Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / The Secret to Landing Big Clients in Abuja

Transcript

The Secret to Landing Big Clients in Abuja · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Today on the show, we're going to be looking at how to grow
0:03
your business as a generator or mechanic.
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My name is Tarishma Ayede, I'm the host of the podcast.
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And the reason why we're looking at this today, again, how to
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grow your business as a generator mechanic, is because
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while I was on the radio show 3 weeks ago, somebody called in
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and that was his question. Now I'm recording today's
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podcast at home and of course, the kids are around, so expect
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to hear noise in the background. All right, so the caller who hit
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me up on the airwaves, his name is Emmanuel Anuja calling from
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Abuja. Yes, from Abuja.
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And he wants ideas on how to grow his business.
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I can't remember exactly what we chatted, we chatted about on the
0:41
air, but I'm of course by the time he got off the air and I
0:46
was thinking of some other ideas because, well, let me put it
0:51
this way. Whenever someone calls and asks,
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you know, how can I grow my business?
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How can I do my this? How can I do my that.
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Now, since I'm coming from a traditional sales and business
0:59
development perspective, you will find that a lot of the
1:03
things that I start discussing involve prospecting, involve
1:07
outreach and involve all the old school ideas.
1:11
Let me repeat lots of the things that we will discuss if you
1:14
reach out to me, if I'm training for your organization, if I'm
1:17
coaching you, will involve the traditional stuff, outreach,
1:21
prospecting, talking, chatting, visiting, hustling, canvassing,
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whatever it is you want to call it.
1:28
Because these old school methods are tried and trusted.
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And unfortunately for us, they're the only things that we
1:35
can do now that give us some likelihood that income will come
1:39
in the next one month, two months, you know, that kind of
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thing. Because all the online stuff we
1:43
do is great. The online stuff we do is
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fantastic, but the online stuff that we do, particularly if we
1:51
have an attitude of brand building or content marketing is
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not engineered to give us short term results.
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Let me repeat, all that fancy stuff that we're doing online is
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not guaranteed to give us money. If we're doing it in January, it
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is not guaranteed to give us money in February or March or
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June or July or November or December.
2:15
Just to let you guys know. Now there are some people who
2:18
have started some social media thing in January and then the
2:20
thing popped off in March. When that happens, celebrate for
2:23
them and be happy for them. But that is not the usual
2:28
expectation to have around social media, social media
2:32
activities. So that's the reason why when
2:34
people say I want to grow my business, I want to increase my,
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this, I want to increase my that, I don't say I online,
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online, online, you know, yes, we will get there and we will do
2:44
everything. But I want us to start with the
2:46
immediate things first. You know, who are you talking
2:48
to? Because lots of reasons why
2:51
people's businesses are suffering is because nobody
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knows you and nobody knows what you do.
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It is only when people know you and know that you can do this
3:01
that we can start having that conversation about, you know,
3:04
whether to patronize you or not. So I'll always start off with
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the old school stuff. So now Iman or Naja prospecting,
3:15
sorry, building our business as a generator mechanic.
3:18
So that's some of the stuff that we discussed on the air.
3:21
And I made another podcast episode where I fleshed out
3:24
prospecting in more details just to show some of the
3:27
possibilities that I that are there.
3:30
And that's what I'm sharing with you guys on the show today.
3:33
So yes, I say prospecting, but I also try to expand the his mind
3:44
frame a little because, you know, over here on the podcast,
3:47
the demographics of people listening over here on the
3:50
podcast and it's slightly different, you know, who have a
3:53
certain age. OK, there's some people who are
3:55
65 and above who listen to his podcast, but you guys are the
3:58
minority. Like is it like 7% or something?
4:02
Sorry, look at me. I say you guys presolution of X.
4:05
I'm not disrespecting my seniors.
4:07
So some of our seniors here 65 and above, there are lots of
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people who are 18 to 20 something, but then, you know,
4:14
that's 20 something to 40 something.
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That's like where the bulk of us are.
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And we typically tend to be educated, involved in certain
4:22
kinds of industries. But of course, you know, now
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like on the radio show, if somebody calls, he's a plumber,
4:28
he's a mechanic. You know, it's a different, it's
4:32
a different demography altogether.
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So when those kind of people call on my show, I try to all, I
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put this, OK, let me put it like this, because you started
4:47
somewhere doesn't mean you have to remain somewhere.
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And I'm always very mindful of the fact that lots of us have
4:54
kids or younger ones who are watching us.
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So sometimes it's from us that they take dressing.
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If you do something and you succeed to be like, hey, or
5:01
bought a bone, tried this and the thing worked.
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So therefore I can also try one or two things.
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So as a little kid, I saw my father trying to sell cement,
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trying to build house, trying to sell land.
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I saw Mumsy in the corporate career and I also saw her doing
5:20
the side hustle. So I think it's no mistake that
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my brother and I also got engaged in a couple of things.
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I think it's because from small we saw Popsy trying to hustle
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one or two things, Mumsy trying to hustle one or three things.
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So for the benefit of the kids and also for our self esteem,
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whenever these people call, you know, artisans, handiwork,
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craftspeople, and I tell them that we suppose upgrade, suppose
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upgrade. So I said some things to
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Emmanuel and another caller. OK, Emmanuel was the mechanic.
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Then there's another caller who was the plumber.
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I said some things about Google My Business and what's up my
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business. Now I know some of you will
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laugh and say why am I bothering telling mechanic and telling
6:00
plumber Google My Business, what's up my business?
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But The thing is I've already made podcast episodes on that.
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So no need to rehash or to repeat, just scroll back.
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If this is your first time listening to the podcast, look
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for the podcast episode that has Google My Business in it or
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What's Our Business? Then you get The Fugees there
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and you see the reason why even though somebody's doing
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handiwork, you can still benefit from putting your making sure
6:26
you have a well optimized presence on these things.
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So of course, we're already spoken about Google My Business
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and What's Our Business. So the last radio show was just
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me answering the man or not just question.
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Going hard now into prospecting. So prospecting now is the
6:45
activities around #1 when you sit down with a pen and paper.
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I like pen and paper. Maybe you can use your phone.
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But The thing is, you have to write it out.
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You don't write it out. You forget.
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It's that simple. You come up with wonderful
6:57
ideas, and then your homeboy comes around and like, hey, show
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what's up now, blah, blah, blah. You guys, jeez, You know, you
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watch DSTV, you go and play snooker.
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By the time you come back, you're like, oh, what was I
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thinking about? You forgotten.
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But meanwhile, the idea you generated was a wonderful idea.
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Or you're female. You think of a wonderful idea,
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and then somebody calls you Nick at the house.
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Yeah, I'm there. So you get food.
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I'm coming. She comes, she sits down, she
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whines to you about how her boyfriend did this, her
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boyfriend did that. Then she reads your head back
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and then she leaves and you know, now you don't have eBay
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anymore. Your soup.
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She has cut your soup by half. She has dumped all the rubbish
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about her boyfriend and now you've forgotten all those
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wonderful business ideas that you were thinking of.
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So that's the reason why pen and paper, please, or your phone,
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write these things down. So prospecting #1 who are the
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people that might be interested in my product or my service?
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Write it down. Don't worry if the list is
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getting long, it's not a problem.
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This is sales. What we do is we're looking for
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any ideas that might be workable.
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So pour it down, write everything down.
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Who might be interested. Then we now ask ourselves, these
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people would have written down, now where can I find them in the
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real world or where can I find them online?
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Write it down. Then we come up with a plan.
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How are we going to start conversations with these people
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that might lead to them buying in the future?
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So sitting down to craft this plan, that is the strategy
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behind prospecting. When you start to implement this
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plan to be going outside or to be sending DM or to be making
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phone call or to be placing advert, you know all of that,
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shall you know, Well, some of us will quibble here and there and
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say, hey, Bros, some of the things you're saying,
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technically speaking is not prospecting again, but no
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problem. Shall I'm just saying is there's
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a process, the strategy involved.
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We'll sit and we'll think down Who are we chasing after?
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Where? Where do they hang out?
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Then what's the game plan? How are we going to pursue them?
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So all that all is prospecting. Now, in this case, Emmanuel
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nodger, generator mechanic, big, big engines.
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Well, my assumption was that he does big engines because this
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was the rationale that I gave over the air.
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And I was lucky that some people called at the end of the show to
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say, young man, nothing that you said yes, and we're all older
9:15
than me. Say young man, that thing that
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you say, I agree with you. Go on song, you're making sense.
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So this is my rationale. If you're going to be a
9:24
mechanic, time will pass as it is, you're better off working on
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the generator of somebody who has, you know, 12 points
9:34
something kva generator and who pay you good money instead of
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working on a better pass my neighbor 1.5 kva.
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So one hour of work is to one hour of work.
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Just that one hour of work on a better pass my neighbor is not
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the same value as one hour of work on 12.5 kva.
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Or maybe you're lucky you get the contract for, I don't know,
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Hilton Hotel. And maybe the own generator is,
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excuse me, maybe the own generator is, I don't know, 500
10:02
kva or something. So in my own opinion, the time
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will pass any which way. You might as well just make sure
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that you know the person, that you're seeing, the accounts that
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you're servicing, that you will come up with something good.
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That's my rationale. So in my own plan, I better pass
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my neighbor. Let's leave those people. 1.5
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kva. Let's leave those people.
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Now let me repeat again before somebody misquotes me somewhere.
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I am not saying that some people are beneath us.
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Everybody is worthy of respect. Everybody is created in the
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image and likeness of God. Everybody is a human being
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worthy of dignity. I'm just recognizing the hard
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fact that, you know, I'm here. I'm a generator mechanic and I
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gas bills to pay and I have a wife at home.
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Apart from that, I want to leave behind some legacy, meaningful
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legacy for my children as generator mechanic.
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So I'm not saying people who have a better pass my neighbor
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1.5 kva. I'm not saying that they're
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rubbish. I'm just saying that in order
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for me to make a comfortable living, it would be better for
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me to spend a lot of my time looking for those people that
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have 10 kva, 12.5 KV, 30 A, sorry, 30 kva, 45K, whatever
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kva, all those big, big, big engines where I will go and my
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workmanship or my thank you will be 20K or 30K.
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Not that I'll go to the place where my workmanship, where my
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thank you will be, you know, 3000 naira or something.
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So the time will pass regardless.
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You're better off working on an engine where if you spend the
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whole day from morning to night, you come away with something
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substantial instead of you work on something from morning to
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night. You come home, your wife will
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ask you how was your day, you know, and then your mouth will
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be shaking. You don't have liver to open
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your mouth and say exactly how the day went.
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And trust me, I know because I've been there.
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The situations where I've gone out, the only thing that I came
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back was 50K and then my wife asked how do you go?
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And in my mind, I'm, I'm just trying to fumble the
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conversation because if she hears that I went from morning
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to night, the only thing I came back with was 50K wala quarrel.
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So yeah, anyway, let's now to maximize our time and let's make
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sure that we go after good, good, good ones like my
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mother-in-law says. My mother-in-law says, if you
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must eat a frog, eat a big frog, eat a healthy frog, eat a juicy
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frog. If you must eat a frog.
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So that's the Nazi scope now. So where we're going to find
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people with big, big engines in Abuja?
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First off, I told him, you know, we can try estate associations
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because we have different estates in Abuja.
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And I hear the fact that things started in Lagos South before
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even Abuja. You know this, you know, gated
12:53
community and stuff like that. So people in gated community,
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that is where all those big, big generators are never take light.
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And now we saw the boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom
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everywhere, Noise, noise, noise, noise, noise everywhere.
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So that is the those are the kinds of places that we should
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be looking for. Oh, sorry, one moment.
13:14
You know, I told you the boys are around and I put rice on the
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fire. Let me go and check because the
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last time that I bought the flat, the I bought the rice,
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they didn't allow me rest. I said, Dad, are you trying to
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burn down the house? So let me check this rice 1
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moment OK I'm back. You'll be glad to hear that I
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haven't burnt the rice and I haven't burnt the meat.
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To be honest. Cooking stress, I don't like
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cooking. So when I look at people who
13:42
enjoy cooking, I say you guys are really soft ahead.
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If I didn't have to cook the fact it's one of the reasons why
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I want to hammer. So I will just have a house
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manager. So I just wake up in the morning
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and I say oh house manager, what are we having for breakfast
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today? Oh, yes, Can I have some
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plantain with some fried eggs, some sausages.
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Now let's see what else? A glass of milk, please.
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Well, thank you very much. So that's the kind of lifestyle
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that I want to live. Just wake up, house manager is
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already doing everything. Then I call Pai, say PA, what's
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our first meeting for the day? So that's the kind of soft life
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I want to live. You should pray for me.
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Let me get there. So where are we?
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So we're targeting people now with big generators.
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So we have to go to do targeted outreach on prospecting.
14:30
So we go to estates. Now estates usually have
14:33
associations, all the landlords we meet like this landlord
14:37
association, different courts associations, different tenancy
14:41
association, you know, stuff like that.
14:42
So like the place that I live now for instance, they're
14:44
different courts. So you know, a new court by USA
14:50
court, this court, that court and then within the courts,
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there's block A block B, there's, you know, this, that.
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So the meeting is beholding like that.
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So you approach the estate and remember, we are in Nigeria.
15:07
So everybody's security conscious, everybody's on high
15:11
alert. So you don't just walk into a
15:13
neighborhood like that and start knocking on people's doors.
15:16
If you're in Lagos and you try that crap.
15:18
OK, Well, Lagos has improved. I remember when I was in, in
15:22
Greg's in Oberlin day, it was one time 1 poor boy, I don't
15:26
know what the boy did shot, but they just caught the boy and you
15:29
don't believe it live like that. You brush the guy, carried tire,
15:35
put on him, they lit the boy ablaze or shocked anyway.
15:41
You know growing up in Abuja, we didn't see stuff like that.
15:43
So when I came to Lagos and I say hey, this is how Lagushans
15:46
live, say ha, the gushes, you guys are something else anyway,
15:52
so everybody's on high alert. So when you approach the estate
15:55
now with the way some estates are set up in Abuja, you know
15:59
like they have security office or liaison office or things like
16:02
that, go straight there and start making your enquiries.
16:05
You know, you're a generator mechanic, you're trying to drum
16:06
my business. Can you meet with the chairman?
16:08
Can you meet with the security committee?
16:10
Would it be possible to make a presentation at the next, you
16:13
know, social hassle meeting? Now some of you will say look
16:17
young man, these ideas are far fetched.
16:19
No, it is not far fetched. I've consulted for a client.
16:21
We're one of his sales people. That is precisely what the boy
16:24
did. He went and he said can you hook
16:28
me up with a chairman? He said we don't have chairman
16:30
here, we have chair ladies. Oh sorry, forgive me.
16:32
So can we see chair lady? He saw chair lady and chair lady
16:37
said you can come and present at the next meeting.
16:39
But what you will do is this, you will only make a
16:42
presentation, people will ask you questions.
16:45
When you're done, you will leave.
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If there is any positive inquiry, I will get back to you.
16:54
Negotiations be through me, you know, blah, blah, blah.
16:56
You know how Nigeria can be now you understand.
16:58
But see, The thing is, it's better than nothing.
17:00
It can work. So clearly in this case, you
17:03
know, I'm sure Chair lady is trying to see how you know, she
17:07
will take a percentage of something.
17:09
Basha is still better than nothing.
17:12
So these things work and if somebody can try it in solar
17:15
cells, who is to say that? If you are a generation mechanic
17:19
for big engines, who is to say you can try that too?
17:23
So that is that estate runs. Now while you're doing that, we
17:27
also try and keep an eye on word of mouth.
17:30
Word of mouth just means when you're dealing with people, you
17:33
have very pleasant experience with them.
17:36
In fact, they're so happy that by the time you leave, they say
17:39
you will not believe what just happened.
17:41
This is my mechanic, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
17:43
Or if somebody says I need a generator mechanic, my 12 KVA
17:46
has packed up and we're now managing my 5 KVA.
17:49
You want somebody who say, oh, I know Felix.
17:51
Felix is a very correct guy. This is her phone number.
17:54
Call him, he will take care of you.
17:56
Or in fact, wait, let me call Felix.
17:58
He will come over here right now and don't worry, he will sort
18:01
your problem. So excuse me, that's what we're
18:04
aiming for now, word of mouth. So I had to say that over the
18:07
air, and I was even happy that when I finished, somebody also
18:10
called and I agreed. I had to mention that when it
18:12
comes to artisans, crafts, craftsmanship, handiwork, you
18:19
know, you understand reliability, punctuality and
18:22
being proactive. Unfortunately, too many of these
18:26
boys, the reason why I'm saying boys is because I haven't seen a
18:28
female mechanic yet. I know that they exist, but I
18:31
haven't seen one. So all these boys now they're
18:35
not reliable. You can't trust what they say.
18:37
They're not punctual. They say, oh God, are they come?
18:40
You will see me now, now, now, now, now.
18:42
That's the phone call you have at 1012 o'clock you still be
18:44
calling them. You say where are you by or
18:46
where are you say are they come at the come?
18:50
So they're not punctual then they're not proactive, not
18:54
proactive at all. They don't look into the future.
18:58
They notice one problem, they fix that problem, only they
19:00
can't do the math and say, oh, this problem, the reason why
19:03
it's happening is because it could be because of another
19:06
problem. And so because of that, they fix
19:11
the most immediate problem. They end up spending money later
19:14
because, you know, you don't fix.
19:16
In fact, let me stop being cryptic for me.
19:19
You guys remember that time when all those broadcast episodes I
19:21
was making in the mechanic where I was like every month I was at
19:24
a mechanic was precisely the problem?
19:26
Something happens, they fix the ball bearing, they could not.
19:31
Some of you say why didn't I ask the question, but The thing is,
19:34
what I know about cars, how am I supposed to know?
19:37
Did not do the math that look, the reason why whenever ball
19:40
bearing has problems, you could be because of other because of
19:44
alignment issues in the this and that, you know?
19:47
So it was not until I got tired, after I had gone like 3 months,
19:51
I decided to call another mechanic.
19:54
This is somebody who works on Mumsy's car.
19:56
Now, you know, because the person works for Mumsy's car and
20:00
my auntie's car. How will I put it?
20:03
You know, they're mechanics and they're mechanics, but is one of
20:05
those mechanics where go school. So the thing the guy knows his
20:08
thing and because the guy goes school, he's expensive.
20:11
But from what I've had with him, one is 1 and so far, to be
20:15
honest, one is 1. And when I went there, we had an
20:19
exhaustive conversation. So yes, there actually is a
20:22
problem with the ball bearings. But if you look here, even
20:25
though me, I don't understand what you're showing me.
20:28
If you look here, you can see that whenever you have problems
20:31
with the bearings, sometimes it's an indication that maybe
20:34
there's something wrong with the linkage and with the shaft and
20:36
with this, that, that, that, that.
20:38
So we can fix this now. But so if you're patient, just
20:41
give me like 3 hours. Let me just think about this
20:44
whole system. Let me look at linkage.
20:45
Let me look at this, let me look at that.
20:47
Let me see if any of these things are causing to the
20:49
problem. Now, The thing is, if none of
20:51
these things are causing the problem, there's no problem.
20:53
We'll copulate and then you will go.
20:55
But if any of these things are leading to the problem, OK, it's
20:57
best we solve this thing now because, Sir, to be frank with
21:00
you, if I just change the ball bearing now, you'll be back here
21:03
next month immediately. He said that.
21:05
What do you think I said? I said that is precisely the
21:07
problem I've been having. And the level of trust I had in
21:12
him went up because his professional diagnosis matched
21:16
exactly what it is that I have been suffering.
21:21
So that is the part there about being proactive.
21:23
So those of us who do handiwork, you know, plumbers, mechanics or
21:28
not, look, this thing helps. I know you don't want to sound
21:31
as if you're cheating your customers, so there's a simple
21:33
formula for it. OK, Olga, you want me to come
21:35
and fix this, replace this, this L joint.
21:39
No problem. That's for all plumbers.
21:41
Let me fix this L joint. I can't fix this L joint, Olga.
21:43
But Olga, usually when this L joint problem happens, it could
21:47
be because of problems in water pressure or blah, blah, blah,
21:50
blah, blah. Do you want me to check and see
21:53
if those are issues or not? OK, the reason why I'm asking is
21:57
because if it could be any of these things causing it, if I
22:00
fix this all joints now, I will still come back here in two
22:03
months time. So guys, up to you.
22:05
What do you prefer? So you see with this simple
22:08
formula, now you have put it in their own court.
22:12
In fact, there's one guy I listened to his podcast, he's a
22:16
roof repair person. So for him, the formula he uses,
22:20
if sure, no problem, we can go up there and we can fix this
22:23
leak. But Olga, Madam, if I go up on
22:28
the roof and I see any other problem, should I tell you or
22:31
should I keep quiet? That is his own formula.
22:34
There's some people who say keep quiet, fix that thing I told you
22:38
to fix. He will go and fix it.
22:40
Only there's some other people that will say, and if you see
22:44
anything, tell me when he comes down, he will now say, OK, that
22:47
leaks, I've fixed it. But these are the extra things
22:49
that I saw. You see, there's an element of
22:51
being proactive here. But at least put all the
22:54
information on the table. Let the person decide.
22:57
Let the man say with his own mouse that you mechanic, you
22:59
have come again. I told you to fix my bearing.
23:02
Fix the bearing and don't tell me about anything else.
23:05
Next month if he comes back, at least you can say auger.
23:09
But I told you no. But I told you, if you didn't
23:13
want us to fix this problem once and for all, this is how we'll
23:16
do it. So please, handy work people.
23:20
In fact, not even handy work people.
23:22
The rest of us, no matter what you do, you're a consultant,
23:25
you're a brand designer, you are an architect, you're a foreman.
23:30
You do catfish, you do whatever it is you do.
23:33
Sure. Look, these things apply to all
23:35
of us. Let's be reliable.
23:36
Let's be punctual. Let's be proactive.
23:37
It's part of building word of mouth.
23:41
Now, the reason why I bring it up for plumbers, mechanics and
23:44
stuff like that is because if you know anybody, maybe like one
23:48
of your senior uncles, this is the job that they do.
23:50
Please go and lecture your uncle in those trades.
23:55
Nobody is doing it. So the moment you do it, you
23:57
stand out. It's that simple.
24:00
It is that that simple. All right, so we're trying to do
24:05
word of mouth. So now since we're trying to
24:07
optimize for word of mouth, I suggested, I know some of you
24:09
are not like this, but you know, I'm not forcing you is a
24:12
suggestion. It's just suggestion.
24:15
So I suggested that one thing you can do when you enter into
24:17
those estates is you go and to make your presentation.
24:20
And then when you make your presentation, you can say that
24:24
look, since I'm already here and it is still early morning.
24:32
What I can do is if there's any of you who suspects that there
24:35
might be issues with your system or you're not sure when last
24:38
your generator was serviced, after this meeting I can follow
24:40
you to your house. Let me just look at the system.
24:43
If there's any problem, I'll point it out to you.
24:45
If there's anything that needs to be fixed, just buy the
24:47
materials and I'll fix it free of charge.
24:49
You buy the materials, I'll fix it free of charge so you don't
24:53
have to pay my labour. But let me just have a look at
24:56
your system. Now, in sales, part of the scope
24:59
of isolating somebody like this, breaking somebody away from the
25:02
parties, we want one-on-one time with the person that allows us
25:05
to build rapport, allows us to build a relationship.
25:09
It allows us to figure out what's going on, figure out what
25:11
people really need, you know, things like that.
25:13
So that's the scope. That's the scope right there.
25:18
And yeah, some of you don't like the free servicing part.
25:21
But anyway, we can talk about all that later, whether you
25:24
should be in free work or you should not do free work.
25:26
But just remember, it's a scope, it's a plan.
25:30
We're trying to just put one leg inside.
25:37
All I put it, let me just say, we're trying to get a leg in,
25:39
you know, small, small. Let them be knowing me in this
25:41
estate. Let them be knowing me in this,
25:43
in this community. The goal is by the time I do it
25:46
for Chief Lagbaja, who knows? Chief Lagbaja's neighbor might
25:50
have a problem. They might prefer me, you know,
25:53
And these things happen like there's one Carpenter, although
25:56
my wife doesn't like this Carpenter.
25:58
She calls him Orga 1 Nail because he believes that one
26:01
nail can solve every problem. So in this estate, everybody
26:04
knows Capital One Nail. That's not his real name anyway.
26:08
So that's the scope. Whenever there's a problem,
26:10
everybody calls him. So these are ways that you can
26:15
be getting people in this. How will I put it?
26:20
OK, People in this socio economic status can be getting
26:24
much more steady income, reliable income then put it that
26:30
way. All right, so that's estates
26:34
then let's see what else. And people who use big
26:37
generators, now shops, commercial centres in Abuja,
26:40
they use heavy generators, big, big generators.
26:45
So all these shops in Abuja central business district can go
26:49
there. Supermarkets, hair salons,
26:52
restaurants, cyber cafe, all of them.
26:55
And the approach, remember we're talking about outreach here was
26:59
a very approach, very direct, something you go introduce
27:01
yourself. Do you have a mechanic or
27:03
introduce yourself and notice you have a so, so, so engine
27:06
outside. And The thing is making so, so,
27:07
so, so noise. It happens to be what I can,
27:10
what I do. I'm looking around, trying to
27:14
drum up some business. If you don't mind, let me have a
27:16
look at the engine. You know, perhaps it needs a
27:20
tune up, maybe it needs servicing or something like
27:22
that. I'm willing to have a look at it
27:23
for you for free. And you know, shall you
27:27
understand, like what I said before, that's how I was just
27:30
trying to get a leg in. If there's a problem, I'll fix
27:35
it for you for free. All you have to do is just get
27:37
the parts. I'll call you back in another
27:39
two weeks to see if everything is going OK.
27:41
And all I ask of you is you consider that I become your
27:44
regular generator guy so that if there's any problem, you hit me
27:47
up now. Kind of simple, very direct
27:51
approach. Then there's also guest houses,
27:55
small hotels, event centres, all these people use generators a
27:58
lot, church and mosque. Although when I said mosque, I
28:01
was now thinking, do people in mosque use generator?
28:03
Because it looks at me as if in the mosque they come in in the
28:06
morning and then by, you know, one they already left.
28:09
So it's only usually church, you know, night VG and all that kind
28:12
of thing. So church and mosque, although I
28:15
think more church can approach those kind of people.
28:18
And then also spoke about referral partnerships.
28:21
That's also part of prospecting and direct outreach because
28:24
sometimes when you ask yourself the question, who are my ideal
28:27
customers, sometimes the answer is my ideal customers are
28:31
already doing business with another person.
28:34
So the scope now becomes how can I approach this other person,
28:38
partner with them, So we'll be sending ourselves some business.
28:41
So in this case, now for somebody who's a generator
28:43
mechanic, part dealers, your customers are already there
28:47
because when the gym breaks down, where do they go?
28:49
To the part dealers, you go and talk.
28:50
To the part dealer, you go and talk to the people who sell
28:53
generator. You know, Olga here natural as
28:57
business, everything moving OK. You know, I've been thinking we
29:01
can turn into a partnership together.
29:02
You sell big generators, I fix big generators and Olga here
29:06
natural, you know that I'm a reputable guy and I always do
29:10
good work. So can we turn into this
29:12
arrangement so that any single time any of your customers need
29:17
somebody, you send me? If I go there, I should be able
29:21
to be giving you your 5%, your 10%, your blah, blah, blah.
29:25
Have the conversation, see that's that's an option.
29:28
And these ideas are actually very basic because when I was
29:33
coming into Abuja, it's in fact that's what I did in Lagos.
29:37
That's why I did in Abuja because coming back from the UK,
29:39
who did I know in Lagos? So we're trying to partner up
29:42
with wedding planners. The same thing when I moved to
29:44
Abuja, who did I know in Abuja trying to partner up with
29:47
wedding planners, event planners, other professionals to
29:50
try and get a leg in, scratch my back and scratch your back.
29:53
So those sorts of things as well.
29:58
But as you can see now, how to grow your business as a
30:00
generator mechanic, you can see that for me, the starting point
30:03
is always these physical old school methods that never fail.
30:08
Now, the reason why I like the physical old school methods is
30:10
this. It gives you something that we
30:13
call try. What do you call it?
30:15
Again, qualitative data. There's quantitative data where
30:20
you can fixed numbers to eat, but then there's qualitative
30:23
data. Qualitative data means you have
30:25
the right feel or you have the right intuition about something.
30:29
So when you're having direct interactions.
30:32
Oh, sorry, look at me. I forgot my rice.
30:34
Sorry. One moment.
30:35
Let me check this rice. I'll be back.
30:40
OK, I'm back. You'll be happy to know the rice
30:43
is not burnt and the meat is not burnt.
30:46
So yeah, the kids are eating now.
30:48
Everybody's alive and everybody is well.
30:51
And when school resumes in another one week, I'll be back
30:54
to my regular schedule and I won't have to apologize every
30:57
single time on the microphone that they're going to be kids in
31:01
the background. Anyway, that was that I had
31:04
before I continue the story behind this too is really,
31:07
really interesting. Now, at the time my wife met me,
31:10
I've never been a good cook. So back when we were dating, I
31:12
used to do one or two things, you know, trying to impress her.
31:14
Now so our grill chicken, you know, I'll do some nice things
31:18
with Turkey, you know, pepper meat.
31:20
Then I learned how to do what's this thing called the one with
31:26
cow leg. Is it a butcher?
31:28
OK, No, a butcher is the is like cassava that you sprinkle on it.
31:33
What is cow leg again? OK, you see who is the one that
31:36
is good head is one that is cow lecture.
31:39
I don't know what The thing is. So I learned how to do that cow
31:42
legs something. So I used to impress her and
31:44
then back then when we were dating, I told her, don't worry,
31:46
by the time we marry, I'll make wonderful a Gucci soup for you,
31:51
see. But this is the problem when
31:52
you're talking with women, young men pay attention.
31:55
You know, I said it as per you know, now you just say some
31:59
stuff. I said that when we marry, I
32:01
cook a Gucci soup for you. For 15 years, my wife has been
32:05
carrying that thing in her head that when we were dating, he
32:07
said you make a Gucci soup for me, you still haven't made a
32:09
Gucci soup. Can you imagine?
32:11
So boys are big when you are toasting stage, be careful the
32:16
things you say, be careful the expectations that you're setting
32:19
up and it does it. So this last time, now that she
32:23
travelled, I said ah, when she comes back now to start cooking
32:26
and everything will be somehow. So that's why it's OK.
32:28
Let me take it upon myself, let me go.
32:30
I mixed you so I missed you and I thought my wife would be
32:34
impressed. She came back, she said I missed
32:36
you and she was like OK, one less thing for me to worry
32:39
about. Can you imagine?
32:41
I missed you. Her responses 1 less thing for
32:43
me to worry about instead of praising me for being the best
32:46
husband in the world. Anyway, eventually she ate the
32:50
Stew and she's like, yeah, it's all right, it's OK.
32:54
Can't imagine women appreciate your husband as well.
32:57
So that's the Stew that the kids are eating now.
33:01
So that's that's the story of the of the Stew.
33:04
So anyway, I guess I have to live up to my Gucci promise, but
33:11
OK, maybe I'll do that next year when I make it.
33:13
I'll let you guys know how how it goes.
33:17
So, so that's it about this to you.
33:21
Where was I? OK, I was talking about referral
33:29
partnerships. Yes.
33:33
So referral partnerships now, people who deal in past, people
33:36
who deal in generators. And I think that's it pretty
33:38
much. I think I've exhausted some of
33:40
the general ideas that can be done when somebody's a generator
33:47
mechanic. Sorry, let me clear my nose.
33:51
OK, sorry about that. Just recovering from a cold.
33:54
So these are just some of the general ideas that one can
33:58
pursue. Well, like I said, typically I
34:02
will explore all these basic traditional old school
34:06
one-on-one things first because we're getting good qualitative
34:11
data and that's where I left off.
34:14
So qualitative data, those are insights that you get from
34:17
talking with people that helps you to inform plans that you
34:21
have for business expansion. So if you're having good
34:23
conversations with people, good relationships, it is there that
34:27
you'll get good ideas about where to expand your business,
34:30
what additional product lines to do or the additional revenue
34:33
streams or problems that your customers have that your
34:38
competitors don't know. And you know, because of that,
34:41
you're you're service, you're you're servicing those problems,
34:44
meeting those problems and having an edge over your
34:47
competitors because other people are not having conversations
34:50
with people. So this is one of the reasons
34:52
why I like all these traditional one-on-one, because it forces
34:55
you to be talking to people. And then the side effect, which
34:59
is when somebody called at the end of the just before we ended
35:03
up the radio show, the side effect is you may not realize
35:06
this going around and talking to people.
35:08
The thing builds more confidence to go bolster yourself esteem.
35:12
And I think that's the best thing about it really.
35:14
So that's the reason why you will find, at least in the West
35:17
anyway, that you say somebody is chairman of this, chairman of
35:20
this, chairman of this, whether the chairman of IBM, chairman of
35:23
whatever you will see in his CV, the guy started off in sales.
35:28
It is not a coincidence. So starting off as a young man,
35:33
20 something, 30 something, you're having to go here, go
35:37
here, fix meeting, fix meeting, go for presentation, make
35:41
proposal, do sales pitch, negotiate price, haggle, close,
35:47
set appointments, all these things.
35:49
You're building self esteem, you're building courage, you're
35:55
building character, you're building poise, you're building
35:59
carriage. There's just a wait.
36:01
After a while you step into the room like people see you before
36:04
you open your mouth, before you open your mouth, you know,
36:07
people see your aura. They say, see that young man
36:10
over there, that's a natural born leader.
36:12
Or you say, you see that baby over there, she knows where
36:14
she's heading. That's a natural born leader
36:16
over there. That's CEO material right there.
36:19
So these are some of the benefits.
36:21
So The thing is that even if you don't want to ever do anything
36:26
sales related, you don't be a professional salesperson, but
36:29
you know, you're starting your own business.
36:31
Still try inject yourself into the sales game.
36:34
You want to pick up lots of transferable skills, lots of
36:36
transferable skills. It's going to help you.
36:39
It's going to really, really build you.
36:42
It will come in handy. It will really, really come in
36:47
handy. People will see and will have
36:48
this small boy. Why is he so bold?
36:51
You know that the reason why you're bold is because you know
36:54
you've been engaged in all these kind of activities.
36:56
So you know yourself, you're competent, you know how to start
36:59
conversations up with people. So 1 moment sorry about that was
37:05
one of my kids was asking for most you.
37:08
So at least one, at least some people appreciate me.
37:10
Even if my wife doesn't appreciate me with my Stew, at
37:12
least the children do. So where was I?
37:17
So get engaged. You get qualitative data, you
37:21
learn how to service your customers, you get good insights
37:26
for innovating in your business. Then you're also building good
37:29
character, good courage, good competence, good, you know, good
37:33
carriage, good everything. So it's a win win and that's why
37:37
it's not from the traditional stuff.
37:38
Then later on, we can now go and do the Internet, the Internet,
37:40
the Internet. The problem that I have with
37:42
Internet honestly, is because it breeds bad behaviour because
37:45
Internet is all about sitting behind on the keyboard and then
37:48
doing copy and paste. People type from here to
37:52
ineffectiveness and copy and paste from here to
37:55
ineffectiveness. So anyway, that's the podcast
37:58
episode for later. So that is how to grow your
38:00
business. If you're a generator mechanic,
38:02
your company new into the game. Unfortunately, there is no magic
38:05
pill. And even if you don't like
38:07
anything that I've said here, I promise you this.
38:10
Starting off in business, I promise you this.
38:12
It doesn't matter who you go and meet.
38:15
There is no answer that does not involve some level of graft or
38:18
some level of hard work. And I can assure you, if you're
38:21
going and anybody's promising you the 123 bullet points to do
38:25
this, that that without stress, please avoid those people.
38:30
Well, if you notice those people, let me give you their
38:32
formula. If you notice, listen, see for
38:34
me I'm here talking real stuff, talking practical stuff, and I'm
38:38
doing this thing for free. All those people, the 123 magic
38:42
steps that will help you quadruple some.
38:43
Have you noticed that they always want to collect your
38:45
money first? They want you to drop 50K per
38:49
head 1st and they will only do it if they're able to fill up
38:56
the whole hall of 250 of you. So 250 people registrants.
39:03
They paid for the hall 150K, then they collected 5050K per
39:07
head, then now they will give you your that their magic
39:10
secret. So this is secret.
39:12
I'm telling you anybody who is giving you the magic bullet that
39:15
you will get this thing for free.
39:18
You're a party. They're just trying to collect
39:20
money or collect money on top of your head.
39:23
Anybody who is telling you. So anything worthwhile, it will
39:26
involve a certain level of graft.
39:28
So even the people who I want to tell you this is how you build
39:31
your business as a general mechanic online, it will still
39:33
involve some level of graft, whether it is grafting harder,
39:37
copywriting, grafting harder, coming up with the ICP grafting
39:41
card at coming up with what's it called, images for your
39:45
advertisements or whatever. So even if you don't like what
39:49
I've said, no problem, go and listen to somebody else, but
39:52
whatever. But I'm telling you that it's
39:54
going to involve some level of work either way, there's
39:56
grafting involved. So that's it and that's all.
39:59
Thank you very much for listening to the episode today.
40:02
And of course, if you'd like to connect.
40:04
You can call send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on
40:07
08064662140. Thank you very much for your
40:13
time and attention. I'll catch you all at the next
40:15
episode.