Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Why Owerri Entrepreneurs Should Focus on Fundamentals Over Automation

Transcript

Why Owerri Entrepreneurs Should Focus on Fundamentals Over Automation · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome to the podcast.
• 0:04
  Today I'd like to share another conversation that I had on that
• 0:09
  chat that I had with a podcast listener.
• 0:11
  And today, OK, Well, not today because I had this conversation,
• 0:16
  sorry. Let me check, let me scroll.
• 0:18
  OK, This conversation happened on the 12th of January 2020,
• 0:21
  sixth. OK, That's when the conversation
• 0:23
  started over on WhatsApp. And the fellow is a listener of
• 0:26
  the podcast, Let's call him J. Cole.
• 0:28
  J. Cole is not his real name, but
• 0:29
  based on conversation and also based on profile picture, the
• 0:33
  guy's giving me some J. Cole vibes.
• 0:35
  So let's just call him J. Cole, not his real name.
• 0:38
  Now, the conversation that I had with J.
• 0:40
  Cole, we talked about a couple of things related to sales, a
• 0:45
  few things related to automation and AI, And I thought it would
• 0:49
  be a good conversation to share with you guys over here on the
• 0:52
  podcast just in case there are business people who are
• 0:56
  currently listening to the podcast right now.
• 0:59
  We're going through the kinds of sales challenges or who have the
• 1:02
  kind of sales vision that J. Cole has for his business and
• 1:07
  also who are thinking about integrating artificial
• 1:11
  intelligence and automation in their businesses.
• 1:14
  So yeah, that's the reason why I'm sharing today's podcast.
• 1:17
  I'm sharing the conversation today on the podcast.
• 1:20
  So if you didn't like the last one because, you know, there was
• 1:22
  not too much sales content, don't worry, we get into some
• 1:25
  sales stuff on this particular one.
• 1:29
  Now, apologies because I'm currently on the move.
• 1:32
  I'm in the parking lot and I said, let me just record this
• 1:34
  new shop shop. So, you know, I just ripped out
• 1:36
  my phone and yeah, I'm in the WhatsApp inbox and I'm just
• 1:40
  scrolling through. Let me just share this
• 1:42
  conversation real quick now for those of you who are listening
• 1:45
  to the show for the first time, welcome.
• 1:48
  For those of you who are regular listeners, welcome back.
• 1:50
  My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm the host of the show.
• 1:54
  I'm a former lawyer turned business consultant.
• 1:57
  And every other day I step on, I step, I step up over here behind
• 2:03
  the microphone. And this is what we do.
• 2:05
  We try and solve business problems.
• 2:09
  So if you like this podcast, you're looking for good business
• 2:12
  content, then subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple iTunes,
• 2:17
  wherever it is that you listen to your podcast.
• 2:18
  And then also let your friends, family members, and when your
• 2:21
  enemies, let them know that there's good business content
• 2:24
  like this available on the Internet that you're not.
• 2:27
  You don't have to be stuck with, you know, all the Audible
• 2:31
  podcasts, you know, Niger people, you know, also making
• 2:33
  podcasts as well. Then let's see.
• 2:36
  OK, if you'd like to connect with me, you can call, send me a
• 2:39
  text message or a WhatsApp message on 0806466 2140.
• 2:47
  So if you have a question, if you have a comment, you have a
• 2:50
  query, or you have collaborations that you'd like
• 2:52
  to pitch, you know, no problem, I'm open.
• 2:54
  Reach out. Let's see what we can make
• 2:56
  happen. So if you want to be like this
• 2:59
  guy, my *** J. Cole, by the way, not his real
• 3:01
  name. So if you want to be like J.
• 3:02
  Cole, reach out. It's no problem.
• 3:05
  Let's chat. Let's see what I can do for your
• 3:06
  life. Let's see.
• 3:09
  OK, so now J. Cole, now where's the guy based?
• 3:12
  OK, I didn't ask him where he's based.
• 3:15
  I know. So J.
• 3:15
  Cole. OK, so he said, he said that he
• 3:19
  just started a new stationary business and then he wants to
• 3:22
  turn ordinary pens, notebooks, office supplies into
• 3:26
  irresistible must have must haves that sell fast.
• 3:30
  And then he also wants to create loyal customers.
• 3:33
  And he's asking for unconventional strategies that
• 3:36
  can help him scale sales quickly without spending a fortune.
• 3:40
  Then he also said, thanks for the value that you put out on
• 3:43
  Spotify. Then he put his real name there.
• 3:45
  Well, of course, you know, I'm not going to say his real name.
• 3:47
  But like I said, for this episode, we're going to call him
• 3:50
  my *** J. Cole.
• 3:52
  So J. Cole.
• 3:54
  J. Cole.
• 3:55
  Anyway, I responded to the geisha, but I'm reading the
• 3:58
  message now. There are a couple of things
• 3:59
  that crossed my mind. You know, I actually should have
• 4:03
  should have said. So he wants to turn ordinary
• 4:07
  pens, ordinary notebooks and office applies into irresistible
• 4:11
  must haves. OK, nowadays, you know, people,
• 4:17
  people who get into business and want to do magic.
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  And I really don't think it's a good idea.
• 4:24
  I don't think it's a good idea. If honestly speaking, you think
• 4:27
  what you have is ordinary pens, ordinary notebooks, ordinary
• 4:29
  office supplies, then what kind of magic are you trying to magic
• 4:33
  them into irresistible must haves?
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  You know, you either have a stellar product or a stellar
• 4:39
  service or you don't. Well, don't try and pull a fast
• 4:42
  1. So like when I hop on this
• 4:44
  microphone and I'm spitting stuff with you guys, I'm not
• 4:48
  trying to turn ordinary business advice into money.
• 4:54
  Like I genuinely think I have a perspective that lots of
• 4:58
  Nigerian people have not heard you listening to this podcast
• 5:02
  right now. You can't confirm it.
• 5:03
  Confirm you haven't heard what I'm saying on any other podcast.
• 5:07
  You haven't. So that's why I grabbed the
• 5:09
  microphone. That's why I spit in here every
• 5:11
  day because genuinely, I know that Nigerians have not heard
• 5:16
  this kind of stuff before. Lots of Nigerians assume that
• 5:20
  sales is toasting. They assume that sales is fine,
• 5:23
  boy, I'll be fine, girl. That sales is packaging, that
• 5:27
  sales is branding, That sales is connect.
• 5:30
  Who? You know, lots of Nigerians have
• 5:33
  not heard someone say that selling is a process and anybody
• 5:37
  can sell. If you're a fine boy, you can
• 5:38
  sell. If you're an ugly boy, you can
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  sell. By the way, nobody's ugly in
• 5:42
  Jesus name. If you're a fine girl, you will
• 5:44
  sell. If you're an average girl, you
• 5:46
  will sell. If you're black, you can sell.
• 5:48
  You're yellow, you can sell. You are rich, you can sell.
• 5:51
  You get connects, you can sell. You know get connects, you can
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  sell. Anybody you can sell.
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  Nigerians haven't heard that before.
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  That's why I'm here. That's why I'm on this mic.
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  So I talk about principles, I talk about strategies, I talk
• 6:07
  about tactics, I talk about frameworks.
• 6:09
  I introduce you guys to stuff that I know for sure that 1890%
• 6:16
  of Nigerians have never heard before.
• 6:17
  And that's why I'm on the mic. I believe I have something
• 6:21
  stellar. If you believe you have
• 6:22
  something ordinary, I beg don't try whirlwind pimple and try and
• 6:26
  irresistible something some no. There's room for ordinary people
• 6:30
  who sell pure water. Don't come and try and you know,
• 6:34
  magically irresistible the pure water.
• 6:38
  Like if what you say is pure water, you say is pure water,
• 6:41
  good, let's go about and sell this pure water finish.
• 6:45
  So if there's if your stuff, if you're stationary, honestly is
• 6:49
  just ordinary, then what? Again, no, there's no magic
• 6:53
  about it. However, there's something in
• 7:01
  business circles that we say now value add.
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  Value add just means you take something which is a raw
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  material, then you process the thing or your package is small
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  and then in processing it or packaging it, the thing that
• 7:15
  becomes much more valuable and then you can sell it to other
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  people. So back when my brother and I
• 7:21
  used to be in the exports, the export business.
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  So whether it's charcoal or whether it's sesame seed, OK, we
• 7:31
  never exported was this one called soya bean.
• 7:35
  But we, we, we got some soya beans.
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  We just never found a buyer because at that time, because of
• 7:40
  some stuff that was going on, actually was cheaper for people
• 7:43
  to import soy from US than to actually buy it from Nigeria.
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  I mean, that period was wild. I just thought it was, was crazy
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  because I actually reached out to one company in Abuja.
• 7:54
  They produce in Abuja. And, you know, so based on our
• 7:57
  conversation, I mean, I'd already heard the gist when
• 8:00
  human told me I was, I was, I was shocked.
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  She said based on the prices that were going on in the
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  market, it actually made more sense for them to just import
• 8:07
  from America. And she said that the one from
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  America would also be better quality because, you know, don't
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  have to, you know, clean its impurities and all that.
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  And then Duma said the only benefit of dealing with Nigerian
• 8:20
  companies that, you know, for us was sharp, sharp.
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  So if you buy from Nigeria, they will arrive quickly, sharp,
• 8:26
  sharp, sharp. But you're willing to wait for a
• 8:29
  while, you know, couple of weeks.
• 8:32
  Yeah. You better off just buy from
• 8:34
  American companies. And I thought that was wild
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  shop. So we didn't do anything in soya
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  beans again. In fact, I should reach out to
• 8:40
  people who are still in the business and find out if that's
• 8:41
  still the case. So where was I?
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  I have value add now. That is the idea behind value
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  add. So if you take sesame like me
• 8:51
  and my brother were trying to do back then, you don't want to
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  export this sesame seed. If you just carry it like that,
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  fresh from the farmer as it is, you now try and sell it because
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  the thing has not been cleaned. It will attract a certain kind
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  of price then the one that you have cleaned yourself and
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  separated because. So it's been a while, so I can't
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  even remember how this thing goes.
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  OK. Yeah.
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  So like, there are different markets.
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  There's brown sesame. Like there's white sesame and I
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  think there's like, is it black? Is it black?
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  There's white, there's brown, there's one other color.
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  And then in different parts of the world, you know, they like
• 9:34
  different colors. So for those of you who like
• 9:35
  fast food, you know, you go to McDonald's and stuff like that,
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  you know, you see the sesame on the bonds, you see that the
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  sesame is, is that light colored sesame.
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  So you go and collect from all the farmer and of course, you
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  know, no one single farmer has all the sesame that you need.
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  So usually you're buying from collectives.
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  So you go and buy all these sesame.
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  Then if you have the machine that will sort out this thing,
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  you know will sort out white into all the white one put one
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  side, all the black one put one side, all the brown one put one
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  side. Then of course you remove
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  impurities, you know, blah, blah, blah.
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  So you know, you see that whole process now that's what you call
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  value add. You have added value to the
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  process so that you can now sell it in the market at a higher at
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  a higher, higher cost. Sorry, higher price because you
• 10:27
  don't add value into the equation.
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  So yes, it's possible for you to take something that is ordinary.
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  You now do value, value add and then now selling to the market.
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  So if you think what you have is ordinary mount opinion, don't
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  try and do magic, but you can take an ordinary good.
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  You can now do value add and you can now sell at a higher price.
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  So yes, for someone who is in J Cole's kind of situation, yeah,
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  you can take something simple and ordinary like stationary, do
• 10:57
  some value add, and then you can now sell it, sell it into the
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  market, and then try and get the higher price.
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  Now, for those of you who listened to yesterday's episode,
• 11:10
  Please remember what I spoke about the value Trinity.
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  Remember that one is not my own framework.
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  Oh, I never claimed the idea that it's not my own.
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  In fact, I never talked about any frameworks that are my own
• 11:19
  because I don't manufacture any frameworks.
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  I'm just here giving you guys the best about global, best
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  business practice and then I just simply translate it into
• 11:29
  the Nigerian context. By the way, that's the reason
• 11:32
  why I say information is free, but what you pay for, for with
• 11:36
  me is application. Because honestly speaking, if
• 11:38
  you want to search the Internet, all the things I'm saying, yeah,
• 11:40
  you actually will find it. But translating these ideas into
• 11:43
  the Nigerian experience and getting somebody to walk with
• 11:46
  you as you are solving this problem on a daily in the
• 11:49
  Nigerian context, that's actually what you pay me for.
• 11:53
  So where was I now? So value add, value add, value
• 11:58
  add. OK, I've lost my train of
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  thought too. OK, I spoke about how you can do
• 12:04
  value add and I had the value Trinity.
• 12:07
  Now Victor Antonio's value Trinity, he's also another
• 12:10
  brilliant podcaster and sales consultant and trainer.
• 12:17
  So forgive me, Hammer Town over here in Abuja.
• 12:19
  So just recovering from cough code and Qatar.
• 12:24
  So where was I? So Victor Antonio now, so my guy
• 12:28
  Antonio, what he says is that there's a value Trinity.
• 12:31
  And the value Trinity just means, you know, things that
• 12:34
  people like, things that people value, the things that make
• 12:37
  people buy. Now, Victor Antonio, sometimes
• 12:39
  he calls them the three FS, even though they don't start with F.
• 12:42
  And the value Trinity is physical, financial,
• 12:46
  psychological. I repeat for Victor Antonio, the
• 12:50
  value Trinity, the three reasons why people buy is physical,
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  financial and psychological. So in other words, people only
• 12:58
  drop by, they only drop money, they only salivate, they only
• 13:02
  run after something that gives them a physical benefit.
• 13:05
  They only want to buy something that gives them a financial
• 13:08
  benefit or they only want to give them buy something that
• 13:11
  gives them a psychological benefits, you know, make them
• 13:14
  feel good. So there are some products that
• 13:16
  are able to slam all three that if you use this product, it will
• 13:20
  give you a physical benefit. You know, your skin will be
• 13:23
  yellow, your skin will be smooth.
• 13:25
  We'll now give them a financial benefit.
• 13:27
  You know, if your skin is smooth, you'll be able to
• 13:29
  attract more aristo. Then we also give them a
• 13:35
  psychological benefit. Let's see what's psychological
• 13:39
  benefit now, because your skin is smooth, you'll feel like
• 13:41
  you're beautiful. So you see, and then because of
• 13:44
  that, that's why people be rushing those products.
• 13:47
  So if you have been wondering why are all these creams
• 13:50
  selling? Because I've been seeing all
• 13:52
  kinds of cream. I have seen sheer butter cream.
• 13:54
  I have seen purple cream. I have seen tomato cream.
• 13:58
  I have seen carrots cream. I have seen as in I'm just
• 14:02
  impressed all the kinds of creams that are out there.
• 14:05
  So if you're wondering why are those creams selling, maybe
• 14:08
  that's why. Because physical, financial,
• 14:11
  psychological, it gives a physical benefit.
• 14:13
  You'll be yellow, it gives a financial benefit.
• 14:15
  If you are yellow, you get aristo, then it gives a
• 14:18
  psychological benefit. If you're yellow, you feel as if
• 14:21
  now you find pass, you know all your age mates, you know,
• 14:23
  they'll be beefing you, you know, that kind of thing.
• 14:25
  So maybe that's it. So I know I'm being funny here
• 14:29
  and I'm being comical, but seriously, whatever business it
• 14:32
  is that you're on, think about it.
• 14:34
  Are you giving people a physical benefit?
• 14:35
  Are you giving people a financial benefit?
• 14:37
  Are you giving people a psychological benefit?
• 14:40
  So just think about it in those terms.
• 14:43
  So even for somebody who is selling stationary, you know,
• 14:46
  think about it. You think stationary is
• 14:49
  ordinary. OK, no problem.
• 14:51
  What kind of value are you going to do?
• 14:52
  Are you going to be creating different kind of packages and
• 14:57
  custom order and you know, things like that?
• 14:59
  But when you're doing these sorts of things, what benefit
• 15:01
  are you going to be giving people?
• 15:02
  Are you going to be giving people the benefit of finance?
• 15:07
  Are you going to be putting money in their pocket?
• 15:08
  Are you going to be giving people the benefit of
• 15:11
  psychological, you know, they feel good?
• 15:13
  Or are you going to give people the benefit of what, again,
• 15:17
  physical or it's a physical benefit.
• 15:20
  So think about it. So if you come together and you
• 15:22
  put together some kind package like, OK, this is enterprise,
• 15:26
  whatever, whatever package we can deliver you, you know,
• 15:29
  10,000 reams of paper and whatever, whatever amount of
• 15:33
  Biro for this, this, this, and we'll be saving you 10% off.
• 15:37
  You know, say in that case you're giving them a financial
• 15:40
  benefit with this package that you're putting together for
• 15:43
  them. So anyway, J.
• 15:46
  Cole, even though we already shattered in the box, just in
• 15:49
  case that's we've chatted the WhatsApp inbox, just in case you
• 15:52
  listen to this podcast episode, These are some things I forgot
• 15:54
  to tell you. Bob Shah Yeah, take taking on
• 15:58
  board. And then for those of you who
• 15:59
  are listening and you sell stationary, you don't sell
• 16:03
  stationary stationary. Or we can see how, you know,
• 16:06
  some of these ideas apply to you.
• 16:07
  So just think about it a bit. So that's this thing about him
• 16:12
  saying ordinary pen, ordinary notebook, ordinary office
• 16:14
  supplies. But in my own honest opinion, if
• 16:17
  you have ordinary products, please don't try and perform
• 16:19
  magic. You know, there's, if you sell
• 16:22
  ordinary pure water, you can sell ordinary pure water.
• 16:26
  If you can do value add, no problem.
• 16:28
  You can do value add and then you can sell, you can sell more.
• 16:32
  So like back to the pure water example, maybe ordinary pure
• 16:35
  water. I think the last time I tried to
• 16:37
  buy pure water in Abuja, I think was like 15 for one bag.
• 16:42
  I didn't know that pure water don't cost like that.
• 16:46
  So let's say pure water is 59 and one back in the market.
• 16:50
  But maybe for you, your value add is that you your own pure
• 16:57
  water. You deliver the pure water to
• 16:58
  people in the houses or people in the offices or people in the
• 17:01
  restaurant. And then when you deliver the
• 17:03
  pure water, let's say you deliver it chilled, as in very,
• 17:06
  very chilled because the weather is hot.
• 17:08
  And then because of that, you have to sell you sell your own
• 17:10
  for 69 per one or 79 per one. You know, maybe that might be
• 17:14
  value add, you know, just go and give it a try.
• 17:16
  For those of you who's helped your water, you know, let me
• 17:18
  know instead of me just coming up here and manufacturing ideas.
• 17:21
  If you sell pure water and you've been able to sell more
• 17:24
  than 15 naira per bag, please reach out to me and let me know.
• 17:26
  How do you how do you achieve that, especially if you're
• 17:29
  trying to do some value added strategies.
• 17:34
  So he says he wants his back to J.
• 17:38
  Cole right now. So he wants the office supplies
• 17:41
  to sell fast and he wants to create loyal customers.
• 17:44
  And then he's asking for unconventional sales strategies.
• 17:49
  That is the one that I really wanted to talk about.
• 17:51
  That's the one I really want to talk about.
• 17:53
  Now. Those of us who listen to the
• 17:55
  podcast right now, we need to sit down and have a very, very
• 17:57
  honest conversation. Let's let's relax first.
• 18:02
  See, when it comes to business, there are too many of you that
• 18:05
  are coming in and looking for unconventional, you know,
• 18:08
  creative and blood. Like relax.
• 18:11
  The thing with unconventional and you know, whatever is that
• 18:15
  you're now entering into the realm of, you know, advanced
• 18:18
  strategies. But The thing is, there's no
• 18:20
  bother. There's no reason to bother
• 18:22
  chasing advanced stuff if you have not mastered the basics.
• 18:26
  First, let me give you an example.
• 18:29
  Back when I was in primary school, I told you guys about
• 18:31
  how because I have some skill playing football and I was
• 18:34
  invited to try out for the school team and I told you how
• 18:37
  my football career ended. You know, the day that they bust
• 18:40
  my nose and there was blood all over my face and I said what?
• 18:43
  I like football, but I don't like football this much.
• 18:47
  I love the game, but I'm not willing to bleed for the game.
• 18:49
  And so I left. But back then, you know, we had
• 18:55
  some real colorful guys on the scene.
• 18:58
  OK George Campos. No Keno.
• 19:00
  George Campos. Was this goalkeeper from was it
• 19:03
  from some South American company?
• 19:04
  I think you used to do scorpion kick.
• 19:06
  OK, let me continue. So George Campus used to do like
• 19:09
  scorpion kick. Then there was this OK, I think
• 19:14
  JJ, when did JJR culture start playing football?
• 19:16
  So and then so JJR culture and then his leg walk and then those
• 19:19
  Cano and then all these other people.
• 19:22
  And then before that Super Eagles, like Yekini, I think,
• 19:28
  OK, I think Yekini was when I was really, really small.
• 19:30
  I think I was in primary school back then Bosha, you know, there
• 19:34
  were football stars that we used to like to watch and they should
• 19:38
  do magic on the court. You know, they do leg over or
• 19:41
  coach. I used to do this and he'll be
• 19:42
  running forward. He will now stop, calm the ball
• 19:46
  and now use his leg. He will jump and then flip the
• 19:50
  football from his back over his head over 2 of you.
• 19:54
  And that thing was a very well move.
• 19:56
  Like the thing was mad. The guy used to.
• 19:59
  I even saw him do when I think last time I saw him play I think
• 20:03
  was with Bolton Wanderers or something like that.
• 20:05
  And I saw him do it live in the game.
• 20:07
  As you're running forward, somebody chasing you, the person
• 20:10
  is close marking you. They're out of nowhere.
• 20:12
  You just grab the football with your two legs, flip it from
• 20:17
  behind your bom bom over your back, over your head, over that
• 20:20
  person. And then you run through the
• 20:23
  person. And then before you know it, you
• 20:25
  know, you just give them chakra. And then why is he go?
• 20:29
  Everybody be running like our culture is mad, you know, and
• 20:33
  then all of us go on the field and everybody will now start
• 20:35
  trying to do the advanced technique.
• 20:38
  But The thing is, you don't even know the you don't know the
• 20:41
  fundamentals. Do you know how to trap?
• 20:43
  Do you know how to dribble? Do you know how to pass?
• 20:46
  Do you know how to head? Do you know how to chest the
• 20:49
  ball? You're now trying to learn all
• 20:52
  these advanced things that you've seen on TV.
• 20:54
  You are frustrating yourself and then you are not there yet
• 20:57
  because it is the fundamentals that allow you to do all this
• 21:00
  exotic stuff. So the reason why I did Your
• 21:02
  Culture, I could do all these whizzardry with his legs was
• 21:07
  because he knew the fundamentals.
• 21:10
  The guy had good form, the guy had good pace, and that *** was
• 21:13
  fast, very, very fast. So that's the reason why he can
• 21:17
  be running like a rabbit. But then he also had good
• 21:21
  footwork, good control over the ball.
• 21:23
  That's the reason why he could be running like a rabbit and
• 21:25
  then all of a sudden stop just like a rock.
• 21:28
  Everybody run forward because he had good footwork.
• 21:32
  He now knew how to grab the ball with both feet and then do that
• 21:35
  flipping thing where the thing will now go from his back, over
• 21:40
  his head, over your own head. Then while everybody's watching
• 21:43
  like what the hell just happened?
• 21:45
  He will now take off a game acceleration, run through
• 21:49
  defense. When the thing lands, do leg
• 21:52
  over left, right. Everybody will fly to the left,
• 21:54
  to the right. And then boy is a goal and then
• 21:58
  a culture has scored. If I feel sorry for question and
• 22:01
  Cano and his or his mates, because if they were born during
• 22:05
  this TikTok time, TikTok Instagram thing, like they would
• 22:08
  have been legends because those guys had game.
• 22:12
  They really had game. So what I'm saying is that is
• 22:18
  the foundation that allows you to do the extraordinary.
• 22:21
  Too many of you want to come and do the extraordinary.
• 22:23
  You're looking for unconventional sales strategies.
• 22:25
  What about the simple sales strategies?
• 22:28
  Do you know how to identify your target customer?
• 22:31
  Now that you know how who your target customer is, do you know
• 22:36
  where they hang out? Do you how good are you are
• 22:39
  taking advantage of existing sales channels to initiate
• 22:42
  conversations to start building relationships?
• 22:45
  Do you know how to do need analysis to figure out what kind
• 22:48
  of stationary that your customers need so that when
• 22:50
  you're making a proposal, when you're making a sales pitch, you
• 22:54
  actually will be selling them the kind of stationery and the
• 22:56
  kind of package that they actually need?
• 23:00
  Are you good at negotiation or are you good at haggling?
• 23:02
  Are you good at pricing? Have you learned the
• 23:05
  fundamentals first before you want to start doing the
• 23:08
  unconventional and the exceptional?
• 23:10
  So too many of you like relax, we all need to learn the, the,
• 23:16
  the, the fundamentals first. Now it also helped that there
• 23:22
  are people who make business content, you know, they go on
• 23:24
  Instagram, they go on all these places and then they, you know,
• 23:27
  you just show advanced technique, you know, Papa, and
• 23:29
  then you wow people and all that.
• 23:31
  But you guys forget one thing. The person that goes on
• 23:33
  Instagram and then starts talking about all these sorts of
• 23:36
  things, there's a lot that the person has had to learn over
• 23:38
  years. Like think about it.
• 23:42
  I didn't just start off like this.
• 23:43
  I have a previous career as a lawyer and then as a civil
• 23:47
  servant and then after that trying to trade one or two
• 23:50
  things. Then some people told me that
• 23:54
  I'm good at this thing and some people have been willing to
• 23:56
  invest into my life to give me materials and then stuff like
• 23:59
  that. So I've been learning, improving
• 24:02
  and holding my skill over a very long time.
• 24:06
  So there's some things that you will see me do when I'm on stage
• 24:09
  or maybe when I'm talking to a customer because sometimes I get
• 24:12
  off the phone and some people are like, wow, what was that?
• 24:15
  And like, I could never do that. I could never say that.
• 24:19
  The reason why I can't do some things and say some things is
• 24:21
  because I've been doing this for a while.
• 24:24
  I've been learning sales for a while.
• 24:26
  I've been practicing this game for a while.
• 24:29
  So we should all be patient. So people like J.
• 24:36
  Cole relax. There's a time for
• 24:38
  unconventional strategies. That time comes when we have
• 24:42
  mastered the basics. When we mastered the basics,
• 24:46
  then we can be unconventional. So it doesn't matter who your
• 24:50
  favorite footballer is or your favorite actor or your favorite
• 24:53
  singer. If I let's speak about singers,
• 24:55
  there are some singers that or rappers.
• 24:57
  Like there's some rappers that they drop some bars and it's
• 25:00
  just mad. Like not only you, before you
• 25:07
  get to the level of dropping some mad bars, you know, you
• 25:09
  learn the basics, you watch some hip hop videos, you follow some,
• 25:13
  you know, kind of artists, you start practicing some, you know,
• 25:17
  you start practicing hip hop. Different styles is when you
• 25:19
  master some things that you can now just start dropping mad
• 25:21
  flows. So everybody's impressed by the
• 25:23
  kind of flows that let's say like Eminem drops, you know, but
• 25:28
  Eminem was not made in a day. He learned the foundation, used
• 25:34
  to do St. Battles, you know, and all kinds
• 25:35
  of things, you know, going for shows.
• 25:37
  He's been holding his career for a while, you know, as a
• 25:40
  musician. So it doesn't matter who you
• 25:43
  like, who you admire. You see a fashion designer,
• 25:46
  let's say you're in the fashion design space.
• 25:47
  And then you see what's his name?
• 25:50
  Mea Tafo. Come up with some.
• 25:52
  OK, no, Mea Tafo only does traditional silhouettes for for
• 25:56
  guys. So who should I use?
• 25:58
  How should I use any? No problem.
• 26:01
  Let's say Mea Tafo. Let's say Mea Tafo releases a a
• 26:04
  new collection and uses some bold colours and you're like,
• 26:06
  wow, how come I never thought of that?
• 26:09
  The reason why you never thought of that, the reason why you did
• 26:11
  not do advanced technique is because Mayor Tafo has been in
• 26:13
  this suit making game for a long time.
• 26:17
  The guy's been doing this for like what, 2 decades now?
• 26:21
  So of course there are some things that he would do with
• 26:24
  some of his suits. You'd be like, hey, how come I
• 26:26
  didn't think of that? Relax.
• 26:28
  You learn the fundamentals first.
• 26:30
  The unconventional, the extraordinary will come.
• 26:33
  So please, those of you listening to this podcast now
• 26:36
  are looking for extraordinary sales skills and all not like,
• 26:41
  calm down, we'll get there. Master the basics first.
• 26:44
  Master the basics first. Anyway, so I responded to J.
• 26:48
  Cole, remember, not his real name.
• 26:50
  And I told him that look, guy, your your question is too broad.
• 26:53
  Again, this question was I started a new stationary
• 26:55
  business. How can I turn ordinary pens,
• 26:58
  notebooks, office supplies into irresistible must haves that
• 27:01
  sell fast, create loyal customers?
• 27:03
  And what unconventional strategies could help me scale
• 27:06
  sales quickly without spending a fortune?
• 27:08
  So I told them, now look, this question is too is too is too
• 27:12
  broad. And I'm not in the business of
• 27:16
  answering broad questions because they take a lot of time.
• 27:19
  It's a lot of brainpower. And then plus the answer, you
• 27:21
  can easily find it if you just go and search over the Internet.
• 27:24
  To be honest, the reason why I'm here is for people who you have
• 27:30
  a business problem, you have tried to solve one or two things
• 27:32
  and in trying to solve it, you reached a place where you don't
• 27:36
  hook. I am here to help you all hook
• 27:38
  because you've tried something. I'm not here to reinvent the
• 27:43
  wheel and tell you every single possible thing that can help you
• 27:47
  grow a business. In the beginning, I used to do
• 27:49
  that, but those podcast episodes are just, that's awesome.
• 27:56
  We're talking about too many things because there's lots of
• 27:59
  things actually that you can do to grow your stationary
• 28:01
  business. Lots and lots of things.
• 28:04
  I'm not going to sit down and start thinking out all these
• 28:06
  things. So if you don't go and do a
• 28:08
  Google search or if you try ChatGPT, you actually will get
• 28:10
  some useful responses. And this is my own opinion
• 28:14
  actually. So J.
• 28:15
  Cole, I really appreciate that you reached out to me.
• 28:17
  I really do. And all the people who reach
• 28:19
  out, I really, really do. But first, I think the better
• 28:21
  thing to do actually is go on the Internet, do some research,
• 28:26
  maybe try ChatGPT, get some, some useful responses, go and
• 28:31
  try and implement those things. When you hook, reach out to me.
• 28:34
  Good. That would be a very, very
• 28:36
  useful conversation to have. So let's say you try and ChatGPT
• 28:40
  and ChatGPT said, or try a subscription service and you are
• 28:43
  now trying to create a subscription service for
• 28:46
  stationary in Niger, but you're running into difficulty.
• 28:49
  You come and meet me. Good.
• 28:51
  I would love to answer that question because it's different,
• 28:54
  it's unique. And then plus, when I make a
• 28:56
  podcast episode on it, other people will now be learning so
• 29:01
  that if there's somebody who sells maybe toilet paper to
• 29:03
  hotels, she can now start thinking, OK, can I sell a
• 29:06
  subscription service to different hotels for this my
• 29:10
  toilet tissue? You know, you'll get people
• 29:12
  thinking. So the question was too broad.
• 29:15
  So I told him, try charge a PT, you'll get some useful
• 29:18
  responses. Or apart from that, if you can
• 29:21
  just narrow down and ask me one specific question and I'll
• 29:24
  answer you. Now, the reason why I tell
• 29:27
  people also to narrow down The thing is I actually have paid
• 29:31
  client work. I have engagement, like I have
• 29:35
  trainings and things like that. So there are people that are
• 29:39
  paying for my time. A lot of you who reach out on
• 29:42
  WhatsApp, I'm answering your questions for free.
• 29:45
  So if you want me to give you an answer, sharp, sharp, quick,
• 29:48
  quick, it helps. If your question is sharp, your
• 29:50
  question is quick, your question is straight to the point.
• 29:53
  In that case, I'll ask you one or two questions to be sure to
• 29:55
  understand correctly and I can tell you, OK, go and try this
• 29:58
  and then let me know how it goes.
• 30:01
  So please, when you guys reach out, the more manageable your
• 30:04
  questions are, the better. Also, one more thing, J.
• 30:08
  Cole wanted to know how he can scale sales without spending a
• 30:11
  fortune. That's also another thing I want
• 30:13
  to address the matter of expectations.
• 30:18
  I think people are coming into business with poor expectations,
• 30:22
  so there's the answer. Unfortunately, there is no way
• 30:25
  for you to scale a business quickly without spending a
• 30:27
  fortune. There's no way.
• 30:29
  Remember, he said scaling quickly.
• 30:32
  Scaling quickly, or scaling at all involves time or involves
• 30:40
  resources. I repeat, scaling a business
• 30:43
  requires time or it requires resources.
• 30:47
  Everybody loves Amazon and everybody's impressed about what
• 30:52
  boss, What's his name again? That bald guy, what's his name?
• 30:56
  Bezos. Everybody's impressed with what
• 30:57
  Bezos has built. But to build Amazon required
• 31:02
  time and even money self. You had to raise plenty of
• 31:05
  money. Then he had to run the business
• 31:06
  as a loss for 20 years, you know, to achieve scale, you
• 31:10
  know, before Amazon became what it became.
• 31:13
  So just know that requires other time.
• 31:20
  When we say time, we mean effort, Time and effort or
• 31:23
  money. So whether you spend a fortune
• 31:27
  in terms of time or you spend a fortune in terms of money
• 31:30
  depends on which one you have available to you.
• 31:32
  So for those of you who have the money, Oh yes, it makes sense.
• 31:35
  I'll spend the market because look at me, I've been doing this
• 31:38
  podcast for how long? For almost 6 years.
• 31:43
  How many episodes do I have? Over 1300, is this a valuable
• 31:48
  resource? Oh, definitely it's a valuable
• 31:50
  resource. But I invested time to get this
• 31:53
  resource. Now think about it.
• 31:56
  If there's another smart kid who wants to get into the consulting
• 32:00
  game, I want to use a podcast to distinguish himself like I'm
• 32:03
  trying to do. Unless the guy comes from a rich
• 32:05
  family, the guy can start from today, maybe record 50 episodes.
• 32:11
  He can go and borrow plenty of money from his rich father and
• 32:14
  invest heavily into podcast advertising.
• 32:17
  Before you know it, six months the guy will overtake me quick.
• 32:22
  I invested a fortune. In time that other guy will have
• 32:27
  invested a fortune in money. But just know you don't scale
• 32:32
  something without spending plenty of time and effort or
• 32:35
  plenty of money. So please, people should stop
• 32:39
  looking for this. I don't know this silver bullet,
• 32:45
  the secret to eternal youth, the secret to eternal progress, the
• 32:49
  secret to the Stop looking for it, it doesn't exist.
• 32:52
  And by the way, if you have discovered it and it exists,
• 32:54
  please reach out to me privately in my DMI, share the secret with
• 32:59
  me so that me too I can blow without spending a fortune in
• 33:03
  time or spending a fortune in money.
• 33:07
  So just pick which one you're comfortable doing.
• 33:12
  I'm not an advertising specialist.
• 33:14
  I don't know too much about the game, and advertising as a
• 33:16
  wedding photographer didn't pan out too well for me.
• 33:20
  I learned a bunch of stuff, but not enough that I want to take
• 33:23
  hundreds of thousands or millions and then come up with a
• 33:26
  deliberate strategy to advertise my weight #1 Now there are some
• 33:30
  podcasts that I've done that, like The Honest Bunch, for
• 33:32
  instance. Those guys, they advertise die
• 33:34
  on YouTube and all. And you had this worked out
• 33:36
  well. So which one are you comfortable
• 33:39
  with? Time, money, pick one you're
• 33:41
  comfortable with and then go ahead execute.
• 33:45
  So let's make sure we have the right expectations.
• 33:49
  So now to prove my point, because I told J.
• 33:54
  Cole, excuse me, I told J. Cole I should just try out char
• 34:00
  GBT or any AI tool and let's see what we'll come up with.
• 34:03
  So to prove my point, I just copied his exact message.
• 34:07
  I didn't change anything, I just copied his exact message message
• 34:10
  and pasted it in Google Gemini and then I hit send.
• 34:14
  By the way, you wouldn't realize that your prompts can actually
• 34:18
  be. In fact, the best prompts I
• 34:20
  think are long, long, long long prompts.
• 34:23
  So like this one actually is a good prompt.
• 34:25
  I just copied and pasted it. Let me repeat, what was J Cole's
• 34:30
  message again. J.
• 34:31
  Cole is not his real name. I started a new stationary
• 34:35
  business. How can I turn ordinary pens,
• 34:37
  notebooks, and office supplies into irresistible must haves
• 34:40
  that not only sell fast but create loyal customers?
• 34:43
  And what unconventional strategies could help me scale
• 34:47
  sales quickly without spending a fortune?
• 34:50
  I copied that and I put it into chat.
• 34:52
  Sorry, I don't use that GPT. I use Google Gemini.
• 34:54
  By the way, those of you who are wondering which one is the best,
• 34:57
  there is no best tool. The one that you use the most
• 35:00
  and one that you know how to use well is the best.
• 35:02
  So learn how to prompt and stop looking for the best.
• 35:05
  So if you already started with ChatGPT, continue.
• 35:08
  For me, the reason why I left ChatGPT was because every single
• 35:11
  time I wanted to do something, it would sign me out and I was
• 35:13
  tired. So the moment somebody told me
• 35:16
  that German Google has their own AI, say they have their own AI,
• 35:20
  what is it? They say it's German, I say
• 35:22
  where is it? This is on your phone.
• 35:24
  I checked my phone. I said The thing is even here
• 35:27
  and I started using it and that was it.
• 35:30
  I didn't have to sign in. I didn't have to create account.
• 35:32
  The thing never signs me out. So that's the reason why I use
• 35:35
  it and I've been getting good results from it.
• 35:37
  So whatever it is I use, just keep using.
• 35:40
  So I copied it, pasted it into Gemini and then I sent.
• 35:45
  Then this is what Gemini said. I'm please, this is the reason
• 35:50
  why I'm telling you guys that it's a useful tool.
• 35:53
  It doesn't replace consultants like us.
• 35:55
  It does not because you need us all.
• 35:58
  I put it because sometimes these AI tools will say rubbish.
• 36:03
  So sometimes you need consultants like us to separate
• 36:05
  the wheat from the shaft or for me, I'm not afraid of being
• 36:08
  replaced by these tools. And that's the reason why I tell
• 36:10
  people to use them. Use them well, because if I you
• 36:12
  make my, my job a lot easier if you use these tools and you
• 36:15
  actually try one or two things. Sorry, excuse me.
• 36:21
  I had to sneeze and I was really unprofessional.
• 36:23
  This is the first time I sneeze on the microphone.
• 36:25
  Sorry about that. OK, so if you actually go and
• 36:29
  try out a couple of ideas before you meet me, actually makes my
• 36:32
  job a whole lot easier because now you've tried a couple of
• 36:35
  things and we now have a sense of what ideas are not going to
• 36:38
  work or have proper context into your business.
• 36:42
  So Gemini, this is what Gemini said.
• 36:44
  So Gemini said that in the stationary world, you're not
• 36:48
  just selling ink and paper. Remember what I said at the
• 36:52
  beginning of the episode when I was talking about the value,
• 36:54
  value Trinity physical, psychological, what?
• 36:58
  Again, physical benefit, physical benefit, financial
• 37:04
  benefit, psychological benefit. That has reason why people buy.
• 37:08
  Their buying because your thing makes them feel good in the body
• 37:11
  or there's some other benefit. It benefits their body or it
• 37:16
  benefits their wallet or it benefits their mind.
• 37:19
  So Gemini started off by saying that, look, when you're selling
• 37:22
  stationary, you're not just selling income paper, you are
• 37:24
  selling productivity, or you're selling creativity, or you're
• 37:27
  selling a professional identity. And that's an interesting way to
• 37:31
  look at it. So that was Gemini's advice to
• 37:35
  J. Cole.
• 37:36
  So Gemini said, my boy J. Cole, you are not selling just
• 37:40
  income paper, you are selling productivity, you are selling
• 37:44
  creativity, you're selling professional identity.
• 37:48
  And then he said, J. Cole, this is how you can
• 37:51
  transform your commodity into a brand.
• 37:55
  And then he told J. Cole to do a couple of things
• 37:58
  that I suspected. And then I spoke about that was
• 38:00
  a creating curated bundles. That's why you take ordinary
• 38:04
  items, you package it together, and then you try and sell it to
• 38:08
  people. So for people who run offices, I
• 38:15
  really think it might be a good use of their time, especially if
• 38:20
  you're putting together a package that helps them save
• 38:21
  money. Like let's say the person who
• 38:24
  manages the GTB bank branch in your area, whoever is
• 38:30
  responsible for getting pens and paper and stuff like that.
• 38:33
  I'm sure for that person it is a headache and they don't like
• 38:36
  this whole thing off. Every week they have to figure
• 38:39
  out how many pens do we have? How many rooms of paper do we
• 38:42
  need? Which printer is out of ink?
• 38:45
  If you put together a created bundle and you tell them that,
• 38:48
  oh Madam, this is what I will do every single Wednesday, I will
• 38:51
  come into the bank branch and then I'll look around I myself,
• 38:55
  when I'll do the inventory, how many pens, how many printer,
• 38:58
  What is the printer ink level, how many sheets of paper.
• 39:00
  And then every Friday I will deliver what it is that you guys
• 39:04
  need. So if you're putting together
• 39:07
  some curated bundles, some kind of packages like that, so that
• 39:11
  every single week they're receiving X number reams of
• 39:14
  paper, X number boxes of pens, X number boxes of printer
• 39:20
  cartridge, you know, all these sorts of things, you know,
• 39:23
  created bundle. It's not, it's not, it's not a
• 39:25
  bad idea. You're solving somebody's
• 39:26
  problem. And then if them using their
• 39:31
  time and going out to buy all these things or going through
• 39:34
  the banks internal procurement, they're spending maybe 2.5 M
• 39:38
  every week, OK, maybe 2.5 M every month to get this thing
• 39:41
  done. And then you're offering this
• 39:43
  service and you're saying that will not be 2.3.
• 39:45
  You're saving them a lot of hassle.
• 39:49
  So Gemini came up with a number of suggestions that that J.
• 39:55
  Cole, again, not his real name, that J.
• 39:58
  Cole can use. So he suggested an executive
• 40:01
  set. That's where you put together
• 40:03
  notebooks with heavy ink pens. What again?
• 40:09
  A a student's package. A student package that's a
• 40:13
  bundle with focus planners and charters and things like that.
• 40:19
  Even recommended a boss lady desk kit.
• 40:21
  I thought that was really, really interesting.
• 40:24
  That is to provide, you know, stationary in certain kinds of
• 40:30
  colours or certain kinds of aesthetics and sell to boss
• 40:33
  ladies, you know, then let's see what else.
• 40:40
  It also came up with some ideas for emotional branding and
• 40:42
  storytelling. To be honest, that did not cross
• 40:44
  my mind at all, but I thought, OK, this is interesting,
• 40:48
  especially if you're going to be using social media to sell, then
• 40:55
  let's see what else. Anyway, basically, I'm not
• 41:00
  trying to show you that these tools are OK for coming up with
• 41:04
  some ideas, you know, So there's enough that you can try out
• 41:08
  here. So I copied it to paste that.
• 41:10
  I sent it to him and I said, read this, let me know what you
• 41:12
  think, Which ideas can you try out now?
• 41:14
  And then J. Cole said, oh, that he's already
• 41:16
  trying to build a following on Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp.
• 41:21
  So yeah, good. Some of the ideas that were
• 41:23
  there, J. Cole is already trying then
• 41:28
  let's see. But I told him to pay some
• 41:30
  attention to this whole corporate, the corporate sample
• 41:33
  idea because I think it's something that these people that
• 41:36
  sell stationary don't. I don't, I don't think they, I
• 41:40
  don't think they do it because to be honest, stationary
• 41:43
  suppliers in Nigeria, in Nigeria, I think they have a
• 41:45
  very laid back approach like, and when they're ready, they
• 41:47
  will call us and place the order.
• 41:49
  They don't have this attitude of going to go and chase the
• 41:52
  market. So J.
• 41:52
  Cole, actually think what you're doing is going to help you grow
• 41:56
  because at least you want to be proactive then.
• 42:00
  OK, yes. So J.
• 42:01
  Cole, he's based in ovary. Let's see what else?
• 42:05
  What else? What else?
• 42:08
  OK, then he thought about doing advertisements to target
• 42:13
  offices, and I think that'll be a good idea.
• 42:15
  But this is the problem that a lot of you make when you want to
• 42:17
  start running your advertisements, you will forget
• 42:21
  that business is now local. What this means is when you are
• 42:27
  on Instagram or when you are on TikTok or when you are on Google
• 42:33
  and you're looking for certain kinds of things, these
• 42:35
  algorithms are trying to give you options, are trying to show
• 42:38
  you the most relevant options that are local to you, that are
• 42:44
  closest to you. The example that I give a lot on
• 42:47
  the podcast and on my radio show is this.
• 42:50
  If I go on Google and I type in best Sharma, Google is not going
• 42:54
  to show the best Sharma in France because I am not in
• 42:57
  France and I will not travel to France just to eat Sharma.
• 43:01
  So if I type in best Sharma, Google will show me the absolute
• 43:05
  best Sharma in the world. Google will only show me the
• 43:08
  best Sharma that is near to my current location.
• 43:13
  So if I stay in Abuja and I type best shawarma and I'm in Abuja
• 43:17
  central area, the options that will show up will be those that
• 43:20
  are closest to me. Since I'm in central area.
• 43:23
  Then if I go to Lagos, hopefully maybe there's a big business
• 43:27
  deal there for me and then I land on Banana Island and then I
• 43:31
  now type best shawarma. Google will show me shawarma
• 43:35
  joints that are closest to me at that particular moment where I
• 43:40
  while I am on Banana Island. Excuse me.
• 43:45
  So for those of you who advertise online, remember now
• 43:48
  that business is local. In the beginning, everybody was
• 43:52
  so overwhelmed in Niger thinking, oh, business can now
• 43:55
  be international. No, you can be international,
• 43:58
  but business is local if you're going to advertise and you are
• 44:02
  in Ori. So I don't know much about that
• 44:05
  part of the world. I haven't traveled to the east,
• 44:07
  OK. I only went to Ogidi once in
• 44:09
  Anambra. Well, by the way, I really feel
• 44:13
  you guys, those of you from the east, like the level of erosion
• 44:15
  in your side is mad mad. It's mad.
• 44:20
  The airport was wonderful, but as we're driving now, because it
• 44:24
  was a wedding I was going to cover, as we're driving, it
• 44:27
  reached one point where the the river over overflowed and
• 44:31
  covered the main road. That was the scariest day of my
• 44:34
  life. First of all, the road is eroded
• 44:36
  to the left, eroded to the right.
• 44:38
  Then this massive river has has covered the road and then people
• 44:41
  are just driving and somehow everybody knew where the road
• 44:44
  was. I said, hey, if this issue
• 44:47
  capsized and I drowned here, what will I tell my family that
• 44:50
  I came to a number and I was chasing money anyway, where was
• 44:55
  I? And so if you're targeting and
• 44:58
  you're based, no worry. Targeting is local.
• 45:02
  Restrict your targeting to businesses that are within a
• 45:05
  certain radius so that people who see the advertisements are
• 45:09
  people who can actually take a drive or take a walk to your
• 45:13
  depot or take a walk to your store.
• 45:16
  Well, at the very least, even if they want to order online, like
• 45:20
  there's a certain amount of security involved that let's say
• 45:23
  you are in Ikeja and you run a business and you have need for
• 45:29
  stationary and then an advert comes up and then you see that
• 45:32
  oh, this business is based in Maryland.
• 45:34
  In your mind, it's like, OK, Ikeja is here, Maryland is over
• 45:38
  there. It's just a 30 minute drive.
• 45:42
  You know the best. I feel OK, like OK, no problem.
• 45:44
  Let me just place the order. Let me chat them up on
• 45:46
  Instagram. Let me hear what they say.
• 45:48
  If it's OK, let me transfer the money because it's Maryland and
• 45:52
  I'm in Keja. So business is now local.
• 45:55
  When you're advertising, make sure you, you, you the physical
• 46:01
  parameters, make sure you narrow that down.
• 46:03
  So that's one thing to advise him that, yeah, it's it's good
• 46:07
  advertise, no problem. But just mean remember now that
• 46:09
  advertising is local. So don't go and run a broad
• 46:13
  campaign and don't go and use campaigns that will target
• 46:16
  everywhere in no worry. It like it won't make sense.
• 46:18
  I don't know how big or where the city is, but like where I
• 46:23
  come from in Benue State, like Benue State is kind of large.
• 46:31
  Like my mom sees village and my father's village, OK.
• 46:35
  By the time you start from Mumsy's village and you're going
• 46:37
  to Makuti, that's the capital, it's like 45 minutes.
• 46:41
  Then from Makuti, the capital to my Popsy's village is like
• 46:47
  another three hours. So in another words, like
• 46:49
  Mumsy's village and then Popsy's village, they're like 4 hours
• 46:52
  apart. And yes, it's the same state.
• 46:55
  So if you're running advertisements now in Benway
• 47:00
  State, it doesn't make sense for you to target the whole of
• 47:04
  Benway. Keep it manageable.
• 47:07
  If you're based in Makodi and you don't want to, you know,
• 47:11
  delivery costs also matter the in these things.
• 47:15
  Keep it manageable. Let me restrict it to the places
• 47:18
  that I can reach easily on my own.
• 47:20
  Or I can use Okada to do delivery, you know, sharp,
• 47:23
  sharp. So yeah, that was it.
• 47:28
  And then after that, you know, I just left J.
• 47:31
  Cole because, you know, I have other things to do.
• 47:33
  But recently I reached out to him.
• 47:35
  I say, how far are you making progress?
• 47:37
  Because whether you pay me or whether you don't pay me,
• 47:39
  actually what was what's what's best for you?
• 47:42
  So I'm sorry about the noise over there.
• 47:44
  I'm in the parking lot, like I said.
• 47:46
  And the business over here, they've owned the AC.
• 47:48
  They have this in massive industrial size AC.
• 47:52
  So The thing is making all that noise.
• 47:56
  So he told me that, yeah, that he's making progress.
• 47:58
  He's learning how to use Google Sheets and Google Forms to
• 48:02
  systematize inventory taking and very good, very, very good.
• 48:06
  I'm glad to hear that he's making progress because for
• 48:08
  those of you who are into stationary, yes, inventory
• 48:11
  management is a big deal. Remember what I said, the
• 48:14
  suggestion about going to GTE Bank and talking to the person
• 48:17
  who is responsible for procuring the, the stationary, the people
• 48:23
  who are responsible for procuring toilet paper, pencil
• 48:26
  paper, printer ink, all those sorts of thing things.
• 48:30
  So inventory taking is key. So yes, if you can use Google
• 48:33
  Sheets, Google forms and all these things to make sure that
• 48:36
  you're inventory taking this on point, you know, very, very
• 48:38
  good. That's something they actually
• 48:40
  have to learn. So that's good.
• 48:41
  But then he now said one thing that makes me scared when I hear
• 48:44
  Nigerian business people say it. He said he wants to go fully
• 48:47
  into AI mode to make ordering to make content production and then
• 48:53
  also for automated leads. Abby, OK, it's kind of long.
• 49:01
  OK, let me just summarize it. He wants to start using AI fully
• 49:04
  in his business so that AI will be used for ordering, fulfilling
• 49:09
  orders, then for content production, and then for lead
• 49:12
  management, responding to customers.
• 49:15
  So I told him, now look, all those other ideas that you have,
• 49:18
  they're very, very good when it comes to the customer
• 49:21
  experience, when it comes to managing leads, when it comes to
• 49:24
  talking to people who are in your DM and who are in your
• 49:27
  WhatsApp. I told him do not automate
• 49:29
  anything. Don't.
• 49:33
  Too many of you are rushing to automate and it is killing your
• 49:36
  business. It is killing the customer
• 49:38
  experience. If you want to make automation
• 49:42
  and AI this and AI that work for your business, it requires you
• 49:47
  to have massive amounts of data. The amount of data that is
• 49:52
  required is you need to speak to lots of customers because you
• 49:56
  need to be able to know the kinds of things that customers
• 50:00
  say, the kinds of problems that they have, the kind of issues
• 50:03
  that they're dealing with. And then you will now take that
• 50:05
  to produce a communication tree. Like let's say you're using,
• 50:12
  there's this thing, is it money chat?
• 50:13
  Yeah, I think money chat it's an automation automation, but I
• 50:18
  think they use it in Facebook and use it in in Instagram.
• 50:23
  So for all you have to program a communication tree.
• 50:25
  Now communication tree is just a an algorithm that says if this
• 50:30
  then that. What this means is this you
• 50:34
  program the bot so that if somebody comes into your your
• 50:38
  chat and the person says hi, this is how you respond.
• 50:42
  You can either respond by saying hi back or saying hello.
• 50:47
  Thanks for reaching out. How may I help you?
• 50:51
  So that's a communication tree. If this, then that.
• 50:53
  If somebody says hi, what do you respond?
• 50:56
  If the person responds to that and they say this, this, this,
• 51:00
  what do you say next? What do you say next?
• 51:02
  These things have to be programmed into your chat bot or
• 51:06
  programmed into your AI tools and it requires large amounts of
• 51:10
  data. When you are new in business,
• 51:13
  you do not have that data yet. You do not.
• 51:17
  So you are putting a bot or you're putting some AI thing
• 51:21
  into your chat box and you're trusting this thing to have
• 51:24
  conversations with people. People will be finding it very,
• 51:26
  very, very, very, very frustrating.
• 51:31
  Very frustrating because they have questions, they have
• 51:35
  concerns or they have complaints.
• 51:39
  The AI tool, the automation will not understand it will not get
• 51:43
  it. Now Gemini and Char GPT and all
• 51:46
  these people, they make it look very easy because there are chat
• 51:49
  bot tools, there are chat interface, everything works
• 51:52
  smooth. The reason why I work smooth is
• 51:54
  because those boys have money and they have the data.
• 51:59
  They have millions and millions and billions and trillions of
• 52:02
  data points. That is why this thing works
• 52:04
  smooth. You should not be rushing into
• 52:08
  ultimate, so no be replying to everybody 1 by 1 by 1.
• 52:13
  Go and get a Bluetooth keyboard like I do connect it to your
• 52:16
  phone or connect your WhatsApp inbox or your Instagram inbox,
• 52:21
  you know, let it come up on your computer.
• 52:23
  Be responding to people one-on-one.
• 52:25
  That is where, first of all, you have a much more pleasant
• 52:29
  customer experience, user experience.
• 52:31
  And then that is also where you will get the data to design your
• 52:35
  communication tree so that you'll be able to tell Money
• 52:38
  Chats that when people say this, say this because think about it.
• 52:42
  What if somebody comes into your inbox and they're chatting in
• 52:45
  Pigeon, but Money Chat has not been given the data about
• 52:49
  pigeon? How will Money Chat respond or
• 52:53
  figure out what it is that the person is saying in the
• 52:57
  beginning? Please do not automate anything.
• 53:00
  You do not have the data and you do not have the knowledge to
• 53:03
  make that thing work in the beginning.
• 53:05
  Manual, please, manual, manual. Or do you have enough data until
• 53:10
  you know, like let's say you've been responding to people
• 53:13
  manually for like 3 years. After a while, you kind of
• 53:15
  understand that. OK, when people slide into my DM
• 53:18
  in Instagram, they usually say one of two, three things.
• 53:23
  And if they say this, this is how the conversation goes.
• 53:26
  If they say that that is how the conversation goes.
• 53:28
  You can now program your your, your bot or your whatever.
• 53:34
  Yeah, I know this is almost one hour, but alright, let me wrap
• 53:36
  it up. But Shah, please, please,
• 53:39
  please, please, oh brothers and sisters, stay away from
• 53:42
  automation. It looks easy.
• 53:45
  Char GPT and Google and the rest of them, they've made it look as
• 53:49
  if The thing is easy. It's not.
• 53:51
  It's expensive and it requires lots of data right now.
• 53:54
  You don't have the time or the money to make this thing work
• 53:56
  for now. So please do not automate in
• 54:01
  your inbox. I beg.
• 54:05
  So that was it. Of course, as it goes with all
• 54:09
  these chats, you know, we spoke about lots and lots and lots of
• 54:12
  things. But I think these were the most
• 54:13
  important things that I spoke about with J.
• 54:16
  Cole. Remember, not his real name that
• 54:18
  I thought. Let me come over here and share
• 54:20
  with you guys. And sorry that this has lasted
• 54:22
  an hour. During the next podcast episode,
• 54:24
  I'll try and make sure that we keep it less than 30 minutes.
• 54:28
  But I hope that if this is your first time listening to the
• 54:30
  show, I hope that you've gotten value out of it.
• 54:33
  Forgive me that it was kind of rambling, but that's because
• 54:36
  when I have WhatsApp conversations with you guys, my
• 54:39
  dear listeners, I'm actually trying to figure out the
• 54:41
  problems that you're dealing with.
• 54:42
  And so, yeah, the chats can go all over the place.
• 54:44
  In fact, sometimes we will talk about some personal matters
• 54:47
  looking for J. Cole.
• 54:48
  We didn't discuss personal matters because J.
• 54:50
  Cole is looking like he's a sharp guy.
• 54:52
  So you understand, he's looking like a sharp guy, like a fly
• 54:55
  guy. So there's nothing personal I
• 54:57
  can tell him. In fact, he's one that asked.
• 54:58
  He will teach myself so that me too, I can get some game.
• 55:02
  You can get some game in my life.
• 55:04
  So I can go and pick myself up. Yeah.
• 55:07
  So that's it. So J.
• 55:08
  Cole, again, not your real name, but thank you very much for
• 55:11
  reaching out. I have fun chatting with you.
• 55:12
  I hope I've been able to give you some good ideas to grow your
• 55:15
  business. And the reason why I'm sharing
• 55:17
  this conversation here is because I'm hoping that this
• 55:19
  conversation will be able to inspire and help other people to
• 55:23
  grow their businesses as well. So if you'd like to reach out,
• 55:28
  just like J. Cole did, the phone number is at
• 55:30
  the beginning and at the end of every episode, so you can call.
• 55:33
  You can send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on
• 55:36
  08064662140. Thank you very much for your
• 55:45
  time and attention. I'll catch you all some other
• 55:47
  time. Remember to subscribe to the
• 55:49
  podcast if it's your first time listening.
• 55:51
  Tell your friends, your family members, also tell your enemies
• 55:54
  as well so that they can come here for this business goodness
• 55:56
  that we talk about every day on the podcast.
• 56:00
  So that's it. This is your boy, Tavishma
• 56:03
  Ayedeep signing out. I'll catch you some other time.