Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Tech Sales Strategy for Nigerian Entrepreneurs: How to Secure High-Quality Meetings

Transcript

Tech Sales Strategy for Nigerian Entrepreneurs: How to Secure High-Quality Meetings · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking to Nigerians
• 0:05
  who are in the tech space. You know, you work with a
• 0:07
  startup or whatever and you're trying to sell tech solutions
• 0:11
  and you are having difficulties in hooking up demos or hooking
• 0:16
  up meetings. So that's what we're going to be
• 0:18
  looking at today. Now, these are the sorts of
• 0:23
  things you like to listen to. Then this podcast is your jam
• 0:26
  because this is what I do, you know, 2-3 times a week.
• 0:30
  And I've been doing this for a while, let's say about five
• 0:32
  years at least as at the date of this recording.
• 0:36
  My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm the host of the podcast.
• 0:38
  And if you'd love to connect, you can call, send me a text
• 0:41
  message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
• 0:49
  So again, we are talking to people who are in the tech space
• 0:53
  or you're trying to sell some fancy tech solutions.
• 0:56
  You're having a problem securing meetings, you're having a
• 0:59
  problem, you know, securing, getting people to come for your
• 1:03
  demo. And the demo is just that
• 1:07
  meeting where you get to show the potential customer what your
• 1:11
  solution is, how it works, how it can help them, you know,
• 1:15
  things like that. So that has become kind of like
• 1:18
  the modern playbook for selling tech solutions, selling
• 1:23
  software, things like that. So for those of you who are not
• 1:27
  in the text page, you should keep listening.
• 1:29
  Of course you can, because it doesn't matter what we talk
• 1:31
  about over here, you'll always find that there are some
• 1:34
  transferable skills and there are some things that you can
• 1:36
  listen to and that you can listen to and you can learn some
• 1:40
  stuff that will apply, you know, in your own business or whatever
• 1:44
  it is that you sell. So why are we tackling this
• 1:47
  today? It's very simple.
• 1:49
  I was going through some of my old notes, some of my very old
• 1:51
  notes, and I realised that I had an interesting conversation with
• 1:54
  a podcast listener. Her name is Neca.
• 1:57
  Nobody use the full name but Neca, if you're listening, yeah,
• 1:59
  it's you. Nobody use your surname, but to
• 2:02
  give you some privacy. So Neca was in the tech space
• 2:07
  and she was selling some fancy HR solutions.
• 2:11
  In fact, that was the problem. So, but anyway, let me, yeah,
• 2:14
  let me talk about that. She was selling HR solutions,
• 2:19
  right? The software that helps to offer
• 2:23
  customer care support. And so I started talking with
• 2:25
  her now to try and figure out exactly what the tech solution
• 2:30
  could solve. And these were some of the
• 2:32
  problems that it could solve. The software supposedly could
• 2:35
  help you resolve customer disputes.
• 2:38
  It could also help you gauge customer satisfaction.
• 2:41
  It could also help you with tracking, you know, customer
• 2:46
  follow up procedures. Let's see what else Plenty,
• 2:51
  plenty things are and that was a problem.
• 2:54
  And some of you in the text space, you don't realise that
• 2:55
  that's a problem in the beginning when you're brand new.
• 2:58
  It really doesn't help if your software has a laundry list of
• 3:01
  solutions and your software can do 50 things from a sales
• 3:05
  perspective, you hire somebody to now sell on your behalf.
• 3:10
  Like you know how, how, how do you want the guy to do it?
• 3:17
  It's 15 things that the person has to remember at every single
• 3:20
  any given point in time, you know, narrow it down.
• 3:25
  Like what are the core problems that this your software can, can
• 3:28
  fix? If the salesperson just has to
• 3:31
  manage two or three things as part of your UVP, that's your
• 3:35
  unique value proposition. Then that's an easier sales
• 3:37
  conversation to have because I'm only juggling two or three
• 3:41
  things in my head on every single call.
• 3:43
  But then if you're selling a software, some superstar
• 3:45
  software, customer care support, it can do it.
• 3:49
  Customer disputes, it can help you, customer satisfaction, it
• 3:52
  can help you. Customer follow up procedures,
• 3:54
  it can help you. Introducing customers to new
• 3:56
  orders, it can help you. That's that's a bit much.
• 4:01
  So those of you in the start up space, Nigerian entrepreneurs, I
• 4:06
  know you're in love with your solution.
• 4:08
  I know you think your solution can solve everything under the
• 4:10
  sun, but the simpler you can make it, the better.
• 4:14
  If we can reduce it to a simple sentence, a simple statement,
• 4:18
  you know, one or two things Max, three things that would be the
• 4:23
  best, at least from the point of view of your salespeople.
• 4:28
  Sometimes one of the difficulties that your
• 4:29
  salespeople are having is, you know, it's just to be much.
• 4:32
  Your solution does everything under the sun and it is hard to
• 4:37
  sell, you know, omnibus solutions when you're having a
• 4:40
  conversation with someone. So that was one problem.
• 4:44
  So my recommendation for those of you in the tech space in
• 4:47
  Niger, please, you guys take note.
• 4:49
  Make your job easier. So Neca, now part of the sales
• 4:54
  team, she was having 30 calls per day.
• 4:57
  You know, I like that. Impressive.
• 4:59
  And the problem was that out of 30 calls, she's only able to
• 5:02
  convince average person. So I say average person convince
• 5:07
  her one person. So on average, NECA is doing
• 5:10
  about four for appointments per week.
• 5:14
  So I repeat, NECA can bang out roughly like 30 calls every day.
• 5:19
  Well, on average, I was just like one person, you know?
• 5:21
  Of course, that means on some days she's hitting zero.
• 5:24
  Because when we look at the figures now, her average per
• 5:27
  week is she's booking 4 meetings.
• 5:29
  And of course, she was wondering what am I doing wrong?
• 5:33
  How can I be more effective? Because you're making 30 calls,
• 5:37
  you book zero meeting. Man, that's harsh.
• 5:40
  You know, after a while, the thing that even starts degrading
• 5:41
  her self esteem, like, ha, ha, no, Be me again.
• 5:45
  Am I not the daughter of my father?
• 5:48
  No. Be phone call.
• 5:50
  Come on. Phone call.
• 5:52
  So yeah, she was wondering how can she get more effective?
• 5:57
  So I asked her one question and I said, OK, when you're on the
• 6:00
  phone with people, what's the goal?
• 6:02
  And she said that simple. Now the goal is to book a
• 6:04
  virtual demo. And I have to stop out there and
• 6:07
  say, NECA, hold up, Stop there. That is the first mistake you're
• 6:12
  making. You say, how is that what they
• 6:14
  pay me for, to book virtual demos?
• 6:18
  Yeah, that's what your guy told you.
• 6:19
  But honestly, yeah, from a traditional sales perspective,
• 6:24
  when you hop on the phone with somebody the first time, the
• 6:27
  goal is not book them on demo or get that meeting.
• 6:31
  The goal is figure out if they're interested in the first
• 6:34
  place and then figure out the nature of the problem first.
• 6:39
  And then she understood If you're only having a
• 6:42
  conversation with somebody who is interested and who has a
• 6:45
  serious problem, then you can have fruitful conversations
• 6:49
  where you're not trying to strong arm somebody into a
• 6:52
  meeting. There are some people that
• 6:54
  clearly you will see that the interest is not here or there's
• 6:58
  a problem here. But honestly, there are human
• 7:00
  resources problems is not that much big of a deal.
• 7:03
  That kind of person. You thank them for the time, ask
• 7:06
  for permission so that you can leave.
• 7:09
  You can put them in e-mail list and let them be receiving emails
• 7:13
  from you once in a while. You know, every once in a week
• 7:16
  or every two, two weeks, they will receive emails from your
• 7:18
  business. You know, our business is doing
• 7:21
  good. We are Nigeria's premier human
• 7:24
  resources. Something, something, something.
• 7:26
  If you have problems with human resources in your business, this
• 7:29
  is how software can help. You know, every two, two months,
• 7:33
  every one month, they're receiving those kind of emails.
• 7:35
  You know, you stay top of mind. Maybe one day they actually do
• 7:40
  have a need and they remember that, oh, NECA called me six
• 7:43
  months ago. I've been receiving the emails.
• 7:45
  You know, let me reply to the e-mail or let me check if I have
• 7:48
  Neca's phone number. Let me buzz them back.
• 7:51
  So that's what you do if somebody is not interested or
• 7:54
  the nature of the problem is little, it's not that big.
• 7:58
  So I was able to get her to twist her, change her mindset,
• 8:01
  that, look, the goal is not OK, I have somebody on the phone or
• 8:03
  I'll go for the demo, go for the demo, go for the meeting.
• 8:06
  Go for the meeting. No.
• 8:08
  And that's the reason why some people will not show up.
• 8:09
  They'll say, OK, yeah, sure. They will agree.
• 8:12
  Then they will click on the meeting link.
• 8:13
  They will agree. But they're just trying to be
• 8:15
  polite. They don't, you know, you're
• 8:17
  you're, you know, persistent, articulate, obviously an
• 8:20
  intelligent young lady. They don't want to shut you
• 8:23
  down. So they'll say yes.
• 8:25
  Now when the phone call is over, will they shop for the meeting?
• 8:27
  No, because they were never interested in the first place.
• 8:30
  So those of you in tech sales, stop trying to strong arm people
• 8:33
  into a meeting. I know what your guy told you,
• 8:36
  that the goal is to book demos, but I'm telling you, yeah, save
• 8:41
  yourself some headache. The goal actually is to figure
• 8:43
  out who is interested and what's the nature of the problem.
• 8:47
  There's not everybody you must try to get to go for that
• 8:50
  meeting. There are some people that the
• 8:52
  best thing to do actually is, you know, thank you very much
• 8:55
  for your time. I hope you don't mind if I add
• 8:56
  you to the e-mail list. That simple.
• 8:59
  Then the e-mail campaign is going to be doing relationship
• 9:03
  nurturing. You put them in a relationship
• 9:05
  nurturing sequence, a sequence to stay top of mind.
• 9:09
  That's the best you can do. Then only engage with people who
• 9:12
  have a serious problem. And then she said, ah, well, she
• 9:18
  does that. Her stats will suffer.
• 9:20
  And I say, yeah, actually it will suffer.
• 9:23
  It will, will, will, will suffer.
• 9:26
  But The thing is when you book a meeting, your sales people, your
• 9:31
  sales team, because the structure that they have with
• 9:34
  their companies is twofold. They have, you know, business
• 9:37
  development reps and then account account managers or
• 9:41
  closers. So you know people like her who
• 9:44
  are on the phone to try and set up the meeting, then somebody
• 9:48
  else is that job you try and get the person to buy the product,
• 9:52
  to buy the software or pay the subscription.
• 9:57
  But I told her if you take this approach, even though your stats
• 9:59
  will suffer, you'll not be putting up impressive phone
• 10:04
  numbers. All I put is OK, I don't know
• 10:11
  how to explain it. Anyway, it will mess with your
• 10:13
  start with your stats, your daily records, the number,
• 10:16
  number of customers, the number of conversations that you record
• 10:21
  because you'll be spending more time, you know, per person.
• 10:24
  But The thing is, when you book a meeting now, it will be a high
• 10:27
  quality meeting and your account, your account officer,
• 10:33
  the person who is responsible for closing the deals, they'll
• 10:37
  be happy working with you because right now you're booking
• 10:40
  4 per week. And out of that four per week,
• 10:44
  only two people have forgot that only two people are showing up.
• 10:47
  So she's calling 30 people a day, averaging booking 4
• 10:51
  meetings per week, but then only two people show up.
• 10:54
  So even if now it is still four people that show up or two
• 10:57
  people that show up, it will be a good quality meeting because
• 11:02
  of the two people who show up. We didn't have the stats for how
• 11:05
  many people actually go ahead and buy the software.
• 11:09
  So remember, when you're on the call with someone for the first
• 11:12
  time, the goal is not, you know, by force, by force.
• 11:15
  Get them for that meeting. Get them for the virtual demo of
• 11:18
  your product or service. The goal is figure out if
• 11:21
  they're interested and what is the nature of the problem.
• 11:24
  So call and introduce yourself. My name is Ineka for so, so, so
• 11:28
  and so solutions. The reason why I'm calling or I
• 11:32
  got your phone number from, you know, you have to give that
• 11:34
  background context. Maybe you talk a bit about, you
• 11:39
  know, your solutions. In fact, for me, if you're
• 11:42
  talking about your solution at this stage, you're talking too
• 11:44
  much for me. Once you call and introduce
• 11:47
  yourself, start with the problem statement and then ask
• 11:51
  questions. So hello, my name is Ineka
• 11:54
  Solutions. The reason why I'm calling or
• 11:58
  how I got your contact number is, you know, blah, blah, blah,
• 12:00
  blah, blah. I'm assuming that in your
• 12:02
  business, you currently have some issues with customer
• 12:06
  support that you struggle with at the moment.
• 12:11
  Yeah. Is that correct?
• 12:13
  Some people say, oh, no, we don't have any human resource
• 12:14
  problems. You say, oh, really?
• 12:17
  OK, congratulations. I'm glad to hear that.
• 12:20
  That's really rare because most people that we talk to, you
• 12:23
  know, that usually have problems with customer disputes or
• 12:26
  they're trying to figure out a way if their customers are
• 12:28
  happy. So are you facing those sorts of
• 12:30
  problems at all? They say, well, you know,
• 12:33
  actually, yes, I would like to know if my customers are happy
• 12:36
  with our product or service. Once somebody says something
• 12:40
  like that, good, you keep on asking your questions.
• 12:43
  That is your aim now to now try and figure out how the
• 12:45
  interested they are. That's the angle that you will
• 12:48
  now use to say, well, you know what, our product, we've been
• 12:53
  able to use our product with, you know, 20% of our customers
• 12:57
  or whatever, whatever. I want to be able to help them
• 12:59
  achieve, you know, greater customer satisfaction rates.
• 13:04
  Would you like to have a meeting with one of my associates so
• 13:06
  that we can see whether our software will be able to help
• 13:09
  you in the business? So, oh, yeah, yeah, I would like
• 13:11
  that. Then you book a meeting.
• 13:15
  So Carl, the goal is, are they interested?
• 13:19
  What's the nature of the problem?
• 13:20
  Have a problem statement. Problem statements are built
• 13:26
  around your UVP, your unique value proposition.
• 13:28
  Reading value proposition just means what are the results that
• 13:31
  you give people or why do people do business with you?
• 13:34
  So you can start a conversation that way.
• 13:35
  Hello, my name is NECA from so so so and so Tech Solutions PLC
• 13:40
  or limited or whatever the reason I got your phone number
• 13:45
  from blah blah blah. The reason why I'm calling is
• 13:49
  because we help businesses, you know, solve their customer care
• 13:54
  or customer service problems. Do you have any, do you happen
• 14:00
  to have any customer service problems that you're struggling
• 14:02
  with at the moment? Sorry, I'm just freestyling now.
• 14:05
  That's why I'm not sounding very, very articulate.
• 14:08
  But you can sit down and come up with a problem statements that
• 14:10
  you can use to start open to, to start the conversation.
• 14:16
  Then the use cases that we came up with, you know, remember
• 14:20
  customer care support, the software does it.
• 14:22
  Customer dispute the software does it.
• 14:25
  Customer satisfaction, the software does it.
• 14:27
  Customer follow up procedures, the customers, the software does
• 14:30
  it. You see some of the difficulties
• 14:32
  now, like if you're a salesperson and you're talking
• 14:35
  to somebody, you're now trying to juggle that.
• 14:37
  Of all these five possible solutions, which one should I be
• 14:42
  leaning in on? That's why I'm saying you will
• 14:43
  help your sales people. If you just narrow this thing
• 14:45
  down two or three, it would be a lot easier to handle the
• 14:48
  conversation. So that's it.
• 14:54
  Call introduce yourself briefly. Don't start giving them history.
• 14:59
  We're the greatest, we're the best.
• 15:01
  Our founder Something, something, our software, this
• 15:03
  that. Call, introduce yourself the
• 15:07
  next thing. Problem statement.
• 15:09
  Do they have the problem? How bad is the problem?
• 15:12
  Oh, it's not that much of a big deal.
• 15:14
  You move them into relationship nurturing sequence.
• 15:17
  Thank you very much for your time.
• 15:18
  I hope you don't mind if we put you to our e-mail list.
• 15:22
  If we do that every week, every two, two weeks, every month,
• 15:27
  you'll be able to get updates about, you know, tips and tricks
• 15:32
  about how Nigerian businesses or modern businesses are solving
• 15:36
  customer service challenges. Don't worry, we won't e-mail you
• 15:42
  too many times and the emails that we send will be valuable.
• 15:45
  I can assure you they have your permission to put you on the
• 15:48
  list. Some people will say yes, some
• 15:50
  people will say no. We would say no, no problem,
• 15:52
  don't send them e-mail because if you do, you'll be hurting
• 15:55
  your e-mail deliverability. If you send them e-mail and they
• 15:59
  see it, they will click spam. Once they click on spam, Google
• 16:05
  will now see that OK, people don't like receiving this
• 16:09
  e-mail, and then they'll start moving you to promotions folder
• 16:14
  when you get into other people's inboxes.
• 16:16
  And that is what we're trying to avoid.
• 16:18
  So if somebody says no, don't add me to your e-mail list,
• 16:20
  please, please, and please do not add them.
• 16:26
  When we're young, back in the day, my sister used to say
• 16:29
  there's many fish in the water. So as you say, tarvishing my
• 16:33
  don't cry that girl broke your heart.
• 16:34
  But don't worry, there's many fish in the water.
• 16:36
  It's the same in business. There's many fish in the water.
• 16:39
  If somebody says don't add me to your e-mail list, there are many
• 16:41
  fish in the water live there, you'll find somebody else,
• 16:46
  right? So that's it.
• 16:47
  That's for those of you in the text space.
• 16:50
  By the way, always nice talking to those of you who are coming
• 16:55
  up with innovative tech solutions, you know, real nice.
• 16:59
  You know, I get the impression that people in the tech
• 17:00
  ecosystem in Nigeria are trying to come up with like our own
• 17:04
  Silicon Valley type thing and that would really, really,
• 17:07
  really be good. So always like hearing from you
• 17:11
  guys. So even though most of the
• 17:14
  things that we talk about over here are so far, this year has
• 17:18
  been more hardcore practical, you know, like solar, fishery,
• 17:24
  poultry, what else? Construction, you know.
• 17:29
  So yeah, for this year has been mostly very concrete stuff, you
• 17:34
  know, but still, I'd also like to have conversations with you
• 17:37
  guys in the tech space as well. So that's why I leave my phone
• 17:40
  number at the beginning and at the end of every episode.
• 17:43
  So again, if you would like to connect, if you're like NECA,
• 17:46
  you're walking in an interesting company, you're trying to bring
• 17:50
  innovative tech solutions to the market that you guys have some
• 17:53
  problems, you know, hit me up. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm
• 17:57
  the host of the podcast. The phone number is 08064662140.
• 18:05
  So that's it. And that's all for today.
• 18:07
  Thanks for your time and attention.
• 18:08
  I'll catch you some other time.