Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Build Your Sales Machine: Tools to Win Deals Faster

Transcript

Build Your Sales Machine: Tools to Win Deals Faster · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome to the show. Today we're going to look at how
• 0:05
  to build a sales machine for your business.
• 0:07
  We're going to wrap up the final leg of the discussion.
• 0:11
  But before we begin, I'm outside, this is an out and
• 0:14
  about recording, so expect to hear some interruptions.
• 0:18
  Yes, I'm sitting close to some guys who are playing draft.
• 0:20
  So you're going to be hearing lots of pass, pass and rolling
• 0:23
  of the dice and all that, and you might hear them arguing over
• 0:26
  who is cheating and who is not cheating.
• 0:28
  They've already gotten into a few fights already.
• 0:30
  So now that the warning's out of the way, let us delve straight
• 0:34
  into the last leg. Now you remember that for
• 0:37
  previous episodes we looked at systems and process.
• 0:40
  OK. Let me just go back to the top.
• 0:43
  The three legged approach that we've been taking to discuss how
• 0:47
  we build a sales machine is to look at process, to look at
• 0:50
  people and to look at technology.
• 0:52
  So those are the three, that's the three pronged approach we've
• 0:55
  been using process, people, technology and yes that is from
• 1:01
  the Zenith Bank advertisement, but you know it works.
• 1:04
  So for systems and processes, we've spoken about how we
• 1:07
  shouldn't freestyle. We should come up with a
• 1:09
  framework, something that is easy to remember, relatable,
• 1:13
  easy to explain to other people, so that people can sell on your
• 1:16
  behalf, so that there's consistency in the sales
• 1:19
  process. Because this whole thing of
• 1:21
  going out on fire on Monday, sleeping on Tuesday, being half
• 1:24
  hearted on Wednesday, travelling on Thursday and then being on
• 1:28
  fire again on Friday, you know that doesn't work.
• 1:30
  We need to come up with the system and if you're going to be
• 1:33
  lukewarm, then you know, be lukewarm Monday to Friday.
• 1:36
  If you're going to be on fire, be on fire Monday to Friday.
• 1:38
  So you're going to get much more better results if you can be
• 1:42
  consistent over time than this whole thing of high today, low
• 1:45
  tomorrow. And all of this is all tied into
• 1:48
  systems and process thinking or framework thinking, depending on
• 1:51
  how you want to look at it. And then also another reason why
• 1:55
  systems and processes are important is because this is
• 1:57
  what will allow us to scale. So right now you're a solo
• 2:00
  person, you're waiting photographer, you're a cake
• 2:02
  Baker, you're a Carpenter, You're selling chicken eggs.
• 2:06
  You're selling catfish. Or maybe you are a lesson
• 2:10
  teacher. You're teaching people.
• 2:11
  Jump for now it is just you. Eventually you're going to have
• 2:17
  to Co-op some people. Your baby cousin, your your
• 2:21
  younger brother, some employees, your spouse.
• 2:24
  Eventually some other people are going to be selling on your
• 2:27
  behalf. If you have a framework with
• 2:29
  some consistency to it and you're able to teach these other
• 2:32
  people, then your business will scale.
• 2:36
  If you are a lesson teacher, you figured out the system, you
• 2:40
  figured out the process, You're able to teach your younger
• 2:42
  brother or your younger sister to go out and from up sales for
• 2:45
  you. Then while you are busy teaching
• 2:49
  people lessons in the afternoon, your brother, your sister, your
• 2:52
  spouse can be going out looking for more clients for you so that
• 2:56
  you'll be able to book your time Monday through Friday and have
• 3:00
  lots of lessons. So this is how you make the jump
• 3:02
  from Let's say you're charging 20K per lesson, but you're only
• 3:07
  teaching two students once a week, so you're limited to 40K.
• 3:12
  And of course the reason why you can't sell more.
• 3:14
  Because if you're a lesson teacher, when you're sitting
• 3:17
  down teaching the student for two hours, you can't be going
• 3:19
  out and selling. So while you're sitting down
• 3:23
  teaching, your siblings are selling on your behalf.
• 3:26
  Your wife is selling on your behalf.
• 3:27
  Your husband is selling on your behalf.
• 3:29
  This is how you begin to grow and to scale your business and
• 3:32
  to get more income. Because while you're teaching,
• 3:34
  people are out there selling on your behalf.
• 3:36
  And before you know it, you're doing lessons Monday, Tuesday,
• 3:39
  Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and you're getting some jobs that
• 3:42
  you can't handle yourself. You don't have to start looking
• 3:44
  for other teachers to partner up with and you guys split the show
• 3:48
  of the profits or something like that.
• 3:50
  So systems thinking, process thinking, framework thinking,
• 3:53
  that is what allows us to be able to scale, especially for
• 3:56
  those of us who start off as solopreneurs.
• 3:59
  You know when you start, it's your own hand.
• 4:00
  You know, wedding photographer, it's your hand on the camera for
• 4:03
  the Baker, it's your hand on the spinning thing.
• 4:07
  If you are the tailor, it's your hand on the machine.
• 4:10
  Then the next step, we looked at people and how that helps to
• 4:13
  build a sales machine for your business.
• 4:15
  And we ran through how you need people with the right attitude,
• 4:18
  half of the right attitude to teach skills later.
• 4:21
  So that whole Niger thing of you're trying to have people
• 4:24
  with the right skills, you know you're actually doing it
• 4:25
  backwards from a sales and business development
• 4:28
  perspective. So hire for attitude 1st and
• 4:30
  then teach skills later. Oh by the way, if you're in the
• 4:36
  engineering, health and safety spaces, blah blah blah blah
• 4:39
  blah, then this does not apply because, well, it doesn't apply
• 4:43
  100% because when it comes to engineering, you want to hire
• 4:46
  the best engineer, even if he's an adult.
• 4:48
  Sorry, not an adult, an idiot, because if you have people with
• 4:54
  the right attitude but then poor skills, you know people die.
• 4:57
  So for engineering, you want to hire the best engineer, even if
• 5:00
  he's an absolute idiot, because you want the project to succeed.
• 5:03
  You don't want people to die. So where are we?
• 5:07
  OK, so for sales and business development, you're looking for
• 5:09
  people with the right attitude. You train them for skills later
• 5:12
  on, make sure that they're teachable.
• 5:13
  That is what we'll be able to. That's what we'll help them to
• 5:16
  learn the skills and also to help them to learn the way that
• 5:21
  you like people to sell for you in line with your brand
• 5:24
  positioning and all that. Then you want people that have a
• 5:28
  learning mindset and also have a creative mindset.
• 5:31
  So that was people. Today we are going to look at
• 5:33
  the final part, which is technology.
• 5:36
  Now when it comes to technology, there are lots of things that
• 5:39
  you can say about tech. And if we start looking at it
• 5:42
  from a platform by platform basis, we're not going to leave
• 5:46
  here because there are lots of platforms and tools that you can
• 5:49
  use to sell or to help you sell better, to improve your sales,
• 5:54
  to manage your sales. So once we start talking about
• 5:56
  all those individual tools, you know we won't live here because
• 5:59
  they're hundreds and hundreds. So I prefer when talking about
• 6:01
  this kind of stuff to speak in terms of categories or families.
• 6:05
  And yes, it's the same approach that I took when I was teaching
• 6:07
  the young ones for the, what was it called, the NBC, Nigerian
• 6:12
  Bottling Company, that's Coca-Cola people.
• 6:14
  Then when we we ran the young ones through artificial
• 6:18
  intelligence and how you can use artificial intelligence to work
• 6:21
  on projects and also to build your businesses.
• 6:23
  So I didn't start talking about AI tools and say Gemini #1 chart
• 6:27
  GPT #2 auto so I know autopilot copilot #3, you know and on and
• 6:34
  on. So I spoke in terms of families
• 6:37
  or categories and then that's the similar approach here.
• 6:39
  So now when it comes to the categories of tools, OK well
• 6:44
  First off definition technology. Now when lots of us here,
• 6:47
  technology, especially people that were born during my own
• 6:50
  era, so people that were born, you know, late 70s, early 80s,
• 6:54
  up until now, whenever we hear tech, we only think of
• 6:57
  computers. That's because of the time that
• 6:59
  we were born. But actually technology goes
• 7:02
  beyond tech, computers goes beyond digital stuff.
• 7:06
  I was shocked to find out when I got into junior secondary school
• 7:10
  and we're discussing our Greek and we started talking about
• 7:12
  tech and the teacher was talking about the whole and I just
• 7:15
  thought the whole as in who and Rick and shovel and they're
• 7:19
  talking of it as technology. I didn't think that was
• 7:21
  technology because when I grew up, every time you had tech it
• 7:26
  usually was computer related and usually digital related.
• 7:29
  So I'm sure those of you who were born 2000s and upwards, you
• 7:32
  guys, I'm sure you're thinking the same thing.
• 7:35
  So just like how a shovel and a hole and a pitchfork and a
• 7:40
  wheelbarrow is also technology, we also have technology for
• 7:45
  sales, old school and new school as well.
• 7:48
  So technology just means tools for problem solving, full stop.
• 7:53
  So the hole is the one that you do manual, the what's it called,
• 7:59
  the tractor, OK, tractor is not digital.
• 8:02
  Tractor is analog. So the hole is manual, then the
• 8:07
  tractor is analog, and then maybe you have a drone that
• 8:13
  helps to sow your seeds later on.
• 8:15
  Then the drone is using digital technology, so you can see how
• 8:19
  in a Greek in agriculture you can start off from manual and
• 8:23
  then go through to analogue and then from analogue you move to
• 8:27
  digital. So it's the same way when it
• 8:29
  comes to sales as well. And the reason why I'm giving
• 8:34
  this caveat, this whole back story is because there are some
• 8:37
  tools that are universal that will always remain when it comes
• 8:40
  to improving your sales. And the first one we're going to
• 8:43
  look at is the family of record record tools.
• 8:47
  So we all need a pen and a paper handy.
• 8:53
  Pen and paper will never go out of style.
• 8:56
  So pen and paper is a tool of record.
• 8:59
  The reason why I need a pen and paper is because you're going to
• 9:02
  be having lots of conversations with different people you need
• 9:05
  to be able to review later on. Who did I talk to?
• 9:09
  What did we say? What did we discuss?
• 9:11
  You know, blah blah blah, you can only review what it is that
• 9:15
  you have recorded. So recording, recording tools
• 9:20
  are very useful in improving your sales.
• 9:23
  Now the reason why I'm starting off with pen and paper is
• 9:25
  because most people don't mind pen and paper.
• 9:28
  They are not threatened by pen and paper.
• 9:30
  So for me, I can sit down and meeting, I can say Madam Cecilia
• 9:36
  nice of finally having this meeting beg Novak's.
• 9:38
  You know, I have my pen and paper here.
• 9:40
  I just want to write down some stuff so I don't forget anything
• 9:43
  we've discussed about. Are you OK with that?
• 9:45
  And my absolutely. I will say yeah, sure, no
• 9:47
  problem. Most people do not mind for you
• 9:51
  to write. You just take permission so that
• 9:53
  they know that you're not ignoring them.
• 9:55
  And by the way, when they start talking about personal stuff and
• 9:58
  things like that, the personal information, you know, feel feel
• 10:02
  free to let them know that. Oh, OK yeah, I took note of this
• 10:04
  is this, but I didn't write that and that and that because, you
• 10:07
  know, this is confidential information.
• 10:09
  So and that's how you handle the whole pen and paper thing.
• 10:12
  It's not a problem. The first time you do it, you
• 10:14
  feel awkward. But trust me, people have no
• 10:17
  problem with pen and paper. At least in Nigeria anyway.
• 10:20
  People don't have problem with pen and paper.
• 10:22
  I don't know. If you're in a country where the
• 10:23
  culture is different, then there's another tool of record,
• 10:27
  and that's the phone, because the phone has audio recording
• 10:30
  these days. Apart from audio recording,
• 10:34
  there's this thing. Is it Google?
• 10:36
  Is it Google? No, not Google translates Google
• 10:38
  Transcribe. So there's audio recording,
• 10:41
  There's Google Transcribe. When you flip up your phone and
• 10:43
  you open to Google Transcribe and other tools like this, they
• 10:46
  were made for people who are auditory impaired.
• 10:49
  People have problems hearing when you use those sorts of
• 10:54
  tools, It's transcribing every single thing that you say.
• 10:57
  So you're talking Madam Cecilia. The thing will note speaker one,
• 11:02
  blah blah, blah blah blah. Let's say speaker one is you.
• 11:04
  Every time Madam Cecilia talks, you will now say speaker two and
• 11:07
  blah blah blah blah blah. So speaker two is Madam Cecilia.
• 11:10
  At the end of the meeting, you'll be able to look at Google
• 11:12
  Transcribe and you'll be able to see it there.
• 11:14
  And speaker one, these are all the things you said, speaker 2,
• 11:16
  This is everything you said. That's for the phone.
• 11:20
  Then there's also audio recording.
• 11:22
  But this is where the problem comes in.
• 11:25
  At least in Nigeria, this is kind of new tech, so not
• 11:29
  everybody is comfortable with all their stuff being
• 11:32
  transcribed. Not everybody is comfortable
• 11:34
  with that. So ask beforehand, because if
• 11:38
  you start off this meeting, you're transcribing everything
• 11:42
  and Madam Cecilia now find you don't tell her and then she
• 11:44
  looks like you're recording everything I say, you know it'll
• 11:47
  be a problem. So tell people, just like with
• 11:51
  the pen and paper. Ask for permission if you're
• 11:53
  doing the transcribing thing. You definitely have to ask for
• 11:57
  permission if you are recording anybody's voice once you're
• 12:01
  recording voice, just like I'm recording my voice right now.
• 12:04
  There are lots of touchy personal issues involved and
• 12:09
  even legal issues involved. You are required by law.
• 12:13
  This one is not pen and paper that if you ask, you didn't ask.
• 12:17
  You know you can overlook. For voice recording and video
• 12:21
  recording you are required by law, Madame Cecilia.
• 12:24
  I am recording this conversation.
• 12:26
  You tell her bum wholeheartedly or else it's going to cause
• 12:30
  problems later on. Or or garden Juma.
• 12:32
  I am. You see that camera in the
• 12:34
  corner? It is making a video recording
• 12:36
  of everything that we're talking about.
• 12:38
  So for audio, video, let them know.
• 12:45
  Transcribing, let them know. Pen and paper.
• 12:49
  You can casually seek permission.
• 12:50
  You know that's that's OK for audio recording and for video
• 12:54
  recording, depending on the jurisdiction that you are in,
• 12:57
  you might you might be required to not just give them an
• 13:01
  auditory warning, not just tell them this thing is being
• 13:04
  recorded. There are some jurisdictions
• 13:06
  where you have to obtain permission in writing.
• 13:10
  You give them the paper, they'll read it their way, then they
• 13:13
  will sign. OK, I know that this thing is
• 13:15
  being recorded, so why bother going through all this video
• 13:21
  audio? You know it.
• 13:22
  It will depend on the country you're in, the context that
• 13:25
  you're selling in. Those are what will determine
• 13:27
  whether you're taking this detailed whatever.
• 13:30
  Like let's go back to the engineering example.
• 13:33
  When you're trying to design complex engineering systems and
• 13:37
  things like that, maybe it would help if you have a verbatim
• 13:42
  recording of what it is that happened.
• 13:45
  I'm just guessing. I haven't sold in the
• 13:46
  engineering space, but maybe that's where transcription
• 13:48
  things will come in handy because people need to remember
• 13:52
  exact technical specifications. But of course I'm not
• 13:57
  recommending any of you go that fancy because like I said, pen
• 14:00
  and paper never feels it's good. Any problem with pen and paper
• 14:04
  is that you can lose pen and paper, or by the time you come
• 14:07
  back you see that your children have destroyed the pen and
• 14:08
  paper, or your wife didn't think it was important and she used it
• 14:11
  to wrap a car or something like that.
• 14:13
  So those are some of the issues, but pen and paper, you can't
• 14:17
  feel with that. Whatever it is you choose.
• 14:19
  Let people know that you are making taking notes.
• 14:22
  You're making a recording. The whole point of recording is
• 14:24
  so that you can review later. The whole point of reviewing
• 14:28
  later is so that you can chat the next course of action.
• 14:31
  And that's one of the reasons why lots of you are failing in
• 14:33
  sales right now, because you are not using instruments of record
• 14:37
  at all. You go and you sit down, it's a
• 14:39
  nice meeting, nice, whatever. And then both of you stand up
• 14:42
  and you leave. And then you're freestyling.
• 14:44
  You're running it from memory. Take a pen and paper record.
• 14:48
  If you want to do something fancy, the fancier it gets, the
• 14:52
  more permissions you need to get and the more you need to
• 14:55
  emphasize that. Madam Cecilia, I am recording
• 14:59
  this phone conversation. Olga Jibril, you see that camera
• 15:03
  over there? We are recording this.
• 15:05
  Whatever you need to take permission need to let them
• 15:07
  know. Then the next hat trick of cool,
• 15:11
  sorry categories of tools that we're going to look at.
• 15:14
  So I haven't had breakfast, so my brain is slow.
• 15:15
  This morning is scheduling tools.
• 15:21
  Now, a scheduling tool is just something that lets you know
• 15:24
  this is what you're supposed to be doing today.
• 15:27
  This is what you're supposed to be doing tomorrow.
• 15:29
  This is what you're supposed to be doing next tomorrow.
• 15:32
  That is a scheduling tool. Scheduling tools are useful
• 15:35
  because we forget you can finish this meeting.
• 15:38
  Today was a wonderful conversation.
• 15:40
  Madam Cecilia is happy. Maybe you recorded some stuff on
• 15:45
  your phone, but you didn't enter anything into your scheduling
• 15:47
  tool. And you're supposed to meet with
• 15:49
  Madam Cecilia again on Wednesday.
• 15:51
  But maybe on Tuesday your wife threw you a surprise birthday
• 15:54
  party. You are really happy.
• 15:56
  You guys are so much in love and everything.
• 15:58
  And then you overslept. You forgot about your meeting on
• 16:00
  Wednesday. These things happen.
• 16:03
  These things happen. Or you're called for your
• 16:06
  child's PTA. You go for the PTA meeting.
• 16:08
  You forget that you're Madam Cecilia.
• 16:10
  You have 10:00 meeting. These things happen.
• 16:13
  So record stuff. Pen and paper, transcribe,
• 16:17
  video, audio, whatever, depending on your context, but
• 16:21
  then have a scheduling tool that you enter something into at the
• 16:24
  end of the meeting. This is where CRMS come in
• 16:27
  handy. The CRM tool is a customer
• 16:29
  relationship management tool or a client relationship management
• 16:33
  tool. The CRM is the thing that lets
• 16:35
  you who have you spoken to? What stage of the relationship
• 16:39
  are you in? What is it that you're supposed
• 16:41
  to do next for the client? For Madam Cecilia or what is the
• 16:47
  client, Madam Cecilia, What is she supposed to do for you?
• 16:50
  Because it's possible that you've run through the whole
• 16:52
  thing. And Madam Cecilia has said, Oh
• 16:54
  yes, I'll pay you 1.5 and you start the work.
• 16:57
  But then things happen. You forgot to collect payment.
• 17:00
  She paid 700 deposits. You forget to collect.
• 17:03
  The CRM is all remind you bring him.
• 17:06
  Madam Cecilia is owing you 800 K and they can now follow up on
• 17:10
  that. So we need to have CRM tools.
• 17:15
  I've made lots of episodes about how you don't need high tech CRM
• 17:20
  tools because your phone can be used as a CRM tool.
• 17:24
  So Google Calendar on your phone, iPhone Calendar on your
• 17:29
  iPhone, whatever calendar that comes with your phone can be a
• 17:34
  good CRM for now. So let's go back to Madam
• 17:37
  Cecilia. You have the meeting with Madam
• 17:39
  Cecilia. You're taking a bunch of notes,
• 17:41
  or you're recording, or you're transcribing.
• 17:44
  You're done with the meeting and you will agree that you're going
• 17:46
  to see Madam Cecilia. You got meeting again on
• 17:49
  Wednesday, 10:00 AM at our office.
• 17:52
  Then after you leave the venue and you get back home, you pull
• 17:56
  out your scheduling tool. Let's say right now it's Google
• 18:00
  Calendar. So you open Google Calendar and
• 18:02
  then you're right there. The subject will be Madam
• 18:05
  Cecilia 9:00 AM meeting at Hilton Hotel in the notes
• 18:11
  section on your Google Calendar. You will now look at your pen
• 18:15
  and paper, all the things that you wrote.
• 18:17
  You will now type it into that section on your the notes
• 18:23
  section or the details section on your calendar.
• 18:25
  I think for Google Calendar is I think it's called details.
• 18:30
  In some other place, in some other apps is called Notes.
• 18:34
  So you now write it there. Madam Cecilia meeting 9:00 AM
• 18:38
  Hilton Hotel discussed blah blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 18:42
  She objected to this that that that that follow up.
• 18:46
  I'm supposed to provide information on this this this
• 18:48
  this this next meeting date is so so so and so time.
• 18:56
  Let's see what else agenda is provide this material and then
• 19:01
  deliver proposal and then you schedule it there pop.
• 19:05
  And then you hit save and then you what's it called You hit
• 19:10
  that thing so that you know where it's supposed to put time
• 19:12
  and everything. So the thing gives you a
• 19:14
  reminder. So that way if you get home and
• 19:16
  your darling wife has thrown a surprise birthday party for you
• 19:19
  and you're happy. Mumsy was there.
• 19:21
  Your siblings were there. Everybody was there.
• 19:23
  You're overwhelmed. You're so much in love and
• 19:25
  everything And then you oversleep.
• 19:27
  Your phone will do. Bringing in the morning and you
• 19:29
  look at it. You will see meeting Madam
• 19:32
  Cecilia 10 AM Hilton Hotel. Then you can jump up quickly,
• 19:37
  have your bath and, you know, rush out the house for your
• 19:39
  meeting so you see how scheduling tools come in handy.
• 19:43
  It's the same thing, you know if you're a woman.
• 19:45
  Your idiot husband forgot to organize the party for you, so
• 19:49
  you're angry. And then on top of that, they
• 19:50
  called you for PTA meeting. You went for the meeting cause
• 19:54
  your husband can't be bothered. You're angry with the whole
• 19:57
  world, everything. While you're there.
• 19:59
  Your phone will do ringing or zip, zip if you put the thing on
• 20:03
  silent and then you will see the meeting.
• 20:06
  Orga Jabril. 10 AM Hilton Hotel Then you can take permission
• 20:10
  from the teacher and then run off your business.
• 20:12
  Life doesn't have to fall apart because your husband is an idiot
• 20:15
  and your children are not doing well in school.
• 20:18
  You know doesn't have to stop your business from moving
• 20:20
  forward. By the way, our husbands will
• 20:22
  never do poorly and our children will always do well in school in
• 20:24
  Jesus name. I'm just coming up with
• 20:26
  examples. Then after scheduling tools, we
• 20:30
  don't need creativity or problem solving tools because sales
• 20:33
  involves lots of creativity. Because you can finish this
• 20:36
  meeting with Orga Jibril or Madam Cecilia.
• 20:39
  And then you are now thinking, Ah, Madam Cecilia.
• 20:41
  I said this, this, this is this. How in the hell am I supposed to
• 20:44
  solve this kind of problem now? It happens because your brain is
• 20:47
  blank. Then this is where one on ones
• 20:52
  come in handy. Well, one-on-one is not really
• 20:53
  technology because we can't really say people, human beings
• 20:56
  are technology. But just roll with me here.
• 20:59
  So that's an option one-on-one. You will talk to your manager
• 21:02
  back at the office or the manager.
• 21:04
  I spoke to Madam Cecilia. She said this and this and this
• 21:06
  on my amount of ideas. What do you think?
• 21:09
  So one on ones that comes in handy speaking to your coach,
• 21:14
  your mentor or whatever that comes in handy.
• 21:16
  It's not exactly tech, but we need this kind of help when it
• 21:19
  comes to creativity and problem solving.
• 21:22
  Another tool that is available, AI, Artificial intelligence.
• 21:26
  So excuse me. And that is what we were trying
• 21:29
  to preach to the young ones at the NBC Nigerian bottling
• 21:32
  Company, Coca-Cola Youth Empowerment Youth Empowerment
• 21:36
  Session that happened this month, 17th and 18th of March in
• 21:41
  Abuja. So if you're between 16 to 35,
• 21:44
  they organise this thing on the national level.
• 21:47
  So just pay attention to social media, you know, follow NBC,
• 21:50
  follow Coca-Cola. You might see when it's coming
• 21:52
  to your city because I know that there are some schedule for
• 21:56
  Lagos and other parts of the country.
• 21:58
  So in case you're 16 to 35 and for some reason yes, they decide
• 22:02
  that 35 young people in my own opinion for 35.
• 22:04
  You know young you're a grown ass man.
• 22:06
  So don't think you're youth. So what was that AI.
• 22:11
  Now you can use AI for creativity and problem solving.
• 22:14
  You can put it there in the prompt for ChatGPT.
• 22:16
  You can say I had a meeting with a client.
• 22:18
  Oh by the way, don't put Madam Cecilia's name into ChatGPT or I
• 22:22
  got you Bruce name into ChatGPT because these tools are also
• 22:25
  data gathering tools. So if you put it there you would
• 22:28
  have put Madam Cecilia's private information over on the Internet
• 22:32
  and that's not good. So just put just right, just
• 22:35
  general. I had a meeting with a potential
• 22:39
  client who is a female based in Abuja in so, so, so and so
• 22:43
  industry. We discussed so, so, so and so
• 22:45
  solutions, but she had objections TO1234 parts of the
• 22:49
  process. I'm able to provide guarantees
• 22:53
  on this and that and that. What else can I do or what else
• 22:57
  should I discuss with my potential customer to make sure
• 23:01
  that I meet their concerns and then hit enter And it's going to
• 23:06
  come up with a couple of solutions now because you are
• 23:09
  the expert at what it is that you do.
• 23:11
  You will see that some of those solutions will be rubbish.
• 23:14
  Disregard the rubbish. We're not concerned about that
• 23:16
  and you will see that one or two of those solutions actually make
• 23:19
  sense. For the ones that make sense,
• 23:21
  take it, try your luck. If it works, it's all good.
• 23:24
  If it doesn't work, no alarm. At least you've learnt for the
• 23:26
  future. You're not going to be able to
• 23:28
  win every single business that you pitch for.
• 23:30
  So creativity, problem solving tools, your line manager is
• 23:34
  there, Your guy in the office is there.
• 23:36
  Your coach is there, Your siblings are there.
• 23:38
  Speak to them. Or you can use AI.
• 23:41
  So creativity and problem solving tools.
• 23:44
  Now you're beginning to get a sense of why all these things
• 23:46
  are important. You can see that it's one thing
• 23:48
  to have a framework that is well thought out, but if you're not
• 23:52
  recording conversations, you're not reviewing conversations,
• 23:55
  you're not scheduling anything, and you're not trying to do
• 23:59
  problem solving, you can see how the whole thing is not going to
• 24:02
  work. And you also see now why the
• 24:04
  people part of the equation is important, why I need people
• 24:06
  with the right attitude, who are teachable or who have creative
• 24:09
  minds and are willing to learn. Somebody who is a lazy dunce is
• 24:12
  not going to go through all this.
• 24:14
  A lazy person who just was collect salary is not going to
• 24:17
  bother with pen and paper. They are not going to schedule.
• 24:21
  They will be trying to remember to try and freestyle and problem
• 24:24
  solving. I mean, what's their own they
• 24:26
  will do. The one that they can do, the
• 24:27
  one that they cannot do, it's not their problem.
• 24:29
  So you see how all these things work together.
• 24:32
  Now we also need communications tools.
• 24:34
  Now these ones you're already very familiar with them e-mail,
• 24:38
  WhatsApp, social media inboxes and then SMS or, you know,
• 24:43
  whatever communications to you can think of.
• 24:45
  For now, the reason why we're going to use all these tools and
• 24:49
  we'll use as many as possible is because if we use multiple
• 24:53
  points, multiple touch points, we're going to increase the
• 24:56
  likelihood of engagement or the likelihood that somebody will
• 24:58
  respond. You might send Madam Cecilia SMS
• 25:03
  messages or WhatsApp messages after that meeting.
• 25:06
  Not everybody is a WhatsApp person or an SMS person.
• 25:10
  So send the SMS that. OK was nice meeting with you Ma.
• 25:15
  This is what we discussed. This is what we're supposed to
• 25:17
  do next. If she replies, good.
• 25:19
  If she doesn't reply, no problem.
• 25:21
  The next day. We can now send out an e-mail.
• 25:24
  No morning. Manager Celia, just like I
• 25:26
  mentioned in text message. Was lovely having a meeting with
• 25:29
  you. Remember, this is what we
• 25:30
  discussed. This was supposed to do next.
• 25:32
  Looking forward to our meeting on Wednesday at 10:00 AM.
• 25:35
  Send the e-mail, she responds. Good.
• 25:38
  She doesn't respond. If you got her social media
• 25:42
  handles, you can do the same. Now, some of you might be saying
• 25:46
  that, man, this is overkill, it's harassment in the
• 25:48
  beginning. It's not harassment.
• 25:50
  You don't know how this person chooses to vibe with you or to
• 25:54
  interact with you, so you're trying out as many multiple
• 25:56
  touch points as possible until you figure out what the person
• 25:59
  likes. You might go through all this
• 26:02
  and figure out that Missus Madam Cecilia is a phone call person.
• 26:06
  If that is the case then any single follow up, touching up,
• 26:10
  whatever it is I need to do with Madam Cecilia in the future
• 26:12
  should be by phone call. But back to the CRM thing where
• 26:19
  we schedule make a note of waiting your CRM so that if your
• 26:22
  wife wants to do the follow up call she will see that Madam
• 26:26
  Cecilia is a phone call person. Because there's some people that
• 26:30
  are like that. They don't respond to WhatsApp,
• 26:32
  they don't respond to e-mail. If you call them, they will
• 26:34
  answer. Unfortunately, most people don't
• 26:37
  like answering their phones. I've met one person who doesn't
• 26:41
  respond to WhatsApp and e-mail, but even if you send her
• 26:45
  messages at 3:52 in the morning when everybody else on earth is
• 26:51
  asleep, she will respond. So don't ask me why there are
• 26:54
  people that are just like that. We're trying to figure out what
• 26:56
  are people's preferences, what are their cadences.
• 26:58
  So we're using multiple touch points in the beginning.
• 27:01
  So when you finish with Ogar Garba at the meeting is the same
• 27:05
  thing. You send him ASMS the next day
• 27:08
  you can send the e-mail, then after a while then send OK, no
• 27:12
  SMS, WhatsApp send those on the same day cause the same
• 27:15
  category, social media maybe send him LinkedIn message, maybe
• 27:18
  another day. But The thing is you will start
• 27:21
  seeing after you do this two or three times.
• 27:23
  You will notice that OK, Ogre Garba ignores, doesn't in fact
• 27:30
  doesn't even read his e-mail because after a while he starts
• 27:33
  bouncing WhatsApp and SMS. It doesn't bother.
• 27:38
  But every single time you send in Facebook message, she
• 27:40
  responds. So for the future Madam Garba,
• 27:42
  that's how you're going to be dealing with him Facebook
• 27:44
  messages, because she responds there.
• 27:47
  Then for communications tools, we also look at video
• 27:50
  conferencing tools. So Zoom.
• 27:52
  Microsoft Teams and then Google meet.
• 27:55
  For those of us who are Nigerians, those are the big
• 27:57
  ones that we use here. Google meets well, it's free on
• 28:01
  everybody's phone. Zoom it's well, there's a free
• 28:04
  package, but that lasts only one hour.
• 28:06
  Microsoft Teams. I don't know how that works
• 28:08
  because I know that whenever I'm meeting with British Council,
• 28:11
  that's what they seem to prefer. But I don't know if you need a
• 28:14
  paid account. But Google meet is absolutely
• 28:16
  free. Half of Nigeria has an Android
• 28:19
  phone, so that one is not going to be a problem.
• 28:21
  You send them the link, they click on the link, the thing
• 28:23
  will just come up. Video conferencing.
• 28:25
  Very useful for meetings when both of you are not in the same
• 28:29
  city or not in the same part of the world, you know, stuff like
• 28:31
  that. So the current British Council
• 28:34
  project that we're working on are providing media services for
• 28:37
  them, producing a documentary on OK, well, I can't go into
• 28:43
  details yet, but producing a documentary for them, that is
• 28:46
  only possible because we have video conferencing tools.
• 28:49
  So we had a Microsoft Teams meeting where me and my crew
• 28:53
  were there, the British Council marketing people were in Lagos
• 28:56
  and we had the conversation. This is the project, this is the
• 28:59
  scope, OK? We are agreed on the budget.
• 29:02
  What is the scripting? What is the creative direction
• 29:04
  that we're taking? What is it that we need to move
• 29:07
  this thing forward? What do you guys require of us?
• 29:09
  What are you going to use the video for?
• 29:11
  Ultimately, what's the call to action that we're going to have?
• 29:14
  Who? What are the additional
• 29:16
  resources that we need, people that we need to interview?
• 29:19
  All of this was done all over Microsoft.
• 29:22
  Teams that were chilling in Lagos, that was chilling in
• 29:25
  Abuja. My team people were chilling
• 29:28
  wherever they were chilling and we got the job done.
• 29:31
  So video conferencing tools, very useful for closing the
• 29:34
  deal. It's already 30 minutes, so let
• 29:36
  me just bring it to a close here.
• 29:37
  But this is how you should be thinking about tools and
• 29:40
  technology when it comes to increasing your business.
• 29:43
  No, think in terms of the individual tools.
• 29:46
  Think in terms of categories. I need stuff to record and
• 29:49
  review. What kind of record and review
• 29:50
  works for my own context, for my own industry.
• 29:54
  For most people, pen and paper is fine.
• 29:57
  In most Abuja hospitals that you go to, the doctors don't use pen
• 30:00
  and paper anymore. And files.
• 30:02
  They're using computer. But you can see how the context
• 30:04
  is different. So wedding photographer pen and
• 30:06
  paper is good. Medical doctor, I guess, you
• 30:09
  know yoga mandates you must use computer so you must use
• 30:12
  computer. So audio recording, phone video
• 30:15
  recording, you know, whatever. But you need a tool of record.
• 30:18
  So start thinking for my business, what is the tool of
• 30:21
  record that we need. You need a scheduling tool.
• 30:25
  CRM. That's industry practice.
• 30:27
  You don't have money, no alarm. Your phone can function as if
• 30:31
  CRM. You have notifications, you have
• 30:33
  calendars, You have notes. Use that as CRM.
• 30:37
  Please, please, please, please always schedule something.
• 30:41
  If you don't schedule, you will forget.
• 30:44
  Life happens and you will forget.
• 30:46
  And that's how we lose money. That's how we lose money.
• 30:48
  If I let me give you 1 testimony.
• 30:49
  There was somebody I was supposed to call over something.
• 30:53
  I won't go into details. My wife gave me the person's
• 30:55
  number. I said I'll call the person I
• 30:57
  forgot, and then I forgot, and then I forgot.
• 31:00
  And you know how politics is in Niger now.
• 31:03
  Eventually, the guy got elevated.
• 31:05
  He's on a whole new level. Now my guy is not answering
• 31:07
  phone calls anymore and he's just painting me like Chai.
• 31:10
  I should have just called the dude when I said I would.
• 31:14
  I should have scheduled it. I should have called him, called
• 31:17
  him. It doesn't mean I would have
• 31:19
  gotten the deal, but you never know how I would have been able
• 31:24
  to advance the relationship before this guy got elevated and
• 31:26
  he's now a big boy and he's not answering phone calls anymore.
• 31:29
  So schedule something please. Too many people are losing money
• 31:33
  because they're not scheduling anything.
• 31:35
  Then creativity tools. Talk to your line manager, talk
• 31:38
  to your coach, talk to your siblings.
• 31:40
  AI is there. If you don't have anybody to
• 31:42
  talk to, some suggestions would be helpful, some will not.
• 31:44
  You're the specialist. Sort it out then.
• 31:47
  Communications tools. Please don't just pick one.
• 31:50
  It's not about what you prefer. Now, some of you who love
• 31:52
  WhatsApp, it's not about you. If you love WhatsApp, you're
• 31:56
  trying to WhatsApp Madam Cecilia.
• 31:58
  But Madam Cecilia is an e-mail person, then to what end?
• 32:01
  You're wasting your time. If you love WhatsApp but Madam
• 32:03
  Cecilia is an e-mail person, then please e-mail all the way.
• 32:08
  If you hate phone calls but Olga Garba is a phone call person,
• 32:13
  then look, it's not about you. Pick up the phone and call.
• 32:17
  You want to collect all the Gariba's money, so pick up the
• 32:20
  phone call. Collect the money.
• 32:21
  Make your life easier. Then of course video
• 32:23
  conferencing tools. So that's all for today.
• 32:27
  Now connect with me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede.
• 32:30
  I'm the host of the show. You can confirm the spelling of
• 32:32
  my name from the link where you're listening to this
• 32:34
  episode. Also, connect with me on
• 32:37
  WhatsApp. My phone number is 08064662140.
• 32:43
  The country code is +234. For those of you who are not
• 32:45
  Nigerian, thank you very much for your time and attention.
• 32:48
  I'll catch you guys at the next recording.
• 32:50
  I'm sorry that the last three episodes have been 30 minute
• 32:52
  one. So let's see how we can scale
• 32:54
  back in future episodes and make it, you know, 1015 minute
• 32:57
  affairs. So thanks for your time and
• 32:59
  attention. I'll catch you guys soon.