Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Quick Sales vs. Big Projects: Understanding the Difference

Transcript

Quick Sales vs. Big Projects: Understanding the Difference · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:00
  There are some Nigerian business people or some sales people who
• 0:05
  have sold or done business in one particular sector in the
• 0:09
  past and they're currently trying to transition to a new
• 0:12
  field presently. And because they were successful
• 0:16
  at selling in the old thing, they just assume that they're
• 0:20
  going to be successful in selling in the new thing.
• 0:23
  And that is what we are going to be examining today.
• 0:27
  In particular, what we're going to be looking at is selling
• 0:29
  jeans versus selling solar. Are they the same?
• 0:34
  Is there any difference? The fact that you have been
• 0:36
  successful selling in fashion, does that mean you're going to
• 0:41
  be successful selling when it comes to solar and inverter,
• 0:45
  electrical fittings, you know, circuit boards, all those kinds
• 0:50
  of things? So excuse me, I'm still
• 0:54
  recovering from a sore throat. Now, some of you might wonder,
• 0:57
  where is this coming from? The reason why we're talking
• 1:00
  about this today is because one of my clients is currently
• 1:03
  trying to put together a sales team for his business.
• 1:05
  He's in the solar space and we're interviewing a lot of
• 1:08
  candidates and we've gotten some promising people and some
• 1:12
  interesting applications. And one of them was from a lady
• 1:15
  who had sold in fashion. She had done a good job.
• 1:21
  In fact, the example that we were using when I wanted to role
• 1:24
  play with her just so that I can, By the way, when we're
• 1:27
  talking about sales, you know, role play means something
• 1:31
  entirely different. You know, just in case there's
• 1:33
  some of you who know the adult connotations of role play.
• 1:35
  But then when we talk about role-playing in business, we
• 1:39
  just mean, you know, we act a drama.
• 1:41
  One of us pretends to be the buyer, another person pretends
• 1:45
  to be the seller. And then the sales coach, the
• 1:48
  consultant, the trainer gets to assess, you know, how well the
• 1:51
  other person is is doing. So there's a tool of training
• 1:56
  that we sales professionals use. So just in case you heard role
• 2:00
  play and you know, you raised your eyebrows and you're
• 2:02
  wondering what's going on here. No be business podcast again.
• 2:06
  So don't worry, it is a business podcast. role-playing just means
• 2:09
  something different over here. So we did a role play where
• 2:14
  we're going to sell jeans and she handled it quite well.
• 2:18
  But then at the end of the session, towards the end of the
• 2:22
  interview, you know, she seemed quite sure of herself that
• 2:25
  because she has been able to sell in fashion successfully,
• 2:29
  she's going to be able to transition into a career in
• 2:32
  selling solar as well. And it's something I've come
• 2:37
  across again and again. You know, somebody starts a
• 2:39
  business in fashion and they sell well, Then because of that,
• 2:44
  they're moving into a new field. Maybe now they want to start a
• 2:47
  real estate firm and they assume that, OK, I was good at selling
• 2:50
  fashion, therefore I'm going to be good at selling real estate.
• 2:54
  Or somebody was a real estate professional maybe for the last
• 2:57
  decade and they turned out to be very good at it.
• 2:59
  But then now they meet somebody who's a tech Co founder and
• 3:02
  they're going to come in and use their sales expertise and help
• 3:05
  this thing blue. So the fact that you've been
• 3:08
  good at selling real estate, does it mean that you're going
• 3:12
  to be a good Co founder to handle sales for a startup?
• 3:20
  OK, so those are some of the things that we're going to be
• 3:23
  looking at today. So can you sell jeans?
• 3:26
  Can you sell fashion the same way that you can sell solar?
• 3:29
  Now, the straightforward answer is that, well, there are some
• 3:32
  similarities and there are some differences, but the differences
• 3:35
  have huge implications of how it is that we're going to sell.
• 3:38
  So First off, yes, there are some similarities in selling
• 3:41
  jeans or selling fashion and the way you sell solar.
• 3:45
  First of all, no matter what it is that you sell, you're going
• 3:48
  to have to do some need analysis.
• 3:50
  Need analysis is the part of the business relationship, the part
• 3:53
  of the conversation, the part of the selling relationship where
• 3:56
  you're trying to figure out who is this person and what exactly
• 3:58
  do they want? What exactly do they need and do
• 4:01
  they have the inventory or the skill set to match that need.
• 4:04
  The reason why we have to go through all this is because if
• 4:06
  you're selling jeans and, and the person that you're selling
• 4:10
  to has a much more American rustic mindset when it comes to
• 4:15
  fashion, but then all you have is, you know, Uber trendy
• 4:20
  Nigerian cosmopolitan style choices.
• 4:24
  You need to find out very quickly who it is that you're
• 4:26
  talking to. Because if somebody has a very
• 4:30
  rustic American sensibility when it comes to genes, then you are
• 4:36
  not going to. And then what you have is very
• 4:39
  trendy cosmopolitan stuff in Niger.
• 4:43
  It doesn't matter the amount of toasting you do.
• 4:45
  You just don't have what this guy needs or what this lady
• 4:48
  needs. So you are not going to be able
• 4:50
  to close the sail there. So you have to be able to do
• 4:52
  need analysis very quickly. You have to be able to do need
• 4:55
  analysis very early. So it's the same thing in solar
• 4:58
  when you're talking to somebody and the person needs a solar
• 5:02
  installation. You have to be able to narrow
• 5:04
  down quickly what exactly does this person want?
• 5:07
  Do they want solar because, you know, for residential purposes
• 5:10
  they don't want it because, you know, official purposes, you
• 5:14
  know, what kind of setup do they need?
• 5:16
  You know, things like that. Because there are going to be
• 5:18
  some projects that will be beyond your scope.
• 5:20
  Like for instance, also Rock has been in the news recently
• 5:23
  because of course, you know, now NEPA has been misbehaving, power
• 5:26
  has been terrible. The generation companies have
• 5:29
  not been, is it the generation companies that be the gas
• 5:33
  companies? Any which ratio never they
• 5:35
  misbehave anyhow. Anyhow, anyhow, and I think the
• 5:39
  presidency just concluded earlier on in the year a 10
• 5:44
  billion naira project, at least according to what I saw in
• 5:46
  Vanguard newspaper, a 10 billion naira project, you know, just to
• 5:49
  have a mini mini solar grid in also rock.
• 5:53
  So if you do solar, but you don't provide those kinds of
• 5:58
  things, you know, mini grids capable of powering also rock,
• 6:02
  you know, a 10 billion naira project and somebody you're
• 6:05
  talking to somebody you need to be able to figure out exactly
• 6:07
  who is this person? What do they want?
• 6:09
  Do I have the inventory? Do I have the skill set?
• 6:11
  Can I satisfy this client? So we need to do need analysis
• 6:14
  early. So yes, in that sense, if you
• 6:17
  have sold jeans before or if you've sold fashion before, OK,
• 6:20
  you do have some skills that are going to come in handy when it
• 6:23
  comes to selling solar. Then also some similarities
• 6:26
  because the lady figured out, and I'm glad she did because
• 6:30
  there are lots of you business owners and sales people who are
• 6:33
  listening right now who have not figured this thing out.
• 6:36
  The lady figured out that it's a good idea when you're talking to
• 6:38
  somebody to have two or three options on hand, two or three
• 6:41
  options on ground. Because when you have two or
• 6:43
  three options, you can stay in the game, you can stay in the
• 6:45
  conversation. If you only show somebody one
• 6:48
  pair of jeans, the answer is either yes or no.
• 6:50
  And the person says yes, good, you've made some money.
• 6:53
  If the person says no, so she figured it out.
• 6:58
  You're talking to somebody. You figure out what it is that
• 7:00
  they like. You present them with two or
• 7:02
  three options. You stay in the pocket, you stay
• 7:04
  in the game, you continue the conversation.
• 7:06
  Good, Very good. Oh, sorry, my alarm just went
• 7:08
  off. OK, sorry about that.
• 7:12
  I have an appointment in about 10 minutes.
• 7:14
  So let me just wrap this up. So yes, there are those
• 7:18
  similarities. The same thing if you're selling
• 7:20
  solar, You talk to someone, you figure out what their needs are,
• 7:23
  you can come up with three options.
• 7:25
  Good, better, best now look for this your office for this your
• 7:28
  factory for this year whatever. Yes, ideally you should be
• 7:32
  looking at this kind of setup. It will cost you maybe this
• 7:34
  amount just in case money is an issue then at all at all.
• 7:42
  This is the lowest option should be taken.
• 7:45
  But Olga, if you have serious bar and you want the ultimate
• 7:48
  you want the best and then this world should be considering.
• 7:51
  So if you're talking to somebody in solar sales and as you as you
• 7:53
  the yarn back and forth, you give her three options.
• 7:56
  Olga, this one is ideal. If money day, then this is how
• 8:01
  you go excess. But you know, if things are
• 8:04
  rough, then this is the lowest option that should be
• 8:08
  considering. So yes, whether you sold, if you
• 8:12
  sold jeans before or fashion before, that kind of mindset of
• 8:16
  keeping giving people multiple options, yes, it will equip you
• 8:19
  well for selling in solar. So yeah, those are some of the
• 8:23
  differences. I'm sure if I think about it a
• 8:25
  bit, I should be able to come up with even more differences.
• 8:28
  So I say differences, similarities.
• 8:32
  OK, all right, so now let me go to the differences.
• 8:35
  Now, these are the differences. Unfortunately, selling jeans is
• 8:38
  a simple sale scenario while selling solar is a complex sale
• 8:42
  scenario. For those of you who've been
• 8:43
  listening to the podcast for a while, you already know.
• 8:46
  But for those of you who are just discovering the podcast for
• 8:48
  the first time, let me break it down for y'all.
• 8:51
  So simple sales are items that are affordable.
• 8:54
  When something is affordable, the level of risk is low.
• 8:56
  When the level of risk is low, people know to the contemplate
• 8:59
  time. Anyhow.
• 9:00
  So at the end of the day, not just jeans, simple jeans so
• 9:05
  people can do quick math. I can afford it.
• 9:06
  I can't afford it. OK, I'm feeling lucky.
• 9:08
  I want to splurge, you know just simple calculation No, they know
• 9:13
  what income too much you understand on the other hand,
• 9:18
  solar it's pricey because it's pricey is risky.
• 9:23
  People are thinking or more if I drop 30 M on this project now
• 9:28
  and anything comfortable, the power requirement is not enough
• 9:32
  or if this person turns out to be shady or you know, there's a
• 9:35
  problem here. There's a problem here as all
• 9:37
  kind of factors that evolve. So when it comes to solar now
• 9:40
  people good the reason I'm the good they think I'm well.
• 9:43
  You understand the good deal or hire that not the same way if
• 9:48
  you sell jeans if his jeans is just a matter of oh, is this in
• 9:51
  sweet I be you know, sweet. Do the children like it?
• 9:54
  I be they don't like it or does my wife like it?
• 9:56
  My wife doesn't like it. You know simple consideration
• 9:59
  123 before you know it, if money did the guy don't buy But for
• 10:02
  solar, even if the money day you know the goody hesitant small
• 10:08
  because they're trying to figure out exactly what is going on.
• 10:12
  So genes simple solar complex then the decision making matrix
• 10:18
  is different for genes. Now it's a very simple something
• 10:23
  I am here. I don't like these genes or I'm
• 10:24
  not OK, My wife is here. She either likes it or she's
• 10:27
  not. We can talk quickly and we can
• 10:29
  buy for solar because of the risk where they involved and the
• 10:34
  serious bar where they involved, the man who is standing there
• 10:36
  who wants to buy solar, You go on check with Madam first, who
• 10:40
  knows, maybe even check with the accountant first.
• 10:42
  Can we afford this kind of expenditure right now?
• 10:45
  You know, or the woman who is there, you know, should go on
• 10:48
  check with her husband or check with her own accountant if it's
• 10:51
  a business expense. You see, the decision making
• 10:55
  matrix is a lot different, more people to consider and different
• 10:59
  considerations. Now, because of the decision
• 11:02
  making matrix, relationship building is not necessary when
• 11:06
  it comes to genes. They either have the money or
• 11:09
  they don't. If they have the money, they'll
• 11:11
  just buy and then they will leave you who are sending the
• 11:13
  genes. If you are smart, you try and
• 11:15
  put them into a relationship. If you are smart, but then on
• 11:18
  the other hand, for solar, because it's a complicated
• 11:21
  something, relationship building is a necessity.
• 11:24
  They were the one flow which you talk to you not because they're
• 11:27
  looking for friends, but they're trying to fill you out.
• 11:30
  Is this person a good person? Is this person a bad person?
• 11:32
  Is this person, you know, they're trying to fill you out.
• 11:34
  It's a necessity also because risk mitigation and agile we do,
• 11:39
  if anything happened and there's any single fumble, any single
• 11:43
  air fob anywhere, they want to know that, OK, this is the guy,
• 11:47
  this is where he is. So that when they will call
• 11:49
  police or they will call soldier, you know, they'll
• 11:51
  concentrate your house or concentrate your office.
• 11:53
  So relationship building is a necessity, is a way of doing
• 11:56
  risk mitigation. So there are differences for
• 12:02
  genes, simple. For solar, it is complex.
• 12:09
  So for genes, you don't have too many things to consider.
• 12:12
  For solar, you have a lot of things to consider.
• 12:14
  Now, what are the implications? The implications are very simple
• 12:17
  when you're in a simple sales scenario now, like for genes,
• 12:20
  you can have the attitude of take it or leave it.
• 12:22
  And I've told you guys on the podcast, the Shop that my wife
• 12:26
  and I entered. So let me check the time.
• 12:29
  OK, So I'm not late. So the shop that me and my wife
• 12:31
  entered and then the lady was like please, if you're not
• 12:33
  buying, go. And I was I was like what the
• 12:36
  hell is wrong with this lady? My wife was laughing.
• 12:38
  I said let's go, let's go, let's leave.
• 12:40
  And I predicted that the shop will close down that the girl
• 12:43
  ruined the business for Olga and officer for our dam and she did.
• 12:47
  But The thing is in that kind of thing, you know, yeah, you can
• 12:49
  actually sell like that. Look, are you buying or you're
• 12:51
  not buying? You can't have that kind of
• 12:53
  tissue in solar. Then also begging when you're in
• 12:56
  a simple sale, you can beg someone to buy from you.
• 12:58
  So I see * I beg now follow me, come by.
• 13:02
  See these jeans. Now it is sweet, it's nice, you
• 13:04
  know, blah, blah, blah. Low court Lowrider this dot dot
• 13:07
  dot dot. So begging can work when it
• 13:09
  comes to soda. You can say, Olga, follow me,
• 13:11
  come by, or Madam, follow me, come by.
• 13:14
  You can, you can use that. You can use that kind of scope
• 13:16
  at all. So when you're in a complex
• 13:19
  hill, you have to be consultative.
• 13:21
  Now all that means is you guys to be a consultant, pretend
• 13:24
  you're a doctor, and then you have to stretch out the hills,
• 13:26
  process, choreograph it over different steps, and then be
• 13:29
  prepared for a long cycle, a long sales cycle.
• 13:32
  A sales cycle is just the difference between when somebody
• 13:34
  says what's up, when somebody says how far, how much does this
• 13:37
  thing cost? And then the time that the
• 13:39
  person transfer you the money. So for jeans, the sales cycle is
• 13:42
  quick, quick, quick, you know, minutes, maybe even days.
• 13:46
  Somebody will hit you up on your DM today.
• 13:47
  Do you have these jeans? How much you know, before you
• 13:50
  know, it's 2-3 days they don't pay, that's it.
• 13:53
  Or 2-3 days they've ghosted you. The whole thing is over.
• 13:56
  Solar is a different thing entirely.
• 13:58
  You can start testing with somebody in January.
• 14:01
  Maybe the person buys the solar machine in February, or maybe
• 14:04
  they buy much longer sale cycle. So prepare for a longer sale
• 14:07
  cycle. So for those of you who are
• 14:09
  started off in a simple sales scenario, you're about to
• 14:12
  transition to a complex sale scenario.
• 14:14
  Just know that there's some differences and be prepared.
• 14:17
  So if you are considering a carrier transition or you're
• 14:21
  transitioning, you know, from one business to another, you
• 14:24
  need to reason this thing out with somebody.
• 14:26
  Give me a call, call me, text me, send me a WhatsApp message
• 14:30
  on 08064662140. Let's have a chat.
• 14:35
  Let's see how you can transition from selling simple sales
• 14:39
  scenarios into complex sales scenarios.
• 14:41
  So thanks for your time and attention.
• 14:42
  I've got to run so I don't get late for my meeting.
• 14:45
  I'll catch you all some other time.