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The "Swimming Coach" Mistake: Why Your Auto-Reply is Failing · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to the podcast.
• 0:03
  Today's episode should be a very short 1 and we're going to be
• 0:06
  talking about using WhatsApp for business.
• 0:09
  Now I know some of you might be tired, but The thing is a lot of
• 0:13
  you are trying to use WhatsApp to promote your business and
• 0:16
  plenty of you are still using it incorrectly.
• 0:20
  So every single time I receive a WhatsApp message and you know
• 0:23
  the guy, no try and I come across those kinds of examples,
• 0:27
  I figured I'll just come over here, just grab the mic, come on
• 0:29
  the podcast shop, shop, and then use that as a case study.
• 0:33
  So that won't be a matter of we're discussing what's happened
• 0:35
  in a very theoretical sense, or we're looking practically at
• 0:40
  examples of what you should not be doing when it comes to using
• 0:42
  WhatsApp to grow your business. So for those of you who are
• 0:45
  tired about these WhatsApp episodes, I beg no Vex.
• 0:48
  It's something I have to keep saying because lots of business
• 0:52
  owners in Nigeria of course use business.
• 0:54
  I say business use WhatsApp to try and promote their their
• 0:59
  business. So for those of you who are
• 1:02
  discovering the show for the first time, my name is Tavishima
• 1:04
  Ayede. I'm a former lawyer turned
• 1:06
  business consultant. And every single day I come
• 1:09
  here, I give you business goodness.
• 1:11
  And if you're impressed and you want to connect, you can call,
• 1:14
  send me a text message or send me a WhatsApp message on
• 1:18
  08064662140. Now today, the aspects, I mean,
• 1:26
  the feature of WhatsApp are going to be talking about this,
• 1:29
  this whole thing of automated messages.
• 1:31
  Oh, sorry, I'm making today's recording out and about.
• 1:34
  So I'm in the parking lot. So that's why you're going to
• 1:36
  hear all the extra sound, you know, cars driving by.
• 1:39
  People just think, you know, things like that.
• 1:41
  In fact, Speaking of this parking lot thing, I had a
• 1:44
  coaching session yesterday. So immediately I called the guy.
• 1:47
  Now the guy answered and he's like, I'm Mr. Tavish Shimmer.
• 1:50
  So what's up now? You did.
• 1:51
  The guy said, I hope you're not in the parking lot today.
• 1:53
  I laugh. I said, OK, you are beginning to
• 1:55
  roast me, Abby. No, no, no.
• 1:57
  So yesterday, then when I was talking with the guy, I was not
• 2:00
  in the parking lot. But, you know, yesterday I'm in
• 2:02
  the parking lot. All right, So the feature that
• 2:04
  we're going to be talking about today is this whole thing of
• 2:08
  automated messages because you know, our Nigerian business
• 2:12
  people like we love our automated messages.
• 2:15
  Everybody wants to set up automated messages.
• 2:18
  I don't know if it's because people think it's more
• 2:21
  professional. Whatever the reason, sharp
• 2:24
  people are just in love with our automated messages.
• 2:27
  So every single business owner that you reach out to, you send
• 2:31
  a message. You won't receive a A, you won't
• 2:34
  receive a prompt response. You receive automated messages,
• 2:38
  automated messages. So this is one of those
• 2:40
  examples. So I was having a conversation
• 2:43
  with the chap. He's a swimming coach.
• 2:45
  We have this conversation. I think maybe like maybe like
• 2:49
  four or five days ago now the guy is a swimming coach in my
• 2:53
  son's school and my son wants to be part of the swim team.
• 2:59
  In fact, to be honest, at this stage I'm not even sure again,
• 3:02
  because the coach, he approached me directly, they said that my
• 3:05
  boy has potential. So he wants my boy to be part of
• 3:07
  the swim team. But then again, you know how
• 3:10
  these kids can be. I'm thinking that my son
• 3:12
  actually wants to be part of the school swim team.
• 3:15
  And so he's the one that is, you know, going to go and you
• 3:19
  understand, prod the coach so that the coach will now lean on
• 3:22
  me. So I will now say, OK, since
• 3:24
  your coach is the one that is saying it, go ahead, go and be
• 3:26
  part of the same thing. So through another teacher, the
• 3:31
  coach requested that I see him after school.
• 3:33
  Essential Noah Hala So started talking and it's like, you know,
• 3:36
  your boy has potential. I was like, what's the criteria?
• 3:39
  How do you determine who's on the swimming team?
• 3:41
  I said, OK, people have to master at least three styles.
• 3:44
  You know, your boy knows three of them.
• 3:46
  You know, he called the different styles.
• 3:48
  You know, I can't, I can't remember the, the, the styles.
• 3:52
  Your boy knows three styles. So he's he's a good candidate.
• 3:55
  We just need to work on this, need to work on that, buy this
• 3:58
  equipment, buy that equipment. When he was saying buy this
• 4:00
  equipment, buy the equipment, I was now thinking, OK, I see, I
• 4:04
  see, I see, I understand when we, you know, you can't, you
• 4:08
  can't knock a guy for trying to promote his also, you know, is,
• 4:13
  is normal, is normal, is good. So we have that conversation.
• 4:18
  And then of course, I was in a hurry because I just picked up
• 4:22
  the kids from school. So I told the guy, you know,
• 4:25
  give me a phone number, I'll holler you later.
• 4:27
  And the guy said sure, no problem.
• 4:29
  So he called out his number. I collected it, I stored it.
• 4:33
  I figured I was going to call him later on, but you know how
• 4:36
  life can be now. So I forgot and then I left.
• 4:41
  Now, for those of you who are regular listeners of the
• 4:45
  podcast, you see the reason why I recommend that you are the one
• 4:49
  who has to take the initiative. Whenever you are dealing with a
• 4:53
  lead, whenever you are dealing with a contact, whenever you're
• 4:55
  dealing with a potential customer, you're the one who
• 4:58
  should be taking the lead. Because you cannot expect that
• 5:01
  the potential customer, the potential client is the person
• 5:04
  who's going to use initiative and begin to follow up on you.
• 5:07
  Because your customers, your potential customers, you know,
• 5:11
  they have the thing that they're doing.
• 5:12
  They have the one that is on their mind.
• 5:14
  They have the thing that they're chasing.
• 5:15
  And so we cannot expect that they are going to now be
• 5:19
  responsible for, make themselves responsible for closing the
• 5:22
  sale. Actually, it has to be you.
• 5:25
  You have to take the initiative. So whenever you're in this kind
• 5:28
  of context, like the swimming coach and somebody says give me
• 5:33
  your phone number, I'll buzz you later, You know, you two try and
• 5:38
  do something so you can collect the phone number as well.
• 5:41
  Now there are some people who say sure, no problem, this is my
• 5:45
  phone number, can you flash me now So that that way they get
• 5:49
  the phone number and then when they're ready, they can do their
• 5:52
  own follow up routines. Now there's some people who do
• 5:54
  it the other way. Some people say sure, no
• 5:57
  problem, I'll give you my phone number.
• 5:59
  Sorry, I don't know it off the top of my head.
• 6:01
  Can you give me your own phone number?
• 6:02
  Let me flash you, then you have my own number.
• 6:05
  That's also another trick. People do, you know, I'm not
• 6:07
  convinced because really, who doesn't know his own phone
• 6:11
  number? But anyway, you know, these are
• 6:12
  just scopes that people use. But either way, the goal is to
• 6:16
  make sure that you get some sort of contact so that you are the
• 6:20
  one who is going to be responsible for you're the one
• 6:25
  who's going to be responsible for following up and for
• 6:28
  maintaining the initiative and maintaining the momentum in this
• 6:33
  business relationship, this fledgling business relationship
• 6:36
  that you are trying to start. So excuse me, I just have small
• 6:41
  code and Catter recovering. Certainly that's mistake number
• 6:45
  one that the guy did. So you're in that kind of
• 6:47
  situation. And when are the level of
• 6:49
  collecting digits? Don't just give the customer
• 6:52
  your digits, potential customer or digits and assume that the
• 6:55
  customer is the one that's going to follow up.
• 6:57
  No, you're the one, you're the business owner, you are the
• 7:01
  sales professional, you are the one who should take the
• 7:03
  initiative, collect the number 2.
• 7:05
  So you follow up because think about it.
• 7:07
  Now I got back to the guy, you know, it's like 4 days, you
• 7:10
  know, time don't pass anything that have happened in the four
• 7:12
  days. I could have gone to do
• 7:14
  research, I could have found the competing coach or whatever and
• 7:18
  say no instead of the school team, let my son go here
• 7:21
  instead. Like all kinds of things are
• 7:22
  happening in the meantime. So you take responsibility for
• 7:25
  your financial destiny, for the growth of your business, take
• 7:29
  the initiative, collect that person's phone number then.
• 7:34
  So I didn't call the guy now because I have some kind runs to
• 7:37
  do and that's the reason why I'm currently in the parking lot
• 7:40
  right now because I had one or two things personal related I'm
• 7:44
  not going to share on the podcast.
• 7:46
  And so I entered the car. Now I'm waiting for my wife and
• 7:50
  she might be a while. So I was OK, let me just record
• 7:51
  this one sharp, sharp. So I sent the guy a WhatsApp
• 7:56
  message. Oh, OK, Speaking of that wife,
• 7:59
  he is here. So one moment, let me just pause
• 8:02
  this and then I will get right back.
• 8:06
  OK, I'm back. Sorry about that.
• 8:08
  My wife just finished what she was doing and we had to move to
• 8:12
  a new location. So yeah, I'm still in the
• 8:14
  parking lot. So you are still going to hear
• 8:17
  noise in the recording. Now I think before my wife
• 8:21
  interrupted us, I think I was trying to stress how you as a
• 8:26
  business person, you as the business owner, you as a sales
• 8:30
  professional, you are the person who ought to take the
• 8:32
  initiative. So try and make sure that you
• 8:33
  get the person's contact details because you never know what's
• 8:35
  going to happen. So I sent the guy a WhatsApp
• 8:38
  message and OK, let me just read the message.
• 8:42
  So I sent him a message and I said good morning Coach, this is
• 8:46
  so, so, so and so's. Dad, sorry, I forgot to call you
• 8:50
  earlier. It's concerning the swimming
• 8:51
  thing we discussed for XYZ school in March.
• 8:57
  Then I put a question. The extra equipment that you
• 8:59
  mentioned to me, please, what are they?
• 9:02
  Of course, you know, typical message now, because when people
• 9:05
  reach out normal, normal, the first thing they were asked is
• 9:08
  how much more or less. Now this is the message that
• 9:12
  came back from the guy immediately I sent it 1025.
• 9:18
  Before I closed the message, something entered my own inbox.
• 9:21
  That's him 1025 and this is what in red.
• 9:26
  This was the auto response message.
• 9:28
  The auto response message said my name is coach so, so so and
• 9:31
  so. I'm from Edo State.
• 9:34
  I am the head swim coach of XYZ school.
• 9:37
  I'm passionate about teaching children essential swimming
• 9:40
  skills. With over 8 years of experience
• 9:42
  at the head swim coach at American International School
• 9:46
  and Sports Director at the German International School
• 9:48
  Abuja, ETC have developed a unique approach to swimming
• 9:52
  instruction. My methods focus on creating a
• 9:56
  safe and supportive fun environment that encourages
• 9:59
  children to learn. And then you know the guy put
• 10:02
  swimming emoji, swimming emoji, swimming emoji.
• 10:06
  Now for those of you who've been listening to my podcast for a
• 10:09
  while, you can see the point of what it is that I've been trying
• 10:12
  to say about these whole automated messages.
• 10:15
  You will are using automated messages wrong.
• 10:17
  And they're not driving, they're not giving any value to the
• 10:20
  customer. When somebody sends you a
• 10:22
  message to say, how far are you available?
• 10:24
  What's up? How much does it cost for X, How
• 10:27
  much does it cost for Y? Is this something you can do?
• 10:30
  Of what benefit is it to the customer to receive a message
• 10:34
  saying, hello, this is me, these are my qualifications, these are
• 10:38
  my years of experience, This is how we help people.
• 10:41
  And then the message just end like that.
• 10:43
  Have you answered the person's question?
• 10:47
  When somebody sends you a WhatsApp text message to say how
• 10:50
  much is XYZ and then you put this kind of automated message,
• 10:53
  have you answered the person's question?
• 10:55
  OK, you know, understand what I mean when I say you are given a
• 10:57
  certain amount of tension because something has come into
• 11:01
  the inbox, but the customer knows that this message that I
• 11:04
  have received is automated and it's not even addressing what I
• 11:07
  want to know. Now for those of you who, how do
• 11:13
  I put it, who are being stubborn about this, this is what happens
• 11:17
  in real life now because I'm nervous that I haven't received
• 11:21
  the answer to my message. What I do was I just acted my
• 11:23
  first message and I told him my inquiry is above.
• 11:27
  I thought it was just me who used to do it, but I've been
• 11:29
  asking around and I thought that my wife does the same thing and
• 11:32
  not just me. I've been asking around and it
• 11:34
  looks like this is what Nigerians are doing.
• 11:36
  Basically like you send a message, this automated thing
• 11:39
  comes in, it's of no value. So you have to act and say, this
• 11:42
  is my inquiry. And then unfortunately for most
• 11:44
  people, what happens again, Boogaloo, another message and
• 11:47
  what is it is an automated message that still does not
• 11:50
  address the question and still does not answer the issue.
• 11:54
  You're causing frustration in the minds of your potential
• 11:56
  customers and clients. For those of you who are using
• 11:58
  these automated messages and you are using these automated
• 12:00
  messages wrong. So every single person this
• 12:06
  morning, what's today's date on the 12th of February 2026, every
• 12:11
  single person who I sent this guy a message to say oh boy, how
• 12:14
  far are you available On this date?
• 12:17
  The response that came in is my name is Coach Ususo Anso, I'm
• 12:21
  from Meadow State. I'm the head swing coach at this
• 12:24
  this this school. I'm passionate about teaching
• 12:26
  children essential swimming skills.
• 12:27
  With over 8 years of experience as the head swim coach at
• 12:30
  American International School and Sports Director at German
• 12:34
  International School, ETC. I've developed a unique approach
• 12:37
  to swimming instruction. My methods focus on creating a
• 12:40
  safe, supportive and fun environment that causes children
• 12:43
  to learn. So somebody who sent the guy a
• 12:46
  message, Pimpim, are you available for February 14th?
• 12:49
  This is the response the person will get.
• 12:52
  There's somebody like me who's trying to find out about Price
• 12:54
  who has sent a message saying guy, how far that extra
• 12:57
  equipment that we discussed, how much is it?
• 12:59
  This is the same message that we have received.
• 13:02
  My name is Coach, I'm from this state.
• 13:05
  I'm the head stream coach of this school.
• 13:07
  This is my previous experience. I have eight years experience
• 13:10
  and I have a unique approach that teaches people how to swim.
• 13:13
  Then for customers who maybe have one or two complaints
• 13:16
  because it's normal, there's no how you won't do business.
• 13:19
  They won't have complaints with people.
• 13:21
  So somebody now who is sending in a complaint that look, I
• 13:23
  don't like the way you treated my child or this lesson that we
• 13:27
  did, you only did it for two hours.
• 13:29
  It's supposed to be 3. Whatever the complaint is, the
• 13:32
  person will send a message and then the response that they
• 13:34
  received in their message is what?
• 13:36
  My name is coach. I'm from middle states.
• 13:39
  I'm the head SIM coach at this school.
• 13:41
  I have 8 years of experience and it is in this American school,
• 13:44
  this German school, blah blah blah.
• 13:46
  I have a unique approach blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
• 13:49
  So every single person that send this guy a message today on the
• 13:52
  12th of February, this is the response that they've received.
• 13:56
  In case it's not, you're not getting it.
• 13:58
  For those of you who still insist, this is exactly the kind
• 14:01
  of customer experience that you're giving your customers is
• 14:04
  the same. You create a one-size-fits-all
• 14:11
  message that is supposed to like really those of you who are
• 14:15
  still insisting on doing these automated response messages on
• 14:18
  WhatsApp, like what are you trying to achieve?
• 14:22
  You just want a response to be in somebody's box just for the
• 14:24
  sake of response. It's not like that.
• 14:29
  It's not like that. There are two things.
• 14:32
  I was talking about this over and over again.
• 14:33
  There are two things that are evolved #1 is timeliness #2 is
• 14:36
  responsiveness. Everybody's paying attention to
• 14:39
  the timeliness part. It's not about timeliness, it's
• 14:41
  about responsiveness. Timeliness is did you respond
• 14:45
  quick? Responsiveness is the message
• 14:48
  that you you sent when you go back to the person, was it of
• 14:51
  any value? There are two things in the in
• 14:53
  the equation. Two things.
• 14:58
  Please listen, it's not just timeliness, it's also
• 15:02
  responsiveness, the value of the response.
• 15:08
  In my own opinion, given where we are in Nigeria in 2026, where
• 15:13
  you know if you respond to somebody in 2-3 hours, it's not
• 15:15
  bad. Now I know in America and in the
• 15:17
  UK, they're pushing for faster response times, they're pushing
• 15:20
  for minutes. So maybe in the UK, if you
• 15:22
  respond to somebody in two hours, the person go vex,
• 15:25
  serious vex. But Nigeria, we are not there
• 15:28
  yet. If somebody messages you by 10,
• 15:32
  you respond to them by noon. In Niger, I think it's still OK.
• 15:39
  You respond one hour, 2 hours is still OK.
• 15:42
  I really think most Nigerian business people, you're better
• 15:45
  off not using an automated response message.
• 15:48
  Then you get back to this person as soon as possible, whether
• 15:50
  it's 45 minutes, one hour, or two hours.
• 15:53
  And then your message is responsive, meaning the concern
• 15:58
  that the person has the message is actually giving them some
• 16:01
  value to try and address that concern.
• 16:06
  So please listen up everyone. It is not just timeliness of the
• 16:09
  response, it is about the responsiveness as well.
• 16:14
  The person sent in a message, they want to ask how much?
• 16:17
  Don't ask are you available? They want to complain, they want
• 16:19
  something to be resolved. It's about responsiveness.
• 16:22
  Was there any value in the automated response that came?
• 16:25
  And you know it's about responsiveness now.
• 16:28
  This is the reason why I say that most Nigerian business
• 16:31
  owners forget about automation. You do not have enough data to
• 16:37
  program these chat things to cater for every single scenario.
• 16:43
  You don't have enough data to program all these tools.
• 16:45
  You don't. Now, there are some impressive
• 16:47
  tools like money coach. Is it money coach Abby?
• 16:50
  Sorry, money texts, Abby, many texts or something that people
• 16:53
  use for Instagram automation and things like that.
• 16:55
  You know, that one is, is a basic decision, a decision tree.
• 16:59
  But The thing is you still need some level of experience to be
• 17:06
  able to anticipate. Now, OK, when people are
• 17:08
  messaging me, what are the kinds of things that they ask, when
• 17:10
  they ask, what are kinds of things that we should respond?
• 17:14
  In that one, you have to come up with a decision tree.
• 17:17
  So you still need data and you still need experience to be able
• 17:19
  to come up with a decision tree that works so that if one person
• 17:23
  sends a message to say, oh boy, how far are you available on the
• 17:26
  14th, the bot will continue the message in that lane.
• 17:30
  Or if somebody's calling to say, I don't like the way you handle
• 17:34
  social So with my child's during the last swimming lesson, the
• 17:37
  bot will continue the message in that lane.
• 17:41
  If somebody's saying how far would this is, how much does it
• 17:44
  cost? The bot will continue the
• 17:45
  message in handling. So until you have enough data
• 17:51
  and you're sophisticated enough to use money chat or whatever
• 17:55
  The thing is called and all these other tools and program in
• 18:00
  a decision tree that is exhaustive, please, you are
• 18:02
  better off staying away from these things and just focus on
• 18:05
  trying to be responsive. Please, you guys who are
• 18:12
  listening, don't be, don't be don't get me twisted or don't
• 18:17
  think as if you know, I'm pissed.
• 18:19
  So I'm coming up here to just form it on top of these guys
• 18:22
  matter. It's not like that.
• 18:24
  I'm not using this as another case study to show you how lots
• 18:27
  of you are using these messages wrong.
• 18:32
  Anyway, I added the guy added the message and I said my
• 18:35
  inquiries above and then funny enough, this is the reason why I
• 18:41
  say responsible. They're funny enough, the guy
• 18:42
  responded. Guess when he responded, he
• 18:44
  responded at 10:40. My first message was what 1025
• 18:49
  automated message came in when 1025 the guy responded human
• 18:53
  being at 10:40. Now see, see my rationale, see
• 18:57
  my logic? If the guy had just relaxed and
• 19:00
  responded, a human being responded at 10:40.
• 19:04
  Remember in the UK and America they're pushing for minutes.
• 19:08
  In Niger, you know ours are still OK by Niger levels.
• 19:13
  If somebody send you a message 1025, you respond at 10:40, is
• 19:17
  it OK? Is that not a 15 minute response
• 19:20
  window? Is it OK?
• 19:22
  It's not bad by Nigerian standards, it's not bad.
• 19:25
  So let me guess that this is the guy's average response time. 15
• 19:29
  minutes is OK. Remove the automated message and
• 19:32
  be responding in that 15/15/2020 minutes.
• 19:34
  It's all right now Niger, we did like people are OK.
• 19:39
  You send somebody a message, 10 to pay, they respond, 11
• 19:42
  according to Niger levels is all right.
• 19:43
  It's fine for now in 2026, if you're listening in, you know
• 19:49
  2056 and business culture has changed in Niger and people are
• 19:52
  now expecting minute by minute response.
• 19:54
  OK, no problem. Then ignore every single thing
• 19:56
  I've said. But in Nigeria of today, you are
• 20:00
  fine. Stop using these automated
• 20:02
  things. You're creating a poor customer
• 20:06
  experience. You're creating frustration.
• 20:10
  For your customers, you're not providing value at all.
• 20:14
  You're being timely, but you're not being responsive.
• 20:17
  It's not just the time, it's also the value that is there.
• 20:21
  And for a lot of you, honestly speaking, it's not bad because
• 20:24
  the typical thing that happens in this case, like this guy is
• 20:28
  unfortunately, it's two extremes.
• 20:29
  I've not seen anybody in the middle.
• 20:31
  It is either the automated message comes in now and then
• 20:34
  the real human being responds in 20 minutes, or the worst case
• 20:38
  scenario, which is the automated message comes in now and then
• 20:42
  three days later, the guy will now respond to the human being.
• 20:46
  Because you think that somebody's waiting for you for
• 20:49
  three days. You don't think there's
• 20:51
  competition. If you're a swimming coach, you
• 20:53
  don't think there are other swimming coaches.
• 20:55
  If you sell solar, you don't think there are other people who
• 20:58
  sell solar. If you sell water purifiers, you
• 21:01
  think somebody can go on Google and look for water purifier.
• 21:05
  If you sell cars, you don't think somebody can go on
• 21:09
  Instagram or whatever to see who, which other person has that
• 21:12
  same model. If you're a cardiologist, you
• 21:15
  don't think somebody can go on Google and type, you know, best
• 21:18
  cardiologist in Abuja or cardiologist near me, you think
• 21:22
  they'll be waiting for you in three days.
• 21:24
  Unfortunately, that's it. Looks like that's where we are.
• 21:28
  People are either on one extreme or the other.
• 21:30
  They use the automated message, but actually they get back to
• 21:32
  you in 20-30 minutes or they use the automated message and then
• 21:36
  they get back to you in three or four days.
• 21:39
  So my own opinion, take these things off.
• 21:43
  If you're going to leave them in your WhatsApp inbox, this is the
• 21:46
  best way to do it. Automated messages actually
• 21:49
  started from e-mail culture. All right, Remember they started
• 21:52
  from e-mail culture and in the old days, e-mail culture.
• 21:56
  What were those automated messages for?
• 21:59
  It was an out of office message. I repeat, it was an out of
• 22:03
  office message. It was not something that was
• 22:06
  designed to fool people into thinking that they're having a
• 22:09
  conversation with someone or that they're having their
• 22:12
  responses dealt with. It was an out of office message.
• 22:15
  So the traditional thing in e-mail was the message would say
• 22:19
  thank you very much for your message.
• 22:21
  Unfortunately, I am not around right now to respond.
• 22:25
  If it is an emergency, please call Chukwudi on 080, blah,
• 22:28
  blah, blah, blah, blah. If it's not an emergency, no
• 22:31
  Vex, I'll be back at my desk by 4:00 PM and I'll buzz you back
• 22:36
  immediately, ma'am. That's it.
• 22:40
  That's the scope. Now, it's not entirely valuable,
• 22:46
  but you have set some expectations, all right?
• 22:52
  You've let the person know that you are on the field.
• 22:54
  So if you're a wedding photographer, that's the kind of
• 22:56
  message to set. The person will figure OK, the
• 23:00
  guy they shoot, it's OK or you know, whatever the guy issued
• 23:08
  hospital visit like life happens.
• 23:10
  They'll just know that you're not around now then you've given
• 23:13
  an alternative contact if this thing is an emergency.
• 23:17
  Call my partner Chukudi on this that if not, I will get back to
• 23:22
  you before 6:00 PM. So now for the Madam who is
• 23:26
  sending this stream coach a message saying I don't like the
• 23:30
  way you handle this session or something, something, something.
• 23:33
  And she received that response. She can now call the partner
• 23:35
  Chukudi at 080 and say, Chukudi, these people are doing for my
• 23:39
  son. I do not like it.
• 23:40
  And human will vent and she's you'll be able to resolve this
• 23:43
  thing. Sharp, sharp, sharp because he
• 23:45
  gave an alternative contact for the person who is asking oh boy,
• 23:49
  how much? And the person has money and
• 23:51
  they want to make transfer. You will not lose on that
• 23:54
  transfer because Chukudi and the guy will be able to talk quick,
• 23:57
  quick, quick. The person will make transfer,
• 24:01
  but the person wants to find out are you available?
• 24:03
  The person will be able to contact you quickly and discuss
• 24:06
  directly and you'll be able to book instead of the guy not hear
• 24:10
  from you. And then he will now go and pay
• 24:12
  another swim coach you know to handle the session on February
• 24:16
  14th or whatever date it is that you're considering.
• 24:19
  So for the I don't know how many times I've said it, Let me say
• 24:24
  it again in case I'm not being clear enough, Turn these things
• 24:28
  off on your phone if you must use them.
• 24:33
  The traditional method that has worked for decades is out of
• 24:37
  office message and out of office message acknowledges that you
• 24:41
  are currently not around, so you cannot respond to the message.
• 24:44
  Then it gives an alternative contact if it is an emergency or
• 24:48
  if you need an immediate response, call this person on.
• 24:50
  So, so, so, so, so. And then you set an expectation.
• 24:56
  I'll be back at my desk at 6:00 PM.
• 24:59
  It was not an emergency. I'll respond to you then.
• 25:01
  So even though the person will very small, at least
• 25:04
  expectations has been set. Is it an emergency?
• 25:07
  This is another person I can follow up on.
• 25:09
  It's not an emergency. OK, no problem.
• 25:11
  Tavishima will call me back at six.
• 25:14
  That is how you are supposed to use these things.
• 25:18
  But my honest opinion, most of you turn this thing off.
• 25:24
  You're not using it in any way that is giving value either to
• 25:27
  you or to your customers. All right, so that's it.
• 25:33
  That's the Rick that I want to call my Rick for you guys today.
• 25:35
  So thank you very much for listening to the podcast.
• 25:37
  Remember, if you'd love to connect, you can call, send me a
• 25:40
  text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
• 25:46
  And no, I don't do any automated messages.
• 25:49
  I try to get back to people as quickly as possible.
• 25:53
  And let's see what else. Yeah, so I have an open door
• 25:59
  policy. I'll be opening open inbox
• 26:02
  policy. So if you have any business
• 26:04
  questions that you want answered, that's fine.
• 26:06
  I can answer business questions for free.
• 26:08
  It's just that if you're looking for free advice, I will answer
• 26:10
  one question only. If you'd like some more of my
• 26:13
  time, we can schedule a consulting session.
• 26:17
  Don't worry. I understand not everybody hold
• 26:19
  back. That's why I have different
• 26:20
  options ranging from 400 all the way down to 15 K.
• 26:25
  But if you're looking for free advice, just say so in the
• 26:28
  message. I will respond, but I will
• 26:30
  answer one question only. So thank you very much for your
• 26:33
  time and attention. Sorry about that.
• 26:35
  Somebody's alarm is going off in the background.
• 26:38
  And then also remember that for those of you who have 345
• 26:43
  business ideas, you don't know which one to pick from because I
• 26:45
  noticed that some of you have started taking me up on the
• 26:47
  offer. Please reach out.
• 26:49
  I would love to help you get sorted.
• 26:52
  We'll figure out which of your many business ideas to start.
• 26:55
  Then we'll validate which idea has market potential behind it,
• 27:00
  which one has demand, which one are people willing to pay for?
• 27:03
  And then we'll also come up with the selling framework so that
• 27:07
  you can get people to not only buy today, but to come back and
• 27:12
  buy tomorrow and next tomorrow. And then send their friends,
• 27:15
  their family members, their enemies, their, you know,
• 27:17
  whoever to come and buy from you.
• 27:19
  So that's the scope. So just call me, send me a text
• 27:22
  message or a WhatsApp message on 080646621400.
• 27:29
  And also related related to what we spoke about today.
• 27:32
  If you insist on using this WhatsApp thing and you think it
• 27:36
  can be done, you want to reach out so we can discuss a better
• 27:40
  automated response strategy that you can use in your business.
• 27:44
  Noah Hala reach out phone number is the same 08064662140.
• 27:50
  Thanks for your time and attention.
• 27:51
  I'll catch you all some other time.