Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Virtue, Vice, and Values: Navigating Good and Bad in Business & Relationships

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Virtue, Vice, and Values: Navigating Good and Bad in Business & Relationships · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the show. It's a wonderful Saturday
• 0:04
  afternoon and I just finished the meeting.
• 0:06
  So I found a nice cool spot next to a basketball court where I'm
• 0:09
  making this recording. Now, the guys have finished
• 0:12
  playing, so you shouldn't hear any shouting and grunting, but
• 0:15
  you know, they're just hanging around jesting.
• 0:17
  So you should hear some of that coming in through the
• 0:19
  background. Now, today's episode is going to
• 0:22
  sound a little bit philosophical, and I apologise
• 0:26
  for that. That's if you're not interested
• 0:27
  in these sorts of things. Well, The thing is, I've been
• 0:30
  trying to look for other Nigerian podcasts to listen to
• 0:33
  because I'm aware that a whole host of you, the reason why you
• 0:36
  found me is because I mean you precisely you were looking for
• 0:39
  Nigerian business podcast, Nigerian marketing podcast,
• 0:42
  Nigerian sales podcast, you know, those sorts of things.
• 0:45
  Now for a very long time, I assumed I was the only one.
• 0:47
  And I think 3 years ago, I did a brief search around, didn't find
• 0:52
  much. And, you know, that was back
• 0:53
  when I kept proclaiming myself as the only podcast, Nigerian
• 0:57
  podcast on on sales. Anyways, since then, I found out
• 1:03
  a few more people have come on board.
• 1:06
  I mean, come on stream. I mean, how do you say it?
• 1:08
  So there are more Nigerian podcasts out there.
• 1:10
  And I've been listening to a bunch of them and, you know,
• 1:13
  they're OK. Why?
• 1:14
  My own opinion, Sometimes they get a little too light and a
• 1:17
  little too fluffy and start talking about some of the easy
• 1:20
  stuff, you know, motivation, being authentic, you know, blah,
• 1:22
  blah, blah and all these things that at the end of the day may
• 1:26
  not help you boost your sales because being authentic, being
• 1:30
  true to yourself, having values and you know, all that soft talk
• 1:35
  like, yeah, it's important, but those are not the main reasons
• 1:38
  why people buy from you because you are value driven, you're
• 1:41
  authentic, you desire engagement, you're, you know,
• 1:44
  and all these other things. Those are not the main reasons
• 1:46
  why. And that's the reason why on my
• 1:49
  own podcast I've I've tried to focus on the tactical and the
• 1:53
  strategic things that you need to move your business forward.
• 1:56
  So I'm telling you from a, from a strategic point of view, this
• 2:01
  is what's important. This is what is not.
• 2:02
  This is what we're trying to achieve.
• 2:04
  And then from a technical point of view, I'm telling you that,
• 2:06
  you know, this is the next step you're going to take to do this,
• 2:09
  you know, send a message like this or talk in terms of this or
• 2:12
  when you call sound in terms of this or you know, this is where
• 2:16
  you should prioritize phone calls over visits, visits over
• 2:19
  emails or whatever. So we get real tactical.
• 2:22
  But anyway, today's episode basically is I want to talk to
• 2:24
  you guys right now to tell you people why Nigerian business
• 2:27
  people should not have values. Let me repeat and I want you
• 2:32
  guys to give me a while to explain what it is I'm trying to
• 2:34
  say Nigerian business people should not have values because
• 2:40
  it's something that has come up on the other podcasts that I've
• 2:43
  seen out there, business podcasts, Nigerian podcasts
• 2:46
  talking about how we ought to have values.
• 2:49
  I am telling you that Nigerian business people, we don't need
• 2:51
  to have values. Now, the reason why I say
• 2:55
  Nigerian people shouldn't have values is because when you look
• 2:58
  at Western Europe and Northern America, those societies are
• 3:02
  materialist and atheist. So what that means is they
• 3:06
  believe that only matter. Matter is the only thing that is
• 3:09
  real. You know, whatever you can see,
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  touch, taste, smell, measure, you know, those are the only
• 3:15
  things that exist. That's the only thing that is
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  real and that God doesn't exist. So excuse me, I'm sorry.
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  Those kind of societies, you know, you need to look as if
• 3:24
  morals are grounded in consensus.
• 3:26
  So if we all think this is good, it's good.
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  If we all think this is bad, this is bad.
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  And because of that, there's no such thing as objective truth.
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  Now, because human beings have a strong religious instinct, you
• 3:38
  will find that people are looking for fulfilment in all
• 3:42
  kinds of things. And so for those of us who are
• 3:44
  involved in entrepreneurship business, you know, we end up
• 3:49
  trying to find fulfilment in what we do, trying to find
• 3:52
  fulfilment in our work, you know, which is why people are
• 3:55
  talking about doing something that gives you life and this and
• 3:58
  this and that and that. But unfortunately, this is not
• 4:01
  the purpose of work and that's not the purpose of business
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  because I am here right now delivering value to you guys,
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  but it is not your you dear listener listening to the
• 4:14
  podcast. And whoever, whichever one of
• 4:16
  you end up working with me on a paid consulting basis or a paid
• 4:20
  coaching basis, it is not your duty to validate me.
• 4:24
  I mean, you have your own concerns.
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  So this is just a simple value exchange.
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  And so it has nothing to do with the kind of fulfillment that
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  we're trying to find in in life and in work.
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  But the reason why I say Nigerians, Nigerian business
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  people, maybe even African people should not have values is
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  because all these value talk is against this backdrop of matter
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  is the only thing that is real. God does not exist.
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  It is left to you to determine what is the basis of reality.
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  And so left to you, you're the one who determines what is
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  important. You're the one who determines
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  what it is that your values are. But now I say Nigerians are
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  Africans should shouldn't have values.
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  Things are different with us because our view of reality is
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  much more nuanced, is much more metaphysically nuanced.
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  We have a slightly different view of reality and a different
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  view of relationships. And so for people like us who
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  still haven't fully embraced this whole thing of matter is
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  the only thing that is real and that God doesn't exist.
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  So I'm the one who determines what is right.
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  And so because of that, I have to determine values for myself
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  and for my company. What we should have in this part
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  of the world instead is we need to have an orientation towards
• 5:39
  virtue. So stop all this value talk.
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  We need to have an orientation towards virtue.
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  Now. Virtue just means the habits
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  that you imbibe on a daily basis that keep moving you towards the
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  ultimate good or the proper goal of being human.
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  So those things, those habits, some of you were saying those
• 6:06
  values and say, well, if you want to call it value and share,
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  no problem. But the different thing is this.
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  In the West, they can say, yeah, I'm going to determine what it
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  is that is good for me. So it's I will determine my
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  values, you know. But over here, the values just
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  exist. You either choose to align with
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  them or to not where they exist objectively.
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  So some things are good for all times and some things are bad
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  for all times. And that's why in this part of
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  the world, we still talk about traditional virtues, or some
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  people would call them cardinal virtues, like people in the
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  church, the old school Christians, you know, Catholics,
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  OK, we don't have Orthodox in this part of the world, but you
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  know, Catholics, Anglicans, you know, the real old school types,
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  Methodist, Wesleyan's, you know, we'll talk about virtues and the
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  cardinal virtues, all the things that point us towards, all
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  things that are good. Now, because of some of you
• 6:55
  listening to this podcast who don't like to hear the name of
• 6:58
  God, I'm not going to say that. But of course, you know, if you
• 7:00
  talk to Catholics and if you talk to the older school
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  Christians, you say that all of virtue orients you towards God
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  because that's the ultimate good.
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  But let's sidestep that conversation.
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  Yeah, because this is not a religious podcast.
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  And you're wondering, how does this tie into business?
• 7:16
  Dorian, I'll get there quite soon.
• 7:17
  We'll wrap this up. I'll wrap this up very quickly.
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  So traditionally when people talk about virtues or the
• 7:23
  cardinal virtues, the idea of the cardinal virtues are the
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  those virtues, those habits or those dispositions that we do on
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  a daily, on a weekly, on a whatever basis that point us
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  towards the ultimate good, the ultimate good things.
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  So the cardinal virtues are those basic virtues that we need
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  that will help us discover all the other virtues, you know,
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  like courage, like courage is a virtue.
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  There's nobody that is going to say cowardice is a virtue if
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  you're a coward. You know, like when I was in
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  school in, in, in, I've forgotten my school show.
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  What's it called again? Greg's Saint, Greg's Obalande.
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  You know, if you like courage, you call you an Ole, as in like
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  you're an idiot, like you're Dons, like you're feeble minded.
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  So there's no society where cowardice is a virtue.
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  So courage is considered a virtue.
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  But before we get to courage and all the other things in ancient
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  Greek and ancient Christian thought, when you hear cardinal
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  virtues, you usually think about these sorts of things.
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  You think of prudence, you think of justice, you think of
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  temperance, and what else? There's one more I'm forgetting.
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  There's no more forgetting. But anyway, for now, let me just
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  stick with ones like I remember. There's prudence, there's
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  justice, and there's temperance. Now, prudence is the virtue of
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  practical wisdom that is getting into the habit of trying to
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  figure out what's right, what is wrong, what is expedient, You
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  know, those sorts of questions. Prudence.
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  So all people, whether you're a man or a woman, you should be
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  working towards achieving prudence.
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  You should be working towards making sure that your head is
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  correct and that your heart is correct, so that every given
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  point in time, in every given circumstance, you stand a
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  reasonably good shot of trying to figure out is this right?
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  Is this wrong? I'd be, may I do it because it's
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  just expedient. Then there's the virtue of
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  justice. Justice is giving your neighbor
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  he's due. And then of course, you know,
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  humor, you give yourself your due.
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  And then there's temperance. And then temperance is
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  self-control when it comes to goods or self-control when it
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  comes to relationships. So temperance just means
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  self-control as I'm using stuff, as I'm using my car, as I'm
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  using my phone, as I'm using social media, temperance,
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  self-control in my relationship with people.
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  And you know, this is where even though it's it might be a sweet
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  life, you know, those of you who are runs guys and runs girls,
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  you know, it might be like a sweet life for now, but you're
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  being intemperate because you anyway, let me stop preaching.
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  So temperance, self-control when it comes to goods or
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  relationship. So in my own opinion, instead of
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  the Nigerian business person waking up every day and trying
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  to determine what is the value of my business, what is the
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  value of my corporation? What is the value of my this?
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  And then you now start talking about values of authenticity and
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  collaboration and blah, blah, blah, and then making all these
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  fancy signs and putting them all over your office.
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  Just wake up and focus on the traditional virtues.
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  Be prudent. So as a businessman, as a
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  businesswoman, what is right and what is wrong in this situation?
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  It's that simple. Right and wrong already exists.
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  Am I aligning with it or am I not aligning with it?
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  And let me conduct my business accordingly?
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  What is just this person that I'm interacting with, my
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  potential customer, my potential client?
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  What does this person here deserve?
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  Mima, what do I deserve? Because there might be
• 10:57
  situations where you know, you're paying attention to the
• 10:59
  other person and you know, you want to make sure your person is
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  set up right, but then you're not paying attention to
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  yourself. You're not set up right.
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  You're running at a loss. You know that's not justice.
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  So justice, What does everyone here deserve?
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  The other person, my customer, my client, what do they deserve
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  for me self? What do I deserve?
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  And then Temperance or being Temperance, Abby, any Check the
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  dictionary and let me know. So how can I be sure that I'm
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  not using people inordinately or using resources inordinately?
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  So me, I have to balance those sorts of things and you do as
• 11:34
  well. Do I remember that my clients
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  are human beings or am I just using them as a means to an end?
• 11:39
  I want to drive Brabus. I want to drive Bentley.
• 11:42
  I want to drive SLK, you know, I want to live in a mansion, solar
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  panels completely cut off from Napa.
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  You know, I have to remember that you guys are human beings
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  too. So I have to be temperate.
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  So for Nigerian business person, instead of waking up going
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  through all these random funny exercises that people go
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  through, you come up with all these wonderful values.
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  You come up with wonderful posters that plastering it all
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  over your office or on your computer or whatever.
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  No, no, no, no, no, no, no virtue.
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  Virtue already exists. Discover the virtues and just
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  align. There's no need to go around and
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  start trying to to reinvent anything.
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  Am I prudent every day? Do I do what is right?
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  What is wrong? Am I trying to be just giving
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  everybody that just deserves the thing that everybody justly
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  deserves? And then am I temperate?
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  Am I using people as a tool or am I just squandering resources?
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  Anyhow, So I know that's just some of what I wanted to say
• 12:47
  because too many people Nigerian business podcasts and look, be
• 12:50
  careful the podcasts that you listen to, you'll be listening
• 12:52
  to all these people talking about how, what are your values?
• 12:55
  Value, authenticity value, collaboration value, these
• 12:58
  value, you'll be following them. Our value, value, value like the
• 13:01
  value thing is going to lead you nowhere.
• 13:05
  You will feel good and it's plenty of virtual, I say
• 13:08
  virtual, virtual signalling you feel like you're you're a good
• 13:11
  person and that's part of world culture.
• 13:16
  But really it's not going to go anywhere to grow your business.
• 13:18
  The fundamentals that grow your business are the fundamentals
• 13:22
  that we talk about over here on the podcast.
• 13:24
  How can you figure out who your customer is or your client is?
• 13:28
  Who's the ideal customer profile?
• 13:30
  Where do they hang out? Now they know where they hang
• 13:33
  out. How can you approach them and
• 13:34
  start a conversation with them? What is the best channel to
• 13:38
  establish a conversation with them?
• 13:40
  How do you maintain relationships?
• 13:42
  How do you figure out what it is that people want or that people
• 13:46
  need? Now that you know the want or
• 13:48
  the need, how can you make an effective proposal or
• 13:50
  presentation so they can see that truly, truly you are the
• 13:54
  best, you are the greatest and end up doing business with you.
• 13:56
  After they do business with you, how do you continue to engage
• 13:59
  them in conversation to find out that they are happy?
• 14:02
  For those that are happy, how do you get them to come back and
• 14:04
  buy from you again and refer you to other people?
• 14:07
  For those that are unhappy, how do you continue the conversation
• 14:10
  so you can figure out what went wrong and how you can remedy the
• 14:14
  situation? For those you've been able to
• 14:16
  remedy the situation, how are you going to get those people to
• 14:18
  come back and do business with you again and also refer their
• 14:22
  friends, their family members, and their associates?
• 14:26
  These are the fundamentals that are going to take you via
• 14:29
  business. Not all these authenticity, you
• 14:34
  know, authenticity truer self valued.
• 14:37
  Is that that like none of that. So all these steps that we've
• 14:41
  talking about, we've talking about now the fundamentals that
• 14:45
  move your business forward. Your guiding light is going to
• 14:47
  be either virtue or vice. You're either being virtuous or
• 14:51
  you're being vicious. Virtuous just means you're doing
• 14:55
  habits on a daily, on the minutely, on the monthly, on the
• 14:59
  weekly or whatever. You're engaging in habits that
• 15:02
  continue to Orient you, dispose you, move you towards the good.
• 15:07
  Vicious just means you're engaging in habits that
• 15:09
  continues to Orient you towards the bad.
• 15:12
  So we have this framework for selling.
• 15:14
  We just make sure that we're selling in a virtuous manner and
• 15:17
  we shall be fine. When we sell, are we being
• 15:20
  prudent? What is right or what is wrong?
• 15:22
  When we sell, are we being just, I mean, making sure everybody
• 15:25
  gets what they deserve? When we sell, are we being
• 15:28
  temperament, sorry, temperance? Are we using the virtues of
• 15:32
  temperance? Am I sure that I'm not just
• 15:35
  using people and resources inordinately without paying
• 15:40
  attention to the inherent dignity that everybody has as a
• 15:43
  human being? That's all you need to do if you
• 15:48
  don't believe me. For all these people that say my
• 15:50
  value is this, my value is that, my value is that.
• 15:53
  And we are the ones who decide what is good and what is bad.
• 15:56
  Have you noticed for those people, when they come in
• 15:58
  contact with Ponzi schemes or when they come in contact with
• 16:01
  Enron, they'll say no, what Enron did was bad and the Ponzi
• 16:04
  schemes are bad. If you just said that it's up to
• 16:08
  me to determine what is right and what is wrong and to
• 16:11
  determine the greatest value. Why can't I decide that I want
• 16:14
  to have a Ponzi scheme and be intemperate with people and use
• 16:19
  people as resources? On what leg do you have to stand
• 16:23
  on to say that what I'm doing is wrong?
• 16:26
  You don't have a leg. But then if there's objective
• 16:30
  truth and there's objective good and we're supposed to Orient
• 16:33
  ourselves towards it and that is the proper goal of being human,
• 16:39
  then you can see that we have a stand, a grounding in business
• 16:44
  and relationships to say, well, why do I think we do, you know,
• 16:47
  pure or they say, oh baby, fuck off.
• 16:51
  So be careful what you listen to.
• 16:55
  All the people that are talking about is fluffy stuff.
• 16:57
  I beg just ignore them. What you need now is a solid
• 17:02
  framework to move your business forward.
• 17:04
  You need to know the strategy. You need to know the tactics.
• 17:07
  All these people virtual signalling, ignore them.
• 17:13
  Where you going to get your moral compass from?
• 17:15
  The same way that human beings have gotten their moral compass.
• 17:19
  You know, for the last however long that human beings have been
• 17:22
  in existence, this sort of thing that's right, this sort of thing
• 17:24
  that's wrong, you can objectively determine it.
• 17:27
  How do you know you're on the right course?
• 17:28
  Are you living your life virtuously or are you living
• 17:31
  your life viciously? So I'll stop there so I don't
• 17:35
  turn this into a podcast episode on philosophy and morality and
• 17:40
  everything. What I'm just saying is ignore
• 17:42
  these podcasts that sound good. By the end of the day, they're
• 17:44
  just giving you fluff. Be your true and authentic self.
• 17:50
  Anyway, so thank you very much for your time and attention.
• 17:52
  If you'd love to connect with me for a strategy session for a
• 17:54
  business audit or you have questions you'd like me to
• 17:56
  answer, the number is 08064662140, country code +234.
• 18:04
  If you're not Nigerian, that's my WhatsApp number as well.
• 18:07
  Thank you very much for your time and attention.
• 18:09
  I'll catch you guys at the next episode.