Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / From Small Talk to Signed Contracts: Turning friendly chats into real business.
Transcript
- 0:00Hello, and welcome to the podcast.
- 0:03Apologies before we begin because I'm making today's
- 0:06recording outside. I'm outside church because it's
- 0:10a Saturday and the kids are in Cadkism classes.
- 0:13And typically when we have these kinds of episodes, expect to
- 0:16hear noise coming from, you know, anywhere in the
- 0:19background, you know, teachers teaching, children chanting.
- 0:22And then there's a construction site next to the church.
- 0:25So, you know, hammers, nails and, you know, things banging
- 0:28and buzzing and all that. So this could be a very noisy
- 0:31episode. Now, today, when I'm here to
- 0:34talk about religious things or my personal things, what we're
- 0:37going to discuss today is we're going to look at what to say
- 0:40whenever you're in a conversation with a potential
- 0:42customer, a potential client, you're in a meeting.
- 0:46And then the person says, yeah, this sounds all good.
- 0:48It sounds all good. It's all good.
- 0:51Now, the reason why we're looking at this today is because
- 0:53some people have been in this situation and I even saw one
- 0:57guy, the guy, the vex, seriously on LinkedIn because he was in a
- 1:01situation where the customer said it's all good.
- 1:04The potential client says it's all good.
- 1:07And of course, when somebody, you're meeting with somebody,
- 1:09you're trying to sell something and then the person says it's
- 1:12all good. Of course you will assume that
- 1:15there's something positive going on.
- 1:16You'll assume that you're making progress, but there are times
- 1:20when somebody will say it's all good and then before you know
- 1:24it, this deal is going absolutely nowhere, nowhere at
- 1:28all. So these things happen, they
- 1:30happen to everybody. So when it happens to you, don't
- 1:32take it personal and don't be be like that Bros on LinkedIn, that
- 1:35guy vex the guy. Just begin the right.
- 1:38Anyhow, on LinkedIn, first of all, it's unprofessional.
- 1:42You know, as a business owner, as a salesperson, you're trying
- 1:44to do business with someone. Things don't go your way.
- 1:47You don't just go on LinkedIn and then begin the event.
- 1:49You don't go on social media and start writing things up and
- 1:51down. No, it's not professional.
- 1:54What if the guy, you know, the person goes, you know, sees the
- 1:58the post that he put up later on, you now seem like an
- 2:00immature somebody. So, yeah, these things happen.
- 2:04And I understand that they can be annoying because for most of
- 2:08us, all we hear is all good. We assume that everything is is
- 2:12all right, that we're OK, we're moving in the right direction.
- 2:16But yes, situations happen where people say it's all good and
- 2:20then the deal ends up going absolutely nowhere.
- 2:22So first of all, don't take this thing person personal.
- 2:25It happens to everybody and that's happened to everybody.
- 2:28You assume that this thing was a deal made in heaven and then it
- 2:32the thing doesn't pull through. So don't take it personal.
- 2:36That's the first thing you need to do.
- 2:38If you hear it's all good, and then it turns out that thing
- 2:41actually were not so good. However, even though you're not
- 2:46meant to take this thing personally because it happens,
- 2:49it's just life, it's just business.
- 2:52You have to take the initiative and you have to take the
- 2:54responsibility to make sure that the occurrence of this thing
- 2:59goes down over time. There's no way that we'll stop
- 3:04this thing from ever happening because it will happen that
- 3:06you're talking to someone else. Somebody will say it's all good.
- 3:09This thing looks nice. This is this, you know, the
- 3:12person will say we're good to go, like all kinds of things,
- 3:14and then the deal is not going to happen.
- 3:16So we cannot reduce it 100%. But we can take responsibility
- 3:21to make sure that the number of times when people say this is
- 3:24all good and then the thing doesn't end up in a business
- 3:27deal, we just reduce it. So we have to take
- 3:29responsibility for it. Also another reason why we
- 3:32shouldn't go on social media and start ranting whenever these
- 3:34kinds of things happen. You know, people who do whatever
- 3:37it is that they want to do, they have to take care of themselves.
- 3:40So you can't go and start ranting and provoking on social
- 3:42media that somebody did this to you, somebody did that to you.
- 3:45Like, they have their own life. You have your own life.
- 3:48So it's your own job to make sure that you reduce the number
- 3:50of times that these things happen.
- 3:53Oh, by the way, this is your first time listening to the
- 3:54podcast. My name is Tavishima Ayede.
- 3:57I'm a former lawyer turned business consultant.
- 3:59If you'd like to connect with me, you can call, send me a text
- 4:02message or WhatsApp message on 080 64662140.
- 4:08So just in case you've been in situations where you thought
- 4:10this was a done deal, it looked like things were moving ahead.
- 4:14It looks like things were in favor in your favor and then
- 4:17things didn't quite pan out the way you are thought.
- 4:19Reach out, Let's discuss. Let's see how we can reduce
- 4:22these things happening in your business.
- 4:26So now, right now, let's get concrete.
- 4:31Why does this thing happen? Does somebody who say is all
- 4:35good and then the deal will go nowhere?
- 4:40There are lots of reasons and I'm not a psychologist, so I'm
- 4:42not going to bother trying to come up with any number of
- 4:46reasons why it happens. However, like I said before I
- 4:50introduce myself, there are some things that we can do to reduce
- 4:53the amount of times that these things happen.
- 4:56Now, one of the reasons why this thing happens to you or to us,
- 5:00we salespeople, we business owners, is because we don't have
- 5:04the habit or we don't have the skill of seeking advancements in
- 5:08sales. So maybe I wonder, what's an
- 5:11advancement? Very simple.
- 5:12I'll explain. But for those of you who are
- 5:14Ogs, you've been listening to the podcast for a while, you
- 5:16already know or for the benefit of people who are just coming
- 5:19today, today, let's explain. Now the concept advancement is
- 5:23something that was coined by a researcher called Neorakam, old
- 5:28school trainer, consultant type guy.
- 5:32And I think the book Spin Selling was written in the 70s
- 5:35or in the 80s. So there's a methodology called
- 5:38Spin Selling that is named after the guy.
- 5:41So you can say he's kind of like a grandpa to some of us in the
- 5:45industry. So Neil Rackham in his research
- 5:50figured out that successful sales people have a habit, they
- 5:54have a skill, and that particular skill is they know
- 5:57how to get advancements. An advancement just means a
- 6:02mutually agreed next step. An advancement just means you're
- 6:06talking to someone, you're trying to tell somebody, you're
- 6:08trying to close a deal, you're trying to secure an investment,
- 6:12you're trying to secure a partnership, you know, through
- 6:15with a stakeholder, whatever agenda it is that you're trying
- 6:18to do. Advancement just means that at
- 6:21this current meeting, at this current phone call, at this
- 6:23current e-mail, at this current WhatsApp, at this current Zoom
- 6:26session, at this current, whatever it is you're doing, you
- 6:30have the skill or you have the habit of getting the other
- 6:33person to agree. OK, good.
- 6:36As we're leaving now, what is the next step?
- 6:40If somebody says it's all good and you just assume it's
- 6:45positive, you don't secure an advancement.
- 6:48All kinds of things can happen. Oh, my wife said, my pastor
- 6:51said, oh, I'm sorry, I forgot. Oh, the money I allocated for it
- 6:55went to something else. Like any kind of thing can
- 6:57happen. So if somebody says it's all
- 7:01good, what you need to do is secure an advancement. 2 of you
- 7:06need to agree now. OK, shabby is all good.
- 7:11This is the next step. This is the next thing we're
- 7:13going to do. When you secure an advancement,
- 7:16then the chances of the deal moving forward are high because
- 7:19both of you have agreed. Remember, advancements are
- 7:22mutual agreements. Both of you have agreed.
- 7:24One person suggested. The other person agreed that
- 7:27this is what we will do next. Some of you now ask how do you
- 7:32secure an advancement? Look, it's not too hard.
- 7:35Actually, it's very simple. Somebody has to propose.
- 7:39If you are afraid, if you're shy, it's OK to ask the person.
- 7:42The person says it's all good. He said, oh OK, no problem,
- 7:44since we are all good, what would you like for us to do
- 7:47next? Assuming that you're shy?
- 7:50But by the way, I don't like that approach because when I put
- 7:53the ball in somebody's court, I have no control over what they
- 7:56will say next. If they say, oh, OK, well,
- 8:00actually my daughter is graduating in Canada.
- 8:03And so because of that, the family is going to travel.
- 8:06We're going to be away for six months.
- 8:07By the time I come back, I have a meeting in Oakland State and
- 8:11something, something, something. So how about we pick this up in
- 8:1410 months time? You see, that kind of thing can
- 8:17happen if somebody says it's all good, I'm actually trying to
- 8:19make progress. Now, I don't want to say what
- 8:22would you like for us to do next?
- 8:23And the person will start giving me a story and the story will
- 8:25end in, OK, let's talk in 10 months time.
- 8:28Anything that happened in 10 months.
- 8:30But just in case you're scared or you don't want to be too
- 8:33forward, it's perfectly fine. You can ask, OK, we're all good,
- 8:36Abby, what would you like us to do next?
- 8:40Now what I prefer to do is I think that as the salesperson or
- 8:46as the business owner, we are the ones that are professional.
- 8:48So it is not out of place for us to suggest that this is what
- 8:52should happen next. If The thing is a significant
- 8:55something, if it's an important something for the person, the
- 8:58person will now match, you know, change their own paros, change
- 9:01their own schedule to blend with this thing if it's a serious
- 9:04problem. So it is OK for you to say, oh,
- 9:09it's all good, Abby, all right, no problem since we are all
- 9:12good. In my own professional opinion,
- 9:15what I recommend at this stage is then you will now see your
- 9:19own either way. Somebody says it's all good.
- 9:24There is no way that I'm leaving that meeting and we have not
- 9:27agreed on the next step. You don't agree on the next
- 9:31step. You rely on the fact that the
- 9:33person said it's all good. The person says, and we go,
- 9:36yeah, we go, yeah, You know, Shabi, I have your number, ABI.
- 9:39OK. You have chemist number, ABI.
- 9:41Yeah. No problem.
- 9:41No problem. We go.
- 9:42Yeah, We go. See.
- 9:43We go. See you now shake hands, you go
- 9:45home. You have to say how far you say
- 9:46that was a good meeting, my dear, that this deal would click
- 9:49the better said this is all good my friend.
- 9:54If anybody says it's all good, secure an advancement on the
- 9:57spot is all good, correct. That's why I like to hear I'm
- 10:02looking forward to serving you. I'm looking forward to taking
- 10:04care of you. So Bros, as we are wrapping up
- 10:06this meeting now what do you want us to do next?
- 10:09That's option one. And by the way, that's the
- 10:13option I like the least. I don't like throwing into their
- 10:15own court. Me, I like to take, I like to
- 10:17take the initiative. So I'll say, oh, it's all good.
- 10:20How fantastic. That's what I was hoping you
- 10:22would say. All right.
- 10:24Now, based on my own professional recommendations, if
- 10:27we're going to achieve so, so and so date, so, so and so
- 10:29timeline, in order for us to beat this and this and this and
- 10:32that to achieve this result, this is what I recommend.
- 10:36We need to have the next meeting for this, this, this, or you
- 10:39need to send over a deposit for this amount or we need to
- 10:42schedule a side visit for so, so and so.
- 10:45Whatever it is, in your professional opinion, recommend
- 10:48the next step. Do not leave a meeting where
- 10:51somebody says it's all good all overnight.
- 10:53They smile. You know the guy who ordered
- 10:55drinks for all of you. You stand up, you will shake
- 10:57hands. You know, you say we will.
- 11:00Yeah, we'll be in touch. You know, I'll be in touch.
- 11:03And they leave the meeting thinking, man, as a correct guy.
- 11:04I like the way this deal is going only for you to see in
- 11:08three weeks time that they gave the money to somebody else.
- 11:12Whatever the reason, if somebody says it's all good, no problem,
- 11:18The next thing you will do is secure an advancement.
- 11:22If you have never heard of the word advancement before, this
- 11:25should be your new favorite phrase for the year.
- 11:28Advancement. Every single conversation that
- 11:30you're having with a potential customer with a potential client
- 11:33advancement. If you've been in this sticky
- 11:36situations, you're not sure how to secure advancement.
- 11:38That's the reason why I gave my phone number at the beginning of
- 11:40the episode call, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on
- 11:4408064662140. Reach out.
- 11:48Let's help you secure advancements in your business
- 11:51deals. Now, another possible reason why
- 11:56you can hang in situations where somebody says it's all good is
- 12:01because you assumed that the person is interested in
- 12:07proceeding to the next step. I repeat, it's not a reasonable
- 12:12time that somebody says is all good that the person is
- 12:14interested. Sometimes when somebody says
- 12:16it's all good, the person just means on paper this proposal
- 12:20makes sense, but in the back of their mind, they still want to
- 12:23research one or two things. They still want to make sure
- 12:27that you know one or two things correlate first before they move
- 12:30forward. It doesn't mean that they're
- 12:32interested in proceeding. Hope you guys get the
- 12:36difference. Sometimes somebody says it's all
- 12:39good. What they mean is on paper,
- 12:41everything is set, everything nice.
- 12:43This thing looks good on paper, but they still want to go and
- 12:47talk to Madam, still want to go and talk to business partners,
- 12:50still want to go on Google to go and do some research or
- 12:53whatever. They want to independently
- 12:56verify one or two things to be sure it checks out before they
- 12:58move ahead. Somebody saying it's all good
- 13:01doesn't mean that they are interested to proceed now.
- 13:05Don't assume. Now in the earlier example that
- 13:09I gave about securing advancements, yes we are
- 13:11assuming. But The thing is by the time you
- 13:13start trying to propose next step and the person says ah next
- 13:16step, how calm down, you will now see that oh you are
- 13:20misunderstanding. You are assuming more than was
- 13:23implied. So another thing you can do is
- 13:27when somebody says this, all this sounds all good, it's all
- 13:30good, everything is set, everything looks all right.
- 13:33You know, everything add up is looking OK.
- 13:37What you can do is clarify. Instead, clarify so the next
- 13:43time you're on a meeting, in case you're thinking securing
- 13:46advancement is too forward, you don't have to be too forward.
- 13:49No problem. When somebody says this sounds
- 13:51all good, it's all good, everything is set, clarify.
- 13:57Now this is how you go about first of all, you affirm.
- 14:00So you say something like, oh, fantastic, I'm glad to hear that
- 14:05because you know, we must always be positive in the selling situ
- 14:07scenario, you know, maintain that positive momentum.
- 14:12So somebody says it's all good, everything adds up, the whole
- 14:15team matches up. You say it, I'm glad.
- 14:17Then you repeat what the person said.
- 14:19I'm glad that you think everything sounds all good.
- 14:22I'm glad that everything matches up.
- 14:25I'm glad that everything don't set the exact words that the
- 14:29person said. Repeat it, affirm it.
- 14:31I am glad that and then repeat exactly what the person said.
- 14:36Then you will now clarify and they say Bros when you say this
- 14:40sounds all good. When you say everything don't
- 14:43set when you say be like say everything.
- 14:46Check out everything pure, whatever he said or whatever she
- 14:49said, the exact thing repeated. You now say Bros, Madame Oga,
- 14:55Ambassador Odogo, Mazi, whatever.
- 15:00Address them properly. When you say XYZ, what do you
- 15:07mean? And then you keep quiet and hear
- 15:10what it is that they have to say.
- 15:13Some people essentially would say, I mean, is no more
- 15:17impediment again, no more roadblock, no more nothing like
- 15:21all their questions have been answered.
- 15:25There are some people who say, no.
- 15:26What I meant was on paper this proposal seems OK but I still
- 15:31have to go and talk with the board before we can give you a
- 15:34decision. Or I would still want to discuss
- 15:36with my wife before I give you a decision or I still want to go
- 15:41and discuss with the family members before I give you a
- 15:43decision. So affirm.
- 15:46I am glad that you said this, this, this.
- 15:51But Madam, Madam Ambassador, when you say this, is this, what
- 15:57do you mean? You know what she has to say.
- 16:00Then after that you now get some feedback.
- 16:04You now ask, OK, so does this mean that we are ready for XYZ
- 16:09now, XYZ being the next step? You ask S Presley so that you
- 16:16know where you stand. If the person says yes, then
- 16:20you're on your way to securing an advancement.
- 16:23So let's say this is real estate.
- 16:27OK, Yes, because yeah, I work with my last training cohort.
- 16:31In January, somebody in the class was involved in real
- 16:34estate in Orca, in Anambra. So let's say it is real estate
- 16:39and then you are on the, you're on the site, the guy is there,
- 16:46the wife is there. They looked at it and then Mazzy
- 16:49says this sounds all good. Then this is the point where you
- 16:54now say, OK Chief, I'm glad that you have said, Chief, I'm very
- 16:59glad that as we came to this place, as we have looked at this
- 17:02house up and down, I was looked at this land.
- 17:04For you to just say this sounds all good.
- 17:06This thing has really blessed my heart.
- 17:07And Chief, I'm very, very happy because I've been looking
- 17:10forward to working with you. But Chief Novix, when you say
- 17:14this sounds all good, what do you mean exactly?
- 17:18If Chief says I said it's all good because nothing remained,
- 17:22again, now like I like it, Madam, like it.
- 17:24Now there's no problem there. You will now ask OK, so Chief,
- 17:27does this mean we are ready to start drawing up the paperwork
- 17:34and they hear what Chief has to say.
- 17:35If Chief says no, there's nothing holding this process
- 17:37back. Good.
- 17:39You will now secure an advancement.
- 17:40OK Chief, no problem. No problem, no problem.
- 17:42If you have it in the car, that's where you now say Chief.
- 17:45OK, fantastic. Let me take the copy of I have a
- 17:48copy of OK what do all units of so I'm not in real estate, so
- 17:52I'm not sure Anyway, whatever the paperwork is OK Chief I have
- 17:57I have a copy of tenancy agreement.
- 17:59I have a copy of this. I have a copy of that taken show
- 18:01to Madam that your lawyer that you mentioned the barrister,
- 18:05barrister Kenny Chuku, his I have his WhatsApp number.
- 18:08I'll send it to him on WhatsApp share.
- 18:09That is OK. So yes, so for most of my
- 18:12clients now looking over this paperwork, normal, normal team
- 18:16know they take more than like that kind of four or five days.
- 18:18So chief, I can call you Friday. I can call it like Thursday
- 18:23evening. I'll be let's see if we can meet
- 18:24by Friday in your office. So I'll bring the contract, you
- 18:28know, we'll sign or you transfer deposit.
- 18:31Let me call the site engineer to come and start.
- 18:37What do they do again? These engineers, you know, when
- 18:38they come and then they put beacon stone and marking, then
- 18:41they start marking the exact plot of land.
- 18:44I know what not. Anyway, those of you in real
- 18:47estate, you see what it is that I mean, you ask Chief, oh, does
- 18:50this mean that we're ready for XYZ?
- 18:52If Chief says yes, good. You start securing the
- 18:54advancement. You start narrowing it down,
- 18:56whatever the advancement is supposed to be.
- 18:59So regardless of whatever psychological, spiritual or
- 19:03emotional reasons that somebody who say is all good and then 2-3
- 19:08weeks later you say that they're ghosting you, whatever the
- 19:10psychological reason. Because honestly, who can probe
- 19:14the the mind of man? After all, scripture even says
- 19:16it that who can probe the mind of man except God?
- 19:19You can't read their mind. Don't bother trying to read
- 19:23their mind. Your own is secure your
- 19:25advancement. That's all.
- 19:27That is all. If you think securing
- 19:29advancement is too aggressive, no problem.
- 19:32Then you clarify instead. You say chief, you say Madam,
- 19:35you say ambassador, you say Deaconess Afubero, I'm glad that
- 19:39you have said this. I was hoping that that's exactly
- 19:41what you want to say because I'm looking forward to having you as
- 19:44one of my satisfied clients. So, Deaconess, I beg, when you
- 19:48say it's all good, you know what did you mean exactly?
- 19:51So, Deaconess, I'm very happy as you said that.
- 19:54So Mommy, does this mean that we're now ready for us to sign
- 19:58the contract? Oh, fantastic.
- 20:01Very good. So mommy, I will give you the
- 20:03contract right now. I have extra copies in my car
- 20:07and sure, I can forward you my account number now so you can
- 20:10just do the transfer. So at least by Monday morning
- 20:13the thing will clear. Let's get this thing on the
- 20:14road. Oh, fantastic.
- 20:15Mommy, thank you very much. Thank you very much.
- 20:19When you follow it like that, you now reduce the situation
- 20:21where somebody will say this sounds all good.
- 20:25You stand up all of a night, you know, you give yourself a
- 20:27handshake, you know, pay yourself some nice compliments.
- 20:31You know, you finish your drinks and then you say I'll be in
- 20:33touch only for 2-3 weeks later you come and hear a different
- 20:38story. This is how you avoid all these
- 20:40stories that touch. So remember, if you've been in
- 20:44this situation, you've had these kinds of problems before, Reach
- 20:47out to me, call me, send me a text message, send me a WhatsApp
- 20:50message on 08064662140. Let's see how we can get your
- 20:56deals on stock. Some of you will be listening
- 20:59right now and you'll be saying that man, these, these ***
- 21:02sounds expensive. I think I'm actually reasonably
- 21:04reasonably priced, but I, I have no problem with giving people
- 21:08free advice. So you can actually can reach
- 21:09out and say I've been in this kind of situation.
- 21:11I'm looking for free advice. That's not a problem.
- 21:14I will grant you your wish and I will give you free advice.
- 21:17But just like the genie, there are limitations.
- 21:20I will only answer one question, so think very hard about what
- 21:23you want your one question to be.
- 21:27But if we have to go in in depth to try and figure out exactly
- 21:30what's going on, how we're going to unwind the situation and
- 21:33prevent this thing from happening again.
- 21:34If we're going to have to go in depth, then we'll have to look
- 21:37at some hourly sessions, some daily sessions, some weekly
- 21:40sessions, or some monthly sessions.
- 21:44So that's it and that's all for today.
- 21:46Thank you very much for listening.
- 21:47It's been a while since we had a very practical episode.
- 21:50So for those of you who are regular listeners and you are
- 21:52tired of, you know, hearing me talk about myself, I'm sure you
- 21:55guys are glad that we're back to the practical episodes, are we?
- 21:57And I don't worry, we've got more practical episodes lined up
- 22:00because for the training that I did in January, we discussed
- 22:06lots of important stuff. In fact, too much like because
- 22:12after each session I would prepare a summary and then I
- 22:15would send to the participants. So I think I have close to, it's
- 22:21almost like 60-70 pages of notes on the, on the things that we
- 22:26spoke about. So I figured, hey, some of you
- 22:29couldn't afford the training. It's not a problem.
- 22:31So I'll come over here and practically in episode after
- 22:34episode, we'll just break down a couple of things.
- 22:36I introduce you guys to some of the stuff that we spoke about so
- 22:42they can see that time spent with me.
- 22:45It actually is well spent. So that's it.
- 22:48And that's all for today. I'll catch you all some other
- 22:50time.