Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / How to Turn Sales Objections into Opportunities

Transcript

How to Turn Sales Objections into Opportunities · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Hello and welcome to the show. Before we begin, apologies
0:05
because I'm not in the booth today.
0:07
So you should be hearing the call to prayer coming in through
0:09
the background. And then of course, munchkins
0:12
are at home. So the usual interruptions.
0:17
OK, so I realized that I'm behind on the shout outs, so I
0:19
need to acknowledge a couple of folks before we continue.
0:23
And if you still like, if you've reached out to me in the past
0:28
and you still haven't heard a shout out from me, then please
0:30
just you know, send me a brief reminder.
0:33
You know, you can't say a message like you know, guy, hi
0:36
far now, like we've been chatting and you haven't given
0:39
me a shout out. Is it because I'm not attractive
0:42
enough? Or is it because you don't value
0:44
my listenership or whatever? You know, just shoot me a
0:47
message and I will shout you out.
0:49
So today, let's see. OK, there's Faith and Chinaza.
0:56
Upon pronouncing it correctly, always assume that it was
0:59
Chinasa with an S. But she spells hers with AZ, so
1:03
I'm not sure if she's funkifying hers or maybe that is the
1:07
correct spelling or pronunciation.
1:10
And maybe I've been hanging around Yoruba people for too
1:13
long and so Chinaza just became Chinasa.
1:15
So. So Faith and Chinasa, both
1:17
listeners of the show and recent graduates from the prestigious
1:21
University of Ebado, and they're both food vendors and chefs who
1:25
use Instagram and WhatsApp to promote their businesses.
1:31
OK, So I'd like to shout them out and say thank you to them
1:33
for listening to the show and also for applying the ideas
1:36
here. So when I hear out from you
1:38
guys, I like to hear from people who have actually gone out to
1:42
try something and you say this thing worked.
1:44
So that actually makes my day. And I also like to hear when
1:48
people go out and try something and they say I tried it and this
1:50
thing didn't work. That also makes my day because
1:54
then we can have a fruitful conversation, nuance the
1:56
conversation, find out how we could have applied things to
1:59
that particular context. And that is where I get more
2:03
interesting ideas for podcast episodes.
2:06
So you hear something like Faith and Shin Assad did in their own
2:09
case. It was about content ideation
2:12
for content production. Go out, give it a try.
2:15
If it works, reach out to me, let me know, let's celebrate
2:18
together. If it doesn't work, reach out to
2:20
me, let me know. I'm still looking for that kind
2:22
of feedback and let's troubleshoot and see where
2:25
things didn't work then. Also a shout out to Ruth
2:28
O'Connor, who is a strategic communications professional in
2:32
aerospace and engineering. I really like the calibre of
2:35
listeners that I'm getting over here on the podcast.
2:38
OK, well, not the calibre, but the range rather because we have
2:41
folks from, we have a couple of undergrads all the way up to
2:45
working professionals. And then the fields are really
2:48
varied, which is the reason why I stopped.
2:53
I stopped calling it the well. I can't remember the old name
2:56
from my podcast, but back then I was attempting to speak to only
2:59
people in the wedding and the event space.
3:01
But then I just realised that from those of you who reach out,
3:04
you guys are anything but wedding and event people.
3:08
So that's the reason why we changed the name of the podcast.
3:11
Just in case there are some of you who are coming across the
3:16
show now and maybe on the old, on the podcast player that
3:19
you're listening to, maybe the old title is still there.
3:21
So I'm no longer talking to just wedding and event professionals
3:24
because we have people in undergrads, we have
3:27
professionals like in this case, professionals in aerospace and
3:30
engineering who listen to the podcast.
3:32
So thanks Ruth for reaching out on LinkedIn.
3:35
She says she's thankful for the podcast and overall, I'm
3:38
thankful for all you listeners. Then also some updates.
3:42
I told you guys a couple of days ago that I've done all the all
3:47
the formalities, all the paperwork, all the necessary
3:49
necessary so that the podcast can go up on YouTube.
3:54
But because of the immense number of episodes that I've had
3:58
so far, because the last time I checked, we were over 910
4:01
episodes. That's the last time I checked.
4:03
Right now, I'm not sure how many episodes that we have because
4:06
there's been some changes on Spotify.
4:07
So if I need to know how many episodes I have, I actually have
4:10
to do some hunting and pecking, you know, look for dashboards
4:12
and stuff like that. So yeah, The thing is moving
4:16
along at the snail's pace, but the thing actually is moving
4:19
along. So I'm really happy because
4:22
YouTube has uploaded 420 podcast episodes for now, and it still
4:27
has, it has queued another 418. So at this rate, I think maybe
4:33
by next week my podcast should fully be available on YouTube.
4:37
So the episodes are there, but I can't publish the episodes yet
4:40
until everything has been, has been.
4:45
What's the word uploaded or whatever the technical term is
4:51
so once everything is uploaded I hit live and then those of you
4:54
who are tired of listening to this show over the web because
4:56
I've noticed that there's still 30% of you guys who don't want
4:59
to listen to it on iTunes, who don't want to listen to it on
5:02
Spotify who keep using a web browser and some of you reach
5:06
out and say look when are you coming to YouTube salvation is
5:09
coming and what to be on available on YouTube soon.
5:13
So if YouTube is able to successfully load 400 and 18 ish
5:18
episodes tomorrow, then I guess I'll be on YouTube.
5:24
Anyway, just to let you guys know that it's coming.
5:26
Podcast is going to be on YouTube pretty soon.
5:28
Now today I want to look at how to reduce sales objections.
5:32
This is something that I think I've already addressed severely
5:37
on the podcast, but still, let's just go over it for the benefit
5:40
of newbies. It's over here on the list as an
5:44
important topic that I'd like to go over.
5:47
But since I've already done a series of episodes where I not
5:52
only spoke about sales objections, how to handle sales
5:54
objections, and then I went through specific sales
5:56
objections. This one is just going to be a
6:00
summary episode. Excuse me, summary episode just
6:04
to introduce those of you who are newbies on the show just
6:09
discovering the show for the first time.
6:11
Introduce you guys to the All I say to the philosophy, to the
6:16
scope, to the approach of how to handle sales objections.
6:20
Now, First off, we have to define what a sales objection is
6:24
on the pod on this podcast. The sales objection is just any
6:30
reason while someone gives for not wanting to take the next
6:34
step or for not wanting to buy your product or service or not
6:38
want to go along with whatever agenda it is that you're
6:40
proposing in a business relationship.
6:43
So if you say if you're trying to get the person to come over
6:47
to your office to look at samples and the person is the
6:51
person is delaying, the person is evading, you know, that's an
6:54
objection. If you're trying to close the
6:56
deal, if you're trying to collect your money, collect the
6:59
deposit so that you can move on and deliver the product or the
7:02
service and the person is reason to drop money, you know, that's
7:05
an objection. So excuse me.
7:08
So. So excuse me.
7:14
Yeah, sorry about that. Yeah, sore throat is still
7:19
getting better, but I still have to clear my pipes.
7:26
All right, So where was I? OK, yeah, Sales objections.
7:34
I guess what I was trying to say is this.
7:38
Sales objections are just the normal part of the sales process
7:41
basically, except when you're dealing with the actualized
7:44
buyer. Sorry, one moment I really need
7:46
to go clear my nose and my throat.
7:51
OK, right now. Sorry about that.
7:53
OK, so I'm back now. What was I?
7:58
OK, so I believe I was saying that sales objections are just a
8:00
normal part of the sales process.
8:03
So don't fret when you're talking to somebody that looks
8:05
like the person is trying to, you know, do you what kind?
8:07
The person is refusing to commit, the person is plain
8:10
obtuse or whatever. It's just a normal part of the
8:13
sales process because everybody has concerns, everybody has
8:19
questions, everybody has fears, everybody has unknown XYZ
8:25
concerning whatever it is that you're trying to get them to
8:29
buy. So that's the reason why people
8:32
object to stuff. Now, the only time when you're
8:34
not going to get sales objections is when you're
8:36
dealing with an actualized buyer.
8:39
Actualized buyers are people who know exactly what they want.
8:43
They know exactly how much it costs.
8:46
They've done exactly all the research that they need.
8:49
And so because of that, they have absolutely no questions.
8:53
Please note that these people are extremely rare.
8:57
I have only met one. And whenever I talk to other
9:00
people who are salespeople, there are some salespeople who
9:02
haven't met any at all. So the actualized buyers, that
9:05
person who shows up and says I want an ABCXYZ, I need it in 50
9:09
quantities. And do you have it at XY and Z
9:13
price? And if you do, can I have your
9:15
account number so I can transfer and I want it delivered Tuesday
9:20
morning before 8:00 AM. Those kind of people are very,
9:24
very rare. Those kind of people won't give
9:27
you any BS. They'll just come there and tell
9:30
you exactly what they want. They like the price or they
9:33
don't. They can't afford it or they
9:34
can't. They will pay and you deliver
9:36
and that's it. No small talk, but actualized
9:40
buyers are actually very, very rare.
9:43
I've only dealt with one once before, so don't expect that.
9:49
Most of the people that you're going to do business with, I
9:51
want to show up. I know exactly what they want
9:53
for exactly how much and have all the knowledge that they
9:56
need, you know, for the transaction.
9:59
Most people are going to show up and have a vague idea.
10:02
So like back to the car example, somebody wants to buy a car,
10:05
they come to you a lot and they kind of know that they want to
10:09
buy a Toyota. Whether they want to buy a
10:11
Toyota Corona or Corolla, they don't really know.
10:15
Maybe it's this kind of one that looks like on the small side,
10:19
not too big, but also doesn't consume too much fuel.
10:22
Or maybe they know that it's a Corolla, but then they get there
10:26
and they're thinking they want to buy 2008 model, but then they
10:29
happen to see, you know, 2017 model and then, you know, their
10:34
eyes are now torn. OK, they have money for 2008,
10:37
but that 2017 model is looking kind of sweet.
10:40
So that's just how it happens normally.
10:43
So objections are going to be a normal part of the sales
10:45
process. So don't be angry, don't be
10:50
angry, don't be impatient. It's just normal.
10:53
Think of it as courtship, think of it as dating.
10:55
It's just a normal part of the whole thing.
10:58
If you're a babe and you approach a guy and you see how
10:59
far I like you and the guy just, you know, agrees, all of a
11:02
sudden, you know you'll be somehow as far as there's no
11:05
chase. And then the other way around,
11:07
too. If you're a guy and you just
11:08
pull up to the babe and then you know she's ready to fall into
11:12
your arms immediately, you know, light bells, alarm bells will
11:15
just go off. So it's just normal, you know,
11:18
don't get angry, don't get impatient.
11:19
Objections are a normal part of business.
11:22
In fact, in some cases, if you don't get any objections,
11:25
there's a sign that there's a problem.
11:27
This is something that I learned when I was in wedding
11:29
photography. So I learnt quite early that as
11:33
a wedding photographer, if nobody's objecting to your
11:35
price, it means two things. This is what I mean.
11:41
You show up, they look at your stuff and they say how much.
11:44
I tell them that OK, that for to book me it's 500K.
11:50
Even if you have the conversation with 10 people and
11:52
then ten people pay your 500K on the spot and book you, and this
11:57
is what's going on #1 it means that the quality of your work is
12:00
dope. As in your work is good, is
12:03
standard. And that's really, really nice.
12:05
But then it also means that you're so cheap for the quality
12:08
that you provide. Now when people come and they
12:10
see you, they're like, eh, this quality for this amount, they
12:14
will just pay quietly. So as a wedding photographer, if
12:18
you're not getting price objections, it means you're
12:21
leaving money on the table. It means you need to raise your
12:24
prices. It means that you are too cheap
12:28
relative to the quality of work that you're putting out.
12:30
Now, this is not just for wedding photographers.
12:32
It also goes for fashion designers and also goes for
12:35
carpenters and should I say artists, artists in our people.
12:39
So if you're a fashion entrepreneur and you have a a
12:46
line of body corn dresses, for instance, I'm not sure what body
12:50
con means, but I know I've heard my wife say body con before and
12:53
I've heard my wife say peplum. OK, let me say peplum.
12:55
OK, No peplum is old school. So let me just keep it at body
12:58
con. And then you have a line of body
13:00
con and you're selling each of those body con for 35 K And
13:04
people reach out to you on Instagram and 20 people want to
13:08
buy the body con. You tell them that it's 35K and
13:12
all twenty of them pay and they don't complain.
13:14
I'm telling you rarely, rarely. As I say on TV, you have a
13:18
problem with your business. The quality of your stuff is
13:21
spot on at some point. So when people hear that your
13:24
body corn IS35K and they pay and they don't complain, it means
13:27
that the quality they're providing is top notch and so
13:31
the money money relates to it is a steal.
13:35
So people are paying and they're not complaining.
13:38
So objections are normal for some industries, artisanal
13:42
people. If you don't hear any
13:44
objections, especially money objections, it's a problem.
13:47
You need to raise your prices. So the most common business
13:50
objection, since we're already on price, let's just continue on
13:53
price. So the most common one, the one
13:54
that you hear is price related. It's too expensive.
13:59
We don't have it, we don't have the budget.
14:01
I can get it cheaper elsewhere. Chukwudi sells it for 50K.
14:05
Why will I pay you 120 blah blah blah money price related
14:08
objections. I was having a conversation with
14:11
a professional sales person earlier on who was complaining
14:13
about why he couldn't sell some technical solutions that he had
14:17
because of the price. And I tried breaking it down to
14:20
the guy but the guy didn't understand.
14:21
But I tried to tell him that look, it doesn't matter what
14:25
industry you're in. And I'm telling you if you're a
14:29
newbie listening to the show that it does not matter the
14:31
industry. The first thing everybody will
14:34
say is that you're too expensive is the first thing.
14:38
Do you sell diapers? They will say you're too
14:39
expensive. Do you sell coffins?
14:42
They will say you're too expensive.
14:43
If I for the guy that was complaining, I told him that
14:45
look, do you know your OGA started the business by by
14:48
selling light bulbs, energy saving light bulbs and when he
14:53
started light bulbs, they said he's too expensive on top light
14:57
bulb not to now talk about complex alternative energy
15:01
solutions. So light bulb, they'll say
15:04
you're too expensive. Solar panel, they'll say you're
15:06
too expensive. I haven't told the person I was
15:09
in traffic and there was one of these people, so I'm not sure
15:16
what the proper term is. OK, sorry, forgive me.
15:22
I'm not sure what the let me say disabled.
15:24
Yes, a disabled person selling bathroom slippers, trying to
15:27
sell it across to somebody in the car.
15:28
And I, I heard the guy say it, that the slippers was too
15:31
expensive. So even bathroom sleepers, if
15:34
you sell slippers, they will say you're too expensive.
15:37
So that's the first thing that you're going to hear no matter
15:40
the business that you're involved in.
15:42
So please, those of you who are professional salespeople, just
15:45
get that thing out of your head. The first thing anybody would
15:49
say is you're too expensive. Whether it's light bulb, whether
15:52
it's bathroom slippers, whether it's wedding photography or
15:56
whether it's solar panels or whether it's car or whether
16:01
look, it doesn't matter. Look, even, OK, I'm not sure
16:05
about pencils, but anything short of pencil and Biro, the
16:09
first thing people will say is you're too expensive.
16:11
So that one is standard. Then other objections are
16:15
product or service related objections.
16:17
That's when people say we don't need your, we don't need this.
16:20
It doesn't meet our needs. Already have a guy already using
16:24
this person. We have a similar product, you
16:26
know, blah, blah, blah. Those are product or service
16:27
related ones. Then there's a time related
16:30
objections where people say, well, I can't talk right now,
16:32
call me tomorrow. I need to think about it.
16:36
I'm busy now give it to give it to my secretary.
16:40
We're too busy to implement it now.
16:42
When we're doing this now in this quarter, our focus is on
16:45
this comeback next quarter. So all those are time related
16:47
objections. Then there's money related
16:51
object, sorry, authority, authority related objections,
16:54
objections tied into the decision making progress, sorry
16:57
process. And that's the reason why I keep
16:58
telling you people over here on the podcast, you need to figure
17:00
out who is the important person that you need to talk to.
17:03
I mean, how are the decisions made?
17:05
So for those people, those of you who sell children's things,
17:08
you, you, you guys already know what's up.
17:10
You market to the kids, but you know, that is the parents that
17:13
will make the decision. So that's why, you know, these
17:15
people advertise and Western toy companies are really good at
17:19
that. You know, the next time you guys
17:21
are halls in the UK or America, just check it.
17:23
You'll see that the advertisement are targeted at
17:25
the children so junior can say mommy, mommy, daddy, daddy buy
17:28
for me, you know, so you know that the authority rests with
17:31
dad, but you're marketing to the children or the authority rests
17:34
with mom. So we need to figure out all
17:35
these sorts of things or else we'll start hearing authority
17:38
related objections, which is when somebody says, oh, I need
17:41
to talk to my boss, I need to talk to my partner, I need to
17:44
talk to my team. Let me discuss with my wife or
17:47
let me discuss with my pastor, let me discuss with my family
17:50
head, let me discuss with my brother.
17:52
I'm not authorized to make that decision.
17:55
Let me call chairman. You know, all these other stuff.
17:58
Then there's trust related objections.
18:01
That's where people say things like, you know, they don't know
18:03
your company, where people insinuate that they can't trust
18:06
you. Or for those of us who are in
18:08
The Who used to be in the wedding and the event space,
18:10
there's something you see here all the time.
18:12
So my neighbor, my cousin, my sister, my blah, blah, blah had
18:15
a bad experience with XYZ. You know, I used to hear that
18:18
all the time. You're waiting for photographers
18:21
and this thing looks nice, but during my sister's wedding,
18:23
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
18:25
You know, that's an an objection.
18:27
So on the face of it, they're saying they like your stuff, but
18:30
the reason why they don't want to go ahead with you is because
18:32
during her older sister's wedding, they trusted another
18:34
photographer and this is how the guy messed them up.
18:37
So these are trust related objections and then some some
18:41
things that some people call closing objections.
18:43
You know, when people say I need more information, I need to put
18:46
compare your products with another one and blah, blah,
18:49
blah, blah, blah. So these are the sorts of things
18:51
that you're going to hear whenever you're trying to sell,
18:55
whenever you're trying to move market.
18:58
So OK, 20 minutes, let me see. OK, Anyway, I've dealt with
19:05
these things in much more detail in the past.
19:07
So just use for those of you who are listening over the web, if
19:11
you use what's it called listen notes?
19:16
If you use listen notes, it's it has a bunch of it has a bunch of
19:23
it's like a repository of different podcasts.
19:26
But The thing is allows you to search within podcasts,
19:29
sometimes within episodes. It also gives you transcripts.
19:31
So it's a correct way to to use a podcast as a lending resource.
19:36
So if you're going to listen notes and you pull up my own
19:39
podcast and listen notes and you search within my podcast, if you
19:42
just put in objections, you will see every single episode over
19:46
the last 900 and something episodes that I've done, every
19:50
single one where I mentioned objections, everything will just
19:52
show up there. So you'll be able to get
19:54
everything in detail. But summary, when you're facing
19:56
an objection, first of all, you need to lean in agree because
20:00
nobody wants to feel like like they're not being listened to.
20:06
So First off, lean in so well. Which is not to say that if
20:12
somebody says you're too expensive, you say, Oh yes, I'm
20:14
the most expensive in the market.
20:15
You know, you can't agree with them to a certain extent, like
20:18
my brother, that's all we see. I'm more indistinable economy.
20:21
Everything is expensive, you see.
20:23
But The thing is, at least you've leaned in.
20:25
So lean in, acknowledge then of course, re qualify qualification
20:29
is just the part of the conversation.
20:31
We are trying to figure out what it is that what problems they
20:36
have, what problems they're trying to solve and figure out
20:38
if your product or service can help.
20:39
So one moment. OK, sorry about that.
20:44
How to go clear my throat again. OK, Yeah.
20:48
So so after you, we qualify, try to figure out what the problem
20:53
is and how you can help them solve the problem.
20:55
You also have to try and clarify or try and educate.
20:59
The problem with this clarifying and educating is some of you,
21:02
you try to educate too quick, somebody says you're too
21:05
expensive. You say, of course we're
21:06
expensive now, now this is genuine leather from Italy and
21:10
blah blah blah and or what not. And look, that's an OK approach.
21:13
But before you start trying to clarify and educate, you need to
21:17
re qualify and find out what the person is about, what they're
21:19
interested in, what they need. Because if somebody doesn't give
21:22
a hoot about what kind of leather it is, you talking about
21:26
Italian leather, you're just grating the person's you're just
21:31
you're wasting the person's time.
21:33
You know, like I told you guys about the time when my wife said
21:37
enough is enough that you can't keep wearing these old trousers,
21:39
we have to go and buy a new trouser.
21:41
And anyway, begrudgingly I went. Well actually she tricked me.
21:46
We she said that oh there's a sale going on for the children
21:50
that you can buy jeans at XYZ amount.
21:53
So some small money had entered and says OK, no problem, let's
21:58
go. So it's why we now got there and
22:00
picked for the shoes and she now said enough is enough, this is
22:03
your trouser, blah blah blah, let's buy this one.
22:05
And then she found a pair of trousers that actually fit.
22:09
Because back then I was on the large size.
22:12
You know, I'm losing weight now. So I'm almost, almost back to my
22:18
sexy days, my sexy ways, but I'm still on the biggish side.
22:23
So found something that actually fit and everything looked OK.
22:28
But it was a old brand self was a pair of jeans.
22:32
Was it Wranglers or no? No Wranglers, but one of those
22:35
old school brands anyway. And so for me, the amount that
22:40
they called us like what for a pair of trousers?
22:42
I was like, no independence started talking about how is
22:45
this quality? Is this brand and is this brand
22:47
and is this brand? But The thing is for someone
22:50
like me who doesn't know what's up because I really don't know
22:53
the difference between a Calvin Klein and a Wrangler and a DKMY
22:59
and a like, I don't know the difference because to me they
23:01
all look the same. For me, the main thing is does
23:04
it fit and does it have that kind of stitching in the middle
23:07
so that they will not split because all the stuff that I
23:10
wear, for some reason they keep splitting down the middle.
23:13
So for me that was my own like does it look sturdy?
23:16
Is it not going to split? One person kept talking about
23:19
the quality and everything. But anyway, it was wifey that
23:22
they were talking with and wifey knows the quality.
23:24
And so we went ahead and then we bought.
23:27
And actually, it was a good purchase because it's been over
23:29
a year and the thing has not frayed at all.
23:32
I mean, even when I abuse it, even when I wear it for several
23:35
days on end. But I won't tell you how long I
23:37
wear it, you know, lest you guys, maybe you see me in
23:41
public, you refuse to hug me. You'd be wondering, has he been
23:43
wearing our trousers for, like, one week anyway?
23:46
Yeah. But the thing.
23:46
Yeah, is, is, is good quality. But what I'm just trying to say
23:49
is before you start educating people, you need to figure out
23:51
who they are, what they're about, and how to start
23:54
educating them. So if there's somebody who
23:56
doesn't know the difference between DKNY and Calvin Klein
24:00
and Wrangler and or what not, and the person seems to be
24:05
concerned about is this thing strong?
24:06
Is this thing strong? Then focus all your energy on
24:09
talk, on educating on how strong this thing is or not and not on
24:12
how it is so, so, so and so seasoned or it's from this
24:17
person and then or what not. And then after re qualifying and
24:21
trying to educate, you should also do a trial close.
24:24
This is where lots of people fail.
24:26
They don't do a trial close. They don't try and gain
24:29
feedback. So OK, so let's just use a note.
24:35
Let's see if I can come up with an example.
24:37
OK, this is 24 minutes. OK, OK, let me come up with an
24:43
example, a price related objection.
24:46
By the way, in case you haven't figured out price related
24:49
objections are preventable. It's something that you can
24:52
reduce. You can reduce this by just pre
24:54
qualifying in the 1st place to make sure that people have money
24:57
and make sure that you have the budget conversations and make
24:59
sure you're setting realistic expectations.
25:01
So for instance, let's go back to this whole thing of a
25:03
technical sale. If you're yawning with somebody
25:07
and you say OK bro, Madam, for the conversation we've had so
25:10
far, we can either OK, no, let me skip technical, let me see
25:17
the technical. So let me make it more
25:18
relatable. Let's say catering.
25:21
Yeah, catering. OK, yeah, since we started off
25:23
by shouting out people who are in the catering space.
25:26
So you can say oh mummy, no problem, we can cater for the
25:30
wedding, blah blah blah. From all the things we've spoken
25:33
about so far, we can do either continental menu at 2500 naira
25:37
per plate or we can try high end African menu at 1800 naira per
25:43
plate, which is in line with your budget or mommy, what are
25:47
you more comfortable with? Or daddy, how does that sound?
25:50
You know, depending on mother of the groom or bride of the sorry
25:54
mother of the groom or father of the groom, depending on who
25:58
you're talking to. So that's how you couch it.
26:02
But The thing is, when you have that conversation, the person
26:05
has had 2500 per plate continental menu or 1800 per
26:10
plate African menu. By the way, I've been out of the
26:13
wedding game for a long time, so I don't know how much food costs
26:17
for events. Just in case there are some of
26:19
you that are laughing right now that there's no way that you can
26:21
do continental menu for 2500 per plate.
26:24
Just be in mind that I haven't been in the space for a long
26:26
time. And then plus I got married
26:29
close to 15 years ago. So I don't know how much the
26:32
prices I've gone up or down. But bottom line is when the
26:35
president sees 2005 per plate or 1008 per plate, if the person
26:39
says 1008, you already know that this is not a customer you can
26:42
deal with. And you know how you're going to
26:44
weave the conversation. If somebody says 2005 18, we'll
26:50
have to negotiate. You know that there's room
26:51
there. So bring up all these money
26:55
related things early. Get a sense of who it is that
26:57
you're talking to. Then when it comes to this whole
26:59
thing of clarifying, because I, I know I mentioned that some of
27:02
you like to clarify, when it comes to clarify and educate,
27:08
when you hear the money thing, somebody will say NO15K is too
27:14
much for a pair of trousers. And you say that's why it's not
27:16
just pair of trousers. It's made in Italy, it's made in
27:18
France, it's blah, blah, blah. It's Olympic edition, it's this
27:21
and this and that and that. So remember that you have to
27:27
requalify first. Figure out what the person is
27:28
interested in before you start educating.
27:31
But even when it comes to education, the mistake that a
27:33
lot of you make is that you are telling the person when it comes
27:37
to educating and educating doesn't work that way.
27:40
If you're trying to push something down somebody's
27:42
throat, the person who's not going to agree, you have to
27:44
make, you have to plant the idea in the person's head.
27:47
You have to make the person think about it.
27:49
So now let me say, OK, yes, now let's do technical sales now
27:52
because it happens a lot in technical sales.
27:54
Somebody was saying you know, blah blah blah, the generator is
27:58
too expensive or whatever or the cable is too expensive.
28:03
Then you now start trying to educate them that no, my own
28:06
cable is better because of warranty, because of guarantee,
28:08
because of technical specifications, because of load,
28:11
because of this, because of that.
28:13
So this is what you do if you want to educate instead of
28:16
telling somebody about your warranty and your guarantee of
28:19
the technical specs and your after sales service and saying
28:22
that this is the reason why we are better then what you should
28:26
do. What you should be doing instead
28:30
is asking questions. So let's say it's for the sale
28:34
of AMOLED cable because in my estate the transformer blew like
28:40
2-3 months back and we're trying to sort that out.
28:42
So we had to be looking at the cost of cable, AMOLED cable,
28:46
this cable, that cable. So if you sell cables and then
28:49
you're in front of someone and the person says that you're
28:52
selling your own AT35K but at Abdul in the next shop so they
28:56
can sell it at 27 K per meter. You just say call me that.
28:59
Oh oh, so Abdul said he will give you 27 K instead of 35.
29:03
That's a very good price Sir. I suggest that you take it first
29:08
of all. You say it like that.
29:09
You agree and tell the person it's a good price.
29:12
Then it's of now trying to educate the person.
29:14
Just ask simple questions. OK, So what about the warranty
29:16
that Abdul is giving you? And then you keep quiet and the
29:20
mouse warranty. What is warranty?
29:23
That is when you now have the room to start educating.
29:26
You planted the question, you planted the doubt, then well,
29:31
you can ask that. Oh fine, no problem. 27 KR,
29:33
that's very good. I suggest you take it.
29:35
That's a good price. That's a good price.
29:37
What about the amplitude? Can you carry the social and
29:40
load, the social and soul load that you mentioned in your
29:42
estate? And then you keep quiet and the
29:45
person will say what is amplitude or what do you mean by
29:47
load? Then you can now start educating
29:50
the person. By the way, in case you haven't
29:52
noticed, I'm not a technical person either.
29:54
So for those of you who sell cable, in case I'm making up
29:56
stuff that is OPT, just understand the spirit of what it
30:00
is that I'm saying. So you don't ask the question or
30:06
the person says, or you say, Oh yeah, 27 K instead of 35.
30:10
That's very good, Sir. I suggest you take it. 27 K is a
30:13
very, very good deal. But by the way, which quality is
30:16
he offering you? Is he offering you Korea or
30:18
Japan or Swedish cables? And then you keep quiet and the
30:22
man will have questions. Is there a difference, which was
30:26
Korea, which is Japan, which one is Swedish?
30:29
That will now give you the opportunity to now start
30:31
educating the person. So it is from asking questions
30:35
that it gives you room to now start educating people.
30:40
But if you start off by saying 27, Abdul say he'll give you 27
30:44
K. No, it must not be a good
30:46
product because he's offering you Korea.
30:48
But what we offer is Swedish and we offer Japan.
30:51
Right now, Oga doesn't know that there's, excuse me, that there's
30:56
any difference between Korea or Japan or Sweden or whatever.
30:59
He has no idea. But by asking the questions
31:03
about quality, about warranty, about guarantee, about after
31:09
service, you know, all these sorts of things, you know, you
31:11
plant a seed in the person's mind and that is what gives you
31:13
the room to start educating. Now the whole point of asking
31:16
these sorts of questions now, is it Korea or Japan?
31:20
What quality do they offer? Can the cable carry the load or
31:23
how long is the warranty he's giving you?
31:25
The one of these questions is to make the customer, excuse me, is
31:31
to make the customer realise that price isn't the sole
31:34
determining factor, but they also you'll be thinking about
31:37
quality of the cables. Some people might not be aware
31:40
that the different kinds of quality and different kinds of
31:42
specs get the person thinking about warranty guarantee and all
31:47
this other stuff. But don't, don't preach it,
31:49
don't tell it, just ask it as a question.
31:53
And when you ask it as a question and that plants the
31:56
seed. That's what gives you the
31:57
opportunity to start educating people.
31:59
So, but like I said, I've already made podcast episodes
32:01
that are dedicated to this whole subject.
32:03
So just use listen notes, search within the podcast titles, put
32:07
in the word objections. Every single podcast that I've
32:10
made about handling objections in the over 910 episodes that we
32:14
have, everything will just come out there.
32:16
You can listen to it for the wider philosophy about dealing
32:19
with concerns that customers have when we are proposing
32:24
something and they don't want to accept our proposal.
32:28
But before I go, just a word again on this whole thing of
32:31
trial closers and gaining feedback.
32:35
It's not just enough to try and educate this person and they now
32:37
keep quiet. If you educate this person on
32:39
AMOLED cables and keep quiet, what the person will say is let
32:44
me think about it and then he will go.
32:47
And it depends. You might lose the sale at that
32:51
point. The thing is, while he's there,
32:54
you need to gain some feedback or at least trial, get a trial
32:57
close. If you think you have dealt with
33:00
all the person's concerns, then try asking for the business
33:03
again while the person is there. It's not just enough to address
33:07
the objection and then keep quiet and then the person will
33:09
say, let me think about it. So back to the earlier example.
33:12
Let's say you have educated the boss on everything.
33:17
You ask the questions. OK, if I give you a three month
33:20
guarantee and we're going to do free installation for the first
33:23
100 meters of cable, then I'll be good for 33 K per meter of
33:27
AMOLED cable. And then you keep quiet and then
33:29
you hear what he has to say. But do this thing while he is
33:33
here. Don't educate him and then keep
33:35
quiet. And then he'll say, let me think
33:37
about it. If you ask him like that, he
33:40
might say yes and then you're good to go.
33:43
You've warned the customer, but then he might say no.
33:47
If the person says no, you've missed something.
33:49
So you have to start the process all over again.
33:51
But I suspect that most of you would just say, oh, more, this
33:53
is too much work. And then you just give up and
33:55
move on to a potential customer. But either way, The thing is
33:57
this, after you've dealt with the objection, don't just keep
34:01
quiet. If you keep quiet, the person
34:03
will say, let me think about it. Let me get back to you.
34:06
Let me call my brother, let me call my engineer.
34:09
I didn't know this whole thing about Swedish, Swedish cable and
34:12
Korean cable and this and this and that and that.
34:14
Try and ask for the deal again. So let me wrap it up here.
34:18
Connect with me on WhatsApp for questions, quick tips or
34:21
insights. The phone number is 08064662140
34:26
and the country code is +234. Also connect with me on LinkedIn
34:30
which is the best social network for business, career development
34:33
and networking. So you should be on that if
34:35
you're serious about either of these things and name to search
34:38
for once you get to LinkedIn, establish hima aide.
34:41
I'm the host of the show. Thanks for your time and
34:43
attention. I'll catch you guys on the next
34:45
episode and hopefully by tomorrow I should be cured so
34:48
there'll be no more sniffles and hacking during the recording.
34:52
So I'll catch you guys later.