Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / The Unspoken Sale: Communicating Effectively with Text-First Clients

Transcript

The Unspoken Sale: Communicating Effectively with Text-First Clients · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome. My name is Tavishima Ayede.
• 0:04
  I'm the host of the podcast and I'm making today's recording at
• 0:06
  home, so I expect to hear some noise in the background.
• 0:09
  Now, the goal of this podcast is business problems.
• 0:12
  So if you're struggling to get customers or if your marketing
• 0:14
  isn't working, or if your side hustle is suffering, or if
• 0:17
  something is holding your business back, then this is the
• 0:20
  show for you. So please subscribe on Spotify,
• 0:23
  YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice.
• 0:25
  And if you'd love to connect, you can call SMS or WhatsApp me
• 0:28
  on 08064662140. Today on the podcast, we're
• 0:35
  going to look at what to do when your customers are not picking
• 0:38
  your calls. Again today on the podcast, what
• 0:41
  to do when customers are picking your calls.
• 0:44
  Now this is a very specific situation and it goes like this.
• 0:49
  If you've been listening to the diary sessions that I've been
• 0:51
  making over the last 2-3 weeks, you are aware that I've been
• 0:54
  doing some work with a solar company that is based out of
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  Lagos and they have a three person sales team that handles
• 1:03
  inbound leads. Inbound just means you have
• 1:06
  settings up so that customers have to call you instead.
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  So that the job of your sales people are basically just to
• 1:13
  sift through leads and try and figure out who is serious, who
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  is curious, do we have a good deal here or not?
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  And one person in the sales team is Shaun.
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  He's the youngest person in the team, well, not in age, but as
• 1:27
  per all I put is tenure with the company.
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  So he's the youngest in the company.
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  And for one particular customer, he called and there was no
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  answer. And then the customer sent a
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  text message saying where are you located?
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  And of course, so he responded by saying our headquarters is in
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  Lagos and we have operations in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Asaba.
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  And he tried calling the customer again so you could talk
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  some more because as a salesperson, what you're
• 1:58
  supposed to do is qualification and discovery.
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  What that means is when somebody calls into your company, you're
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  trying to figure out who is this problem, sorry, who's this
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  person? What problem do they have?
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  What's the extent of the problem?
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  You know all those sorts of things because that's what's
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  going to determine how you will carry on the conversation and
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  the relationship. So of course you tried calling
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  and the person did not answer. The next thing the customer sent
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  an SMS saying what is the cost implication for solar for a
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  three bedroom bungalow in Leckie?
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  And if you've been following, you know, right now you can see
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  that there's a pattern which is shown, calls the guy doesn't
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  picks up and then the person sends a text message.
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  And so essentially we're now wondering, or rather Sharon was
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  wondering, what do I do in this situation?
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  I would like to have a phone conversation with a customer so
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  that we can do qualification and discovery.
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  Because when it comes to solar, you know, solar is not like
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  groundnut. You have to ask lots of
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  questions. You have to try and figure out,
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  OK, well now we know 3 bedrooms, but we're not to try and figure
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  out exactly what is it that is being powered.
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  You know, how many AC units, how many deep freezers, how many
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  fridges, how many fans, how many TV's do they have, gaming
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  console, what else? You know, all kinds of things.
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  OK, maybe gaming console is not that significant, but the other
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  things that you have to look into before you deliver a quote,
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  You can't just deliver a quote through a text message just like
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  that because, you know, like I said, it's not as if you're
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  pricing groundnut. So that was the problem in this
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  case. What to do when there's a
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  customer who doesn't answer the phone call.
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  All right, so let me put it this way.
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  OK, before I go in to answer the question, there's one thing I
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  want to point out. A lot of you who are in the
• 3:45
  sales or maybe you own the business, sometimes a customer
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  asks a question and you guys just provide the answer.
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  That is not bad, but you actually should be taking things
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  one step further because whenever people ask you
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  questions, you need to know the reason behind the question
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  because that will inform what it is you're going to do next.
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  So like in this case where a customer reaches out to the
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  business and says through a text message, where are you located?
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  Please? If you just respond and say our
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  headquarters is in Lagos and we have operations in Abuja, Port
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  Arcot and Asaba, you don't know if you have adequately responded
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  to what it is that they had in mind.
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  So you can provide that information by saying our
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  headquarters is in here and we have operations in here, here,
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  here and here. I hope you don't mind me asking,
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  you know, why were you asking that question?
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  The person might just say something like, well, I prefer
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  not to deal with vendors who are out of state.
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  And then of course, you can now continue the conversation by
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  saying, oh, OK, so where are you located?
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  And you know the the conversation will flow
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  organically from there. But if the person says, I prefer
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  not to deal with vendors out of state and you ask another
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  question like, OK, why? Is it because you're worried
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  about the costs that are going to be involved?
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  And the person says that you now know how to continue the
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  conversation knowing that now you are out of state.
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  Cost is a concern, but at least, you know, asking the question
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  brings all these things to the fore and it helps determine how
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  you're going to move the conversation because sometimes
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  people are asking not because of costs, but just because of
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  security and credibility. They want to be sure that you're
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  within arms reach and they can drive in and come and have a
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  look. And if that's the case that
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  well, the person just wants to deal with the company that's
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  within arms reach and stuff like that.
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  You can even move along the sales process by saying, oh
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  fantastic, since you have that concern.
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  This is our office address. Would you like to come in on
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  Monday morning and then we can have the rest of the
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  conversation there? So these are things you can do
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  to move the sales process along. But basically what I'm trying to
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  say is whenever customers ask you a question, just don't take
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  it at face value and provide the answer.
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  Yes, provide some sort of answer, but then always try and
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  figure out why are they asking the question.
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  It is going to help a lot in determining how you move the
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  sales process along. So now let's go back to sharing
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  on this situation. The customer doesn't want to
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  pick the call. But obviously in this case we
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  need more information because solar pricing and solar
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  solutions are complex solutions and they depend on several
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  factors. So it will be nice to have a
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  conversation, it will be nice, it would be ideal.
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  But this in what to do next. We have to consider this thing
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  now as a general business philosophy, we have to be multi
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  modal in our approach. What multi modal just means is
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  we have to meet people on whatever native field they like
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  and we have to continue with them where comfortable.
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  For instance, I'm a phone call person and I'm a face to face
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  person. So I would like to have a phone
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  call with you and I would like to have a meeting with you
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  either in your office or we'll meet in the general place.
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  But not everybody is open for that.
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  So I meet people wherever they're comfortable.
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  If I try to phone, but it looks like you're a WhatsApp person,
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  we will continue on WhatsApp. If I try WhatsApp, you're
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  ignoring what you respond on Instagram, then we will continue
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  on Instagram chat. So it all depends, but we have
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  to keep it multimodal. So it's not about what we
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  prefer. It is what about what it's about
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  what the contact or the potential customer prefers.
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  Now some of you might think this is weird.
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  Maybe I'm being unnecessarily like I'm just manufacturing
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  stuff, but I'm not. Let me give you a real life
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  example. There's a certain influencer
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  that we did some work together. I can't remember her first name,
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  but her surname is Ida Hosa. And we were both resource people
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  at the Coca-Cola events where we spoke about artificial
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  intelligence and how that can improve your career choices,
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  improve help you advancing your career and in your business.
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  So for Madam Ida Hosa, I have a phone number, but she doesn't
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  pick calls. Well, at least she doesn't pick
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  my calls. She doesn't respond to my
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  WhatsApp messages. But if I wake up at night at
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  2:54 AM and I send her an Instagram message, let's say,
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  you know, I woke up to go and use the toilet and then I
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  finish, I send a message at 2:54.
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  By the time I wash my hands and I get back to bed and let's say
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  the time is now, you know, 256, she's responded.
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  And I feel that kind of odd, you know, but that's just how some
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  people are. Some people prefer what they
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  prefer. There's some people who they
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  e-mail people call them a million times, don't answer
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  what's up, don't answer. Go to their house, they won't
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  open, but send e-mail at 12 O1. They will respond at 12 O 5.
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  So have a multimodal approach, meet people where they are
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  comfortable. Now if I'm going to look at
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  things in this case now because this person is not picking up
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  the phone and they're sending a text message asking for the
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  price, does that mean we should just give them a price?
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  Now there are two responses or rather 2 approaches that we can
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  look at. The first response and of some
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  of you might find it tiring, but this is the reason why I say
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  that we should all have Bluetooth keyboards attached to
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  our phone. Because trying to engage in a
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  text conversation with someone using your thumbs is going to be
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  very stressful and it is hard to send text messages from your
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  computer. Except if you're using a Mac and
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  the Mac has been hooked up to your computer or if you're using
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  an Android phone and you have a Google Chromebook, then you can
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  send text messages from your computer other people who don't
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  have these options available. Thus, you don't have a Google
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  Chromebook or you don't have an Apple Mac, then the next best
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  thing actually is just to get a Bluetooth keyboard connected to
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  your phone so you can have text conversations.
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  So in this case, the person says give me a price.
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  Approach number one is text conversation.
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  Just know that you have this conversation, but you will have
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  it by text and you will have to follow certain guidelines to
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  make sure that you're having an effective text conversation
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  because you're not everybody who knows how to text, how to have a
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  conversation effectively over text.
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  Then another approach you can do is to send over a range of
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  prices by text, but then use that to try and book an
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  appointment for a phone conversation or an office visit
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  or whatever. So let me repeat, these are the
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  2 approaches #1 continue the text, the person seems to like
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  text and continue the text, text they go.
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  But you have to follow certain principles to make sure that
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  this text conversation is effective.
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  Then option number 2 is you text a range of prices and then use
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  that to try and book an appointment for a phone call,
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  for a Zoom call for an office visit or whatever.
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  So let's look at text conversation.
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  In this case, you can send a text message back saying good
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  morning, Sir. I tried called early.
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  I tried calling earlier. Couldn't get through to you.
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  Yes, I would love to give you the text, the cost implications
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  you've asked for, but I need more details so that I can give
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  you an accurate cost. Will you be running air
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  conditioners in all three bedrooms?
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  Full stop. And then you send.
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  Now, the reason why I'm using this as one example is this.
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  There are some sales people who would try and front load all the
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  questions into one text message. That is bad, that is wrong.
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  You're overwhelming the person if you respond and say good
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  morning, Sir. I tried calling earlier,
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  couldn't get through to you. I want to give you the cost
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  implications, but we still need more information for an accurate
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  cost. Can you please supply answers to
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  the following questions? Number one, your location #2 how
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  many? AC #3 how many.
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  Fridge #4 how many computer #5 how many TV?
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  Number six, how many this. You can see that it's too much.
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  You're overwhelming the customer.
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  When it comes to text conversations, whether on
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  WhatsApp or on SMS, it's a good principle to limit yourself to
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  one question only per text. Do not send somebody a text.
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  You're trying to move the conversation along and you're
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  asking them 5-6 questions. Which one will they answer?
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  When you're talking to somebody face to face, it's OK.
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  It's still not the best, but it's OK because at least you're
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  face to face and somebody can kind of gauge by looking which
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  one you are more interested in getting an answer to.
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  So when it comes to text conversations, one question
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  only. And remember this is a text
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  conversation. That means you will be texting
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  back and forth and the text will be plenty.
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  I am sorry, but as a salesperson, this is just the
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  nature of the job. These are just some of the
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  things that we do to be able to avoid the lifestyle that we
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  have, which is the reason why I say if you have a MacBook and
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  use an iPhone, take your iPhone, connect it to your MacBook.
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  You'll be able to send iMessage on your MacBook that way.
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  So you don't have to pick up your phone and use your thumbs.
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  If you have an Android phone, then hook up your Android phone
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  to your Google Chromebook. No matter the make of the
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  Chromebook, whether it is Lenovo or HP or whatever, so long as
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  it's Google Chromebook and your phone is connected to the
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  Internet, you'll be able to connect your phone to your
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  computer so that you can send text messages from your
• 13:45
  computer. That way you don't have to be
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  fiddling using your thumbs. If neither option is available
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  to you, then please just go and buy a Bluetooth keyboard.
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  Unfortunately, with the economy, things have become more
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  expensive. I bought mine at the time, my
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  first one at the time when Bluetooth keyboards are 5K.
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  So I don't know whether it's going to be 30K or 40K or 50K.
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  But it's something you ought to invest in because to be honest,
• 14:11
  having text conversations by using your thumb and typing,
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  typing back and forth is tiresome.
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  And since I've been in this business or any of my
• 14:20
  businesses, I have only met one person who is very comfortable
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  typing with thumbs. And she types with her thumbs
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  every day. In fact, she wrote her
• 14:30
  university thesis for her master's program on her phone
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  using nothing but her thumbs. And for her, I will say I carry
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  ash for her, but I'm not down for that kind of struggle.
• 14:40
  So those are the options. So now back to the example that
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  I gave. Well, we're going to limit it to
• 14:46
  one question at a time. The first text message is going
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  to be good morning, Sir. I tried calling earlier,
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  couldn't get in touch with you. I would love to give you the
• 14:53
  cost implications just like you requested, but I will need some
• 14:56
  more details for an accurate cost.
• 14:58
  Are you going to be running air conditioners in all three
• 15:00
  bedrooms? And then the customer will
• 15:02
  reply, well, the AC will run in my own room and Madam's room,
• 15:07
  but we don't have to run it all the time in the children's room.
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  Then you now respond with another question.
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  OK, that's fine. I've made a note of that.
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  What about other utilities that you have at home?
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  How many fridges do you people have in the house?
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  Question mark? That is only one question.
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  And then he'll respond and you see that is how you continue
• 15:28
  with the question. Like that, like that and like
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  that. So that's option one, text
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  conversation. Now option 2 would be to send a
• 15:38
  text, give a range of figures, and then try and secure an
• 15:42
  appointment. So the text message will now be
• 15:45
  something like this. Good morning, Sir.
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  Tried calling earlier, couldn't get in touch with you.
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  I'd love to give the cost implications, but in our
• 15:54
  experience, bungalows of that size to power them up for 24
• 15:59
  hours, power could be anything between 12 million and 8
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  million. But either way, I would need to
• 16:07
  know some more about your property.
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  Would you be open to a phone conversation or can I come see
• 16:14
  you in the office so that we can talk about this?
• 16:16
  And then you send a text message and then you see, now in this
• 16:21
  case, I'm not going to recommend which is best, but you can see
• 16:24
  that there are options for when you want to have a phone call.
• 16:29
  A phone call is the best thing to do because in this case,
• 16:32
  actually a phone call is the best thing to do because I
• 16:35
  really think it's frustrating to be asking question after
• 16:37
  question. How many fridge, how many
• 16:39
  freezer, how many days, how many that you know over text.
• 16:42
  But you know, it's not about me, it's about the other person.
• 16:45
  But we have to be flexible. We have to be multimodal, meet
• 16:48
  the people where they are comfortable.
• 16:50
  So option number one is text conversation.
• 16:54
  Limit yourself to only one question per text.
• 16:58
  Then option number 2 is send a text message with a range.
• 17:02
  But then the goal is you're trying to fix an appointment for
• 17:04
  when the person is free so that the person will have a phone
• 17:08
  call with you. So in summary, for this
• 17:12
  particular situation, those are some of the options of what to
• 17:15
  do when your customer know the peak call.
• 17:17
  But either way, just know, like I tell the people that I'm
• 17:21
  currently training in the solar company, just know that no
• 17:24
  matter what the situation is, there is a solution.
• 17:29
  It doesn't mean it's going to be 100% effective, but just know
• 17:34
  that every single problem has a solution.
• 17:36
  With enough time, with enough thinking power, we can sit down,
• 17:40
  we can brainstorm solutions and we can come up with solutions
• 17:44
  that are going to help us move the sale and move our businesses
• 17:47
  and move our careers forward one step at a time.
• 17:51
  So that's it and that's all. Remember, if you'd love to
• 17:55
  connect, you can call SMS or WhatsApp me on 08064662140.
• 18:02
  Thank you for your time and attention.
• 18:04
  I'll catch you next time. Same place in your headphones or
• 18:07
  in your speakers.