Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Selling Heavy Equipment in Nigeria: The King David Case

Transcript

Selling Heavy Equipment in Nigeria: The King David Case · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
0:04
Today's episode is one of those late night episodes because it's
0:08
late at night obviously and I don't want to wake up the whole
0:12
family, so I have to keep the volume low.
0:14
I just hope that you guys can hear what I'm saying.
0:18
All right. So today, you know what, today
0:23
we're not really talking about any particular question or any
0:26
particular topic per SE. I'm just sharing a conversation
0:30
that I had with a listener of the podcast and he's involved in
0:34
heavy equipment, He's involved in the sale of heavy equipment
0:38
and machines. So, you know, trucks, tractors,
0:43
tractor heads, what do you call them?
0:46
Diggers and you know all that stuff.
0:48
Now, I know some of you who've been listening to the podcast
0:50
for a while, You remember the episode where I spoke about
0:53
another podcast listener who was also in this line of business.
0:57
And you know, this is a different fellow, it's a
1:00
separate guy. And in fact, I was happy when
1:02
this other guy reached out to me because I haven't done any work
1:06
for any clients in the construction space.
1:09
And actually I'm looking forward to it.
1:10
So I like the fact that these kinds of boys have been reaching
1:14
out to me now. So it's pretty cool, obviously,
1:17
that the kind of boys that have serious money.
1:19
So, you know, that'll be good, good for business.
1:23
So yeah, so I had a conversation with this chap and this was a
1:28
long time ago. I think this was maybe October
1:31
of 2025, October, November, something like that.
1:36
So I just came across our chat. So I'm going to scroll through
1:40
some of the things that we spoke about just in case the other
1:43
people who are listening who might be in the same situation
1:48
and they might be able to learn one or two things that'll help
1:50
them move their business along, OK.
1:53
Apart from that, you know, I keep on saying over here on the
1:56
podcast that even though we might be talking about certain
2:01
kinds of business problems using another person's business or
2:05
another context as a case study, you'll find that all these
2:10
principles usually can apply to your own situation as well.
2:14
You just have to try and apply it in context.
2:19
So yeah, that's it. Today I'm sharing a listener
2:23
conversation. A listener WhatsApp conversation
2:27
wasn't WhatsApp. Yeah, it was a WhatsApp
2:28
conversation. Yeah.
2:29
We haven't had a phone call yet. I promised the guy a phone call,
2:33
but we haven't had the phone call.
2:35
Yeah. Because from November of from
2:38
October, November of last year, things got a little busy into
2:43
this year. Oh, this is your first time
2:45
listening to the show? My name is Tava Shima Ayede.
2:48
I am a former lawyer turned business consultant.
2:51
And what I do over here on the podcast is I bring you guys
2:54
business goodness almost everyday.
2:57
We solve business problems, especially problems that can be
3:00
solved using a sales lens, a sales perspective, because
3:05
revenue covers a multitude of sins as you'll see in this guy's
3:08
case. So when you're making money, you
3:12
have the mental, how do I put it now mental space, like your mind
3:17
is at ease. So you can talk with some
3:19
problems, but if there's fire everywhere in your organization
3:22
and you're not even making money, then your head will just
3:24
be hot all the time. So yeah, that's it.
3:28
Anyway. So if you'd like to reach out
3:30
just like this and you want to connect with me just like this
3:33
particular listener did, you can call, send me a text message or
3:36
a WhatsApp message on 0806466 2140.
3:42
All right, so let's get into the meat of the conversation.
3:47
So I don't have the guy's permission to use his name.
3:50
So let's just call this guy King David.
3:53
Of course, King David is not his real name.
3:58
So yeah, let's just call him King David and keeps privacy.
4:02
Now, King David, he considers himself a startup entrepreneur.
4:06
He deals in heavy machinery, so agricultural equipment,
4:10
construction equipment, heavy duty farming equipment,
4:15
containers, you know, things like that.
4:17
And the reason why he reached out to me is because he's
4:19
looking for mentorship because he wants to solve 2 problems
4:23
that he's been having. He's been having low sales and
4:26
then also he's been having some operational hurdles in his
4:31
business. And then the way he reached out
4:33
to me, I told him the same thing that I tell everyone pretty much
4:36
now, look, when it comes to mentoring, I do not do free
4:40
mentoring. There's no free mentorship
4:43
except people who come to me through two particular programs.
4:49
So I have my law degree in above my Wallow University and then my
4:54
master's degree at the University of Aberdeen.
4:57
And after I graduated from Aberdeen, came back home,
4:59
University of Aberdeen reached out to me and I'm like, oh boy,
5:02
what's up? I said I'm doing good and they
5:05
say have you thought of mentorship?
5:06
And I said no, never thought of that before.
5:08
Would you be open to mentoring people?
5:09
I said OK, cool, let me give it a shot.
5:12
So since then I have been mentoring people who pass
5:15
through the University of Aberdeen who request for a
5:19
mentor with sales experience. So yes, anybody who's passing
5:25
through the University of Aberdeen and they're looking for
5:29
a mentor, sure, definitely free mentorship.
5:31
So if you happen to be in the University of Aberdeen right
5:35
now, you're an undergraduate student or a postgraduate
5:40
student and you're interested in being mentored by me, all you
5:43
have to do is go talk to Student Support Services and say that
5:48
you're interested in mentorship and you want to request me in
5:51
particular. So just give them my name and
5:53
then they'll hook it up. So people who pass through
5:55
University of Aberdeen, free mentorship, then people who pass
5:59
through Faith Foundation in Lagos, especially people who
6:04
pass through Faith Foundation and who are part of the OCIF,
6:08
that's the Orange Corners Innovation Fund or something
6:10
like that. So it's an incubation program
6:15
that is done jointly with the Faith Foundation and also the
6:21
CSO arm. I'll be the NGO arm of the
6:25
Kingdom of Denmark, I think if I remember correctly anyway.
6:28
So it's an incubator program. They help people build their
6:32
businesses. There's a big competition at the
6:34
end of the cohort and they give people good money as in good,
6:41
good money. If I whenever they give people
6:43
prices, they just, they vex my spirit.
6:45
I won't like serious vex my spirit because the last person
6:49
that I mentored, she went through the program and then
6:51
they gave her €10,000. And never mind, I'm thinking
6:55
what is going on? You are giving these people
6:57
euro, euro anyhow, 10,000 EUR 2000 euro, €20,000.
7:01
Meanwhile, mentor, we're here, you don't give us anything.
7:07
So anyway, yeah, so you pass through this program.
7:09
If you pass through that program, then yes, free
7:13
mentorship for you. So if you also happen to be in
7:15
Faith Foundation right now, you're listening to this podcast
7:18
episode and you're part of a series of programs of the Faith
7:23
Foundation. Just tell any of the people that
7:27
you want to be mentored by me and then they'll hook it up,
7:30
especially if you're going through the OCI program.
7:33
Because I've noticed that people in the OCI program, those ones,
7:36
they're serious. It's not just, oh, I want to be
7:39
an entrepreneur or I want to do this, I want to be Unicorn.
7:43
I want to this, this, this is not I want, I want, I want like
7:46
people who pass through that program like they're already
7:48
doing stuff. Already doing stuff.
7:51
In fact, the lady that I mentored the last time, the one
7:55
who won the €10,000 prize, she is in cyclical, Cyclical
7:59
fashion. Yeah, cyclical fashion.
8:02
In fact, I was really glad to have met her because before
8:06
then, if anybody had told me cyclical fashion, I would have
8:08
thought it means that fashion is going round and round.
8:11
Just like now the secondary school kids in my son's school,
8:14
they've started doing Afro. So I was like, I was telling my
8:18
wife today, like, what is going on?
8:19
Like young boys are doing Afro. Like I thought Afro was, you
8:23
know, like Afro had faded because during my own time in
8:29
secondary school, yeah, some of us tried Afro.
8:32
It was kind of cool. But I was like, you know, 20
8:37
something, 30 something years ago.
8:39
So I'm surprised that The thing is now back in in in fashion.
8:43
So if you had asked me, I would have said that is what cyclical
8:45
fashion means. But silica fashion is, is
8:49
actually about keeping fashion sustainable.
8:50
So recycling fashion waste and it's about keeping fashion
8:57
sustainable. Let me put it that way.
8:59
How did I get here? OK, well, the long and short of
9:01
what I'm trying to say is free mentorship.
9:04
No, I do not do free mentorship. So if you pass through either of
9:08
those programs, sure, request from me by name and we'll hook
9:13
it up. So for everybody else, we
9:17
actually need to have a paid session.
9:20
However, I'm open to talking to people for free.
9:26
So what I do now is, yeah, reach out and give me a whole back
9:32
story and tell me your life story.
9:34
But The thing is, at the end of the day, if you are looking for
9:38
free coaching, I'm only going to answer one question.
9:41
It'll be a quick conversation and I'm only going to answer one
9:45
question. If we need to delve any deeper
9:49
into it, then we need to hook up a proper session.
9:54
And if some of you do not understand that what I'm doing,
10:01
even answering that free question is of value in itself,
10:05
then I want to come out and say you're just, you're just being a
10:08
criminal. Excuse me, You've just been a
10:12
criminal. You want to steal my time for
10:14
free and get lots of benefit for yourself, but you don't want to
10:20
cut your boy a check T not make sense.
10:23
In fact, you know what, this would be the perfect case study
10:25
to show how just to show, give you a glimpse of what is
10:31
involved when you guys reach out and you're asking for free
10:34
mentorship. Anyway, so this guy says that he
10:37
wants to solve some sales problems and then some
10:39
operational shoes. So let's just run through some
10:42
of the issues based on the charts that we'll be having.
10:45
Let's just run through some of these issues now, some of the
10:49
issues that he's navigating. And you will see the reason why
10:52
I only answer one free question because I like to listen and
10:55
there's some back and forth. But by the time you guys are
10:58
done giving me your whole life story, your problem is actually
11:01
more significant than you think. And so it is only fair that if
11:05
we're going to sit down and start hashing through things 1
11:08
by 1 by 1 by 1 by 1, look man, you got to put some skin in the
11:11
game. You have to drop something.
11:13
But anyway, like I said, feel free 08064662140 and I'll answer
11:22
one free question if you are looking for free consulting.
11:26
So some of the problems that he's facing in his business,
11:29
there's some sales and revenue challenges obviously, because he
11:32
has long sales cycles now. A sales cycle just means the
11:37
length of time between when somebody slides into your DM to
11:40
say Bros, what's up, how you day and then up until the point
11:44
where somebody makes a deposit pinging in your bank account.
11:48
So that gap in between is what we call the same the sales
11:51
cycle, the gap between hello and the gap between somebody drop
11:55
money in your account. Now for these kinds of things,
11:58
tractor, shipping container, look, these are things that
12:02
cost, you know, 10s of millions, some of them hundreds of
12:05
millions. This is not the kind of thing
12:06
that somebody will call you on Monday and then by Friday
12:09
they've made deposit. You get me?
12:12
It's not the kind of thing that somebody will call you January
12:15
1st, then by January 14th they've transferred money into
12:17
your account. When we're talking big, big
12:21
things, big, big money, complex machine, these things have long
12:26
sales cycles. So there's some people who buy
12:35
the inventory. Yeah, I've spoken to some people
12:39
who buy the inventory. Although the first guy who
12:41
reached out to me, the one who is based in China, he's, he
12:43
doesn't really buy the inventory.
12:44
He's more of a reseller. So the people in China, they,
12:48
they have the machine down, they have the tractor down.
12:51
Then the guy says he's based in China, will now find buyers here
12:55
in Niger, arrange everything, then, you know, work out the
12:59
shipment and all that. But either way, because this
13:04
kind of business has a long sales cycle and there's plenty
13:07
of, excuse me, capital expenditure like you have to
13:11
drop serious money you are going to have you're going to be tying
13:18
down money for long lengths of time.
13:20
And now this kind of is a business problem, you
13:23
understand. So for those of you who are
13:25
buying your tractor, buying your days, buying your dad, even if
13:28
you don't pay in full, you know, you, you know, whatever the
13:32
payment terms are, because it's not say we make these things
13:35
here in Niger. Remember the first person that
13:37
reached out to me and that's how I got introduced to this
13:39
industry, the guys based in China.
13:41
So all the manufacturers, the people that manufacture all
13:43
these things that build all these containers and cars and
13:46
tractors and everything, they're based in China.
13:50
So yeah, these are long sale cycles.
13:53
Any money that you drop is going to sit in the is going to sit in
13:58
your hand for a while. So if it takes you 6 months to
14:01
12 months to sell a truck, sell a tractor, sell a container, you
14:06
know, there's going to be some cash flow management issues,
14:11
inconsistent cash flow. Let me just put it like that.
14:13
But then for those of you who sell small, small items, maybe
14:16
you sell gadgets, Gadgets like what else?
14:21
Like you know, phone case, mobile phone, PS4, you know
14:25
those ones seems to be moving quick, quick, well, relatively
14:29
quickly. It's not as if it's everyday you
14:31
sell PS4, but at least if you sell if UPS for January, maybe
14:36
February, you won't sell at least March you sell, you know,
14:39
if you 3-4 consoles in the meantime, mobile phone will be
14:42
selling, will be moving sharp, sharp, sharp, you know so
14:46
because this is a shorter sales cycles.
14:48
So that's not a problem that people like this guy King David
14:51
will have in this kind of business.
14:54
Then of course, there's also another problem from a sales
14:57
perspective, which is the issue of trust.
15:03
The buyer to trust is high. It doesn't matter which country
15:08
you're involved in. Like I said, this is big, big
15:11
things, big machines. We're talking big money.
15:14
So when it comes to that kind of thing, everybody's ID, they
15:17
tear, everybody's on high alert. Nobody wants to transfer
15:24
millions of naira. And then next thing you know,
15:27
somebody's missing in action. They're like where the guy I
15:31
don't know, where's my machine, I don't know.
15:33
So there's a high trust buyer because people are shining their
15:36
eyes. So especially in Nigeria, you
15:41
know, all of us are on high alert.
15:43
Nobody, everybody's afraid of foreign or nobody wants to buy
15:48
substandard products or nobody wants to pay for new tractor.
15:53
And by the time the tractor is delivered, what you receive is a
15:56
refurbished tractor, you know, so and there's high trust buyers
16:02
in these kinds of business. So that's also something that
16:05
King a problem that King David could be facing.
16:07
Then let's see what else you know, since this is a matter of
16:15
10s of millions, sometimes hundreds of millions.
16:19
Eventually people like King David, you, you get into the
16:23
situation where you're always, you know, haggling back and
16:26
forth, you know, price versus value, where somebody they price
16:29
you, you know, you say, oh, organic thing is 150 million,
16:32
the person's like 150 million. How will you collect 80?
16:36
They now start pricing Groundhog back and forth about why your
16:40
tractor is worth this or your digger is worth that.
16:43
So people in King David's situation, you're always having
16:46
this price and value conversation with people.
16:50
Then of course, he complained about what like most people do
16:53
lead generation because he has some some issues with lead
16:57
generation. Now, a lead is anybody who has
17:00
done something that shows that they might be interested in our
17:03
product or service. So lead generation is a business
17:06
activity that every single business owner is supposed to be
17:08
doing. We're supposed to be doing
17:10
stuff, whether in real life or whether online, to try and get
17:14
people to signal that they need our product or ServiceNow.
17:18
The people will give the corresponding signal.
17:22
Those are the people that you can now be investing time with.
17:24
Like, OK, this person is a serious person.
17:27
Any other person is a workout pass.
17:30
So like the example that I keep on giving, by the way, I give
17:33
this example just to show you guys that all these fancy things
17:36
that we talk, they have some very, very simple practical
17:40
corollaries for everyday businesses.
17:43
So the person who stood outside my son's school and was giving
17:46
flyer, giving flyer, you know, back to school sale, come and
17:49
buy back, come and buy bottle, come and buy textbook, come and
17:54
buy socks, come and buy shoes. You know that giving flyer,
17:57
giving flyer, giving flyer that is lead generation because
18:01
definitely the guy will give Flyers to daddies like me.
18:05
And what do daddies do? We carry this thing, we squeeze
18:08
it, we throw it away and then you give it to mommies.
18:11
What do mommies do? Because mommies are always, you
18:14
know how our mommies can be God bless moms.
18:17
So mother's always worried. OK, school is starting.
18:22
You know, the socks are dirty. It's time to buy new socks.
18:25
It's time to buy a new bag. You know, so we have this
18:27
conversation every single time. My wife will be like, I think
18:31
it's time to buy new socks. And I'm like, but the socks that
18:34
we're using is this was brand new socks that we bought last
18:36
time. She'll say, well, look at the
18:38
sole. The soles are looking kind of
18:42
faded. I'm like, yeah, they're looking
18:44
faded, but it's OK. When they put on the shoe, the
18:46
faded part will be inside the shoe.
18:47
Nobody will see the fade. The one that is on top is
18:50
looking OK. I feel like you started again
18:53
for you know, to chorus more. Anyway, just keep quiet.
18:55
Eventually we end up buying new socks.
18:57
So that's what mommies do. So mommies will collect the
19:00
flyer and mommies will keep it. Eventually one or two mommies
19:04
will call, say hello. I got your flyer.
19:07
Some, some some. Do you have brand new socks?
19:10
Now the person that calls in to say hello, do you have brand new
19:13
socks or they say hello? Do you have Ben 10 bag or hello?
19:17
Do you have water bottle or hello, do you have primary 5
19:22
general mathematics textbook? That person who calls that is a
19:26
lead because the person has done something to show that they
19:29
might be interested in your product or in your service.
19:34
That's lead generation right there.
19:36
So every business owner is supposed to be engaged in these
19:38
sorts of activities and we're trying to generate, generate
19:41
quality leads, good quality leads.
19:45
You don't want to be, you don't want to invest time.
19:47
And then people that come will not be cherryweather people, you
19:50
know, anyhow, anyhow, all kind of people, you know, cherry can
19:52
be all kind of people. Sorry, Ebol listeners, if I'm
19:56
messing up the words, forgive me.
19:58
These are stuff that my lecturer used to say back in law school
20:02
was Mr. Mr. Ocon. Yeah.
20:05
Mr. Ocon. So I don't know.
20:06
Mr. Ocon was the Kalabaga was Mr. What's this guy's name?
20:12
I can't remember. Shah boy in Abuja Shah.
20:15
One correct guy, he ended up marrying one of one of our
20:19
seniors. As I see this lecturer being
20:22
very responsible. You're supposed to be teaching
20:24
your students. Meanwhile, you're looking at
20:25
your students. Anyway, he's lucky that it's
20:30
Niger and it's not the US. It was US.
20:33
Anyway, let me not say too much, where was I?
20:36
So yes, lead generation now for the first guy who reached out to
20:40
me, the guy who was based in China, I think he was running
20:46
ads, running advertisements, advertisements using Google to
20:49
generate leads and for King David for his own business.
20:53
I can't remember what he was doing for lead generation
20:56
because this chat that I'm looking at now, this is our
20:59
convo. This is like from, like I said,
21:02
it's like from October, November of 2025, Basha, he complained
21:07
about getting people that are not really serious, you know,
21:12
now people who will say, how far do you have this equipment?
21:16
Do you have the equipment? Then you talk back and forth,
21:21
you begin the price and then next thing they start ghosting.
21:23
So there are some of those issues.
21:26
So these are the kind of issues that yes, I could look at and I
21:29
could I can solve. But from all these stories that
21:33
I've said so far, can you see that when you guys reach out to
21:36
me? Are you looking for free advice
21:38
and you think it's a simple something can't see that there's
21:40
lots of issues involved If we must treat this thing well.
21:46
So if you insist I no get money, no problem.
21:49
I will only answer one question only.
21:52
But the moment you want us to start digging and digging and
21:54
digging, you'll be a matter of look guy, hold up.
21:58
We're now doing some serious work here.
22:00
So you suppose drop something. These are the options.
22:03
Weekly we can run it like this. Daily we can run it like this.
22:07
Monthly we can run it like this. Quarterly we can run it like
22:11
this. So don't worry.
22:13
I sound expensive, but I'm actually fairly priced.
22:15
So don't worry. There's something for everybody.
22:18
Just call 08064662140 then. OK, so King David is also facing
22:27
some operational and structural issues because OK, well,
22:32
logistics is always a problem. OK, Well, luckily, luckily King
22:38
King David has his stuff in mile 2.
22:41
If I remember correctly, this one is not in the chat, but I
22:44
think when we were, when we had a phone call.
22:48
OK, I think we've had one phone call, but I promise you one more
22:51
phone call. So remaining 1, he has stuff in,
22:54
I think he's mile 12 or so. Mile 12 would be mile 2 Lagos.
22:58
And I can't remember Sharp, but still logistics is a problem,
23:05
you know, moving stuff around. That's not a problem I can solve
23:09
because my own specialty is just sales.
23:11
Then of course, after sales supports also an issue because
23:15
selling the machine is not when you sell the machine, you've
23:21
done a good job. But then if we want to retain
23:25
customers, if we want to do a good job on customer retention,
23:30
customer retention just means people buy from you again and
23:33
again and again because that's where the good money is.
23:36
Excuse me. The mistake that lots of people
23:39
make is they assume that when you collect the big money one
23:42
time, that that's it, your job is done.
23:44
But actually, no, what we're trying to do is to maximize
23:47
customer lifetime value. So what that means is we want
23:50
people to buy from us again and again and again.
23:52
Then we also want people to refer their friends and their
23:55
family members and their associates to us so that their
23:58
associates can come and buy as well.
24:00
So think about it, if King David is talking to somebody big
24:04
machine and the thing costs 180 mil, most people will be happy
24:09
that they collected 180 million once.
24:13
That is not the goal. The goal is OK, the person
24:16
bought machine now 180 million. If we do a good job, we are
24:22
hopeful that maybe in two years time the guy will buzz and say
24:24
how far and he wants to buy another machine.
24:27
Maybe that one is 20 M, Then maybe in another eight months
24:33
they need to replace another spare part or something.
24:36
That spare part, maybe No2 course, maybe like 7.5 M, then
24:41
maybe you. God bless that guy.
24:43
The business is moving up. He needs to buy more equipment.
24:46
Next time he wants to buy, instead of 120 M just for one,
24:50
he will now come and buy 3 from you.
24:53
So that's 120 * 3. That's 360.
24:55
Now 360 M, you see. So this is where the good money
24:59
comes, but too many of we Nigerian business people are
25:03
lazy. You collect one payment 120 M
25:06
180 M you now go and start doing Thanksgiving.
25:09
You're doing Thanksgiving for what?
25:10
Like you're not done. Yes, you've you've you've closed
25:13
the first deal. Good.
25:14
We're not worried about retention.
25:17
Are people coming to buy again and again and again.
25:20
Now the thing I will even be sweet is after this guy has been
25:23
coming back after 180 M, the guy comes back, buy another 120M30M,
25:30
buy spare part 7.5 M 10M12M. If the guy now comes and
25:35
introduces you say look my friend Chief is also in this
25:39
business. Take care of Chief.
25:40
Chief is going to call you on Tuesday.
25:42
That is where the good money comes from.
25:44
When a good customer will now refer and then three or four
25:48
other people will now start to start to be calling you.
25:52
That's the goal. So how did I get here now?
25:56
After sale support. So after sale support is part of
25:59
customer retention. So you sell the machine, but
26:02
that's not just the the end of the whole thing.
26:05
So providing maintenance, providing spare parts, offering
26:09
people Technical Support, you know, things like this are
26:11
necessary because we're trying to make sure that this person
26:14
will come back and buy again. And then after a while, we'll
26:17
send somebody to come and buy from us.
26:19
Then let's see. OK, Inventory management now is
26:22
definitely a problem, but I can't solve that because my
26:25
specialty is not inventory management.
26:27
My specialty is just sales. Then there's also regulatory
26:31
issues. And you understand, now you know
26:36
customs, you know how they can be today.
26:39
These are the rules. You have to pay with customs
26:41
next tomorrow. These are the charges you have
26:42
to pay next tomorrow. New set of charges have been
26:45
introduced in two weeks time. You now have a new clearance
26:50
procedure, stuff like that. So dealing with customs, those
26:54
who would have the wahala. So yeah, those are some some
26:59
other issues. But of course I can't solve
27:01
these sorts of issues. So by the time he gets to this
27:04
stage, I would have to refer you to somebody else because I'm
27:08
proud to stick with what it is that I know that King David also
27:12
had a few other problems that OK, it was a solo founder.
27:16
And of course, you know, when you are starting up brand new,
27:20
you're the only person you try to do everything.
27:22
So King David is not just the CEO founder of the business.
27:28
So excuse me. So he's not only the CEO,
27:33
founder of the business, but he's also head of sales because
27:38
he has to sell. The King David is also a
27:41
logistics manager because when he sells something, who's the
27:45
person that will now arrange for the trucks to move up and down?
27:49
Is it not him because it doesn't appear.
27:51
Then King David is also kind of like the lead technician.
27:55
You know, if something spoiled, he has to get on the phone and
27:59
start talking to people to figure out exactly what it is
28:01
that went wrong before. They will now know what the next
28:03
thing to do is. So King David, he has lots of
28:08
stuff that he's that he's doing. Then let's see what else.
28:14
OK, we discussed financing because that's one way that you
28:17
can make your sales easier by offering finance, finance and
28:23
flexible payment terms. Because for somebody like me now
28:28
I'm not in the business of my own things is not hundreds and
28:32
hundreds of millions. My own money is not big, big
28:34
money. My money is actually, I won't
28:37
exactly call it small money, but you know, reasonable something.
28:41
The kind of things I charge are the thing that people can pay
28:43
one time at most. You break it into two.
28:47
Go ahead. There's some people that do
28:49
that. They say, you know what, I'm not
28:51
too buoyant right now, but let me just transfer 351st then give
28:56
me like 2-3 days. I'll now wire the balance of X
29:00
amount. So I'm dealing in small, small
29:02
money. But for those of you who deal in
29:05
big, big, big, big money, when people want to buy things from
29:08
you, 100 million or 200 million or 300 million, sometimes you
29:12
can make your businesses easier by offering financing options,
29:18
arrangements where people can drop a certain percentage down
29:23
and then pay the rest of overtime.
29:26
But they are all, I call them now.
29:35
I'm sorry, I can't remember, you know, it's late at night.
29:38
My brain is a little foggy now. But there are companies who are
29:43
into asset financing in Niger. One of them used to be called
29:47
Pay Hippo. I can't remember the name that
29:49
they're called now, but their old name is, was Pay Hippo,
29:53
PAYHIPPO. And they're the ones that used
29:58
to finance for this my client in Lagos who does solar yeah, that
30:06
they used to do financing for for their customers.
30:12
So if a customer comes, the customer wants to buy solar
30:14
system and inverter. And then by the time you
30:17
calculate everything, maybe the amount is like 50 M and the
30:20
customer no get 50 M, You know, they can talk to pay Hippo and
30:23
then maybe they can drop, you know, 20 or 30 now and then be
30:27
paying the balance of, you know, every month or every whatever
30:31
until the money is finally paid. So for those of you who do
30:37
businesses like that where the money is big, big, big, big
30:39
money, 10s of millions, hundreds of millions, having financial
30:43
options makes it easier to close the deal sometimes because it
30:48
means the means that people have the opportunity to drop the
30:54
balance. You know, so I don't drop the
30:55
balance, drop a deposit, 20%, thirty percent, 40% and then pay
31:00
back the rest overtime. So that's also something that
31:06
King David would have to might have to look at make his job
31:10
easier when it comes to closing sales.
31:13
So these are just some of the issues.
31:18
These are just some of the issues.
31:19
But anyway, like I said, since all these construct on boys, all
31:24
these big boys, you know how to break into that segment of the
31:27
market 'cause these boys get serious by serious money.
31:32
So anyway, so I just, I follow on the Yan.
31:36
So I said, OK, no problem, let's let's do this.
31:39
I'm trying to figure out exactly what the problem is.
31:41
So let's just do a role play so we can figure out exactly what's
31:44
going on. Now role play just means you, I
31:48
know some of you are mature, you understand.
31:52
And because of that, when we hear role play, you be thinking
31:55
bad, bad things. When we say role play in
31:57
business, we're not thinking of that kind of role play, you
31:59
understand. In fact, if you're thinking of
32:01
that kind of role play, you need Jesus in your life.
32:04
Go and repent. When we say on this podcast, I
32:07
would say role play, we mean is a business something I will
32:11
pretend to be a buyer or I pretend to be a seller.
32:13
And then who will now add drama back and forth.
32:17
Now, based on the drama that we're acting, based on what the
32:21
things I say and how you respond, I'll now know that.
32:24
Oh, OK, this is where King David has problem because every time a
32:29
customer says this, he will see this.
32:32
That means that there's a problem here.
32:34
So role-playing is a good way to figure out how robust people's
32:41
selling systems are and how well they are thought through things
32:45
and their level of strategy involved in business.
32:51
So excuse me. So, yeah.
32:56
So we so we now did some, some, some role play.
33:00
Remember when I say role play, I mean business role play, not
33:03
that other kind of role play. When you're done listening to
33:07
this podcast, if you want to engage in that kind of role
33:09
play, go ahead. But those of us who are focusing
33:13
on business, let's stay here. So we now role play back and
33:18
forth. I pretended to be a customer who
33:20
wants to buy a machine. And so we did back and forth.
33:25
Then by the time we're done, I figured out some, I figured out
33:30
some some problems from the role play #1 remember he said in the
33:37
beginning that his sales are low because he's, he's closing one
33:42
deal every three to four months. I can't remember how many people
33:47
he's getting, how many leads he's getting through.
33:50
Is he advertising or something? I really can't remember.
33:54
And I figured out the problem. Why this guy he's, he's selling,
34:01
he's just using idea to sell like most Nigerians, he's just
34:04
using idea. So I like the fact that he's
34:07
persistent and he stays on the call.
34:10
You know, he, he maintains the follow up cadence.
34:15
It's good. But sure, Nah, sales process was
34:20
his ability to handle the conversation was lacking.
34:22
So that's the reason why he's having low conversions.
34:25
And the conversion just means the person who is ready to take
34:27
the next step. So back to the first person I
34:32
spoke to, the one who is based in China, who runs
34:34
advertisements on Google. Let's say you run advertisements
34:37
on Google, then 100 people respond.
34:41
Of the 100 people who respond, let's say the next step is you
34:45
get on a phone call with them to diagnose their needs.
34:48
So let's say 100 people respond. So excuse me.
34:56
Oh, sorry about that. You know, like I said, there's a
34:58
late night episode and then I'm having to clear my throat.
35:02
So that's, you know, why all the stops and starts and all that?
35:07
What was I conversions are here. So you place advertisements, 100
35:12
people respond, then you start pinging back and forth.
35:17
You're trying to get people on the phone call to figure out
35:19
what's going on. So out of those people who
35:21
respond, 100 may be able to get 60 to take a phone call with
35:26
you. Now from the 60 who take a phone
35:28
call with you, maybe you're able to get 25 to come to the site to
35:33
come and see the truck live. And then maybe out of the 25
35:37
that see the truck live, maybe you send proposals to, I don't
35:41
know, maybe like 8 or 10. Then for the 8 or 10 that
35:46
receive specific proposals, maybe two or three pay deposit.
35:51
So at every single stage where people took action, that is what
35:57
we call a conversion. So you place the advert, some
36:01
people respond, that is conversion.
36:04
For the people that respond, you're trying to get them on the
36:06
phone call. Some people agree to phone call,
36:08
that is conversion for the people who agreed to phone call.
36:12
Some of them, you're able to convince them that their name
36:14
come down to Lagos so they can see the truck live and direct.
36:19
Nobody say picture, picture, picture.
36:21
Let them come to the yard and come and see all the machines.
36:24
So down is also conversion then for the people who saw machine,
36:28
you now send specific proposals to them.
36:32
That's also conversion. For the people who receive
36:34
proposals, some of them will now transfer money to your account.
36:37
That is also a conversion. So he didn't have a well thought
36:42
out sales framework, a way to handle the conversations.
36:47
And so because of that, his conversions were low.
36:50
Then. Yeah, he said he had a problem
36:54
with people ghosting him. He called them scammers, but
36:59
they're not really scammers. It's just, it's just
37:02
frustration. I understand, you know, like
37:04
when I was in the event space, even though I started off as a
37:07
lawyer, eventually I moved into wedding photography.
37:12
And so it's something that my colleagues used to say.
37:15
Ennis Martindo said that girl is not serious.
37:17
That girl is not serious. Not frustration.
37:20
It's not as if the girl is not serious because let's be honest,
37:24
any bride, any babe who is about to get married is talking to
37:28
multiple vendors. So it's not like she's not
37:31
serious. It's just that she, she didn't
37:32
call you back. She has selected somebody else.
37:34
So she's serious. She's getting married.
37:38
The wedding we hold. It's just that the wedding will
37:41
hold without you. She will select another vendor.
37:44
So they'll be saying she's not sure.
37:46
She's not serious. She's serious.
37:47
It's just that you're handling the sales process wrong.
37:50
You're handling it wrong. So that's how King David, any
37:53
small team seen as scammers As scam.
37:55
As scam. No, nobody scam.
37:57
It's just that you don't know how to handle the conversation.
37:58
Well, that's why they're ghosting you.
38:01
Wasn't as if they're scam. And yes, because he he wasn't
38:07
handling the the conversations too.
38:09
Well, then let's see. What else?
38:16
What else? OK, Then there's also some
38:18
issues around professional presence because OK, now I'm
38:24
looking at one of my notes. Sorry.
38:27
How did professional presence enter this matter now?
38:30
And professional presence, yes. So he was wondering about
38:33
setting up an office space, but he doesn't have the revenue to
38:36
sustain it because he doesn't have office space now.
38:38
So but people can come and see the trucks in K2, is it?
38:43
I'll be mile 12. I can't remember mile 2 or mile
38:46
12. Anyway, you can come and see the
38:47
trucks, but it's not as if he has a nice respectable Porter
38:50
cabin on site where people can come in.
38:53
You know, you sit down, you know, you have some coffee and
38:56
then you will start discussing one-on-one and start pricing
39:01
things. So there was some talk of that
39:05
then. Yeah.
39:06
He was also worried about feeling unqualified because in
39:11
this kind of market, especially since he's in Lagos, there are
39:15
some established players, there are some big boys there.
39:18
You know, boys went on full ground already.
39:21
They've been in business for years.
39:23
So they already have name, they have reputation.
39:26
But I'm he, he's new in the game.
39:27
So he doesn't really have reputation like that like that.
39:30
And then plus on some of those trucks, you know, he's not the
39:32
one that owns it. So on some of those trucks, some
39:35
of those tractors, some of those digger, he actually is a
39:37
middleman and then low commissions.
39:39
So well, you know the story plenty.
39:42
So can you see from what I'm saying that you guys think it's
39:47
nothing? But by the time you finish
39:48
telling me your life story, can't see that the the work is
39:52
plenty. If I'm going to work this work,
39:55
the work is plenty. That's why I say if you want
39:58
free advice, sure, no problem. Ask me one question of all these
40:02
multiple issues. Ask me only one question and I
40:05
give you answer anything. We have to dig in.
40:09
We have to dig in. So doing the role play, I
40:14
pretended to be a customer who wanted to buy Sino truck or Sino
40:19
truck. Sino truck.
40:22
Ho ho. If you're hearing this for the
40:25
first time, don't worry because you will need to until I started
40:30
doing the role play with King David, that was the first time I
40:33
was researching it. So to do the role play, you
40:35
know, to sound realistic, I had to go online, go and do some
40:38
research, you know, to find out the different model.
40:40
Because if I'm going to call up as a customer, you know, I guess
40:44
to sound realistic now, so I'm going to do some research.
40:48
So during our role call, now I remember what I said.
40:51
When I say role call here, I mean business.
40:54
Any of you who are thinking any other kind of role call, you
40:56
need Jesus in your life. So I say role call, role play,
41:02
role play. So doing the role play now,
41:07
yeah, these are some of the issues and pricing.
41:10
When we got to the pricing part, King David was struggling
41:14
because King David was saying 75 M for that, as you know, truck
41:19
who. But based on my own fooling
41:22
around on the Internet, I found somebody who claimed that they
41:25
were offered for 65 M And of course you can see that that's a
41:29
big price difference. King David is saying 75 M for
41:34
that truck. Meanwhile, I found somebody
41:37
online who offered that thing for 65 M So King David was kind
41:43
of struggling on how to justify the the difference between that
41:47
10 M. Then even though King David was
41:53
on the ball, like he tried to keep the conversation in check.
41:57
Whenever I give the guy a small objection like, oh, let me get
42:01
back to you. The guy will just give up.
42:03
You understand? So King David was waiting for
42:08
the customer instead of driving the initiative to close the
42:12
sale. But you know what, it's been
42:14
like, OK, this is 42 minutes. But you know what?
42:18
Let me just wrap it up here. Let me just wrap it up here and
42:21
then. Plus, it's a late night episode.
42:22
Let me stop for my kids who come out, they'll be looking at me be
42:25
like, what the hell is wrong with this old man got a whole
42:28
microphone at midnight saying the record podcast.
42:32
So let me just stop here before I wake up the whole house and
42:35
before I get you guys bored. So this is what we'll do in the
42:39
next episode. Some of these major episodes
42:41
that we've come up with now during the role play.
42:44
I'll try and tackle that in the next episode.
42:46
So if you've been listening to this and you've been enjoying
42:48
the story of King David, remember, not his real name, and
42:52
enjoying the sort of King David, and you want to see how we'll
42:55
resolve some of these issues, then OK, Yeah, we'll do that in
42:59
the next episode. So the pricing issue, how should
43:02
he, should King David have handled this pricing matter?
43:06
You know that he's calling 75 M for one Sinotroko and then I'm
43:12
claiming that I found I found it online for 65 M.
43:17
So how do you handle it when you're talking to a customer,
43:22
you call your price 75 M and the customers say how too expensive
43:28
the almost see this link I found this name 65 M.
43:31
How do you handle it then when you're having conversation with
43:35
people and then they throw you small, small objections or let
43:38
me think about it. I'll call you when I'm ready,
43:40
you know, blah, blah, blah, you know, things like that.
43:42
How do you handle these sorts of issues?
43:45
OK, so that's it. Let me bring today's episode to
43:48
a close. And and like I said earlier, no,
43:52
I didn't end up doing any work with King David.
43:55
And no, I didn't end up doing any work with the with the guy
43:59
from China. But you, you bigger boys, bigger
44:03
bosses. I yeah, I really would like to
44:07
do some work with you guys, especially people who are in the
44:10
construction spaces. Sounds interesting.
44:12
Sounds exciting. I'd like to see how I can take
44:15
somebody's business to the next level.
44:17
If you've been playing in these sectors, so if you fancy
44:21
yourself like King David or like the first guy who reached out,
44:25
the one who is based in China and you're selling heavy duty
44:29
equipment and you're trying to tell you can move your business
44:32
to the next level, give your boy a call.
44:34
Send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
44:42
Reach out. Let's see what we can make
44:44
happen and and for the rest of you, one is here my
44:48
recommendations. That's not a problem.
44:52
I'll just I'll tackle this tomorrow.
44:54
So thanks for your time and attention.
44:56
I'll catch you all some other time.
44:58
Let me go and get some shut eye. Let me rest my brain for today.