Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Understanding Nigerian Business Culture: A Guide to Effective Sales Pitches

Transcript

Understanding Nigerian Business Culture: A Guide to Effective Sales Pitches · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome to the show. Today is an out and about
• 0:05
  recording, so expect to hear the usual interruptions outside.
• 0:09
  Now today we're going to look at mastering the art of the
• 0:12
  Nigerian pitch. The reason why we're looking at
• 0:15
  that today is because the people who have legitimate questions
• 0:19
  about whether there is a uniquely Nigerian way to sell.
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  Now before we begin, let us define what the pitch is and as
• 0:27
  usual, I'm going to use a very loose working man working woman
• 0:33
  definition. And remember, the reason why I
• 0:35
  keep using all these simple definitions is not because they
• 0:37
  are the best, but because I want you guys to be able to remember
• 0:41
  what it is that we discussed. Because if you can remember it,
• 0:44
  you will do it. If you have to refer to some
• 0:47
  podcast or your notes or something before you do it, then
• 0:51
  you are not going to practice all the things that we preach
• 0:54
  about here. So that's why I keep using these
• 0:57
  simple definitions. So a pitch basically is a
• 1:00
  proposal or a presentation or that part of the conversation.
• 1:05
  Why you where you start trying to tell the person This is why
• 1:08
  you should buy. Or for those of you who are
• 1:10
  more, you know, flashy, you know, that's where you start
• 1:12
  talking about how this my product or your service is going
• 1:15
  to change your situation, is going to elevate your profile,
• 1:18
  is going to move you to the promised land, is going to do
• 1:20
  this, is going to do that, you know.
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  So for those of you who like promising, this is the stage
• 1:24
  where you promise. So if you're promising, if
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  you're proposing, if you're making a presentation, if you're
• 1:31
  saying This is why you should buy, whether you're doing it
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  over the phone, whether you're doing it over a PowerPoint
• 1:36
  presentation, whether you're in the person's house or the person
• 1:39
  is in your office, if you're not stage of the conversation, then
• 1:43
  effectively you are giving a pitch.
• 1:47
  Now before we go into the Nigerian considerations that we
• 1:50
  have to take on board, because there are some people who
• 1:53
  believe that, you know, Nigerians are a unique bunch.
• 1:55
  So there's, you know, there's a whole host of things that you
• 1:58
  have to take into consideration if you're trying to sell to
• 2:01
  Nigerians. So anyway, we'll get into that
• 2:03
  later on in the podcast. So for those of you who are not
• 2:06
  Nigerians listening to the episode thinking of moving to
• 2:08
  Nigeria or starting up business here, then just hang in there.
• 2:11
  We'll get to it eventually, whether there any considerations
• 2:14
  that you have to make for a Nigerian audience.
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  So before we get into that, let's look into the structure of
• 2:22
  a pitch. Yeah, steps that you have to go
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  through basically during the pitch or before you make the
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  pitch. So First off, you have to ask
• 2:34
  yourself if you're dealing with a human being who is interested.
• 2:39
  Because if there is no interest, then you're not going to make a
• 2:43
  successful sales pitch. So let's go back to the people
• 2:46
  who like to promise, like Omar, if you get this, my product, if
• 2:49
  you get this, my service, like it will change your life.
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  You know, you will never be the same again, you know, blah blah,
• 2:54
  blah. For instance, all these people
• 2:56
  who come, you know, you're chilling outside.
• 3:00
  Let's say you're chilling outside an office.
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  You're waiting for your friend to come so you guys can go
• 3:03
  drinking or something. I happen to be a big dude, you
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  know, like me, 'cause I'm fairly large, I'm almost six, 130
• 3:09
  kilograms. So these people walk up to me
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  all the time and like Bros, and then they start healing me, and
• 3:15
  then they start trying to sell me potions that this one will
• 3:18
  remove waist pain and it will cure erectile dysfunction.
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  And if I handle my girlfriend, she would be impressed and blah,
• 3:24
  blah, blah, blah, blah. So before you start trying to
• 3:28
  sell your your, your products and you know it's the same
• 3:32
  whether you're selling these sorts of products that are
• 3:34
  supposed to cure waist pain and improve sexual performance.
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  So it's the same whether you're selling those kinds of products
• 3:42
  or you're selling DSTV or you're trying to sell what else Travel
• 3:46
  services, because people are trying to Japan and things like
• 3:48
  that. Stop assuming that people are
• 3:52
  interested or rather, first of all check if they're interested
• 3:55
  before you start making the pitch.
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  It happens all the time, whether I'm outside a friend's office or
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  whether I'm just minding my business in LinkedIn.
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  And then somebody hits me up and they're trying to sell me on the
• 4:06
  benefits of why I should jackpot or why I should go to this
• 4:09
  university or that university and how it's going to improve my
• 4:12
  career prospects. Oh, by the way, jackpot, For
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  those of you who are not Nigerian, listening to the show
• 4:16
  is a phenomenon of Nigerian migration.
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  So lots of Nigerians are cutting out right now to Western
• 4:25
  countries in particular. Well, actually Nigerians are
• 4:28
  cutting out to all you know, manner of countries, so Middle
• 4:30
  East, Asian countries. But when you say jackpot, you
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  mean usually we're talking about those who are moving to Western
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  countries, western climes, so Canada, America, United Kingdom,
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  those sorts of places. So all of you guys get the gist
• 4:47
  of what it is that I'm trying to say.
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  So before you start making promises that or more, if you
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  buy this thing, you know your girlfriend will be impressed.
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  Her life will never be the same. Or if you go to this university,
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  your career prospects are going to shoot up by 200% or whatever.
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  Be sure that the person is interested in the 1st place and
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  those are the those are the dynamics at play, whether it's a
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  face to face thing or whether you're trying to sell to someone
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  over on LinkedIn. So for those of you who are
• 5:15
  taking advantage of the Jaguar phenomenon and trying to sell
• 5:18
  your products, whether it's the schools abroad, you know, things
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  like that. Be sure that the person is
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  interested first of all before you send that block of text.
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  And then you start trying to pitch on why the person should
• 5:29
  use your agency to go to his university so that career
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  prospects go through the roof by 200%.
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  Why not ask? You can send a simple message
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  asking, well, first of all, introduce yourself.
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  Have a conversation, Follow the person.
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  Ask the person what kind of career prospects that they're
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  trying to pursue in Niger and whether they think their lack of
• 5:50
  a foreign degree is a problem. After you have done all this
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  small chat and back and forth and you now know that their lack
• 5:57
  of a foreign degree might be a problem, I mean they perceive it
• 6:00
  to be a problem, then you can go into your sales pitch.
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  Until then, with you just going on LinkedIn, sending your
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  messages all over the space, you're pretty much just spamming
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  everyone. So first thing to do before you
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  pitch, be sure that you're talking to a human being who is
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  interested. Then after you confirm that
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  they're interested, you want to be sure that the there's a that
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  they have a problem, a pain or a vision or a need.
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  Now the reason why we need to find out this is because
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  sometimes people are interested because they are curious.
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  So I might be interested in this, your sexual performance
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  product. I might be interested just
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  purely from a from a what's that word?
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  From a scientific point of view, I might be wondering, do these
• 6:48
  local remedies even work? Not that I have a problem.
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  I mean, might not be that I have a problem I'm trying to solve.
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  Now for the person who is just merely curious.
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  Your chances for going the sale, sorry for closing the sale have
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  gone down because this person is just curious.
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  It's not like they have a need. And it's the same thing.
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  Back to the whole jackpot thing. You hit somebody up in their
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  LinkedIn inbox. You're trying to take advantage
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  of jackpot phenomenon. You want to sell your travel,
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  your travel and migration package or your education
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  advisory services so that people can, you know, get admitted into
• 7:22
  Harvard or whatever so that when they come back it will improve
• 7:26
  their prospects for career advancement.
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  So if somebody is mainly curious, then OK, let's say you
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  hit me up and it looks like I'm interested, but I'm merely
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  curious. Maybe it's just that I'm
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  curious, like, how does this thing work?
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  Not that I want to leave the country or that I want to send
• 7:46
  my children out of the country. I might just be curious.
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  So if you're dealing with someone who is merely curious,
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  then your chances for a successful sales pitch go down.
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  Now, in case you guys haven't figured it out, the reason why
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  we have to walk through these things first is because there's
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  no point in going through the day making fifty sales pitches
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  if the chances of any of them closing are low.
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  You're better off going through the day making four or five
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  sales speeches if it is possible for you to close business out of
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  one or two. Let me repeat, it is not the
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  number of pitches that you're throwing out.
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  If you're throwing out 50 pitches a day or a week, but
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  then the chances of you closing even one is low, that's a
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  problem. But if you're having four sales
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  speeches a day or four sales speeches a week, but you have a
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  chance of closing two of them, then that is a much better
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  situation to be in. Especially since if you're able
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  to come up with an effective sales pitch.
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  I mean, let's consider those ratios talking to 50 people, you
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  only close one, you talk to four people, you close two, then you
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  can now scale. You now know that if you get in
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  front of more people and you're closing half of them, then your
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  chances for going business, doing business with these
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  people, go up and up and up. So it's not about the number of
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  pitches, it's about the quality of the pitches.
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  And this is the thought process that we have to go through to
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  make sure that everything works. Now, by the way, hope you guys
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  see how this works, whether you're in Nigeria, whether you
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  are in Uganda, whether you're in Canada or whether you are in
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  Australia. So it's the same thought
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  process. But of course, as we go later on
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  in podcast, you see how some of these things have to be done in
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  a contextually, in a culturally contextual manner.
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  Let me just put it that way. So are they interested then?
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  Do they have a problem? Do they have a pain?
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  Do they have a vision? Do they have a need?
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  The reason why I'm using all these problems, all these words,
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  is because depending on the context you're in or what you
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  sell, sometimes people have a problem.
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  So you woke up to somebody and you say, oh, Bros, because the
• 9:57
  guy is a big guy. I say, oh Bros, if you take this
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  thing, it will solve your back pain.
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  If you buy this thing, your wife will never let you go.
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  So if somebody has erectile dysfunction and he's a
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  relatively young man, just like I am, that might be a severe
• 10:14
  problem and that person might be willing to spend good money to
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  solve the problem. So that is the reason why some
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  of these drugs, so upwards of, you know, 13K bottle, 25K
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  bottle. I once saw some group on
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  Instagram where they had this a jug.
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  I can't remember how many pills, but it was, I think it was 250
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  something KA bottle. So this is somebody who is
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  dealing with a problem. I mean there are some people,
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  you know, like much older gentlemen who think, look, I'm
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  over and done with this stage of my life, so I can't get it up,
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  what's the big deal? So for them it's not a problem,
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  But for the young man who thinks he has a problem, he's willing
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  to spend 5K13K all the way up to 250 something K to solve the
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  problem. There are some other things, on
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  the other hand, where people don't have a problem per SE, but
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  they have a vision that they are looking towards.
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  So for those of us who started off in the wedding photography
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  space, in the event space, it's more vision LED.
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  It's not problem LED. I want my wedding to be
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  glamorous. I want my wedding to look like
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  one in town. I want my wedding to be talk of
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  the town. I want my photos to be exquisite
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  you know so that one, it is a vision that they're looking
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  towards. So but that's why you should be
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  looking out for if you're trying to sell the product or service
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  that is problem or pain LED then try and figure out do they have
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  this pain That's where you can key in if you're one of those
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  things where it's kind of vision LED.
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  So if you're selling personal development, for instance, OK,
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  no personal development that is part pain, part vision.
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  Oh yeah, because for someone to buy your personal development
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  coaching product, the person has to be dissatisfied with where
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  they are today. So that's a problem.
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  And then the person has a vision of where they're going towards,
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  so that one is part pain, part problem.
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  So you get the gist. Erectile dysfunction, that is
• 12:04
  pain problem, wedding photography, event planning,
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  that is vision. And then if you're selling
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  coaching services, personal development, that is part pain,
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  that is part vision, because they're upset that they can't
• 12:16
  pay school fees now and they want their life to be at the
• 12:20
  stage where they can pay school fees and also travel abroad for
• 12:24
  holidays without batting an eyelid.
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  Now the next stage, can they afford my product or my service?
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  You have to be able to figure that out.
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  Because if you're talking to someone who is interested, who
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  has the pain or the problem, but they can't afford it, they're
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  wasting your time. So back to the erectile
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  dysfunctional medicine. You meet the Bros who's waiting
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  outside the office. He has the problem.
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  He confides me that man, you know, yeah, so since my weight
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  got up to 130, my BP has been 160 over.
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  You know something? I've not been able to get it up.
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  My relationship is in shambles, blah blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 12:57
  But then the person can't afford your product.
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  Let's say what you have is your, hey, let's say one of those guys
• 13:04
  who is selling 256 K, you know, per bottle, but this guy is
• 13:08
  thinking more like 2K5, you know, 2500.
• 13:11
  You know, there's no meeting point here because the gap is
• 13:14
  wide. If you have a 5K product, but
• 13:18
  the guy was thinking 2K5, you know there's there's room.
• 13:21
  You can haggle back and forth, you can price, You can get
• 13:24
  somebody who was thinking 2500. You can eventually get the
• 13:28
  person to pay 3000 maybe 4:00, but you can go from 2005 to
• 13:32
  256,000 naira. So it's important to have those
• 13:37
  money conversations before we start going into the sales
• 13:40
  pitch. Now let's leave the sexual, the
• 13:43
  erectile, dysfunctional thing and let's go back to the jackpot
• 13:45
  thing. So jackpot services, yes, people
• 13:49
  are trying to leave Nigeria. Yes.
• 13:52
  But if what you are doing is you're consulting for Western
• 13:55
  universities, you know, for Harvard, for what's that school
• 13:59
  in Massachusetts? Is it is it Boston University?
• 14:03
  I can't remember but you catch my drift.
• 14:06
  If those are the schools you're consulting for and for the
• 14:09
  person to pay school fees and Jackman leave the country, the
• 14:12
  person has to cough up by let's say 25,000,000.
• 14:15
  Then you need to have those money, money expectations, those
• 14:18
  money conversations upfront, because you might be talking to
• 14:21
  someone who wants to Jack back, the person wants to leave the
• 14:23
  country by any means necessary but they can't afford to cough
• 14:27
  out 25,000,000 now maybe to go to a university in Malaysia for
• 14:32
  instance, or to relocate to Malaysia or something.
• 14:35
  Maybe on that, you know the person might only have to spend
• 14:37
  three or four meal, but you need to have that conversation
• 14:40
  because it is hard to move someone from three or 4 million
• 14:44
  up to 25 or 30 million. So you guys need to have that
• 14:47
  conversation before you start making a pitch for why they
• 14:51
  should use your travel agency for the holiday or why they
• 14:55
  should use your educational advisory services so that you
• 14:58
  can get them placed in foreign universities and things like
• 15:01
  that. So yes, there's a JACPA need,
• 15:03
  but JACPA is as wide as OK No, JACPA is western climbs
• 15:07
  especially, but there's a need. There's a desire for people to
• 15:11
  emigrate and to leave the country, but there's a wide
• 15:13
  variety between Middle East, Malaysia and then all the way up
• 15:17
  to Canada. Then you have to be clear that
• 15:20
  your product or service can help them because the person might be
• 15:23
  interested. There's a problem or a need
• 15:26
  looks like they can afford it. But in your heart of hearts, you
• 15:28
  know that if you sell this person this thing, it is not
• 15:32
  going to work. So back to the erectile
• 15:35
  dysfunction bit. So there's a problem.
• 15:39
  He needs your whatever, the guy, he's flush with cash so he can
• 15:43
  pay, you know, the 256 K But in your heart of hearts, you know
• 15:47
  that your product is not going to work where people already
• 15:50
  have blood pressure complications.
• 15:54
  And yeah, you know, that actually is a thing, 'cause I
• 15:56
  heard, I don't know, but I heard that if you, like, use Viagra
• 16:00
  and you have some heart conditions, you know, you might
• 16:02
  send yourself to an early grave. And in fact, there's a former
• 16:04
  Nigerian head of state who well, well, that's the one on the
• 16:07
  street and that's how the guy checked out that he pops on
• 16:10
  Viagra and invited 2 ladies over to the house.
• 16:14
  And from there he went to meet his reward.
• 16:17
  And yeah, that's how he got into heaven basically.
• 16:20
  So yeah, so you know in your heart of hearts where your
• 16:25
  products or your service can help, if you know that this drug
• 16:29
  is not going to work because of blood pressure complications,
• 16:33
  then don't sell the person the medication.
• 16:36
  The reason why this is important is this.
• 16:38
  If the person use spends all that money for a product or a
• 16:41
  service doesn't get the desired result, that is bad PR for you.
• 16:46
  And Nigerians don't like being scammed.
• 16:49
  Well, of course you will say that no is bad.
• 16:51
  Beware, you should have done your own research.
• 16:53
  But as far as Nigerian is concerned, like man, you scammed
• 16:55
  me. I believe he is going to tell
• 16:58
  people that you scammed them and we don't want that kind of PR,
• 17:02
  that kind of buzz going about our business.
• 17:06
  So if your product or service is not going to be able to help,
• 17:09
  then, you know, don't do it. The same thing with the jackpot,
• 17:13
  whatever. If this guy is thinking that if
• 17:15
  I go and I take this Harvard degree and I'm back in the
• 17:18
  country with seven years, I should be able to enter into
• 17:21
  corporate Niger. Or maybe in your heart of
• 17:23
  hearts, you know right now that corporate Niger isn't
• 17:25
  prioritizing degrees from this part of the world or that part
• 17:29
  of the world. You know, don't just by all
• 17:31
  means just do whatever it is you need to do to make a sale.
• 17:35
  You know there could be a blowback in the future.
• 17:37
  So it is only after you've done all this work is the person
• 17:40
  interested. Is there a problem paying a
• 17:42
  vision, a need? Can the person afford?
• 17:45
  Is it clear that my product for service can help?
• 17:47
  That you can go ahead and make the sale speech and start making
• 17:49
  all those promises of ah Bros, if you take this thing, Ah that
• 17:53
  lie, your wife will be surprised.
• 17:54
  She will never leave you. Any babe that you touch will be
• 17:57
  in love with you forever. Blah blah blah and all those
• 17:59
  sorts of things. So these are the steps you have
• 18:02
  to go through before you start making your sales pitch.
• 18:06
  Now, are there any Nigerian considerations that we have to
• 18:09
  take on board? The answer is yes, because these
• 18:14
  structures and principles and frameworks that we're discussing
• 18:17
  are universal. But everything has to be
• 18:19
  culturally nuanced in Nigeria. It will depend according to the
• 18:23
  geopolitical zones or just think in terms of large cultural
• 18:27
  swaths of Nigeria. So basically I'm just trying to
• 18:30
  say that you're chilling in Lagos, in Illorin, Ogun, you
• 18:34
  know around that area things might be a bit different if you
• 18:37
  are chilling in Benway State plateau.
• 18:41
  And it's also a little bit different if you're around that
• 18:44
  Beni area. And things also might be a
• 18:46
  little bit different if you're chilling up towards Taraba,
• 18:51
  might be different if you're hanging around that circuit to
• 18:54
  Axis. So you should be thinking in
• 18:56
  those mind frames. That's how you think about it.
• 19:01
  And this is the reason why #1 respectful communications.
• 19:04
  Nigerians are big on respect. It doesn't matter the culture,
• 19:08
  whether it's Thief or Hausa, Ibu, Yoruba, Ibibo, Delta, in
• 19:17
  Gas, Fulani, it doesn't matter. Nigerians are big on respect, so
• 19:22
  you have to know how to pay respect in the culturally
• 19:24
  appropriate way. Nigerians are big on respect and
• 19:29
  courtesy. How you show that respect will
• 19:31
  be different according to where you are.
• 19:33
  So in some parts of the country respect will be ranked and then
• 19:37
  you bow. In some parts of Nigeria it will
• 19:40
  be you bow onto your hand touches the floor or you bow
• 19:43
  flat. By the way, I'm talking about
• 19:45
  guys for girls. Respect might be a bow depending
• 19:49
  on where you are or a curtsy or if it's a much more corporate.
• 19:53
  And well, these things even transfer in corporate
• 19:55
  environment because there are some people who enter into the
• 19:57
  corporate environment. But let's say you're going to go
• 20:00
  and meet the orca of an NNPC or something and he's a Northern
• 20:03
  gentleman, Northern gentleman. There's not a place to enter the
• 20:06
  office and they say so, so, so, so rank.
• 20:08
  I did it and then you copy your hand and then you bow.
• 20:10
  So these things apply as well. I've been using situations where
• 20:16
  you're talking to someone who is older or relatively higher
• 20:20
  status. I'm not trying to say you're low
• 20:23
  status or you're rubbish, I'm just.
• 20:26
  How do I put it? I am just trying to look for
• 20:27
  some objective way of describing the whole thing.
• 20:29
  So because in Nigeria these dynamics matter.
• 20:32
  Who are you talking to, man or woman?
• 20:34
  Is the person older or younger? Is the person a big boy, big
• 20:38
  girl? Are you guys on the same level?
• 20:40
  Is the person your junior? You know, all these things come
• 20:43
  into play. But anyway, we should respect
• 20:45
  everybody that will come across. But respect and communication,
• 20:49
  it's communicated differently depending on the geopolitical
• 20:53
  zone, depending on the culture, you know, all those sorts of
• 20:55
  things. Now, because respect is a big
• 20:58
  thing, it doesn't mean that we can't be casual and informal.
• 21:01
  You can just take a cue from your host, the person that
• 21:05
  you're talking to. When you have built a certain
• 21:08
  level of rapport or commonality, the person will let you know in
• 21:12
  the way they talk and in their body language when it is the
• 21:16
  appropriate time to switch. So you take your cue from them.
• 21:21
  That is the whole situation where let's say you're entering
• 21:24
  to you're a guy, you're entering to the madam's office, you say
• 21:27
  good morning, ma, blah, blah, blah.
• 21:29
  You're still standing. And after I watch, it's like,
• 21:31
  ah, my son, don't worry, come and sit down.
• 21:32
  And then she motions for you to sit on the couch next to her,
• 21:36
  you know, So you pay attention to all these sorts of cues.
• 21:40
  That's how you know when you start softening approaches or
• 21:42
  being more casual or being much more informal, but it is not you
• 21:46
  to initiate it. Take a cue from your host.
• 21:50
  If you're using an inside man to get into a corporation or
• 21:53
  something like that. If your inside man enters, or
• 21:55
  your inside woman enters inside the office and they're standing
• 21:59
  and they're being formal, then stand and be formal.
• 22:02
  If your inside person comes in, does the greeting and then relax
• 22:07
  a little bit, well, basically you can't go wrong by looking at
• 22:11
  your host or looking at the person who is trying to set you
• 22:14
  up for this business opportunity.
• 22:16
  Now another thing about doing business in Nigeria or rather
• 22:20
  and Nigerian pitches and sales conversations and things like
• 22:23
  that. Nigerians, we have hierarchical
• 22:26
  structures and that has also crept into business.
• 22:30
  So it's this whole thing of, you know, Americans and UK people.
• 22:33
  So just call me Bob, you know, just call me Bob.
• 22:36
  That doesn't work here. If you're trying to the guy's
• 22:38
  office and the person says that, oh, I am Mr. Mr. Gambo Sanusi,
• 22:47
  you will call him Mr. You can't just say Gambo.
• 22:50
  How you doing? Like now hierarchical structures
• 22:52
  work here. If there's a point where Mr.
• 22:55
  Gambo says you can call him Gambi or or or or G boy or
• 23:00
  whatever, he will tell you when. But we have hierarchical
• 23:04
  structures here. So you just assume that whatever
• 23:07
  hierarchical structures you beat apply.
• 23:09
  And also because of that you should always be prepared to
• 23:11
  talk to another decision maker, another or guy at the top,
• 23:14
  because there's hierarchy here. So you're talking to somebody in
• 23:19
  maybe the person is AGM or whatever.
• 23:21
  But if the GM has to answer to a board or or to some other person
• 23:27
  help in the in the hierarchy, then we should be prepared to
• 23:30
  have other conversations as well.
• 23:32
  And that is why I talk about multi threading a lot.
• 23:35
  Multi threading is you're trying to talk to somebody.
• 23:39
  In all I put it, you're trying to talk to somebody in the
• 23:43
  company or or whatever. You can't just have only one
• 23:47
  contact, you need multiple contacts.
• 23:49
  If I do something that I became aware of back in my day as a
• 23:51
  wedding photographer, sometimes if you're talking only to the
• 23:54
  bride you've miss Rd. you should be talking to bride and groom.
• 23:56
  That will give you a sense of how things are going.
• 23:59
  There are some cultures where even though you're talking to
• 24:03
  the bride, it is the groom's family that is going to pay for
• 24:05
  everything. So in that case you should be
• 24:07
  talking to the bride and to the groom.
• 24:08
  But then it also won't hurt if you have the groom's mom's phone
• 24:11
  number and you're keeping her updated once in a while.
• 24:14
  So that's what multi threading is.
• 24:16
  You're not just talking to one person and assuming that this
• 24:18
  deal will close. So it applies in some personal
• 24:22
  situations and it applies a lot in business context over here.
• 24:25
  So the hierarchies always be trying to figure out you know
• 24:29
  who is the next guy, who is the guy at the top and be trying to
• 24:33
  talk to those people accordingly or try and get feelers on what
• 24:37
  is important to them. So multi threading, yes.
• 24:42
  And then also what's this thing called account based marketing,
• 24:47
  yes. So if philosophy or account
• 24:49
  based marketing that would work a lot here in Nigeria.
• 24:51
  Account based marketing basically is where you're trying
• 24:53
  to sell into an organization but you need support from your your
• 24:59
  marketing team back in your company.
• 25:01
  So they prepare collateral for you whether it's slides or or
• 25:05
  Flyers or whatever that you can send ahead of time to different
• 25:08
  people within the organization to kind of soften up things
• 25:12
  before you get there. So that's account based
• 25:13
  marketing. So that sort of thing works over
• 25:15
  here where there's there's a miraculous structure.
• 25:19
  So multi threading account based marketing and that's also why in
• 25:23
  Nigeria or excuse me, we have a culture of drive by greetings.
• 25:26
  So you happen to be in this part of the city and you know that
• 25:30
  you have one or two prospects you've been working on.
• 25:33
  You know, you just go in there like, hey, what's up His buyer
• 25:35
  around. So buyer is in.
• 25:37
  So OK, no problem. Let me just holler buyer real
• 25:39
  quick and say, bro, why are you there now?
• 25:41
  I was in the neighborhood I just, I should agree to No,
• 25:43
  nothing. I was just passing by.
• 25:44
  So I know Allah as passes on. So I'll call you next week, OK?
• 25:48
  Yeah, later. And then you leave.
• 25:50
  So drive by Greetings the thing in Niger, precisely because of
• 25:56
  these, the kind of hierarchies and relationships that that we
• 26:01
  need to build. Then when it comes to
• 26:04
  negotiating in Nigeria, negotiations are assumed.
• 26:10
  It's just the default assumption, although here we
• 26:13
  don't call it negotiation, we call it pricing.
• 26:15
  So pricing, how, how would I define pricing in Nigeria?
• 26:19
  It's called pricing, but OK. I think in the UK or in America
• 26:24
  they will call it yeah hagging, yes.
• 26:26
  So by Nigeria we call it pricing.
• 26:28
  You guys outside of Nigeria, you guys maybe call it haggling and
• 26:32
  I hear that Egyptians are that way as well that you know if you
• 26:35
  want to buy something in Egypt, it's just assumed that you guys
• 26:38
  got the price anyhow like you call your own price, the person
• 26:40
  will call his own price, people meet in the middle and you know
• 26:43
  stuff like that. So in Nigeria sticker price is
• 26:46
  not the default assumption. So know that we are going into
• 26:49
  your sales pitches, then marketing materials, something
• 26:54
  to consider. You know, should you guys have
• 26:57
  it in multiple languages, different translations, so that
• 27:00
  if you're going to, I mean, you know, just depends.
• 27:05
  Sure it's not something I'm recommending, but I'm saying
• 27:07
  it's a thought. In yesterday's episode I spoke
• 27:09
  about how for the telecoms MTN it is a lot Airtel, how that is
• 27:16
  a big part of their strategy. If they're pushing into this
• 27:18
  part of the country, then the billboards have the appropriate
• 27:21
  language, the things that translated into appropriate
• 27:25
  languages. Even when our kids were little
• 27:28
  and we used to buy different kinds of milk, there are some
• 27:31
  milk people like what's the name of this company, this brand.
• 27:36
  It's a Nestle product, but you open the milk and there's a
• 27:40
  pamphlet inside the milk in I think like 5 different
• 27:43
  languages. There's English.
• 27:44
  There's outside of Ibodos, Yoruba, what else?
• 27:48
  I can't remember. Two was like 5 or 6 languages
• 27:51
  anyway about how to use the milk.
• 27:53
  So maybe that might something you guys might consider.
• 27:57
  If you have a big enough business, I guess then OK.
• 28:02
  On marketing, yes, visuals. So there are different
• 28:05
  philosophies on this. There's some people who want to
• 28:06
  use visuals that resonate. So you want to use pictures of
• 28:10
  people that look and sound local.
• 28:13
  So in your videos, in your audio, in your whatever, in the
• 28:16
  Billboard, you're trying to use people that look like they're
• 28:19
  fitting, that look like they're Nigerians.
• 28:21
  So that's one philosophy. There is another philosophy,
• 28:24
  unfortunately, that is more aspirational, for instance, like
• 28:29
  the more expensive schools that we have in Nigeria look.
• 28:31
  So it's no secret. So I'm just going to come back
• 28:32
  and say it anyway. So in a lot of those big
• 28:34
  aspirational schools, you know, they put lots of white foreign
• 28:38
  kids, you know, and their billboards because they're
• 28:41
  trying to be aspirational. So I guess in some countries it
• 28:44
  might be faux power for you to do that sort of thing.
• 28:47
  But in Nigeria I'm not recommending you do that.
• 28:49
  I'm just saying it's a valid philosophy.
• 28:51
  Some people will say, look, we're Nigerians, use only black
• 28:53
  people that look Nigerians dressed in Nigerian garb and
• 28:56
  there's some people that will say look, we are Nigerians.
• 28:59
  Nigerians like to aspire so only use white light skinned people
• 29:05
  in the in the adverts. So I'm not recommending one over
• 29:09
  the other. So let's see.
• 29:12
  OK, 30 minutes. Let me bring this to a close.
• 29:14
  Timelines. Yeah, there's this thing about
• 29:17
  African time. So I'm not going to lie.
• 29:20
  You know, we're not always punctual.
• 29:22
  However, I have noticed that in Nigeria, if you are punctual, it
• 29:26
  makes a good impression if you're that guy or you're that
• 29:29
  girl that when people say the meeting is 2:00 PM, you're there
• 29:34
  by 1:50. It makes a strong impression and
• 29:37
  it helps to build your credibility.
• 29:39
  And I think it's something that has helped me in the corporate
• 29:42
  photography space. I think it's just something that
• 29:45
  kind of made me stand out because, like, I remember my
• 29:48
  early days of dealing with the British Council.
• 29:50
  I used to find it frustrating. The program is supposed to start
• 29:53
  by 10. They will tell me the program
• 29:55
  starts at 8. I would now show up at 7:30 and
• 30:00
  they'll be like, oh, oh, you're here.
• 30:01
  And I'll be like, yes, I'm here. You said the program was
• 30:04
  supposed to start by 8 and I didn't want to be late and I
• 30:09
  will say, oh, sorry, you know, actually the program is going to
• 30:11
  start by 10. County director will be here at
• 30:14
  9:35, you know, blah blah blah and this and that.
• 30:17
  But you know, now people don't always tell the truth.
• 30:19
  So we give the vendors different time and blah, blah, blah.
• 30:22
  Anyway, I was on today game, but I stuck you through.
• 30:25
  I showed up whenever they said I should.
• 30:27
  And right now I have a good relationship with most of the
• 30:29
  teams that I work with. So now they tell me the actual
• 30:31
  time, so they can tell me confidently that hey, be there
• 30:37
  for 10. The program starts by 10 because
• 30:39
  they know I'm not going to be late then they will now go and
• 30:42
  tell the other vendors, you know, now start playing games
• 30:44
  with other vendors. That whole thing of the program
• 30:46
  starts at 10, but tell all the vendors that it starts at 8:00
• 30:49
  because you expect them to be an hour late and blah blah blah and
• 30:52
  all that jazz. So if you keep the timelines on
• 30:55
  your punctual here, it will be a very, very, very good
• 30:58
  impression. Except if you're playing
• 31:00
  politics. I don't know if politicians
• 31:03
  value that whole being punctual thing, but in the business space
• 31:06
  it will create a good impression for you Then I think that's a
• 31:11
  pretty much we've already gone over the non verbal aspects of
• 31:16
  communication. How?
• 31:16
  That depends on, you know, the culture.
• 31:18
  So for some cultures you're going to be differential, the
• 31:22
  bow, the nod or maybe the squat in some northern places,
• 31:28
  especially if you're greeting a title.
• 31:29
  Damn individual then this whole thing of direct yes direct eye
• 31:33
  contact. Let me warn you guys, this whole
• 31:35
  thing of direct eye contact in the Western context makes a lot
• 31:38
  of sense. Direct eye contact means you're
• 31:41
  confident. There are some cultures in
• 31:43
  Nigeria where direct eye contact is confrontational.
• 31:47
  So because business book say direct eye contract contact, it
• 31:54
  doesn't always mean that you should.
• 31:56
  This is one of those culturally sensitive things.
• 31:58
  That's what I'm trying to say. So in the UK, yes, director eye
• 32:01
  contact walking to the office and I say Bob, nice to meet you,
• 32:04
  you stretched your hand. In Nigeria, Bob, director
• 32:08
  contact, nice to meet you might put you in trouble.
• 32:12
  Depending on the context. It might be you come inside and
• 32:15
  say ah Alaji gamble Ranka Diddy you, you know do the bow thing
• 32:21
  and then you extend your hand. There are some cultures where it
• 32:25
  is not you that will extend your hand.
• 32:27
  The person who is older and of higher status will extend his or
• 32:30
  her hand first and then you now lean into the handshake.
• 32:36
  So the whole firm handshake, director, eye contact, please.
• 32:41
  Because Harvard Business Review says so doesn't mean that is
• 32:44
  what applies in Nigeria. It depends that depending on the
• 32:48
  culture. So if you're foreigner, you're
• 32:49
  trying to sell in here and ask your contact person, you can't
• 32:52
  go wrong with that. They're the ones that will give
• 32:54
  you the appropriate advice. So regardless of how things work
• 32:57
  in your country, give me your own country.
• 32:59
  Looking down means insecurity. If your person says look, when
• 33:04
  you come here, you bow down, you greet, and then you put your eye
• 33:10
  on to the ground until you are called upon.
• 33:14
  It is not lack of confidence or whatever, it's just different
• 33:22
  aspects of nonverbal communication.
• 33:23
  Let me just put it that way. Nonverbal communication depends
• 33:26
  on the context. So I will said a lot that's all
• 33:30
  for today folks. But the summary is that an out
• 33:33
  of the Nigerian pitch. Yes, in a sense.
• 33:36
  But before you get into the pitch are they interested?
• 33:38
  Do they have a problem? Can they afford the product?
• 33:41
  Will my products service help Then go ahead make the pitch.
• 33:45
  But in making the pitch remember lots of stuff culturally nuanced
• 33:50
  then also take in mind the business hierarchy.
• 33:53
  Am I pitching to the right person?
• 33:54
  Because you are pitching to somebody but the passengers
• 33:57
  operations manager. But at the end of the day, it's
• 33:59
  actually GM that's going to sign the check.
• 34:01
  Then prepare your mind that you pitch to operations manager.
• 34:04
  When operations manager is impressed, he will hook you up
• 34:07
  with GMD group managing director.
• 34:09
  Then you preach, sorry I didn't say I say preach.
• 34:12
  You will now pitch to GMD as well.
• 34:16
  Then when you have the conversation, remember that over
• 34:19
  here sticker price is not really the culture.
• 34:22
  So you guys will price groundnuts.
• 34:23
  You know, you price up and down. You start off by saying it's
• 34:26
  going to be 8 mil and they will say 8 mil.
• 34:28
  What? And then you guys surprise, you
• 34:30
  jump back or forth and then you end up at 6.3 or whatever.
• 34:34
  So expect that. Yeah, so that's pretty much.
• 34:38
  So connect with me on WhatsApp. The phone number is 08064662140.
• 34:45
  The country code is +234. For those of you who are not
• 34:48
  Nigerian, then also connect with me on socials, especially
• 34:51
  LinkedIn where I spend most of my time.
• 34:53
  My name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm the host of the show.
• 34:56
  You can confirm the spelling of my name and my e-mail address
• 34:59
  from the link We are currently listening to this episode.
• 35:01
  Thanks for your time and attention.
• 35:03
  I'll catch you guys at the next recording.