Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / How to Generate High-Value Leads at a Party Without Being Weird
Transcript
- 0:01Today on the podcast, we're going to look at whether it is
- 0:04possible to sell at social events.
- 0:08In other words, when people are gathered together because they
- 0:12want to mix, they want to socialize, they want to flex,
- 0:15they want to flange or they want to judge or they want to enjoy
- 0:18themselves. Is it possible for you to show
- 0:20up in their midst and then start trying to drum up sales?
- 0:25Now the reason why we're looking at this today is because there
- 0:29is a Niger Tech founder who had a successful exit, who was
- 0:33giving a series of talks in 2025.
- 0:37And at one particular event where he was talking to some
- 0:41newbie founders and entrepreneurs, he tried to give
- 0:45them a what would I say now speed course on what to expect
- 0:49when it comes to selling and marketing and promoting your
- 0:54business idea, your startup ideas.
- 0:58And one of the things he spoke about was how you can sell at
- 1:01events because you can jam somebody in the club.
- 1:06You know, all of them are just the groove, enjoying yourselves.
- 1:08And then you meet another founder or another service
- 1:12provider who is interested in signing your product, signing
- 1:17your service. So what he would do is, you
- 1:19know, he's out in the club. You know, music is just, you
- 1:22know, boom, boom, boom. Everybody's enjoying themselves,
- 1:24alcohol flowing, and then you get into those sorts of business
- 1:27conversations. And the next day he'll be in the
- 1:30office and then he'll tell the sales team that yesterday I was
- 1:33at the club I was chatting with. So, so and so they are
- 1:37interested in possibly buying, possibly trying us out.
- 1:41So go give this guy a call. So that is the context, that is
- 1:46the background. Is it possible to sell at social
- 1:49events and should we even bother trying to sell at social events?
- 1:53If this is your first time listening to the podcast, my
- 1:55name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm a former lawyer turned
- 1:58business consultant and I am your host.
- 2:01If you would love to connect with me, then send me a
- 2:04connection request on LinkedIn or you can call send me a text
- 2:08message or send me a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
- 2:16Also, if you enjoy the trend of the conversation that we're
- 2:20having here so far. If you're feeling the vibes of
- 2:22this podcast, then subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any
- 2:27player of your choice. So let's go straight into the
- 2:30question now. Is it possible to sell at social
- 2:33events? And was this guy correct when he
- 2:35said you can be chilling at the club or you can meet someone
- 2:38else and they might be interested in your product or
- 2:40service. And then the next day you just
- 2:43follow up or you instruct your crew and tell them that you guys
- 2:46follow up, somebody's interested.
- 2:49Now the answer is yes, you can. So that social events so long as
- 2:56you are not using a by my stuff kind of all I put it now, so
- 3:02long as your household is not by my stuff, by my stuff, by my
- 3:05stuff. I don't know how to explain it,
- 3:08but you know those kind of people that every single time
- 3:11you guys are doing also called reunion, secondary school,
- 3:15union, university reunion, you know that guy who's always going
- 3:19around, you know, buy my thing, buy my thing, buy my thing.
- 3:23You know those guys. Now, if you do, if you did
- 3:25reunion in 2025, the guy showed off that's like crypto this,
- 3:29crypto this, crypto this, crypto this and you do Rihanna in 2026
- 3:33and you know that he's going to show up and be talking buy this,
- 3:36buy this, buy this. But you know that Shah, he has
- 3:38his also, his also has changed. So yes, you can sell our social
- 3:44events so long as you are not that guy or you're not that girl
- 3:47who's always buy my stuff, buy my stuff, buy my thing.
- 3:50This is the future, this is this, this is that, buy now,
- 3:54sign up, be part of my network, be part of this too.
- 3:59You know, yes, you can sell our social events so long as that is
- 4:03not the approach that you take. Because if that is your
- 4:06approach, buy my stuff, buy my stuff.
- 4:08You're going to end up being a Leech.
- 4:10You're going to end up being an irritant.
- 4:13People will know you when they cite you in social gatherings is
- 4:17going on. Come again, You're an irritant.
- 4:20The reason why you're going to be an irritant is because when
- 4:22people come at social gatherings, whether people are
- 4:24at the club or whether they're doing secondary school reunion
- 4:27or church reunion or what else, you know, descendants of
- 4:34descendants of a girl or more doodoo or something like that.
- 4:38You know, whatever it is, it's a social gathering.
- 4:42People are there for a good time.
- 4:43People are not there for a sales pitch.
- 4:45You're jamming somebody in the club.
- 4:47The person is there for a good time, but most people anyway,
- 4:51there's some people who go to club to network.
- 4:53I'd like to be one of those guys because let me learn too how I
- 4:58can, you know, be networking with Hennessy and all that.
- 5:02So basically social gathering, people are there for a good
- 5:06time. They're not there for your sales
- 5:07pitch. But the major problem with this
- 5:11buy my stuff, buy my stuff, buy my stuff thing is eventually
- 5:15people figure you out. They know that that is your MO,
- 5:18your modus operandi. As we say in this part of the
- 5:21world, the way that you function, people will know you
- 5:24don't know your Steve's, don't know your pattern.
- 5:27And because of that, you will stop getting invitations.
- 5:31So if you think of yourself as a very, how do I put it like
- 5:37you're very, like you're a go getter, you know, and you talk
- 5:42passionately about your, your products, your ideas, your
- 5:46whatever it is. But you noticed that over time,
- 5:51it's like people keep forgetting to invite you for all these
- 5:54events. It is by design.
- 5:59They are not forgetting to invite you.
- 6:01They know that you today do you're a Leech, you're an
- 6:05irritant, you're getting on people's nails.
- 6:07So therefore and the next one they will say, you know that guy
- 6:11cool. No, don't invite him.
- 6:13Say why I was wrong and just just leave cool.
- 6:15Forget him, forget him or how far we came in.
- 6:17No, I came in. No, just leave her.
- 6:19Leave her. No need to call her.
- 6:20No need to call her. These are some of the reasons
- 6:23why. So if you want to sell a social
- 6:26events, this is what you do. You walk up to someone and you
- 6:31say hi, first of all. OK, well, when I say hi, I don't
- 6:35mean you must say hi, you know, like it depends now, like who
- 6:39are you? It depends on the context.
- 6:41You know, some places where if you go and say hi, you'll be
- 6:43like, this guy's rather formal. This guy's rather English.
- 6:47So, you know, it depends. There are some places where you
- 6:50roll up and the proper greeting could be some like, or Benny,
- 6:53how far or my *** waiting day, you know.
- 6:56So it depends because I remember when I was new in Saint
- 7:01Gregory's College in in Oberlin Day.
- 7:06Yeah, Oberlin Day, Southwest to go.
- 7:10Coming from Abuja, nothing was weird because in Abuja, you
- 7:13know, we were normal guys or gentlemen.
- 7:16You see your classmates, I say, oh, boy, Alfredo, what's up?
- 7:19How you been, As we used to greet like normal people, but
- 7:23then enter my classroom in Saint Gregory's College.
- 7:28Next thing I had bastard, I turned round.
- 7:31There was this guy LMRO. Now me and LMRO would end up
- 7:35becoming quite good friends. It turns out that his father, I
- 7:38think his father was a member of the NURTW, that's the National
- 7:42Union of Rd. Transport Workers.
- 7:44And I think LMRO later on will become a big player in that
- 7:47space 'cause when I started the wedding photography and I went
- 7:52to what's this place called on the island to buy my camera
- 7:56equipment. I can't remember what the place
- 7:57is called. I ran into him anyway, and it
- 8:02looked like he was controlling a number of buses and stuff like
- 8:05that. And I thought to myself, like,
- 8:06wow, interesting. But anyway, so I had bastard and
- 8:11I turned around. I saw an MRO.
- 8:14Yeah, I just entered the classroom, you know, looking
- 8:17like the thug, you know, he is or he was, and then he walked
- 8:21over to his friend office. I say bastard and the way they
- 8:26were greeting themselves, very violent, kind of, you know, and
- 8:30even me, I know that bastard is an insult.
- 8:32And I'm wondering how can you be greeting your friend like that
- 8:34bastard? Anyway, I just realized that
- 8:38after a while that that's just how well and do boys are.
- 8:42You know, there's even some strong, stronger language that I
- 8:44cannot see on this podcast. Let's just say, MFA, if you
- 8:48understand the the other put it the shortened form.
- 8:52Some people just roll up and say, ah, bastard MFRUD, you
- 8:56know, yeah, yeah. I'm like, why are they just
- 8:58abusing their mother up and down anyway?
- 9:02So the whole point of me going into all this is basically I'm
- 9:06saying that whichever way you guys are used to greeting in
- 9:09your social circles, that is the appropriate greeting.
- 9:12So there are some circles where somebody can enter the the place
- 9:15and shout bastard and it's an appropriate greeting.
- 9:18Although for me to be honest, I think it's weird.
- 9:21You Yoruba boys, you guys need to call back or some of that.
- 9:26Anyway, it's your culture. So, so you roll upon the person.
- 9:31So whether you say bastard or you say what's up or you say how
- 9:36you doing or whatever it is, but you roll upon the person,
- 9:40appropriate greeting. After that, some small talk.
- 9:43You're trying to find some common connection to the host,
- 9:47some common connection to the event, some common connection
- 9:51between your prior history together, some kind of
- 9:54connection. That's all you're aiming for in
- 9:56the beginning. So it's a matter of hey, what's
- 9:59up? Why are you doing now?
- 10:01Also, you know Kunle, let's assume that Kunle is the person
- 10:04who invited everybody for this hangout.
- 10:06You know, say what's up? How you doing?
- 10:07So how do you know Kunle? Simple.
- 10:10The person will start talking about how he knows Kunle.
- 10:12If you make Kunle in primary school, you make only university
- 10:15good, some form of commonality. You guys be gisting a bit.
- 10:19And then of course you get to explore some stuff.
- 10:22You know, primary school, university, blah, blah, blah.
- 10:25Small talk. But remember, you roll up on
- 10:27someone, you say what's up, you say hi, you say Bruce wedding
- 10:32day. You say you know, whatever these
- 10:34people say. And then you ask a couple of
- 10:36questions because you're trying to find a common connection with
- 10:40the host. The host is the person who
- 10:42invited you for this event with the event itself, because
- 10:47obviously if it's a meeting of Saint Gregory's College or
- 10:50banning the old boys, you know, and I roll up on someone, I'd
- 10:54want to know what set did this guy go to?
- 10:57Because, you know, from there, that's how the conversation will
- 10:59flow, you know, So if you are a 1973 set and you're talking to
- 11:04somebody who is, I don't know, a 2001 set, well, OK.
- 11:10Well, the gap is large, but you guys will have some very, very
- 11:12interesting conversations about how Saint Gregory's College has
- 11:15changed since 1973 and since 2001.
- 11:19See, these are skills that you can use to just open
- 11:21conversations. Remember, you roll up on
- 11:24someone, you say what's up, you give the appropriate greeting,
- 11:28and then you ask some simple questions because you're trying
- 11:32to find a connection, some common history with the host,
- 11:36the person we invited you with, the event itself, or with the
- 11:40prior history that you know you guys have.
- 11:42So that's, that's how you do it. So if the NBA, that is the
- 11:47Nigerian Bar Association, because remember, I'm a former
- 11:50lawyer turned business consultant.
- 11:52So if the NBA is doing something in Abuja or marketing, I can
- 11:55attend as I'm somebody who finished law school, who
- 11:59practiced for a while. And you know, I'm, I'm enrolled
- 12:03in the bar so I can call myself a lawyer even though I still
- 12:07even though I don't practice. So it's not a place for me to
- 12:10say what's up. You know how you do and then you
- 12:12know, start talking like, oh, which chapter are you from?
- 12:14I haven't seen your face before. And the person says, well, from
- 12:17a new good chapters, no worries. No wonder now because man, I'm
- 12:21an Abuja, a member of Abuja chapter.
- 12:23If you are an Abuja person, you know, if we don't recognize your
- 12:27face. And then from there I'll say you
- 12:28guys start talking. Then eventually you guys are
- 12:32going to start talking personal or you guys are going to start
- 12:35talking business. But when you do this, you're
- 12:38going to start exploring these topics from their own personal
- 12:41perspective. So when you do the whole thing
- 12:45of oh, what set were using Gregory's or what set were you
- 12:48Christ the King College or what set were you King's College or
- 12:52which chapter are you MBA? Are you a new chapter?
- 12:55Are you on each chapter? Are you Abuja chapter?
- 12:57Are you Cano chapter? Eventually, we're going to start
- 13:00talking about some things, either personal or business, but
- 13:03you will ask from their own perspective.
- 13:06This is not time for you to show how smart you are, how good you
- 13:11are, how knowledgeable you are, how abreast of things you are.
- 13:14No, no, no. You're trying to find out things
- 13:16about this other person because eventually they're going to say,
- 13:21talk about something in their personal life or in their
- 13:23business. Talk where you will now be able
- 13:26to sleep in and say, oh, you have this kind of problem.
- 13:30I have this product, I have this service that solve this kind of
- 13:34thing, or I know someone who has this product or who has this
- 13:39service and it solves that kind of thing.
- 13:42Then your call to action. I'll be after this event.
- 13:46How far can I buzz you? So that thing we discussed,
- 13:50maybe I'll bring it to you at the office.
- 13:51You know, you see, maybe it's something you're interested in,
- 13:54something that might help, you know, something like that.
- 13:57That is how you sell at social events.
- 14:01If you run around saying buy my stuff, buy my stuff, you're an
- 14:03irritant. Nobody's going to invite you.
- 14:05But if you make things easy and organic, it was up.
- 14:08How you doing? Your face is fresh.
- 14:10I haven't seen you before. And this is your first time
- 14:12joining MBA. OK.
- 14:13You just graduated last year. OK.
- 14:15No worries. I understand now.
- 14:17Yeah. I got called to the bar 15 years
- 14:19ago. Where'd you say you're from
- 14:20again? I did not see your face when I
- 14:23was in BSU. Oh, OK.
- 14:25You finished that Saint Mary's College in, in, in Oxford, in
- 14:29London. Oh, OK, OK.
- 14:30And then from there, Jose Gist. Jose Gist, not a gist.
- 14:33You know, eventually you enter Kemi Badenoch.
- 14:36That's the lady who I think she was running for head of Labour
- 14:42Party. I know that whole controversy
- 14:44with her saying stuff about Nigerians.
- 14:46So eventually now you enter Kemi Badenoch and you'll be talking,
- 14:49talking, talking. But remember it is from their
- 14:53own perspective, you asking them questions, not you showing how
- 14:56sharp you are at current affairs.
- 15:00Now eventually they might start talking about stuff around
- 15:05immigration policy and blah, blah, blah.
- 15:06Maybe they know somebody who is trying to jackpot.
- 15:09But the person know who if what you do now is immigration law,
- 15:14that is the point where you say, Oh yeah, well, so this uncle now
- 15:18was was with what was going to happen.
- 15:21You know what, I actually do immigration law and I have
- 15:24partners who are currently in, you know, Wolverhampton
- 15:30currently in blah, blah, blah, wherever, you know, as we speak.
- 15:33And this is the kind of thing that we specialize in.
- 15:39So you see, that is the organic shift.
- 15:42But if you show up talking to everybody.
- 15:45Hello, this is me. My name is Tavishima.
- 15:48I graduated first class and my specialty is immigration law.
- 15:52Here's my card. If you need an immigration
- 15:54lawyer, call me. And that's what you're doing all
- 15:56evening. You're going to end up being an
- 15:57irritant. So this is a much more organic
- 16:00way for how you get to, and I put it, slip your agenda into
- 16:09the whole thing. So remember, you show up
- 16:13appropriate greeting after appropriate greeting.
- 16:15Explore some commonalities, explore some connection with the
- 16:19host. How do you know?
- 16:20So so so so the person who invited you guys or with the
- 16:24event, if it is a federal, federal government, old boys,
- 16:33federal government, college Obama, sure.
- 16:35Then you're exploring, you know, the event itself and and and the
- 16:39history. So OK, FGCN would set me I'm
- 16:421976. Which one are you?
- 16:4401999 said Hey, yeah. Are you a small boy?
- 16:48By the time people graduated, I was already working in central
- 16:51bank, you know, and there from there, you know, conversation
- 16:52was just low like that. But as you guys talk about
- 16:56personal and business talk, remember to take things from
- 16:59their own personal perspective. Eventually the chance to come
- 17:03for you to chook your own agenda and then the call to action or
- 17:08what you're trying to do is after this event, you're trying
- 17:10to call them up, go to their house, go to the office, have
- 17:14another meeting where you guys are talking.
- 17:16So more detail about how you can help.
- 17:18So for those of you who are trying to sell our social
- 17:22events, you're a tech founder, you're whatever, you're an
- 17:25architect, you're a consultant, you're, I mean, the playbook is
- 17:29all the same. So the reason I'm making today's
- 17:32podcast is what that guy said is absolutely correct.
- 17:35You can't sell our social events.
- 17:37He just didn't say how. In fact, he's, he spoke about
- 17:42beating somebody yesterday at the club, but he didn't tell you
- 17:46when you go into the club, how do you put your business agenda
- 17:50on the table? And this is how.
- 17:52And by the way, you have to be satisfied that it's not every
- 17:57single time that you're going to be able to get your agenda on
- 17:59the table. It's not every time.
- 18:02So sometimes you go out, you want to network, you want to do
- 18:06your business thing. It's not going to work all the
- 18:08time. In fact, when I sold insurance,
- 18:10there was one guy who specialized in, I can't remember
- 18:14the name of the insurance product, but it's one of these
- 18:16insurance products that have come up because, you know, the
- 18:18cost of burial in Niger is, is high, astronomically high.
- 18:23In fact, when you hear that, you know, your uncle has died or
- 18:26pops, you don't die or something.
- 18:28The first thing that will grab you the first, you know, BP the
- 18:32first hypertension that would, that would get you be, hey, are
- 18:35we going to pay for this whole burial thing?
- 18:39So there are a couple of insurance products that have
- 18:42been designed by some Nigerian insurance companies that deal
- 18:46with this sort of thing. So there's a there's a
- 18:49beneficiary. So forgive me, I'm not speak
- 18:52about in technical terms, so I don't misinform you.
- 18:54But basically, you know, you'd be dropping some small, small
- 18:56money and then unfortunately, you know, death comes also, God
- 19:00forbid. Well, unfortunately the time
- 19:01comes, you know, all passes. You guys took out a policy, you
- 19:04know, so they pay so that the money cannot be used to defray
- 19:10to cover the funeral costs. Now there was one guy in the
- 19:14office where I used to work who that was his specialty and the
- 19:18reason why I was his specialty was because the thing happened
- 19:21to him. I think it was Popsy that died
- 19:231st and they were not prepared and so Popsy's barrier cleaned
- 19:28them out like it was terrible. So him now working in insurance
- 19:34is like this product is here, why shouldn't I take advantage
- 19:36of it? So they took the product and
- 19:39then unfortunately later on, Mumsy passed.
- 19:43Whatever Mumsy passed, the difference was clear.
- 19:46You know, they were not bankrupted because Mumsy passed.
- 19:49There was good money. I was able to cover enough,
- 19:51enough of stuff. So he was able to talk about
- 19:53this thing from his own personal experience.
- 19:55And in fact, that was his own strategy.
- 19:58He used to like to go out drinking every single Friday,
- 20:00you know, with guys and it was part of his thing from drinking
- 20:06eventually. They will start talking about
- 20:08these sorts of things. And his personal story would
- 20:11always come in about Momsy Popsy and how this thing was so
- 20:14useful. And of course, you know, now,
- 20:18Nigel, now none of us want to be irresponsible.
- 20:22We want to make sure that we bury our parents well.
- 20:24So if you hear that kind of thing, like, OK, I would like to
- 20:29know some more about that kind of thing.
- 20:31And I was that guy's shtick. That's how he used to sell that
- 20:34particular product very well, but he knew that he wouldn't
- 20:39always get the opportunities to have that conversation.
- 20:42So it's possible that he will go drinking for one month and not
- 20:44talk about the product one single time.
- 20:50It's just one of those things. But eventually the time shows up
- 20:55where you have the opportunity to put your own agenda on the
- 20:58table. But yeah, the next time you had
- 21:01an event and you hear someone talking about how do I closing
- 21:05deals at the club and you're wondering how are people closing
- 21:08deals at the club? This is 1 possible way.
- 21:11How? All right, it's been 20 minutes.
- 21:13So let me bring today's podcast to a close.
- 21:17Remember, if you would love to connect with me, call, send me a
- 21:20text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
- 21:27Also remember we are getting ready for a series of trainings
- 21:31from the 12th of January to the 23rd of January 2026.
- 21:37If you are interested and you would love to learn how to sell
- 21:40effectively using the phone. So let's say now for instance,
- 21:44this whole club thing, you want to meet somebody at the club, so
- 21:48you have an acquaintance. How do you build the
- 21:50relationship over the phone? How do you nurture the
- 21:52relationship over the phone? How do you agree that the hookup
- 21:56is going to happen in the club? How do you agree to do that on
- 21:58the phone when you're in the club and you guys have a nice
- 22:01meeting and you know, looks as if you guys are making progress
- 22:05and you might want to meet again after the club is over?
- 22:08How do you reignite? How do you continue the
- 22:11conversation? How do you continue to pursue
- 22:13the agenda over the phone? These are the sorts of things
- 22:16that we're going to be talking about in the course coming on
- 22:19the 12th of January to the 23rd of January, 2020.
- 22:25Sixth, it's a paid course and it's going to be worth your
- 22:29while. It is not going to be a pre
- 22:31recorded thing. So there's no videos.
- 22:34It's me, I'm there. I'm live with you guys.
- 22:37Any questions that you have, I'm there to answer.
- 22:40And in fact, the whole point of me being there live is I want to
- 22:44be sure that we come up with protocols, we come up with
- 22:46frameworks, we come up with the next steps that will be
- 22:49particular and unique to your own situation.
- 22:52That's the reason why I'm there. So would you like to learn some
- 22:56more about the training? Hit me up, call me, send me a
- 22:59text message, send me a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
- 23:08If you're not interested in training, still reach out anyway
- 23:12because I like meeting people who listen to the podcast.
- 23:16So thank you very much for your time and attention.
- 23:18Again, thank you to those of you who've been supporting the
- 23:20podcast since day one and the people who found the podcast
- 23:24newly in 2025. It's been an honor that you
- 23:27have. Let me be a part of your
- 23:29business development growth and your personal I be personal
- 23:34development. I be personal growth and you
- 23:36understand what I'm trying to say.
- 23:38It's an honor that you know, I've been a part of this journey
- 23:40either professionally or personally over 2025 and I'm
- 23:44looking to be to remaining as a significant part of your life
- 23:48for 2026. So subscribe to the podcast,
- 23:52reach out, let me know questions, comments, queries,
- 23:56things you like, things you don't like, topics you'd like us
- 23:59to explore, reach out. And then if you're interested in
- 24:01the training, I'm available. Hit me up, let me know.
- 24:04Also, apologies for the noise in the background.
- 24:07For those who've been listening for the last week, you know that
- 24:09I'm in the villa. So I'm still in the villa.
- 24:11So all that noise in the background is the kids, cousins,
- 24:14uncles, you know, the aunties. It's hard to find a quiet place
- 24:18to record, you know, when you travel for these sorts of
- 24:21things. Anyway, we thank our for 2025
- 24:24and looking forward to a smooth 2026 as you crossover in a
- 24:28couple of days. So yeah, that's it.
- 24:31I'll be in touch some other time.