Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Unleashing Your Inner Dealmaker: Secrets to High-Value Negotiations

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Unleashing Your Inner Dealmaker: Secrets to High-Value Negotiations · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome to the show. It's available on YouTube, Apple
• 0:05
  podcast and Spotify. I'm your host Tavi Shima Ayede.
• 0:09
  Today is definitely going to be a noisy episode because it's a
• 0:11
  weekend and so the kids are home so expect to hear some
• 0:14
  interruptions in the background. If you'd love to connect and
• 0:17
  explore opportunities with me, then call me on O 806-466-2140
• 0:24
  or WhatsApp me on the same number.
• 0:26
  The country code is +234 for those of you who are not
• 0:29
  Nigerian then for social media, connect with me on LinkedIn,
• 0:33
  which is why I spend most of my time today.
• 0:36
  We're going to be today's episode is going to be one of
• 0:39
  those rambling episodes because this is a topic that I've
• 0:41
  addressed in the past on the podcast, but the question has
• 0:45
  come up again on the list. So I'll just come at it from a
• 0:49
  different background. And the question is what are the
• 0:53
  negotiation tactics for high value deals?
• 0:57
  And I think we addressed this because I remember doing a
• 1:00
  series on high value deals maybe last month, I can't remember.
• 1:06
  So anyway, let's do a little recap anyway.
• 1:08
  So when we say high value deals over here on the podcast, this
• 1:11
  is what we mean. A high value deal is something
• 1:13
  that is bringing in high revenue.
• 1:15
  That just means that the figure on the transfer or the figure on
• 1:20
  the cheque or the figure on the invoice is big.
• 1:23
  So if it's a big number, then that's a high value deal.
• 1:27
  Of course, high value deals or high revenue is relative because
• 1:32
  the thing that the wedding photo and video guy or girl will
• 1:36
  consider as big money is not the same sort of thing that somebody
• 1:39
  who is in architecture or who is in engineering be consider big
• 1:43
  money. So when you say high value deal,
• 1:45
  it's not an absolute number. So excuse me, you can't say
• 1:51
  sorry one moment. So excuse me, I'm a town over
• 1:55
  here. Like I said, where was I?
• 1:58
  So high value is relative. So you can't say anything above
• 2:01
  above 500 K is high value or anything below 1 M is not high
• 2:06
  value. You know it.
• 2:08
  It all depends. It's contextual.
• 2:10
  Who are you? What are you doing?
• 2:12
  What's the industry, you know, blah, blah, blah.
• 2:14
  But high value means high revenue means big zeros, plenty
• 2:18
  of numbers at the end. Then high value can also mean
• 2:22
  high profits when we say high profit, which just means, you
• 2:25
  know, pocket money, the one that enters your pocket at the end of
• 2:28
  the day. Because there are people in
• 2:29
  situations where the amounts on the transfer is like one M, but
• 2:34
  by the time you finish everything, the one that went
• 2:36
  inside your own pocket, the pocket money is maybe it's like
• 2:38
  50K. So because on the transfer I was
• 2:42
  one M, we can't really say it was a high value deal.
• 2:44
  If at the end of the day, by the time you share all the money,
• 2:47
  you give everybody their own cut, you pay all the boys, you
• 2:49
  pay this, you do this, you buy that, the one that enters your
• 2:51
  pocket is 50K and you can't really say that was a high value
• 2:55
  deal. So it's not just how big are the
• 2:58
  number of zeros at the end of the day, it's also how much
• 3:01
  money did you take? What was the profit?
• 3:03
  What was the pocket money? What was your take home?
• 3:06
  What was your whatever it is that you want to call it?
• 3:08
  What was your own cut then? It's also a high value deal if
• 3:12
  it leads to open doors. And of course in the Niger
• 3:15
  context, you know when we say open doors, we just mean future
• 3:18
  connects, future connections for other high value opportunities.
• 3:23
  So you're doing something for somebody today and The thing is
• 3:26
  not really sweet, but you're hoping that this thing clicks.
• 3:30
  Then it could lead to another opportunity where you're going
• 3:33
  to get plenty of zeros at the end of the transfer or you're
• 3:37
  going to get plenty of money in your pocket by the time the
• 3:40
  whole thing is done. Then those are high value deals.
• 3:43
  So over here on the podcast, obviously high value deals, high
• 3:46
  value opportunities. This is what we mean.
• 3:49
  So this is just the extent of the recap that I'm going to do
• 3:52
  because like I said, I've already done episodes on the
• 3:54
  subject matter before. So once you're done listening to
• 3:56
  this episode, just go to YouTube because that'll be the easiest
• 3:59
  place to search. And all the episodes that I have
• 4:02
  done so far, over 970 episodes, everything is all there on
• 4:05
  YouTube. So just go to YouTube, type in
• 4:08
  Tavishima and then type in high value deals.
• 4:12
  And every single podcast episode I've made about that is going to
• 4:15
  come up. And then since this podcast
• 4:18
  episode is about negotiations, you know, it's the same thing.
• 4:20
  Go to YouTube, type Tavishima, type negotiation, and then hit
• 4:24
  enter. Every single episode that I've
• 4:26
  made about negotiations is going to come up.
• 4:29
  So listen to this episode, listen to all those other
• 4:33
  episodes and you're going to get caught up the speed.
• 4:35
  So since I have already treated this topic in one way or another
• 4:38
  in the past, today what I'm going to do is I'm just going to
• 4:41
  run commentary on popular recommendations available on the
• 4:45
  Internet because I figured I've done this, so I already know
• 4:48
  what my own perspective is. So let me just check the
• 4:50
  Internet. Let me see what people are
• 4:51
  saying and we can have a conversation over here.
• 4:55
  You know, who knows, there might be some useful stuff about how
• 5:00
  to negotiate high value deals. And yeah, we did find some good
• 5:05
  things on the Internet when I went and searched.
• 5:07
  There was plenty of talk there about preparation and research.
• 5:10
  And that is something I definitely endorse because I've
• 5:13
  been saying it from day one over here on this podcast that
• 5:15
  freestyling is bad. The only time where freestyling
• 5:19
  is good is if we're doing hip hop, you know, so all those boys
• 5:23
  on TikTok, especially those white rappers, as in they have
• 5:26
  mad rhymes, you know, so freestyling on TikTok, that's
• 5:29
  good if you're a hip hop artist. But you know, we're not hip hop
• 5:33
  artists here, You know, we're trying to run a business, we're
• 5:35
  trying to pay school fees, we're trying to go on fancy holidays,
• 5:38
  we want to buy nice clothes, we want to eat good food, we want
• 5:41
  to have nice car, you know, all those sorts of things.
• 5:44
  So freestyling is bad. We have to.
• 5:50
  The only people who can freestyle when it comes to a
• 5:53
  business context are people who have mastered the fundamentals.
• 5:57
  So like when you're a junior, OK, like when you're a junior
• 6:03
  doctor, for instance, you know you might keep your medical
• 6:05
  textbook on your desk because you don't forget something you
• 6:08
  don't want to be able to quickly reference.
• 6:10
  But by the time you've been doing this over and over and
• 6:12
  over again, the thing becomes internalized.
• 6:14
  You've mastered the fundamentals.
• 6:16
  And so people can just leave you on your own and you're going to
• 6:19
  be able to make the best decisions.
• 6:20
  But that's not really freestyling because you have
• 6:22
  mastered the fundamentals. Now the same thing happens from
• 6:24
  a sales and business development perspective, because when I was
• 6:27
  a young blood as a wedding photographer, there were some
• 6:31
  calls I didn't want to take because I didn't have my my
• 6:33
  diary handy with the list of questions that I needed to ask
• 6:37
  and things like that. But you know, it's been a couple
• 6:39
  of years now, so I've mastered those fundamentals.
• 6:41
  So I don't need to have my book with me.
• 6:43
  But when it comes to negotiations, on the other hand,
• 6:46
  freestyling, you can't say I know the fundamentals, therefore
• 6:49
  I can freestyle. No, because the fundamentals
• 6:52
  might be the same, but The thing is the concrete context is
• 6:55
  always different. So if you're negotiating with
• 6:58
  someone today, let's see, OK, I spoke about architects earlier.
• 7:03
  So let's say you're negotiating with someone today, you're an
• 7:06
  architect, but the people that you negotiated with last week
• 7:09
  were property developers in Abuja doing 500 units, low
• 7:15
  income housing or something. But then if they're negotiating
• 7:20
  with today are property developers in Lagos and I want
• 7:24
  to do 1000 units, but then it is high income housing.
• 7:29
  So you can see now that the concrete context is different.
• 7:32
  And that's the reason why we have to prepare and we have to
• 7:34
  do some research because fundamentally we know what's
• 7:38
  what, we know what's important. But the small changes in, in the
• 7:43
  concrete context, you know, means we we have to be prepared.
• 7:46
  These are the things that make one set of negotiations flow one
• 7:50
  way and another sets of negotiations flow another way.
• 7:54
  So yeah, definitely if you've been checking on the Internet
• 7:56
  and you saw stuff about preparation and research, I
• 7:59
  definitely endorse that because like I've been saying here on
• 8:01
  the podcast, freestyling is bad. Freestyling is wrong.
• 8:05
  Freestyling is a sin. Do not freestyle.
• 8:07
  Come up with well tested and trusted frameworks.
• 8:11
  Make sure you do your research. Make sure that you are prepared.
• 8:14
  Do not freestyle. Then I also saw some stuff on
• 8:18
  the Internet about knowing your value prop, which is was cool.
• 8:21
  It makes sense. Value prop is just value
• 8:23
  proposition. And the way I like to define
• 8:26
  value proposition is just this. Your value proposition just
• 8:30
  means why do people do business with me?
• 8:32
  That's the answer to the question.
• 8:34
  Whatever reason people give, that is your value prop.
• 8:38
  And you're better off finding out from your customers what
• 8:42
  your value prop is because sometimes what you think your
• 8:45
  value prop is actually is not. And I've spoken about you on the
• 8:49
  podcast, how for me, I spent a long time as a younger wedding
• 8:52
  photographer thinking that the reason why people did business
• 8:54
  with me was because they didn't like being photoshopped.
• 8:57
  And I was confused when I would not end up with a bride who
• 9:00
  clearly wanted to be photoshopped.
• 9:02
  And for me, I just thought, look, my value proposition is
• 9:04
  clear now. Like it's on my website.
• 9:07
  I steady clearly it's it's on my Instagram.
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  So like why are these kind of brides still coming my way who
• 9:16
  clearly do not fit this value prop?
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  But then when I started asking people that had done business
• 9:22
  with, I started off with the first bride that I handled her
• 9:26
  wedding in Abuja and I asked her.
• 9:28
  She said, actually, I don't know why I do business with you.
• 9:31
  I just know that I like you. And I didn't know what to do
• 9:35
  with that because that is not the kind of feedback we're
• 9:37
  looking for as business people. Someone says I like you.
• 9:39
  I'm like OK, what am I supposed to do with that?
• 9:41
  But anyway, I started asking some other people and it became
• 9:44
  clear that the reason why people were doing business with me had
• 9:46
  very little to do with my wedding photography skills.
• 9:50
  I thought for me, lack of Photoshop was the reason why
• 9:52
  people were coming to do business with me.
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  But apparently people were doing business with me because they
• 9:57
  like me. One bride said you're the only
• 9:59
  vendor that I never had to worry about.
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  Another person said something about my professional skills.
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  Another person said something about my timelines and blah blah
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  blah. I got to find out that my value
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  prop actually was all those other things that are not
• 10:12
  photography related. And this is the reason why I've
• 10:15
  been saying over here on the podcast, you guys need to be
• 10:17
  talking to your customers. You need to know what's up
• 10:20
  because excuse me, you can be setting up your marketing, your
• 10:25
  branding, your everything, saying that, you know, do
• 10:27
  business with me because this, because it's because of that.
• 10:30
  But the real reason why people are rushing you is something
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  else. If you know what your key value
• 10:35
  property is and you're keying to it in your branding, in your
• 10:37
  messaging, in your marketing and your everything, then things are
• 10:40
  just going to go a whole lot more smoother.
• 10:43
  So if I had started this whole thing of talking to customers,
• 10:48
  you know, like 15 years ago when I started in wedding
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  photography, my branding, my positioning, my marketing, my
• 10:57
  everything would have been much more aligned around the real
• 11:00
  reason why people do business with me.
• 11:02
  So anyway, bottom line, what I'm trying to say is yes, know your
• 11:04
  value proposition, but value proposition is not what you
• 11:08
  determine. Please talk to your customers.
• 11:12
  I'm trying to figure out why do people do business with you?
• 11:15
  Whatever answer they give you, whether you like it or not, that
• 11:17
  is your value proposition. So yes, we should not have value
• 11:21
  proposition before we argue. Sorry, no, I say argue before we
• 11:25
  go into negotiations because if you know your value prop, then
• 11:29
  of course you should be able to lean in on that and reinforce it
• 11:31
  time and time again that, look, this is going to be a sweet deal
• 11:34
  because this is our value prop. This is what we do.
• 11:37
  This is what you stand to get out of it.
• 11:40
  So while I agree with that, I'll say that we should also be keen
• 11:43
  to listen to other people and try to figure out what they
• 11:47
  think is valuable. Because it is one thing to come
• 11:51
  to the negotiating table knowing, OK, this is my own
• 11:53
  value prop. But The thing is the people on
• 11:56
  the other hand, they don't give an F about your value prop then
• 11:58
  nothing for you. You're just saying something,
• 12:02
  repeating it, reinforcing it and it will just be falling on deaf
• 12:06
  ears. So know your value prop, but
• 12:08
  then also be listening to them. Don't just be listening to them
• 12:13
  before you even get to the negotiating table and try and
• 12:15
  figure out what they think is important and start thinking
• 12:18
  about it from and talking about it in their own terms.
• 12:23
  Because if your value prop is that, I don't know, let me see
• 12:27
  if your value prop is, you know, the cheapest.
• 12:32
  OK, let me just stick with that, even though that's not a good
• 12:35
  value prop. So if your value prop is money
• 12:37
  wise that you're the cheapest, but then they don't give an F
• 12:40
  about how cheap it is. What they're concerned about is
• 12:42
  quality and timelines. Then you see that each time you
• 12:46
  talk about being cheap or talk about economic returns or talk
• 12:50
  about financial incentives, you will just be falling on deaf
• 12:53
  ears because the thing that they want to hear actually is quality
• 12:57
  and timelines. If you say 3 weeks is 3 weeks, 3
• 13:00
  weeks, if you say quality is quality.
• 13:03
  OK, OK, we spoke about architects.
• 13:06
  OK, Architects don't do building, Architects only draw
• 13:08
  and the name just will go with architect thing.
• 13:12
  Forgive me. Even though architects don't
• 13:13
  build. So it was equality.
• 13:16
  Does it mean 80% sharp sound and 20% cement or you know, whatever
• 13:20
  the ratio is supposed to be. So know your value prop, yes,
• 13:25
  but going to it with an ear to listen to the other people and
• 13:30
  figure out what they think is valuable and talk in terms of
• 13:34
  what they think is valuable. Because if you're talking in
• 13:37
  terms of what they don't value, all the stuff you're saying is
• 13:40
  just negligible and that's not going to help your negotiations.
• 13:44
  Then there's also some stuff on the Internet about understanding
• 13:46
  your BATNA. BATNA is it's an acronym BATNA.
• 13:51
  And that just means best alternative to negotiated
• 13:54
  agreement. Now for those of us who went to
• 13:56
  law school, this is something that we, we already know.
• 14:00
  So those of you who went to law school, don't turn up your eyes.
• 14:02
  Now, I mean, there are people here who didn't study law.
• 14:04
  So for them it's, it's, it's new.
• 14:07
  So let me explain it to you guys who haven't heard this before.
• 14:11
  Now, best alternative to negotiation, negotiated
• 14:14
  agreement just means as you're entering into the negotiations.
• 14:19
  So 1 moment, correct. Abuja is hot as hell.
• 14:21
  I don't know what's happening these days.
• 14:22
  And put on the fan. Unfortunately, the fan is very
• 14:27
  loud and noisy. OK all right, yeah anyway, don't
• 14:37
  worry. Eventually I'm going to be
• 14:38
  making enough money so I can go to the air conditioned studios
• 14:41
  and record all my episodes there more until then just make do
• 14:47
  what I have over here. Where where were we?
• 14:50
  I am Batna yes. So Batna just means before you
• 14:53
  enter in there and you start negotiating, you need to know
• 14:56
  your worst case scenario. You just know, like last, last,
• 15:00
  you know I won't die or you just need to know when to stand up.
• 15:04
  Basically, you just know what your alternatives are like if
• 15:06
  this deal does not click, what is the worst thing that will
• 15:09
  happen? So if this deal doesn't click
• 15:11
  and nothing will happen to you, you'll be able to stand up
• 15:14
  confidently and say, boss, it's been nice hanging out with you
• 15:17
  guys, but the way this thing is going, like we can't deal, we
• 15:20
  can't deal. So don't worry, just just read.
• 15:23
  Maybe next time I think you stand up on your walk away, you
• 15:26
  need to you need to know your partner.
• 15:28
  You need to know your walkaway point because not all deals are
• 15:31
  good because you guys have showed up to the negotiation
• 15:34
  table does not mean you guys have to consummate this marriage
• 15:37
  doesn't mean some things don't make sense on paper.
• 15:40
  And trust me, we've all been there.
• 15:43
  They've been deals that you're thinking, OK, I'm kind of broke.
• 15:47
  Let me just take this thing. After all, 100K is better than
• 15:50
  nothing. But then by the time you enter,
• 15:53
  you now start wondering like all distress on top 100K and we've
• 16:00
  all been in that situation. So you need to know heading in
• 16:04
  there, what are the what, what is the worst case scenario?
• 16:08
  What are the alternatives you have?
• 16:09
  When are you going to walk away? You know, things like that.
• 16:12
  So that by the time these people are negotiating with you, if it
• 16:15
  is a price thing and it now hits that your price threshold, you
• 16:19
  can be able to stand up confident and say, oh, ladies
• 16:20
  and gentlemen, thank you very much.
• 16:22
  It's been fun. But at this point, it doesn't
• 16:24
  make any sense for us to continue.
• 16:26
  We'd love to work with you guys in the future.
• 16:27
  If anything else comes up, you know, just give us a call and
• 16:31
  let's say what we can make happen.
• 16:32
  And then you just leave. Not all deals are good.
• 16:35
  Know when to walk away. The psychological, what will I
• 16:42
  say now? The psychological Guiche mount
• 16:43
  of this whole thing is when you have a partner, the thing gives
• 16:47
  you one kind confidence that people will be able to sense
• 16:49
  immediately. And it changes the dynamic of
• 16:51
  conversation because once you hit that point and you stand up
• 16:54
  and ready to walk away, it it gives you a certain area of
• 16:58
  confidence. OK, maybe in the beginning you
• 16:59
  are looking at you like, oh, she's a small girl, blah, blah,
• 17:01
  blah. You know, she'll do whatever it
• 17:03
  takes to win this deal. But then you reach your point
• 17:06
  and you say, oh, gentleman, that, you know, at this point
• 17:09
  doesn't make any sense for us to continue.
• 17:10
  You know, something like that. The way that they were looking
• 17:13
  at you, the esteem, you know, before they're looking at you as
• 17:15
  a small girl, your, your esteem, your status in their eyes will
• 17:18
  now rise. Now, OK, maybe she's not such a
• 17:21
  juvenile after all. We can't just be playing with
• 17:24
  her anyhow. Anyhow, so you need to ask
• 17:28
  yourself these questions before you go in these deals that we're
• 17:31
  trying to pursue. If this thing doesn't click,
• 17:34
  where are we? Is it good or is it bad?
• 17:36
  If this doesn't doesn't click, is there another alternative?
• 17:39
  The thing that we're trying to get from this deal, if we don't
• 17:41
  get it from this deal, can we get it in another place?
• 17:44
  Ask yourself all these questions so that by the time you go there
• 17:47
  and looks like these people are pricing groundnuts on top of
• 17:49
  your head. You get to a point and you say,
• 17:52
  OK, at this point it's not making sense anymore.
• 17:54
  And then you leave. The funny thing is there are
• 17:57
  some situations where you stand up and you say that, OK, this
• 18:01
  one will pass my power, I'm out. You know, if there's anything
• 18:05
  else, let's talk. And before you get to the door,
• 18:07
  they're like, no, no, calm now sit down now.
• 18:09
  It's not, it's not just negotiation.
• 18:11
  People do not price again, like calm down now come and sit down,
• 18:14
  come and sit down. Let's talk.
• 18:15
  So sometimes actually rescue the deal because you know what your
• 18:20
  partner is, you know when you're willing to walk away and people
• 18:23
  can see that it's not a bluff because once you hit that point,
• 18:26
  you stand up and you leave. Oh, by the way, but now walk
• 18:29
  away points, all these things. It's not always money.
• 18:32
  Sometimes it's maybe timelines, maybe somebody's pressing you on
• 18:35
  some timelines that they want something delivered in three
• 18:37
  weeks. But in your own professional
• 18:39
  opinion, you know that three weeks is doable, but three weeks
• 18:43
  is tight and you don't want to risk it.
• 18:46
  So if they're not willing to agree to 3 1/2 weeks, by the
• 18:49
  time they keep pushing 3 weeks, 3 weeks, 3 weeks, instead of
• 18:53
  putting your head somewhere and then you now go and hook in the
• 18:56
  future because you can't do that.
• 18:57
  Three weeks actually need like 3 weeks or three days or
• 19:00
  something. Just you know, what I did sense
• 19:03
  doesn't make sense for us to continue because given our
• 19:06
  production history, the relationship we have with our
• 19:09
  partners, we can absolutely guarantee you that if it's four
• 19:13
  weeks, we can deliver on this and this and this and that and
• 19:15
  that. Three weeks, it's going to be
• 19:17
  tight. The margin for error is going to
• 19:18
  be too great. We actually can't continue this
• 19:20
  conversation. So thank you, ladies and
• 19:22
  gentlemen. You know, future opportunities,
• 19:26
  let's be in touch, let's chat. And then you stand up with your
• 19:29
  team and then you begin, you know, head to the door.
• 19:32
  So just leave. There's not always money, there
• 19:34
  can be other things. So let's say when you're
• 19:37
  negotiating, you'll be negotiating money, that's price,
• 19:40
  you'll be negotiating quantity, you'll be negotiating timelines,
• 19:45
  we're going to be negotiating deliverables.
• 19:48
  Once again, warranty, guarantee, different things you can
• 19:51
  negotiate, but I'm just saying that don't always think that
• 19:54
  it's all about the money. You know, sometimes the money is
• 19:57
  right, but the timelines are not right.
• 19:59
  So just be creative here, then let's see.
• 20:06
  OK, There's some stuff on the Internet about effective
• 20:08
  questioning. Yeah, that's, that's definitely
• 20:11
  something we should take on board.
• 20:12
  I also talk about that on the podcast.
• 20:14
  I always talk about how. We need to have open-ended
• 20:16
  conversations. That is where you're trying to
• 20:18
  get the person to do most of the talking.
• 20:21
  Ask open-ended questions. Who, why, what, when, how you
• 20:24
  know, what do you need? Why is this important?
• 20:31
  Why this over that? You know, just get the people
• 20:33
  talking because is when you use open-ended questions that you
• 20:37
  now get information about what they really need, what is their
• 20:41
  own actual priority, what is their own goal, what is their
• 20:44
  own weak, what are their weaknesses, You know, things
• 20:46
  like that. Because when we know what they
• 20:49
  want, what they need, what's important to them, what's not
• 20:51
  important to them, we now know how to reframe our ask or tell
• 20:57
  our own position to make sure we can get what it is that we want.
• 21:00
  Then of course, there was stuff on the Internet about open and
• 21:03
  honest communications and how that fosters trust.
• 21:06
  So yeah, definitely. I'll I'll say that to yeah, be
• 21:10
  yeah, be open, be frank, you know, be yourself.
• 21:12
  No form levels. If you're not, don't want to
• 21:15
  pretend you're you're watch or not.
• 21:17
  So this whole fake it to you make you think I'm definitely
• 21:21
  not a fan because you can. You can't be doing fake it to
• 21:26
  you make it. But when you're in the
• 21:28
  negotiation room and people have been talking for like 1 hour,
• 21:32
  everybody's getting angry. You're angry, you're hungry,
• 21:34
  you're sweaty. Your real self will begin to
• 21:38
  show. So don't just be frank.
• 21:45
  Be open, be authentic. Don't try and pretend that
• 21:48
  you're not what you are. Eventually thing will come out
• 21:52
  because negotiations take time. You can go there and don't be
• 21:56
  surprised that you guys might be there for three hours shouting
• 21:58
  back and forth. Or you might go and shout for
• 22:01
  one hour today and and reconvene and come back next week Tuesday
• 22:07
  and shout again for another hour.
• 22:09
  You know, eventually a reserve will come out.
• 22:11
  So don't try and form and be watching or not and see what
• 22:14
  else anchoring or some stuff there about anchoring.
• 22:18
  And that's something that I want to emphasize over here on the
• 22:21
  podcast today because some of you don't get it.
• 22:24
  Anchoring just means reference point.
• 22:27
  Whenever you are negotiating about something, whether it's
• 22:31
  money or whether it's timelines, you have to be able to set the
• 22:34
  reference points somewhere. OK, since we're talking about
• 22:37
  timelines, let's let's say you get in and then you start
• 22:40
  talking about timelines early because you want to anchor
• 22:44
  timelines. All you have to do just to say
• 22:48
  how did I say it again? OK.
• 22:50
  So based on the clients we've had in the past and are working
• 22:53
  the relationship we have with our suppliers, a four week
• 22:56
  delivery time frame is the most reasonable something blah, blah,
• 23:00
  blah, blah, blah. So maybe in reality you actually
• 23:03
  need two weeks, but you want to try and anchor this thing at 4
• 23:06
  weeks just to give yourself some wiggle room so that if they
• 23:09
  agree three weeks. So if they agreed to the So what
• 23:14
  did I say? OK, I said four weeks.
• 23:15
  So if they agreed to the four weeks and we're going ahead,
• 23:18
  that gives you ample room to be able to deliver on your own
• 23:20
  side. But then if they try and
• 23:22
  negotiate back and forth and then we land at 3 weeks, in your
• 23:26
  mind, you know it's two weeks you really need.
• 23:28
  That still gives you one week extra wriggle room to protect
• 23:32
  yourself. And that is what anchoring
• 23:35
  means. You have gone in and you have
• 23:37
  set a reference point that other people are going to dance
• 23:40
  around. That protects your own interest.
• 23:42
  And it's the same thing with money.
• 23:43
  There was somebody that I was talking to who was selling.
• 23:51
  OK, I didn't want her to know I'm talking about her, but let
• 23:53
  me just say it anyway. Solar panels.
• 23:54
  And there was 1 coral that I used to have with her.
• 23:56
  She would always go straight to the lowest package.
• 23:59
  And I tried to talk to her from an anchoring perspective that,
• 24:03
  look, this thing we're talking about, anchoring is really,
• 24:08
  really important because if you're default, and I know this
• 24:13
  because as a wedding photographer, it's one mistake
• 24:15
  that we used to make. You have 3 packages.
• 24:18
  You have the 150K package, you have the 250K package, and you
• 24:22
  have the 350K package, whether you call it gold, silver and
• 24:26
  bronze. And some guys will just
• 24:28
  automatically fall straight to the lowest package.
• 24:32
  Now that lowest package that you price 150K, it assumes a certain
• 24:35
  profit margin for you that is kind of comfortable for you to
• 24:39
  buy food, buy Internet, and buy shawarma.
• 24:43
  And they also take your pay about once in a while.
• 24:47
  If you start off this whole thing on the lowest package,
• 24:50
  what do you think is going to happen if you start the
• 24:52
  conversation off at 150 K package, of course, they'll
• 24:55
  price you down to 130 or maybe to 120.
• 24:58
  Already 2030 K has removed from your from your bottom line
• 25:02
  straight. So this whole thing about
• 25:04
  anchoring, it's, it's, it's a very big deal.
• 25:07
  And I should tell her that stop this thing of automatically
• 25:10
  going straight to the lowest package.
• 25:12
  If you go straight to the lowest package, the only way you have
• 25:14
  to go is down. It's a losing proposition.
• 25:18
  You try and anchor high. So if 150 is looking like a
• 25:24
  reasonable amount for you, oh, by the way, I don't know, people
• 25:29
  charge you waiting for photography again these days.
• 25:31
  So this is me just, you know, throwing up figures.
• 25:34
  But whatever business you do, whether it's makeup or
• 25:36
  photography or you sell chicken eggs or whatever, even 150 looks
• 25:41
  like a reasonable thing for you. Then do not go in there and then
• 25:45
  start the discussion at 150 K. Please go in there and start
• 25:49
  talking the discussion at 200. So by 10 people shout back and
• 25:52
  forth and argue and everything and they price you down.
• 25:55
  In their mind they removed 40K so you agreed on 150.
• 25:59
  In your mind you'll be thinking, OK, if I had gotten 150 I would
• 26:02
  have been happy. Now I have 160, which is 10K
• 26:05
  more. And that exactly is what
• 26:07
  anchoring is. Set your reference points, try
• 26:12
  and anchor. Although some people say allow
• 26:15
  the other person to anchor because sometimes you can go and
• 26:18
  anchor AT200K, but in the other person's mind for them they are
• 26:22
  thinking 400 K is a reasonable figure.
• 26:25
  So by the time you go down, you anchor at 200.
• 26:27
  In their mind they'll be thinking, Oh well, we would have
• 26:30
  been happy to pay 400, but this person has just said 200.
• 26:33
  Let's keep quiet and let's leave it because in their own mind,
• 26:35
  they'll be thinking we were going to pay 400.
• 26:38
  This person said 200 automatically.
• 26:40
  We've saved ourselves 200, two 100K.
• 26:43
  In fact, let us try and negotiate and haggle and
• 26:46
  everything so that if we remove another 50K self, we have now
• 26:49
  saved ourselves 250K. So there are some people who say
• 26:52
  let the other party come and anchor.
• 26:54
  Who should anchor first? That's the topic for another
• 26:56
  podcast episode. But I'm just trying to let you
• 26:58
  guys know when it comes to negotiating, this whole thing of
• 27:01
  anchoring is really, really important.
• 27:03
  Setting reference points really, really important and please for
• 27:09
  those of us who are in industries where we argue back
• 27:11
  and forth, wedding photography, makeup artist, fashion designer,
• 27:17
  who again, who again, you know those kind of, you know those
• 27:22
  industries. We know ourselves that you know,
• 27:24
  people can be pressing here and pricing the please stop going
• 27:27
  straight to your lowest package all the time.
• 27:28
  You're putting yourself in a losing proposition.
• 27:31
  If you have decided that 150 K is what you need to be
• 27:34
  comfortable at the end of each deal, then please don't go in
• 27:38
  there and start talking 150K going down anchor higher.
• 27:42
  Anchor at 200, anchor at 2:50 so that if you start at 2:50 and
• 27:47
  the price you down to 180, you know it's not all that bad.
• 27:53
  OK, 30 minutes. So let me move on.
• 27:55
  So that's about anchoring then. OK, Concessions or some stuff on
• 27:59
  the Internet about concessions. A concession just means what
• 28:03
  you're willing to give in. But on the Internet they spoke
• 28:06
  about concessions and trade-offs.
• 28:08
  Now I'll prefer that you guys think about it in terms of
• 28:11
  trade-offs. And this is just what the trade
• 28:12
  off means. A trade off just means I give
• 28:15
  you something and I get something in return.
• 28:17
  I scratch your back, you scratch my own back.
• 28:20
  So excuse me, don't think of it in terms of concessions.
• 28:24
  What can I give away? Think of it in terms of
• 28:27
  trade-offs. I have given you something then
• 28:30
  me ma, you have to give me something too.
• 28:33
  In fact, this is what professional negotiators call
• 28:35
  non principled concessions. That's when you go in and
• 28:38
  somebody says that look, reduce the price to from that 150 is
• 28:42
  too high, reduce it to 140. You say, OK, I agree 140 and
• 28:46
  then you keep quiet. Professional negotiators, they
• 28:48
  call that a non principled concession.
• 28:50
  You made a concession in an unprincipled manner.
• 28:54
  What you should do is that if you say, OK, I'm reducing the
• 28:57
  price, you now ask for something in return.
• 28:59
  So in industries like in the tech space where people supply
• 29:03
  hardware, typically if they budget on the price, they like
• 29:06
  to go up on the quantity. So somebody might say, look,
• 29:08
  these computers that were buying, blah, blah, blah, 1.5 M
• 29:13
  for one Apple computer is too much.
• 29:15
  So we'll buy the computer at 1.4, take it or leave it.
• 29:19
  And then you say, OK, no problem.
• 29:21
  I agree. I'll reduce my price to 1.4 for
• 29:24
  each Apple computer. However, for this thing to make
• 29:28
  sense, if we're bringing this price down to 1.4, you cannot
• 29:31
  just buy only one computer. You cannot only buy 10 computers
• 29:35
  for me. You have to increase the other
• 29:36
  size. If we're doing 1.4 for each
• 29:40
  Apple computer, by the way, I don't know how much Apple
• 29:42
  computers talk. I'm just freestanding here, so
• 29:46
  don't quote me on that. So you tell them, OK, no
• 29:49
  problem, you saw 1.5. I agree 1.4 but then instead of
• 29:52
  buying only 10 pieces, you now have to buy at least 15 pieces
• 29:56
  for me for this price to make sense.
• 29:58
  That is a trade off or that is a principal concession.
• 30:02
  You want me to do this for you, no problem.
• 30:04
  But for us to do that, you now have to do something for me in
• 30:07
  return and this is what I require to make this thing work.
• 30:10
  So don't go in there and just agree.
• 30:13
  They say oh give me this, you agree, give me that.
• 30:16
  You agree whenever they say give me something and you feel like I
• 30:20
  want this deal, let me take it no problem.
• 30:23
  But you now ask for something in return.
• 30:25
  And The funny thing happens when you get into the habit of doing
• 30:29
  trade-offs and making principal concessions.
• 30:33
  People start asking you for less concessions because they realize
• 30:37
  that OK this babe, every time I ask her to do this she will
• 30:41
  agree but should I ask me for that on the other hand?
• 30:44
  And then they will calm down South.
• 30:47
  OK, it's 30 minutes. So let me just bring it to a
• 30:49
  close. There are plenty of things to
• 30:50
  consider and we can always keep going on and on and on about the
• 30:54
  topic of negotiation. And of course, if the question
• 30:57
  comes up again, I will be able, I'll bring that up.
• 31:02
  I'll bring that up again. Then let's see.
• 31:05
  I have one resource here that I think you guys should try out.
• 31:08
  There's something called the Negotiations Ninja podcast.
• 31:11
  Now, unfortunately, the guys in the commercial business to
• 31:15
  business context, so there's some of the things that they
• 31:18
  talk about on the podcast that might not apply to everybody.
• 31:21
  So those of us, you know, my wedding photography people, my
• 31:23
  makeup artist, my cake artist might not apply to you.
• 31:26
  But always remember whenever you're listening to these
• 31:29
  resources, don't listen and say this and does not apply to me.
• 31:32
  Listen and try and think this thing that I've heard so far,
• 31:36
  how can I apply it in my space? So if you listen to it that way,
• 31:41
  then you'll find that the Negotiations Ninja podcast is a
• 31:44
  good resource. So trying to look for
• 31:47
  Negotiations Danger podcast, I'm not sure if they're on YouTube,
• 31:50
  but they're definitely on iTunes, Spotify and all the
• 31:54
  other podcast players. So start from there and you will
• 31:57
  also receive recommendations from whatever podcast player
• 32:00
  that you use on other negotiations and podcasts.
• 32:03
  And then that's how you're going to get real good on
• 32:06
  negotiations. But basically what I'm trying to
• 32:08
  say is for a bunch of you who are discovering this podcast,
• 32:11
  you guys think this is a very valuable resource and, and I'm
• 32:14
  glad that you do. And yes, it is a valuable
• 32:17
  resource. I'm giving out a whole bunch of
• 32:18
  stuff over here for free. But this is not the only
• 32:21
  resource that you will ever need.
• 32:23
  I only talk about things from a sales and business development
• 32:26
  perspective, but there are other things that are going to be
• 32:29
  required of you in your business journey.
• 32:31
  You'll have to learn negotiations.
• 32:33
  Eventually you're going to hire a bunch of people, so you will
• 32:36
  need to learn leadership skills. What else?
• 32:39
  So other podcasts, yes, pay attention to other podcasts too,
• 32:43
  of course, make sure that my own podcast is always on rotation
• 32:46
  and that we continue our own love relationship here, even if
• 32:49
  you go and look for things someplace else.
• 32:52
  So that's all for today folks. Thank you very much for your
• 32:55
  time and attention. And remember, if you'd like to
• 32:58
  connect and explore opportunities with me, then call
• 33:00
  me. Phone number is 08064662140.
• 33:06
  That's my WhatsApp number as well.
• 33:07
  The country code is +234. For those of you who are not
• 33:10
  Nigerian and therefore social media, connect with me on
• 33:12
  LinkedIn. I'll catch you guys tomorrow.