing is try
• 3:18
  and set a meeting in some quiet environment where you guys can
• 3:21
  sit down and talk like reasonable people.
• 3:23
  There's both of you trying to shout over each other.
• 3:25
  I mean, imagine trying to negotiate a package in that kind
• 3:29
  of environment, shouting out money and things like that.
• 3:32
  So you're better off at that meeting.
• 3:34
  Get a feel of the people, Sorry at the first instance at the
• 3:38
  business Expo, just get a feel of the people.
• 3:41
  Try and hook up a meeting, your office, the office, the studio,
• 3:44
  whatever. Then you guys can now start
• 3:46
  having reasonable discussions, looking over samples and start
• 3:49
  haggling over money in a controlled quiet environment.
• 3:52
  So this is a micro stage that you're going to have to go
• 3:55
  through to try and sell your product or your service.
• 3:58
  And people often have reasons for not wanting to move from one
• 4:01
  stage of the relationship to the next.
• 4:05
  So people who are there at the bridal fair and they're
• 4:08
  insisting, you know what, give me money, give me a figure, let
• 4:12
  me know how much there's some people who don't want to move
• 4:14
  from that stage to the next. So whatever reason it is that
• 4:19
  they give you, that reason is called an objection.
• 4:23
  That is what we that's what we call an objection in a
• 4:27
  traditional sales environment. So you're speaking to someone,
• 4:31
  you're trying to close the deal, You're trying to build a
• 4:33
  relationship, you're trying to nurture a relationship.
• 4:37
  And for those of you who still work in corporate environments
• 4:39
  or maybe in the Ministry of Finance or whatever, there's a
• 4:42
  particular agenda in the office, in the department that you're
• 4:44
  trying to push through because you think it's going to help the
• 4:47
  organization achieve its goals. But then people keep giving you
• 4:51
  reasons for why this is not going to work, why we're not
• 4:53
  going to go ahead. All those things are what we
• 4:55
  call objections. Now people object or reject for
• 5:02
  a variety of reasons. I mean, they can be many, but
• 5:05
  let's go through a few, some common ones.
• 5:09
  Sometimes people object because they are shy.
• 5:12
  Some people just don't like engaging in public.
• 5:16
  Maybe they think you are too pushy or something like that.
• 5:19
  Or maybe they're shy around money and that is where all
• 5:22
  these objections are going to come up from.
• 5:25
  There are some people that object because they don't trust
• 5:29
  you. They might not come out and say
• 5:31
  it. And because Nigerians are nice
• 5:32
  people, the average Nigerian is not going to come out and say
• 5:36
  Guy, babe, this looks good, but I don't trust you.
• 5:39
  I don't think you did this yourself.
• 5:42
  I don't think you're capable of this.
• 5:46
  You don't look trustworthy, those sort of things.
• 5:48
  The average Nigerian is not going to say that.
• 5:50
  So all those objections of let me talk to my husband, let me
• 5:54
  talk to my wife, let me think about it, blah, blah, blah.
• 5:57
  It could be because they don't trust you.
• 5:59
  That's why they're not ready to take the next step and move
• 6:01
  things to the next stage. Sometimes it's because they
• 6:04
  don't think you're capable or you are credible.
• 6:07
  They don't think that you can do what you say that you can.
• 6:12
  Then sometimes people are not willing to move ahead because
• 6:17
  they're confused about something that you've said.
• 6:19
  That's one of the reasons why I say we should try and keep
• 6:21
  technical talk down to a minimum.
• 6:23
  So back to the wedding photography example.
• 6:25
  If you're trying to show off and you say you're talking about
• 6:29
  your camera, that is the Nikon DX7000 with 100 and something,
• 6:35
  megapixels and depth of field something, something, and you're
• 6:39
  just going on and on and you're effusive about the camera, you
• 6:43
  might introduce something into the clients mind that they never
• 6:47
  have thought of before because it's something I've seen
• 6:48
  backfire. A photographer is trying to
• 6:50
  bamboozle them with the quality of gear that they have.
• 6:54
  And then you start going on a back camera, this aperture, this
• 6:58
  blah blah blah, all that technical talk and then the
• 7:03
  client now say something like but I thought they said
• 7:06
  mirrorless cameras are the best, but your camera is not
• 7:09
  mirrorless. You see now you have dug
• 7:11
  yourself a hole that is going to be hard to dig yourself out of
• 7:15
  because whether the mirrorless cameras or the DSLRs, whichever
• 7:19
  is better, that's it. A highly technical conversation
• 7:23
  that is nuanced and you as a professional photographer might
• 7:28
  be able to pass those sorts of issues, but the people that
• 7:31
  we're talking to are just everyday, ordinary folks, and so
• 7:34
  they have no idea. You've thrown something into the
• 7:37
  midst that has confused them, and that's the reason why they
• 7:39
  want to think about it, because they're entrusting this special
• 7:43
  day to you. They have heard from outside
• 7:46
  that mirrorless is the best, but here you are going on and on and
• 7:49
  on and on about your DSLR and its superior quality.
• 7:53
  And so when they say let me think about it, it might be them
• 7:56
  just thinking I need to go back home.
• 7:58
  I need to do some research. Which one is the best gear to
• 8:01
  use? Is it the DSLR or is it the
• 8:05
  mirrorless camera? They could be talking to another
• 8:08
  photographer who uses mirrorless so people might object because
• 8:13
  they're confused about something that you've said.
• 8:16
  Often times people get confused because your offer doesn't make
• 8:19
  any sense and this is one reason why it's good to get feedback in
• 8:22
  the sales process. Because I have been in that
• 8:24
  situation where people did not understand what it is and I'm
• 8:26
  saying, but because I make it, I'm a point to try and repeat
• 8:31
  back, to try and make sure that we're following and I try and
• 8:33
  get some feedback. It is then I'm able to discover
• 8:35
  that oh oh, I'm sorry, I can't see how that didn't make any
• 8:39
  sense and I explained better. And then I now know that when
• 8:41
  I'm talking to future people, I'm not going to say things this
• 8:44
  way. I'll phrase it a different way.
• 8:46
  I'll write my offer another way. Then another reason why people
• 8:50
  object, and this is the hardest one to hear is they probably
• 8:53
  were never interested in you in the 1st place.
• 8:56
  So for those of you who go out and give Flyers, you know, I
• 9:00
  think this is the primary one that were never interested in
• 9:02
  the 1st place. The person is there at the mall
• 9:06
  with the children and yes, that has been me.
• 9:09
  You know, the focus for a man in that kind of setting is he's
• 9:13
  just looking for a cool place where the kids can hang out.
• 9:16
  He's not thinking of your holiday services and your tour
• 9:21
  tourist whatever in Dubai you woke up, you gave him a flyer.
• 9:25
  Truth of the matter is that the man or the woman with the kids,
• 9:28
  the reason why they're there, their danger is different.
• 9:30
  They are just not interested in your fantastic holiday offers in
• 9:34
  Dubai. So any objections that you're
• 9:37
  getting in that kind of scenario is because people are probably
• 9:41
  never interested in the 1st place.
• 9:44
  Now, like I said, the reasons that people can object are
• 9:48
  multiple. They're varied, and it is too
• 9:50
  hard to guess. If you're trying to figure out
• 9:53
  which it is on your own, you spend the whole day guessing.
• 9:57
  It's going to give you all kinds of emotional heartache.
• 10:00
  And I remember a friend of mine who was a wedding planner.
• 10:03
  We both spoke to a bride. I seem to be getting on good
• 10:06
  with the bride moving on to the next step.
• 10:08
  But the wedding planner was getting ghosted and she called
• 10:11
  me up and she was wondering, you know, is it something I said?
• 10:14
  I'm blah, blah, blah, I'm blah, blah, blah.
• 10:15
  I'm trying to figure all these things out.
• 10:18
  It's hard. It's just going to give you
• 10:20
  heartbreak. So the solution is don't try to
• 10:24
  figure this out on your own. If you're trying to figure out
• 10:27
  what it is that is going on and why people are objecting, the
• 10:30
  way that you go about it is that you ask about the objection when
• 10:34
  one comes up. So stop guessing and then
• 10:38
  feeling bad, ask them questions so that you have more
• 10:42
  information about how you can make the situation better.
• 10:46
  So like I said, I have confused people with my office before.
• 10:49
  You know, you put something up on Instagram, but you don't word
• 10:52
  it right. It is from having the
• 10:54
  conversation with people, getting feedback, realizing what
• 10:57
  the problem is that I now know that, oh, I should tweak my
• 11:00
  Instagram or tweak the website so that this thing is expressed
• 11:05
  better, so that in the future, when I'm speaking to other
• 11:09
  potential customers and clients, these kind of objections don't
• 11:13
  come along. So in summary, how to handle
• 11:16
  objections? When people give you objections,
• 11:19
  how do you handle it? First of all, you have to agree
• 11:22
  and show some understanding. The reason why we have to do
• 11:25
  that is because nobody thinks of themselves as a fool.
• 11:30
  If the person the bride is saying Dems, they are saying
• 11:35
  that mirrorless cameras are the best.
• 11:37
  You're not going to win any points by making the bride feel
• 11:40
  like she's uneducated and she knows nothing about cameras.
• 11:44
  And then actually DSLR cameras are the best.
• 11:48
  Show some understanding. Show some empathy.
• 11:52
  Show the person that the objection makes sense.
• 11:56
  Then you ask clarifying questions.
• 11:59
  It is when you ask questions that you're going to be able to
• 12:02
  refocus the issues. If the bride is concerned about,
• 12:07
  is the camera a DSLR? Is it an SLT?
• 12:10
  Or is it a mirrorless camera? If you ask clarifying questions
• 12:14
  and you find out at the end of the day what the bride is most
• 12:17
  particular about with our wedding photography is clarity
• 12:21
  of images and sharpness of images, then you're going to be
• 12:24
  able to refocus the conversation.
• 12:26
  To be able to show how, regardless of whatever gear that
• 12:29
  you're using, whether it's an old school DSLR or a modern
• 12:34
  mirrorless camera, you're going to be able to refocus the
• 12:37
  conversation around how you can deliver the kind of images that
• 12:41
  she wants. And so it's it's the same thing
• 12:46
  no matter what business it is that you're involved in.
• 12:48
  First of all, agree, show some understanding.
• 12:52
  Now what they're saying makes sense.
• 12:54
  Ask clarifying questions because you're trying to figure out what
• 12:56
  the problem is. When you figure out what the
• 12:59
  problem is, it's then that you're going to be able to
• 13:01
  refine your presentation to take account of all those things that
• 13:04
  they are concerned about. And finally, if you're not able
• 13:10
  to rescue the situation because you're not going to be able to
• 13:13
  rescue 100% of the situations that you come across, because
• 13:16
  let's face it, it is unrealistic that if you talk to 100 people,
• 13:20
  you're going to do a deal with 100 people.
• 13:23
  It just doesn't happen. And in fact, when I was in the
• 13:27
  wedding photography space, there's something that I used to
• 13:30
  hear and that I believe, which is that if you speak to 100
• 13:33
  people and you end up dealing with business with 100 people,
• 13:37
  it means that your prices are too cheap.
• 13:39
  It means that the quality of skill, the quality of
• 13:42
  photography, the quality of service that you're bringing to
• 13:44
  the table is so high that this price you're giving is a
• 13:47
  giveaway. That's why everybody is rushing
• 13:50
  you and that is why you're closing the deal with everyone.
• 13:54
  So if you're doing a good job, you actually should expect some
• 13:57
  resistance. You can't speak to 10 people and
• 14:00
  do the deal with 10 people. You talk to 10 people and you're
• 14:03
  doing a deal with 10 people. Actually, this is a problem.
• 14:07
  You're too cheap. It could be a sign of all kinds
• 14:10
  of problems anyway. So I'm just saying that it's not
• 14:12
  realistic that you're going to be able to rescue the situation
• 14:15
  100% of the time. If you're not able to rescue the
• 14:18
  situation, then take the feedback as learnings for the
• 14:21
  future. So whenever my offers seemed
• 14:24
  unclear as a wedding photographer, I took the
• 14:27
  feedback. I tweaked my Instagram or the
• 14:30
  website so that I wouldn't have any problems in the future.
• 14:35
  So that that problem will show up less for you as time goes
• 14:39
  along. But this is the framework for
• 14:42
  how to handle it. Remember this.
• 14:43
  As we approach future episodes, well, we're going to look at
• 14:46
  specific objections that we receive in business.
• 14:50
  So First off, agree. Show some empathy.
• 14:53
  Show some understanding. Let the person realize that the
• 14:56
  person is not a fool. It's perfectly normal to have
• 15:00
  this kind of concern or that kind of concern at this process
• 15:05
  in the relationship, or this process of the inquiry, you
• 15:09
  know, going around making business inquiries.
• 15:11
  Then ask clarifying questions to try and figure out what is going
• 15:15
  on. When you know what is going on,
• 15:17
  you'll be able to rescue the situation.
• 15:19
  If you can't make a convincing proposal and rescue the
• 15:22
  situation, then take the feedback as learnings for the
• 15:25
  future and the problem should become less and less and less so
• 15:29
  in future episodes. We're going to examine the most
• 15:32
  common objections that you are likely to receive in your
• 15:35
  business. And using this framework that we
• 15:38
  have discussed above, we are going to walk through how to
• 15:44
  handle all these objections. Now, the objections that we're
• 15:48
  going to tackle, I wrote out a couple, so let me just read
• 15:52
  them. And if you listen to this
• 15:54
  episode and you've, you've got an objection that you don't
• 15:58
  think is covered on the list, it's not a problem.
• 16:00
  I'm going to give out my details at the end of the show.
• 16:03
  So hit me up, connect with me, let me have the objection and
• 16:06
  then we'll deal with it. So the number one objection that
• 16:09
  most of us, if I now see everybody has received is when
• 16:13
  the customer says it is too expensive.
• 16:16
  That is an objection because it's a reason for no one need to
• 16:19
  go ahead. I'm not going ahead with you
• 16:21
  because it's too expensive. You are charging 2500 naira, but
• 16:26
  Chukudi charges 850 naira. I rather go with Chukudi.
• 16:34
  You're too expensive. That is an objection.
• 16:37
  Another objection that is also money related is when people say
• 16:40
  there's no budget allocated for now for those of us who are
• 16:44
  having to deal with corporations or yeah, for those who are
• 16:48
  having to deal with corporations, you get to hear
• 16:49
  those ones because you know on the podcast, for those who have
• 16:53
  been listening to the podcast that even though I'm no longer
• 16:56
  in the wedding photography field, I still provide corporate
• 16:59
  photography services and media services.
• 17:01
  So we're constantly negotiating with people to provide live
• 17:07
  streaming services. Currently we're doing a
• 17:09
  documentary service for the British Council.
• 17:12
  Let's see what else. End of year parties, those sorts
• 17:15
  of things. So it's something that that
• 17:17
  people can say like, Oh no budget has been allocated for.
• 17:19
  Now that is an objection. We can't go ahead with you
• 17:22
  because no budget has been allocated.
• 17:25
  Another objection that most of you have heard is we are happy
• 17:28
  with our current XYZ, our current supplier, our current
• 17:33
  engineer, our current software developer, our current
• 17:36
  photographer, our current, you know, you name, we're happy with
• 17:41
  our current XYZ. That is the reason for not going
• 17:43
  ahead like a young man, young woman.
• 17:46
  What you said, yeah, makes sense, but truth of matter is
• 17:49
  we're perfectly happy with our current blah blah blah.
• 17:52
  And so because of that we're not going to be going ahead.
• 17:55
  Another objection is when people say, I don't see how this can
• 17:58
  help me. So people can say like, Oh yeah,
• 18:00
  this is cool and blah blah blah, your inverter systems, your
• 18:03
  solar panel, all this is fantastic.
• 18:05
  I'm happy that Nigeria is moving on into the 21st century and
• 18:07
  blah blah blah. But to be honest, I'm fine with
• 18:10
  my generator and diesel. I don't see how this is going to
• 18:13
  help me see. That's an objection.
• 18:16
  I'm not going to go ahead and buy your solar panels because as
• 18:19
  far as I'm concerned, me and wifey children have left the
• 18:22
  house. It's just us and the house boy.
• 18:26
  Well, totally fine with the house boy going on and turning
• 18:29
  on the generator. We don't need all this fancy
• 18:31
  solar services and everything. And besides me and Wifey, we're
• 18:34
  already old. You know, I'm 75.
• 18:37
  Wifey is 55. I'm going to be dead soon.
• 18:40
  So, you know, there's no hassle. We'll leave the, we'll leave the
• 18:43
  these decisions to the children when they inherit the house.
• 18:46
  So that's also an objection. I don't see how this can help
• 18:50
  me. Another objection, We're not
• 18:52
  ready for this yet. Well, kind of the same thing.
• 18:55
  And then another objection that most of us have heard,
• 18:57
  especially in Nigeria, is when the person says I need to speak
• 19:00
  with my Orga, I need to speak with my boss, I need to discuss
• 19:04
  with my wife, let me discuss with my mom.
• 19:07
  I need to speak to my pastor. I need to speak to my husband,
• 19:10
  Let me talk to my lawyer, my accountant.
• 19:13
  I need to consult my business partners, I need to consult my
• 19:15
  children, blah, blah, blah before I make a decision.
• 19:18
  So we hear this a lot. That is also an objection that,
• 19:22
  yeah, what you're saying makes sense.
• 19:23
  But before I go and pay a deposit on the House, let me
• 19:26
  consult my wife first or let me talk to my children first.
• 19:30
  Then another objection is we have a different process for
• 19:33
  approving purchases. So yes, what you're saying makes
• 19:36
  perfect sense. We like your product, We like
• 19:39
  your service. We like this.
• 19:40
  We like that. We like the whole Gizmail.
• 19:42
  But what you're proposing is not going to work for us because in
• 19:45
  this company, this is how we approve purchases and blah,
• 19:47
  blah, blah. That's the reason for not going
• 19:49
  ahead. Another one that people give is
• 19:52
  I'm too busy right now. That is also an objection.
• 19:55
  Oh, yeah. Yeah.
• 19:56
  What you're saying, it makes sense.
• 19:57
  No problem. But you know what?
• 19:58
  I'm busy right now. Send me a WhatsApp message.
• 20:00
  Send me WhatsApp or oh, I'm too busy.
• 20:04
  You know what? Just come to my office on
• 20:05
  Monday. Just drop you with the
• 20:07
  secretary. I'll get back to you.
• 20:08
  I'm busy now. I'm busy now.
• 20:09
  That's an objection. Then of course there's we need
• 20:12
  more time to think about it. Like, yeah, all of this thing
• 20:15
  makes sense, but there's this. But there's that.
• 20:17
  You know what? Give me 3 weeks.
• 20:19
  Let me think about it. That is also an objection.
• 20:22
  In fact, for those of you who have problems with ghosting, you
• 20:24
  know this is where ghosting When I enter the matter, the person
• 20:27
  says give me 3 weeks. In three weeks time, you call.
• 20:30
  It has voicemail. They don't return SMSS.
• 20:33
  What else? They're not replying emails.
• 20:35
  So yeah, that's an objection. Another objection.
• 20:38
  We've had bad experiences in the past.
• 20:44
  That's something I encountered back when I was in the wedding
• 20:46
  photography space. There are some people that you
• 20:48
  know, for the sister's wedding, they got the photographer who
• 20:51
  looked the part, who sounded the part.
• 20:53
  By the end of the day the problems were rubbish and right
• 20:57
  now having a chat with you. One of the reasons why they're
• 20:59
  stalling is or more. We had a bad experience in the
• 21:02
  past. This photographer did was strong
• 21:04
  thing, this photographer did was bad thing, this photographer ran
• 21:07
  away with our money, this photographer delivered the
• 21:10
  subpar experience and these sorts of things happen.
• 21:14
  There are people who want to engage your services to design
• 21:19
  the house or to build the house or things like that, but they
• 21:23
  don't want to use you as a contractor because the
• 21:25
  contractor in the past has done them strong team.
• 21:27
  So it happens. We've had a bad experience in
• 21:29
  the past. Then another one, OK, I've
• 21:33
  already addressed this one, which is can you send me some
• 21:35
  more invitation information? That's the whole thing of send
• 21:39
  me WhatsApp, go and drop it with my secretary, you know, blah
• 21:42
  blah, blah, give me some what's it called, give me some
• 21:47
  pamphlets that I can look at later.
• 21:49
  So can you send me more information?
• 21:51
  So these are a couple of objections that most of us have
• 21:54
  come across in business before. These are the usual ones
• 21:58
  depending on the business context that you're in.
• 22:00
  Although I am sure everybody has said it's too expensive.
• 22:05
  By the way, if nobody has told you that your product or service
• 22:08
  is too expensive, that's a problem.
• 22:10
  It actually is not a bad thing for people to say you're too
• 22:12
  expensive. If everybody's rushing you,
• 22:15
  nobody is saying anything about your price is being expensive,
• 22:19
  then you're leaving money on the table.
• 22:20
  So reframe your perspective. If you're one of these people
• 22:23
  that nobody has ever told you it's too expensive, then let's
• 22:28
  see what else. OK, so just a few things to
• 22:33
  reframe our perspective. Objections are normal and is an
• 22:38
  expect is an expected part of the sales process.
• 22:41
  It's normal. Everybody gets it.
• 22:43
  There's nobody who has not gotten an objection before,
• 22:46
  whether it's Dangote or Bill Gates or our brothers and
• 22:52
  sisters in Niger that are currently running trying to
• 22:56
  start a fintech, everybody receives objections.
• 23:00
  It's just normal. So if you're receiving a couple
• 23:03
  right now, don't feel bad. It's not just you.
• 23:06
  It is normal. So the problem is not you.
• 23:09
  It's not that you have bad breath, or that you're too ugly,
• 23:11
  or that you're too yellow, or that you're too black, or if
• 23:15
  you're a guy that you're too short or that you're too tall or
• 23:17
  you're from the wrong part of the country.
• 23:19
  Yeah, well, yeah, sometimes those things happen.
• 23:21
  But objections are normal. It is expected expect to receive
• 23:26
  objections in business. The thing is, with good
• 23:30
  questioning skills and listening skills, because we have to
• 23:34
  listen and we have to ask questions to be able to figure
• 23:37
  out what's going on. We're good listening and
• 23:39
  questioning skills. We're going to be able to get to
• 23:41
  the bottom of their concerns. We figure out what the concerns
• 23:44
  are. We get to the bottom of it.
• 23:46
  Now, some people who will close up, who will take their chest
• 23:48
  because Nigerians don't like being taken advantage of.
• 23:51
  So yes, there's some people that will clamp up.
• 23:53
  If they clamp up, well what can I say?
• 23:56
  You know you live and you learn. Like I said, take the feedback
• 24:00
  and try and improve your processes going forward and that
• 24:02
  should that should lessen the particular objections
• 24:08
  reoccurring. Then another thing to set our
• 24:12
  perspective, or rather a warning, is this.
• 24:16
  There's a difference between an objection and a condition.
• 24:21
  We have been talking about so far reasons why people are
• 24:24
  concerned and why they don't want to move ahead.
• 24:27
  But there are situations where people have a condition.
• 24:30
  A condition is the same thing as a prerequisite.
• 24:33
  A prerequisite is something that must happen first before you can
• 24:37
  move on to the next step. If something is a condition, you
• 24:41
  can't deal with it because you either meet the condition or you
• 24:45
  don't. For instance, my wedding
• 24:48
  photographer thing, if the lady is already married, that is a
• 24:54
  condition. If she says, oh, I'm not looking
• 24:56
  for a wedding photographer because I'm ready.
• 24:57
  Married, that is a condition. You cannot get business there,
• 25:03
  especially if you want to focus only on wedding photography.
• 25:06
  If you like to offer portraits and what not, this is the point
• 25:08
  where you switch the conversation so that you're now
• 25:11
  talking portraits or you're talking baby dedication, baby
• 25:16
  naming, baptism, all kinds of other services that you offer.
• 25:20
  But if you're exclusively a wedding photographer and you
• 25:24
  start the conversation once the babe shows you a ring, that is a
• 25:27
  condition deal Done. It is dead.
• 25:30
  You can't move forward. You either look for something
• 25:33
  else to sell or you move on. There's no point in treating
• 25:36
  this as an objection and trying to overcome something.
• 25:38
  There is nothing to overcome. It's an objection because
• 25:42
  there's a condition. There's a prerequisite there.
• 25:45
  Lady has to be single before you can sell her your wedding
• 25:48
  photography services. If you are in the, what would I
• 25:54
  say, sexual performance enhancement business and you try
• 25:59
  to sell the man Viagra and all these kinds of things.
• 26:02
  If the man has hypertension and heart related issues, he cannot
• 26:07
  use your product at least without not talking to the
• 26:11
  doctor first. So this one is not an objection
• 26:15
  that you can handle. It is a condition, is a
• 26:17
  prerequisite. If he takes your product, he
• 26:20
  might die. So this is not an objection that
• 26:25
  you can ask questions and that you can overcome.
• 26:29
  In fact, we all know of, well, in Nigeria anyway, there was a
• 26:32
  former head of state of ours who supposedly that's how he went on
• 26:37
  to his eternal reward. You know, they say that he had a
• 26:40
  cup of tea and he took some pills, Viagra or something like
• 26:44
  that, and he invited two young ladies to the presidential
• 26:48
  palace and and that's how he checked out to heaven,
• 26:53
  basically. Anyway, those reports are not
• 26:56
  confirmed, but I'm just trying to tell you that, you know,
• 26:58
  these things are real. If you're in that space and
• 27:00
  you're trying to sell the product and the man says, Oh no,
• 27:03
  I have hypertension, I have BP, I have heart failure, I have
• 27:07
  this, that, that, that, that, that just stop there.
• 27:10
  This deal cannot go ahead because you have met a
• 27:15
  condition, a prerequisite. It is only men who have healthy
• 27:18
  hearts that can take these drugs.
• 27:20
  In fact, if you try and treat this as an objection and sell
• 27:23
  past this, you are being highly unethical.
• 27:26
  Because if he's telling you the truth and he uses this thing and
• 27:29
  he dies, his death is on your conscience.
• 27:32
  You'll be responsible for his death.
• 27:34
  So this is not an objection to handle.
• 27:36
  It's a condition. It's a prerequisite.
• 27:38
  Now let's say you sell female shoes and you're talking to a
• 27:41
  man, but the man has no wife, the man's mother is dead, the
• 27:46
  man has no daughters, and the man has no sisters or female
• 27:49
  friends. Then why are you still
• 27:51
  continuing with the conversation?
• 27:53
  What you sell is female shoes. You are talking to a man who has
• 27:56
  no connection with women whatsoever.
• 27:59
  This is a condition here. This is a prerequisite.
• 28:02
  There is no sale. That is going to happen because
• 28:06
  he's a man. He's not going to use female
• 28:07
  shoes. He doesn't have a wife he will
• 28:09
  buy the shoes for. His mother is already dead.
• 28:13
  He's not on good terms with his aunties.
• 28:15
  He has no daughters. He only has sons.
• 28:17
  He doesn't have female friends and maybe he's quarreling with
• 28:21
  all his sisters. There is no deal to be done
• 28:24
  there. So let's apply some wisdom.
• 28:26
  When we're talking to people and try and figure out what we're
• 28:29
  dealing with, is it an objection?
• 28:32
  Is it a concern that we can address and then move ahead?
• 28:35
  Or is it a condition? As per there is something that
• 28:39
  we have to meet first before we move to the next thing.
• 28:42
  So is it? Is it on objection?
• 28:46
  Is it a condition? If it's a condition, just bring
• 28:48
  it to a close there. Save yourself some time.
• 28:51
  Thank the person for their time. Try and get a referral.
• 28:55
  Move on to somebody else. And there are lots of things you
• 28:57
  can do. But trying to stay there and
• 28:58
  trying to force a deal where the deal can happen is not going to
• 29:02
  happen. So apply wisdom.
• 29:06
  Let's see. OK, yeah, 30 minutes.
• 29:07
  So let's bring that to a close. So that's all for today.
• 29:10
  Remember to connect with me on WhatsApp.
• 29:11
  The phone number is 08064662140. The country code is +234.
• 29:18
  For those of you who are not Nigerian.
• 29:20
  Then connect with me on LinkedIn.
• 29:21
  My name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm the host of the show.
• 29:24
  You confirm the spelling of my name and e-mail address from the
• 29:28
  link. We're currently listening to
• 29:30
  this episode, so thank you very much for your time and
• 29:33
  attention. I'll catch you guys at the next
• 29:35
  recording.