Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Start with Your Mouth, Not Your Invoice

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Start with Your Mouth, Not Your Invoice · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
0:03
This is the third part, the 3rd and the final part of a
0:06
three-part series. We've been looking at a case
0:10
study. Yeah, we've been looking at a
0:13
case study of Fresh Prince, again, not his real name, who is
0:18
in the roofing sales industry in Lagos and who is
0:23
underperforming. So he has general poor
0:25
performance and also he has a troublesome client in particular
0:30
that he's trying to deal with. So if this is your first time
0:33
listening to the podcast, after you're done listening to this,
0:37
scroll back listening to the two episodes before this one so you
0:41
get the full picture. So let's see, 2 episodes ago, we
0:46
explored how if you want to diagnose the reason why he's not
0:51
performing well, we'd have to look at the quality of the
0:54
prospects, you know, the quality of the potential customers that
0:57
he is talking to. You know, the people that he's
0:59
running after want to be sure that they match the ideal
1:02
customer profile. Then we also explored how we
1:07
need to look at the conversation frameworks that he's using
1:10
because sales is all about having conversations with people
1:15
essentially. So if you're new to this or if
1:18
you're struggling, you actually need to have a framework.
1:21
A framework is just a mind map or a guide.
1:23
That should all I put it now. Now I'll let you know the key
1:28
things that you need to hit in a conversation.
1:30
So the problem with a bunch of you are struggling in sales is
1:34
that you don't have, you're not using any kind of conversation
1:36
framework. So every single time you talk to
1:38
a potential customer, you talk to a stakeholder, you talk to an
1:41
investor, you talk to, you know, whoever, essentially, you're
1:44
just freestyling. And the problem with freestyling
1:48
is you can't really improve upon anything because you don't know
1:51
what works, You don't know what didn't work.
1:54
And also the problem with freestyling is that it's very
1:57
tiring. It's very, very tiring.
2:00
You meet some people, today you're freestyling, tomorrow
2:02
you're freestyling. The day after your freestyling,
2:05
after two weeks, you will be knackered, like you'll be
2:08
completely tired. You'll be zonked, like you'll be
2:11
wiped out, like nobody can keep that up every single day.
2:16
Just be freestyling creativity, coming up with new things every
2:19
single day. And that is tiring.
2:22
So what you just need is a simple framework that's just
2:24
guiding you through the conversation.
2:26
So if after you're done listening to this podcast
2:28
episode, you know, skip back to my episodes, listen to that, you
2:31
will see some conversation frameworks that we explored.
2:35
Let's see. Yeah.
2:36
So those are some of the things that we explored in Episode 1.
2:41
Then in Episode 2, we tried to look at whether it's a bad idea,
2:46
whether it's bad that he hasn't closed the deal in about 3
2:49
months and I can't remember. OK.
2:55
So we said, you know, it depends, it depends on the
2:57
typical sales cycle. So if we know what the sales
2:59
cycle is for roofing sales, roofing sheets in Nigeria, then
3:03
we, you know, we'll know whether that's good or not.
3:05
Then we looked at the sales cycle for residential roofing
3:10
sales, commercial roofing sales, government contracts, you know,
3:13
things like that. So those are the sorts of things
3:15
to look at to determine whether you're doing a good job or not.
3:18
So let's say you're in business and your business is, let's say
3:22
you sell IBO. When I say IBO on this
3:25
broadcast, I mean weed. So let's say you sell weed and
3:28
you haven't sold any weed in, you know, one week.
3:32
Is that a good thing or, you know, is, is that a good thing
3:36
or not? You know, it depends.
3:37
What is the sales cycle for selling weed?
3:40
So my own assumption is that if you sell weed, you should be
3:45
any, you know, I'm not in that. I'm not in that industry.
3:48
Let me just put it that way. I don't use and I don't sell,
3:51
but it is my assumption that, you know, people who need weed
3:54
are looking for a good product, you know, all the time.
3:57
So my guess is if you can't sell IBO in in one week, then you're
4:01
a bad salesperson. Because I'm assuming that the
4:04
sales cycle for the sale of IBO should be like, it should be
4:09
like 5 minutes. It's a matter of oh boy, alpha,
4:12
now you get weed. You say I get now which one,
4:14
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You transfer the money I have.
4:16
So if in one week you haven't sold, then you're a terrible
4:18
salesperson. You should.
4:20
If you're selling weed and it's taking you one week to close the
4:23
customer, you're a terrible salesperson.
4:24
Really, really terrible. So it depends then let's see.
4:30
OK, so those are the things that we looked at in the past two
4:32
episodes. Then what I promised you guys
4:35
we're going to look at today was that our guy Fresh Prince.
4:41
Remember, Fresh Prince is not his real name.
4:43
Fresh Prince has one troublesome client, one troublesome customer
4:46
that he's dealing with. And I want us to look at that
4:49
today because I know that 5060, even 70% of you are dealing with
4:55
this kind of person. If you, if you're not dealing
4:58
with this person at the moment, I know that this kind of person
5:01
will cross your path. You know, it's my prayer that
5:03
God will keep this kind of customers away from us.
5:05
But you know how for do they're out there and they exist and
5:10
they play some useless games. And you know, it's just one of
5:13
these things. So we should be prepared because
5:15
if you have not met this kind customer before, I promise you,
5:20
you'll see him soon or you'll see how soon it was just like my
5:25
own experience. Usually they're men.
5:28
I've met a woman who who plays these kinds of games.
5:31
Oh, apologies. By the way, I'm making today's
5:33
recording out and about. It's a Saturday.
5:35
The kids are at cat kissing classes, so I'm just chilling in
5:38
the car park trying to get some work done.
5:40
So sorry for the noise coming in.
5:42
Oh, by the way, if you'd love to connect with me, just like our
5:48
our guy Fresh Prince did. Again, not his real name.
5:51
So if you'd like to connect with me, just like Fresh Prince, you
5:52
can call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on
5:55
08064662140. If you want me to look at your
6:01
business processes. If you have a couple of
6:03
questions, it's the same number 08064662140.
6:10
Or if you just want to be on my WhatsApp channel, that is not a
6:13
problem. Send me a message on the same
6:15
number and I'll hook you up. So to the troublesome client
6:19
now, so Fresh Prince now went for a business exhibition.
6:25
And that's a good thing to do to drum up customers because it's
6:28
not just social media that we should be doing.
6:30
We should also be looking for activities that involve us going
6:33
out to talk to people. Because the thing about trying
6:36
to grow your business by using social media and content
6:38
marketing and things like that is it's a medium to long term
6:41
play. In other words, if you're going
6:43
to rely on Internet alone, do not expect to close business in
6:51
less than, you know, three to five years on average, on
6:56
average. Of course, you know, it depends
6:57
on the, it also depends on the, on the industry.
7:03
So like if you're coming in brand new to, let's say wedding
7:05
photography and doing wedding video and stuff like that, OK,
7:08
you can be posting, photo posting, video posting, photo
7:10
posting. And you know, maybe in like, you
7:13
know, 2-3 months, some people will say, oh, how fun and how
7:15
much do you cost? But for this kind of thing, you
7:18
know, like roofing sheets, you'll take a while.
7:22
So you should be running things on both ends.
7:26
One way of looking at it is there are two different business
7:29
philosophies that is outbound and then inbound.
7:32
So inbound, inbound is a philosophy or a principle of
7:37
marketing or principle of, you know, drumming of business that
7:40
has you doing stuff so that people find you attractive and
7:45
then they reach out to you, they come in to you.
7:47
That's why it's called inbound. So social media is a form of
7:50
inbound. So people say advertising is a
7:52
form of inbound. You know, people argue here and
7:55
there, although for me I think advertising is, I think
7:58
advertising is more of outbound. But anyway, you do things that
8:03
'cause people to run after you, that is inbound.
8:05
Then there's another business philosophy which is outbound.
8:08
Outbound is when you go out and start chasing people.
8:10
So going to exhibitions, going to trade fairs.
8:13
So for someone like Fresh Prince, going to Abuja
8:15
International Trade Fair, going to Lagos Real Estate, no ABI,
8:21
Lagos Housing Fair, something, something, you know, all these
8:24
different shows, that's a good form of our bound.
8:27
So Fresh Prince went to this exhibition now and he met
8:30
somebody there and he thought the person was a correct guy,
8:33
which is normal because when you go for these sorts of things,
8:36
you meet correct people. But then things started getting
8:40
strange. They've had a couple of
8:43
conversations and Fresh Prince has sent this guy, let's call
8:46
him Big Boss. So Fresh Prince has said Big
8:49
Boss 3 rounds of quotes. I repeat, Fresh Prince, again,
8:55
not his real name, has sent Big Boss 3 rounds of quotes, 123.
9:01
Now you can see why. I'm sure some of you can relate.
9:05
You send somebody a quote, the person was saying it's too
9:07
expensive. You send another quote, it's too
9:09
expensive. Send another quote is too
9:11
expensive. Now my question for anyone who
9:15
is at this point like Fresh Prince, you send somebody 3
9:19
rounds of quotes. My question is why?
9:24
Like why are you sending somebody 3 rounds of quotes
9:29
before you send somebody even one quote, even 11 quote, one
9:34
invoice. You should have had a couple of
9:36
conversations with the person to try and figure out is this
9:38
person serious? Is there a sense of urgency
9:43
around this person, or is this person the kind of person that
9:46
will waste your time. I repeat, before you end up
9:52
sending somebody 3 rounds of quotes, you send the first
9:55
quotes to expensive, second quote to the expensive third
9:58
quote. Too expensive.
10:00
You should have been asking some questions right from the get.
10:03
Is this person serious? Is there a sense of urgency?
10:06
Does it look like they're ready to make a decision anytime soon?
10:09
Is this the kind of person who wastes my time?
10:11
Is this person that worker pass? Is this person the time waster
10:13
like you? You should have asked the person
10:15
a couple of questions so that you know where you stand.
10:20
My own personal philosophy. Not lots of people agree with
10:23
me, but it's my own personal philosophy.
10:25
I only send a quote or an invoice as a confirmation.
10:30
I repeat I only send a quote or an invoice as a confirmation.
10:35
As per we have used mouth and we have spoken about everything we
10:41
have agreed. So me sending the quote is just
10:43
a matter of oh OK before you transfer the bar here is this
10:47
paper that shows exactly what it is that we agreed on.
10:50
So typically I'm only sending 1 and I'm sending at the end.
10:54
For some people I'm not even sending quotes at all.
10:57
All I'm sending is here's my account details.
10:59
But of course, you know, for the roofing sheets and stuff like
11:01
that, you know, you can't be operating based on account
11:04
details for that kind of industry.
11:06
So, you know, you guys keep things a bit more formal.
11:08
Butcher. I think I'll make some more
11:12
podcast episodes about that. But please let us stop using
11:15
quotes. Let us stop using invoices as a
11:19
part of our sales process. The quote or the invoice should
11:22
not be a part of our sales process they think that we're
11:24
using to move the deal forward. The quote or the invoice is the
11:27
final thing that we should be sending at the end so that we
11:30
can collect our money. So OK, yeah, let me just leave
11:37
it like that. We should not be sending anybody
11:40
even one round of quoting if we don't know whether they're
11:43
serious, if we don't know whether they're ready to take
11:45
action anytime soon. If we can't figure out whether
11:48
this guy is serious or be this guy will waste my time or this
11:52
or this babe go waste my time, we should not even send one
11:54
quote. So the only way that we're going
11:58
to be able to do that is if we use some of the conversation
12:02
frameworks that I refer to in Part 1.
12:06
So for those of you who are listening to this podcast for
12:07
the first time, you see why I say, look, it's important.
12:10
Just skip back and listen. Get the full picture.
12:14
So you use the conversation frameworks in Part 1.
12:17
And one of those conversation frameworks that I spoke about
12:20
was banned BANT. It's an acronym.
12:24
B stands for budget, A stands for authority, N stands for
12:27
need, T stands for timeline. Now for those of you who are
12:32
more experienced, you guys who say bands is elementary, now
12:36
that is jam bite levels that are much more effective conversation
12:40
frameworks and stuff like that, no problem.
12:42
I agree. I won't argue.
12:45
The reason why I've been talking a lot about bands is just
12:47
because it's a conversation framework that only has four
12:50
elements. BANT 12344 elements means easy
12:55
to remember. So it's the kind of thing that
12:56
you can be talking to somebody and in your head you can be
13:00
taking it off. OK BI Don't they ask B
13:02
questions? OK, No problem.
13:03
A OK, I don't they ask A questions.
13:05
OK, And I don't they ask any questions.
13:08
OK, TI Don't they ask T questions all the other
13:13
qualification frameworks that are much more intricate and much
13:15
more OK, no problem. 10 steps. 15 steps.
13:18
Yeah, no problem. Good luck trying to remember 15
13:20
steps when you're having a conversation with someone.
13:23
So that is not a bad place to start, but I'm not recommending
13:27
it because it's the best. So like I said, each thing, each
13:30
item stands for something. Budget, authority, need
13:34
timeline. Budget just means money
13:36
conversation. You suppose they have money,
13:42
money conversations with people like early and often, quickly
13:47
and often so that you know where you stand from the beginning.
13:51
It is a waste of time if your product is 35 million, but then
13:58
you're talking to somebody who the person you know the person
14:01
is like an 18,000,000 somebody. The gap between 30 something
14:04
million and 18,000,000 is almost double.
14:07
I think it's more than double self.
14:11
You can't, you can't make up that gap.
14:15
If your product is 35 million, it'll be nice to know if you're
14:18
talking to a 30 million naira person, you know, you now know
14:22
that. OK, You know, we'll be harsh
14:24
sharp because you know the gap between 30 million and
14:28
35,000,000 is 5 million. We'll be hard sharp, but we go
14:31
raw farm, we'll make it happen. So you need to be having budget
14:37
conversations early, money conversations early.
14:40
At some point, Fresh Prince, I'm assuming you did this, but just
14:48
in case you didn't and for the benefit of people who are
14:50
listening for the first time and who don't do stuff like this, at
14:55
some point, Fresh Prince, when you are having the conversation
14:57
with Big Boss after the exhibition, you should have
15:01
said, oh, Big Boss, you know, truly, truly my bad.
15:05
Only thing that you're doing, I'd like to work with you guys.
15:07
But Boss, based on all the specs when we don't have so far the
15:12
way you describe this project and everything, honestly
15:15
speaking here, this is the sort of thing that with my own
15:18
company would be able to deliver the project at anything between
15:23
40 million on the high end. So about 45,000,000 on the low
15:27
end. Is this an amount that you're
15:30
willing to invest in? You just say it with your mouth
15:33
and put it out there. You say it, you put it out, and
15:38
then you wait. From the way Big Boss, from from
15:46
his voice or from his body language, you know, from the way
15:49
he will hesitate or from the way he will smile or whatever.
15:52
You will know the kind of person you're dealing with if you say
15:59
based on all the things you're spoken about so far, projects
16:03
like this typically would come in at about 45,000,000 on the
16:06
high end to about 40 million on the low end.
16:12
How does that sound to you? Is this the sort of thing you're
16:14
willing to invest in? Do you have any quotes that
16:20
match those figures? You know, something like that.
16:22
You just put the the range out there and then you try and get
16:25
some feedback. Now if Big Boss responds and
16:30
says 45,000,000 on high end, Oh yeah, sure, that sounds about
16:33
right. You now know that.
16:35
OK, we can continue talking because he said it sounds about
16:39
right. It doesn't mean that you will
16:40
close this deal, but at least we now know that.
16:43
OK, we are closer to talking to someone who might be a serious
16:49
prospect if you start sending this kind of person quotes.
16:55
OK, no problem. At least you had the money
16:56
conversation so that when you send the first one and the
17:01
person says it's too high, you'll say, ah, boss chief, you
17:05
know big boss, you know why we spoke?
17:07
You said 45 M sounds about right.
17:10
This figure that I gave you now 43 M now.
17:13
So waiting upon like what's going on?
17:17
You can now legitimately ask because before he used his own
17:21
mouth to say 45 sounds about right.
17:24
So now they've given 43. What's going on?
17:28
You can see that now you can ask, and you're not even asking
17:31
a way that is too pushy because you're just seeking
17:32
clarification on something that Big Boss used his own mouse to
17:36
say before. So B budget, you should be
17:40
having money conversations. Have them early and have them
17:44
often. Don't use the quote.
17:46
Don't use the invoice to start the money conversation.
17:51
I repeat, don't use the invoice. Don't use the quote to start the
17:55
money conversation. Use your mouth to start the
17:58
money conversation when you're in front of chief in the office.
18:02
So I said chief Big Boss, I mean, I think it's Big Boss, I
18:05
said. So when you're in front of Big
18:07
Boss in the office, use your mouth and start the money
18:10
conversation. When you have Big Boss on the
18:13
phone, use your mouth and start the money conversation.
18:18
Don't start money conversations in print.
18:22
Don't start money conversations over WhatsApp.
18:25
Don't start money conversations over text message.
18:28
Don't start money conversations over e-mail.
18:30
Don't start money conversations over quotes.
18:33
Don't start money conversations over invoice.
18:36
Don't start money conversations apart from, you know, eye to eye
18:42
or mouth to mouth like I am seeing you, you are seeing me or
18:47
I am talking to you, you are talking to me.
18:50
That is the time and the best opportunity to start the money
18:53
conversation. When we have started it like
18:57
this, first face to face or over the phone, we can now continue
19:01
to be pricing over WhatsApp or whatever.
19:04
But the conversation should start with your mouth, right?
19:10
Fresh Prince or anybody in this situation, start with the mouth.
19:12
It will save you a lot of all these quote, quote, quote, quote
19:16
back and forth. I know some people that have
19:19
sent you know like four or five quotes.
19:22
Now I'm serious. Last year I know someone who
19:24
sent 5 quotes. Nothing is effing frustrating.
19:29
I don't know how you guys keep up with it.
19:31
I send one quote, then I send another, then I send another,
19:34
then I send another. Nothing is madding.
19:38
So B budget money conversations. Have them early, have them
19:42
often. Then authority.
19:44
Authority in the framework of bands is when you're trying to
19:49
figure out who it is that I'm dealing with and whether the
19:52
person can authorize the transaction, whether the person
19:55
can make the decision for us to go ahead.
19:56
Because there are some people who can only say no, but they
19:59
can't say yes. I repeat for some of you who
20:04
didn't get it. There are some people who can
20:06
only say no, but they can't say yes.
20:08
Now, let's say you're talking to Big boss because you think Big
20:11
boss is actually the big boss. But meanwhile, let's say Big
20:15
boss is just. Let's say Big boss is just the
20:18
MD. But then as MD he has to report
20:21
to CEO and CEO has to report to a member of the board so that
20:26
the board can approve the expenses.
20:28
In this case, even though when you first saw him, you thought
20:31
he was the big boss, really, really he is not the big boss
20:35
because he's MDMD is answering to CEO and then before the
20:41
expense is approved, CEO has to report to the board.
20:44
You are not talking to somebody who has authority.
20:49
You're talking to somebody who is a credible person and a
20:51
serious person within the chain, but the ultimate authority to
20:56
say, Oh yeah, go ahead, transfer 40 million.
20:58
He's not that person. That is what a authority stands
21:02
for. So we should always be trying to
21:03
figure out this person that I'm talking with, Sir, who am I
21:05
talking to? Is this the very last bus stop?
21:10
Now, the guy, be this or not, we need to know.
21:16
Too many of us are investing time talking with people, but
21:19
we've not had the authority conversations.
21:23
So at some point Fresh Prince, when you're having the
21:27
conversation with Big Boss, of course you never ask anybody,
21:31
are you the big boss? That's an insult.
21:33
Now be asking them, are you the big boss?
21:34
No, no, no, no, you, you do it with style.
21:40
So you talk, you say, oh, based on the spectrum spoken about so
21:44
far, this project could come in anything between 45,000,000 on
21:47
the high end. So about 40 million on the low
21:50
end. Is this the kind of investment
21:53
that your company is willing to make?
21:56
And the person says that 40 million, is it negotiable?
22:01
And you say Big Boss, everything is negotiable now nobody Niger,
22:05
we do, you know, but we'll have to know some more about the
22:07
project. But yeah, sure, everything is
22:08
negotiable now because Big boss said that 40 million, is it
22:13
negotiable? You now know that, OK, I'm
22:15
dealing with somebody who is closer to a 40 million kind of
22:18
person. You now know that there's
22:20
there's hope, OK, that sharp 38,000,037, maybe 35 million
22:25
like it can work when we start negotiating.
22:31
So we move on. That is money budget.
22:34
You now say, oh, OK, So Big Boss typically for these kinds of
22:39
projects when our clients want to approve them, for some
22:44
companies it requires board approval.
22:46
Is that the same in this case? And the big boss says, Oh yeah,
22:49
sure, board approval is going to be required.
22:53
You now know that apart from Big Boss, ultimately the final bus
22:58
stop is the board. Then you now say you will now
23:03
stylishly try and throw some answers like, oh, oh, OK,
23:05
really. So at the at the board meeting,
23:09
are you going to make the presentation directly or is this
23:11
something you route through your CEO?
23:13
And then he says, Oh no, there's no CEO.
23:15
You know, I'm the MD, I'm the final bus stop.
23:18
It's just me and the board. OK, good.
23:20
Now in your mind you now know that it's just two people you're
23:23
talking to him. Ultimately he has to submit to
23:26
the board. At least now you know ahead of
23:30
time. So stylishly in future
23:33
conversations you will now try and be finding out like when the
23:35
board is supposed to meet. So in future conversations
23:38
you'll be like when was the last board meeting yourself?
23:41
And then he'll say, oh, that happened 2 weeks ago.
23:43
You are now nodded in your head that oh OK, it happened 2 weeks
23:46
ago. Currently this is the middle of
23:48
the month. So therefore, the board meets at
23:52
the beginning of every single month.
23:54
You see, this is how you stylishly ask for information.
23:57
You can just ask people, you know, how often does the board
23:59
meet? OK, well, you can ask how often
24:01
does the board meet and get away with it.
24:04
But I'll put it keep a conversational, you know, this
24:09
is not an interrogation. So that is authority.
24:15
So need. OK, now I know for sure that
24:18
Fresh Prince has done the need come in fact, Fresh Prince let
24:21
me online when I saw the three quotes, I was doubtful that did
24:25
you even discuss need at first. Because when you discuss need
24:29
for roofing sheets, that is when you actually do all the, the
24:32
maths or the calculation. You know, what is angle of
24:37
elevation, what is angle of incline, what is angle of
24:39
decline, what is the wingspan, how many roofing sheets, you
24:43
know, blah, blah, blah, You know, And so for this kind of
24:46
businesses like this, you know, these are the the fixed material
24:50
that is what's going to determine the, the cost.
24:54
And Fresh Prince, your quotation, you went from
24:58
18,000,000, you now dropped to 15,000,000 from 15,000,000 you
25:02
now dropped to 12 million. And I'm wondering that did you
25:06
do N need need analysis? Because if we did need analysis,
25:11
I don't see how first from your, from your quote, 3,000,000 will
25:18
just come out after that another 3,000,000 again.
25:21
In fact, have you noticed that every single time Fresh Prince,
25:25
you talk to Big Boss and he gives you a push, you remove
25:29
three M you don't think he has already figured out that every
25:31
single time he says too expensive.
25:33
He knows the way he says too expensive, you will come out
25:35
three. So he knows all he has to do.
25:40
He says, ah, this 12 million is too expensive.
25:42
And then you will now drop it to what's that 12 -, 9 That's I
25:46
mean 12 minus 399 million. Now those will be listening for
25:55
the first time. I mean, sorry, those people are
25:58
regular listeners. Can you see why I say I hate
26:00
discounts? When you are discounting price,
26:05
you're, you're just, you're devaluing your offer.
26:09
You're causing people to not rate you.
26:10
They know they rate you again, all they have to do is just
26:13
stand firm and say too expensive and then you drop like that.
26:21
And sometimes when you people drop, sometimes you will drop
26:23
too big. 18 to 15, that's 3,000,015 to 12.
26:27
That's three million. It means much.
26:30
Even if you want to go down, somebody says it's too
26:31
expensive. How about moving from 18 million
26:34
to, I don't know, 17.5. You know, you don't have to be
26:39
just cutting, cutting, cutting like that.
26:43
But anyway, all these negotiation game and not nothing
26:47
had so don't don't even bother playing that game.
26:51
My own opinion, don't even bother playing that game.
26:54
So where was IN need? You should be having the
26:57
conversation. Excuse me, having the
26:59
conversation about need. What exactly do they need then,
27:03
Fresh Prince? I suspect that when you were
27:06
having conversations with big boss, you didn't have the
27:09
conversations around T, which is timelines.
27:12
Timelines just means is there any urgency?
27:15
Does it sound like they're ready to take action anytime?
27:17
So does it look like there's something that they're planning
27:19
towards? So let's let's rewind it.
27:22
So you have the conversation with Chief, I said Chief, Big
27:25
Boss, you have the conversation with Big Boss.
27:27
So it's a big boss. Based on all the things you've
27:29
spoken about so far, looks like this project can come in
27:32
anything between 45,000,000 on the high end and about 40
27:36
million on the low end. Does that match with the scope
27:40
that you guys have discussed so far with the company?
27:43
And then Big Boss says now 40 million, Fresh Prince are 40
27:48
million. Will you guys negotiate?
27:52
Everything is negotiable now. But you know, Sha, let's let's
27:55
go forward now. Let me we need to come and do
27:57
site inspection. Let me see the factory.
27:59
Let's let me go up there with my balls to measure everything.
28:02
That's all determine the final price.
28:04
OK. But at 40 million, we can
28:06
negotiate a big boss now. You're my guy.
28:08
Now we can negotiate. Don't worry, I got you.
28:10
I got you. OK, No problem.
28:12
That is budget then authority. So big boss, you know for that
28:19
Elisa Day project that we did that time, now when we submitted
28:22
our final invoice, the thing that had to go to the board.
28:25
So for you people, is it the same thing that the board will
28:28
approve? I'll be is you that will just
28:30
cut the check. So no, now I'll be empty.
28:32
Now I have the final authority. I'm the one that will cut the
28:34
check. Good.
28:35
In your mind now you now know that.
28:36
OK, I'm dealing with the right guy then you have already agreed
28:42
need N all right, because you had the first conversation that
28:47
used to just give him that rough 45 to 40.
28:52
You've agreed that boys have to be on site and measure the roof
28:55
and you know the wingspan and the every you know all those
28:58
your technical stuff. So need that one will happen
29:02
later. So timeline 9 remain now.
29:09
So you now ask him now OK by the way big boss so like why is it
29:12
now that you people are changing the roofing sheets?
29:15
You just ask why are you changing the roofing sheet now?
29:18
Then you keep quiet. If Big Boss says, you know, we
29:21
don't enter rainy season and or more than last rainy season, the
29:25
current leaks will we get as in they didn't even spoil one of
29:29
our machine. When somebody says something
29:32
like like that, that the reason why we are changing is because
29:36
we had leaks in the last rainy season and the leaks nearly
29:39
destroyed one of our machines. Can you see that?
29:41
That sounds like somebody that has urgency.
29:44
There is something that might happen sometime soon that causes
29:47
them to want to act. That is rainy season on the
29:51
show. Small, small.
29:53
Now the reason why we should be asking about timelines or
29:57
urgencies, that is the thing that will give us confidence and
30:02
give us fuel when it comes to the follow up.
30:05
You will now know whether you can follow somebody
30:08
aggressively. You could have closed my camp
30:11
calling the person every two, two days, every 3-3 days or you
30:15
will relax. I'll be calling them every two,
30:16
two months is based on urgency. It's the urgency that will tell
30:22
you. So somebody who is ready to take
30:25
action next week, you had better be calling that person every
30:30
two, two days. Stay on this thing because the
30:32
person is getting ready to move next week.
30:37
The person who is going to take action in another 10 months, OK,
30:41
you can follow that person and you know, you can relax.
30:45
You call them every month or every 3-3 weeks.
30:50
You see? So this is how, because a lot of
30:53
you get very confused, like, oh, am I being too aggressive?
30:58
Honestly speaking, I don't know if you're being too aggressive.
31:01
Like, what's the timeline? What's what's the urgency?
31:03
I can't say you're too aggressive and I can't say
31:05
you're not too aggressive. It, it depends.
31:09
Like remember back when we were in university, you know, you
31:12
like a girl, you're hanging out with her, you know, you just
31:15
follow her normal, normal, normal.
31:17
But then you're reading your final exams and people are going
31:20
to leave soon. You know, if you don't lock this
31:24
thing down, people will graduate and then she will now send you
31:29
Ivy that she's marrying somebody else.
31:31
So you know, that's why you now sit down and have that
31:33
conversation. You know that babe that I want
31:37
you to be my girlfriend. You know that is your matter.
31:41
I want to die on you put for that commitment because you know
31:45
that urgency timeline graduation is coming and you don't want
31:50
her. You don't want holiday to go and
31:52
then next thing she will now be inviting you that she's getting
31:54
married to Alhaji. So so and so you want to be the
31:57
guy that she will marry. So that's why you now push for
31:59
the commitment because something is happening.
32:02
Timeline D this urgency in front is the same thing with business
32:06
as in relationships. We need to figure out the
32:08
timeline. So Fresh Prince, honestly, I'm
32:13
not sure if when you're having conversations with sorry, 1
32:16
moment. OK, I'm back.
32:21
Sorry about that. You know, I mentioned that I'm
32:23
at in the parking lot because the kids have cascism and lo and
32:28
behold, from nowhere, one of my cousins that I've not seen in
32:33
like almost like 5 years. No, I think more like 7 years.
32:39
I haven't seen this my cousin like 7 years.
32:42
You don't believe as I was making this broadcast recording,
32:44
my cousin was just strolling by anyway.
32:48
We it was anyway, don't mind me. Let me not use my family issues
32:53
now derail the podcast. Where was I?
32:55
Where was I? I've lost track.
32:58
So I think I was saying, Fresh Prince in the conversation that
33:04
you've been having with Big Boss.
33:06
I'm not sure if you've been bringing up timelines at all.
33:09
I'm not sure if you've been bringing up urgency.
33:11
Why do you need to replace the roof now?
33:14
Is there any project that you are currently working on OK, to
33:21
change this roof right now? Is it a directive that has come
33:24
down from the board or you know like there are questions that
33:28
you asked that you will get a sense OK, oh that this is the
33:32
reason why they are moving now. This thing has broken.
33:35
This thing has damaged or maybe the, you know, you never know.
33:40
Sometimes it's even a superficial or something.
33:43
Maybe like they just want to do, you know, every once in a while
33:46
now, some people just say, oh, we don't like how everything is
33:49
looking. Let's just let's just paint
33:51
everywhere, change the roof, blah, blah, blah.
33:53
You know, maybe it's just cosmetic, you know, but you need
33:55
to know because like now if it's one of those cosmetic things,
33:58
for instance, somebody just says we haven't painted this factory
34:01
in 10 years and you know, the roof is now looking rusty.
34:05
If it's a commerce, if it's a cosmetic something, it's good to
34:08
know because you now know how serious they are or not.
34:11
If it's just cosmetic, that's the kind of thing when I say
34:14
cosmetic, I just mean like, you know, outside, like me
34:16
everywhere just fine. If it's a cosmetic something,
34:19
then you know that it's the kind of thing that they can change
34:21
their mind because the business owner can come and say, what?
34:24
Look at this building, see, we haven't painted this thing.
34:26
Look at the roof everywhere rusty, blah, blah, blah, blah,
34:29
blah. Go ahead, give me a quote, give
34:31
me a quote. Now we need to make this place
34:32
look fine. Make this place look fine.
34:34
Then by the time you give the business owner the estimate, you
34:36
say what, 100 and something million?
34:38
Just say you know what? If it's 100 million, just just
34:41
leave it. Just believe in it is OK.
34:44
It's OK. The roof is still OK.
34:46
Abby, it's not leaking. No, it's not leaking.
34:47
Nothing damaged, nothing damaged.
34:49
It's just looking rusty and just leave it.
34:52
If I have 100 million for something else, just leave it.
34:55
Just leave it. So ask timelines, urgency.
34:59
We need to know why are they moving now?
35:02
So it is when you ask all these questions of big balls that you
35:07
will know whether you're dealing with a serious person or you're
35:09
dealing with someone who's going to waste your time.
35:14
If you ask all these kinds of questions early in the
35:17
beginning, you will know before you start that, whoa, this
35:22
person I'm talking to is the kind of person I want to show me
35:24
Shake it. They'll be pricing me
35:26
groundnuts. They'll be doing me back and
35:27
forth. They'll be doing me corner,
35:28
corner. You will know right from the
35:30
beginning. Now, in that case, if you don't
35:33
have anything better to do, OK, no problem, you can engage.
35:36
But the things at least you know fully well and you decided to
35:42
engage, not that somebody is using your head.
35:47
And if you have other things to do, other prospects that seems
35:50
to be much more promising, well, then go ahead and deal with
35:52
those people. Because from asking questions
35:54
back and forth, you have seen that this is nice.
35:57
You're somebody. But Please remember, for the
36:01
quote, start money conversations with your mouth, face to face
36:06
where possible, over the phone if you can be face to face or
36:09
over Zoom meeting. But sure, your mouth must be
36:12
involved. Your physical lips, your mouth
36:15
must be involved when it comes to money conversations, start it
36:18
with the mouth. Even if you want to be
36:20
negotiating over e-mail or WhatsApp, you know, no problem.
36:23
But start with your mouth. Don't use the quote.
36:27
If you use the quote or the invoice, you will get trapped in
36:29
this silly game. And if you guys are not tired of
36:32
the game, continue. But for me, I'm tired.
36:35
That is the reason why I have all the big conversations
36:38
upfront and then I'm sending the invoice at the end because this
36:42
is how I will collect my money. So this is a formal notice and
36:45
then it's a summary of everything that we have
36:47
discussed. But if you don't mind, OK,
36:49
continue sending quotes out. The problem with this quotation
36:52
game is let's say you're talking to two people every single week
36:55
and with each person you have prepared five quotes in the last
36:59
month. I mean, like, just think about
37:02
it now. Two people per week, eight
37:05
people per month, 8 * 12 is, is what is that 90 something?
37:10
I'll be 100 and something. And it's a good thing my
37:12
children are, you know, don't like podcasts, so they won't
37:14
know that I'm bad at math. Just think of the number of PDFs
37:18
you're presenting. You're, you're creating every
37:21
day, creating PDFs, just wasting your time, editing invoice, just
37:26
wasting your time Anyway, So Fresh Prince, let me talk to you
37:30
now directly, Fresh Prince, to move from 18 to 15, from 15 to
37:35
12, you're devaluing your offer and you're making big boss feel
37:40
as if there is no objective basis for the quote.
37:43
If every single time I push back, you remove 3,000,000, it
37:46
means that you are trying to, you are trying to build a house
37:51
on top of my head in the 1st place.
37:52
You understand what I'm saying for those of you who are not
37:55
Nigerian, what what, what we mean when we say you want to
37:57
build house on top of my head, it means OK, how will I put it
38:02
now? Oh boy, OK.
38:09
If somebody says you want to build house on top of my head,
38:11
what the person means is like you are trying to take advantage
38:15
of me, you're trying to make advantage of me and get on
38:19
unrealistic excessive profit margins from me.
38:23
So that's what it means. So if you remove 3,000,000 every
38:28
single time, that means you want to build a house on top of my
38:31
head, It means that there is no rational basis for this cost
38:34
that you have given me. So even if before he trusted
38:36
you, now he will go and start asking otherpeople.com how much
38:40
for this project. He will now start doubting.
38:43
So let's stop playing all this discount thing.
38:46
You are devaluing the offer. Then you've also shifted the
38:49
balance of power. Big boss now knows that he has
38:53
the power. You have shifted your status.
38:55
You're no longer a professional salesperson.
38:57
You are now a beggar because you're you're chasing him.
39:00
Say Bros, follow me. Come by, follow me by.
39:02
Market full no, like you, you've lost it.
39:05
You're not becoming like these people in the market who chase
39:07
people up and down. Then you also put yourself in
39:13
one kind desperate mindset. And look, that desperation thing
39:15
sucks. The problem with the desperation
39:17
thing is that it kills your motivation.
39:19
It kills your mojo. The thing kills your drive.
39:22
You now won't even have liver to be calling other people.
39:26
So that's why I say avoid all these things.
39:30
Avoid. Figure out quickly, is this
39:33
person serious or oh, they're all serious.
39:34
OK, I can't figure out if they're all serious.
39:36
Move other people. You will stay here.
39:40
It will kill your motivation. It will kill your drive.
39:46
Everything is just shifting in big bosses favour.
39:53
So how will I put it now? And Asia, don't be discounting.
40:00
I'll make podcasts. I've already made podcast
40:02
episodes about that before and I'll talk about it some more in
40:04
the future. But let's say you want to know
40:07
now legitimately, like how can you negotiate in this kind of
40:09
thing? It's very, very simple.
40:10
Very, very simple. Remember, I'm a sales coach and
40:15
a business development consultant, so I am not a
40:17
negotiation specialist. That is why I advise that apart
40:21
from listening to my podcast, go and look for other podcasts on
40:24
negotiations as well. Unfortunately, there is no
40:28
Nigerian podcast on negotiation that I have found so I can't
40:31
refer you someplace else. All of them are Oyo podcast but
40:37
it's OK, that's not a problem even though it's an Oyo podcast.
40:40
Listen to it and just try and see how would this principle
40:45
apply. OK, so Speaking of principles
40:49
now for those of you who are listening who have studied
40:52
negotiations, because you know, my first degree was in in law.
40:56
So they teach us some of these stuff or you go for seminars
40:59
where you learn one or two things.
41:00
Now in the area of negotiations, there's something that they
41:03
called unprincipled concessions. Unprincipled concession just
41:06
means, OK. Concession just means how will I
41:09
put it in a concession? Concession to concede to means I
41:13
agree. Concession does means why I
41:16
agree. That's what concession means.
41:20
So in negotiations and they say do not make unprincipled
41:23
concessions. That means do not be agreeing to
41:27
anything without any principle. Do you guys hear me?
41:31
Do not be agreeing to something without any principles.
41:36
Do not be agreeing to anything in negotiation that does not
41:42
have an underlying basis. And most especially how do I put
41:51
it now? OK, let me put it this way,
41:54
don't agree for anything without asking for anything in return.
41:57
Let me put it that way. So that's on principle
42:00
concession. If somebody says too expensive,
42:03
then you go from 18 to 15, you didn't ask for anything.
42:06
That is an unprincipled concession.
42:08
You gave GAP. Why did you give GAP?
42:11
What is the basis? You don't know.
42:14
You didn't explain it. Did you ask for anything in
42:16
return? Nothing.
42:18
When you make unprincipled concessions, you devalue the
42:21
offer. You shift the balance of power.
42:24
You start looking desperate. You assume lower status.
42:26
Everything will shift in the other person's favor.
42:28
So if you must agree for something, ask for something
42:31
else. If somebody says you're too
42:34
expensive, blah, blah, blah, you will haggle back and forth.
42:36
The person say what about 50 million?
42:38
You can say, Oh yeah, sure, 50 million, we can do that.
42:41
But in return for this 15,000,000, you will have to do
42:44
this for me. You now say something that works
42:48
in your favor. That is how you kind of maintain
42:53
the balance of power. You don't sound too desperate.
42:56
And then you definitely don't devalue your offer.
42:58
And then apart from that, you will also teach the person.
43:00
The person will figure out that every single time I ask Fresh
43:04
Prince for 3,000,000 off, he gives it to me.
43:07
He now asks me for something else.
43:10
Guess what? The person will stop asking.
43:15
The game will end after a while. People figure it out.
43:20
Every single time I ask him for something, he asks me for
43:23
something. So therefore they will stop.
43:27
No unprincipled concessions. So when you're negotiating and
43:34
then the money thing comes up, non principal concessions, what
43:40
are the kind of things that you can ask for?
43:42
There are different things. Now when it comes to money,
43:47
there is the amount per item. So in this case the amount per
43:52
roofing sheet. Remember Fresh Prince sells
43:54
roofing sheets. So this is the amount per
43:56
roofing sheet. Then there's also frequency.
43:58
Frequency just means how often do people come back?
44:02
And then there's also volume. Volume just means how many are
44:04
you buying Now? These are the things that you
44:07
will play with if you're in this, excuse me.
44:11
So obviously if you're a consultant, you know, you OK,
44:14
can consultants do this? And then for people who sell
44:17
mostly physical items, these are the things you you play with,
44:19
the amount, how much are they paying per one, per one roofing
44:24
sheet, per one solar panel, per, you know, whatever.
44:27
Then there's frequency. How often is this person going
44:30
to come back? Are they going to buy this year
44:32
only? I'll be, they want to buy in
44:33
January, then they want to come back in December.
44:36
Then there's volume. How many are they buying now?
44:42
Because if you're giving discount on roofing sheets and
44:46
the person is only buying time from you, you're wasting your
44:48
like you're wasting your time. You're giving somebody a sweet
44:51
discount, but then you only buy 10 roofing sheets, man, that
44:53
thing does not pay you. And then maybe they only buy
44:58
from you once every five years. That thing has not paid you at
45:02
all. But then if you give somebody a
45:05
discount on one roofing sheet per one, but then they buy 6000
45:11
and they want to come back in December and make another order.
45:15
Can you see that? OK, the picture is different.
45:17
OK, I gave them discounts, I guess was a heavy discount, but
45:21
at least they bought 6000 units in January and they have
45:25
promised us that they're coming back in October so long as we
45:30
can hold the same price for them.
45:31
OK, it's doable, it's workable. So those are the things you play
45:34
around with. Somebody says you're too
45:38
expensive. You people are quoting 2500 per
45:41
square inch, but your competition is quoting 1008 per
45:46
square inch. You can say 1008 per square
45:50
inch. OK, no problem.
45:51
We can match 1008 per square inch.
45:54
But to do that, instead of buying 1000 sheets from us, you
45:59
have to buy 4000 sheets from us for you to give for us to give
46:02
you that price. You see you don't go, you don't
46:06
get lever now, you don't get leverage like you will have
46:08
playing back and forth. You're actually negotiating
46:10
something. It's not just a matter of
46:12
somebody who jump. You now say how high then
46:18
frequency, say look bronze, that price, that one age you're
46:22
asking for per square meter. Honestly, bro, that you know
46:25
makes sense, you know, makes the only way that it will make sense
46:29
is if you're buying 4000 sheets from us now.
46:33
And that other project, that one in the Yanobaja, if you can give
46:41
us the contract for that one. Let's just do everything once so
46:44
that you do this one now, the one for Yanobaja, you come back
46:47
in July, then we can make it work.
46:52
They're trying to make sure that they come back.
46:54
And then of course, volume. In fact, for me, volume is like
46:57
the default. Somebody says drop the price,
47:00
You say, oh fantastic, I can drop the price, but you now have
47:02
to buy a whole lot more. So there are levels that you can
47:08
pull when it comes to negotiation, but no on principal
47:10
concessions. When you make on principal
47:12
concessions, you're making things pretty bad for yourself.
47:15
So somebody asks for a discount, no problem, I can give you the
47:18
discount, but you give me this in return.
47:20
So that's how it works. But remember, my area of
47:24
specialty sales, not negotiations.
47:25
So why look for a negotiations podcast and then learn
47:29
accordingly? Now this guy big balls.
47:34
The reason why he's problematic is because he has said something
47:39
that gives me PTSDPTSD does a post traumatic stress disorder.
47:44
The reason why he gives me PTSD is because when I was young in
47:47
the event space somebody used that thing on my head.
47:50
So anytime I hear this, it sends me to convulsions when somebody
47:56
says oh then let's do this thing.
47:58
Now it is good for exposure or I will promote you or I will
48:05
introduce you to somebody else or you know, nothing gives me
48:09
serious PTSD. So that's what Big Boss is
48:13
saying now. Big Boss is saying this 12
48:15
million is too expensive. But you know what, drop this
48:17
price then I will now promote you.
48:22
I'm connected, I'm in the industry.
48:24
I'm an industry person. Like people know me now.
48:26
Like everywhere in Lagos, they know me.
48:28
If you Call My Name, people know me now.
48:30
Like I'm connected now that guy, I'll hook you up.
48:32
I'll hook you up. This of this 12 minute give me
48:35
9. Then I'll be promoting people
48:37
all over my social media. Introduce you guys, not me.
48:40
Now it's me. So when I hear people talk like
48:45
that, I have PTSD. My initial reaction when I hear
48:51
people talk like that, I tell them roll, run away, run away,
48:54
run away. Nothing there.
48:55
Nothing is there nothing is there anybody who is saying
48:58
promotion like people know me, I will connect you, I'm connected
49:02
now like no, be me that just when you enter Lagos, just call
49:06
my like Ron, that guy is looking for a Mugu Ron, leave that guy
49:11
except if you are also a sharp guy and you know how to play
49:14
these games ahead and engage him.
49:15
But if you're an ordinary person like me and you don't know how
49:17
to do all this stuff, just run. The person says promotion, this
49:22
is this whatever, just tell the person OK, yes, sounds like a
49:25
good idea. Sounds like a good idea just for
49:28
the person and talk and then just leave and then never call
49:30
the person again. That's it.
49:33
I can assure you the person is not going to call you back.
49:36
So you haven't lost anything. So that's my initial reaction.
49:41
Anybody says promotion partnership run, but assuming
49:46
you don't want to run, you want to hear the person out, OK, you
49:48
need to start having some very specific conversations.
49:50
If the person says I have no problem now I go promote you now
49:54
like I'll promote you. Introduce to people, you know,
49:58
something, something, blah, blah, blah.
49:59
Ask specific questions. Oh, you want us to do this?
50:03
You want us to go to 9 million in exchange for promotion
50:05
partnership, right? Person will say yes.
50:07
Now why don't you trust me? I'm your guy and I was OK, Sure,
50:10
no problem. When you say promotion, what do
50:12
you mean exactly? These people are looking for
50:15
Mugu. They know that they will say
50:17
promotion and you think the best.
50:19
Ask them. Sometimes what the person means
50:23
when they say promotion is that let's say the person has a
50:25
newspaper. They said they'll put one free
50:27
advert for you. Free advert for you in one
50:30
newspaper. One advert only is not going to
50:33
help your business. So ask them.
50:36
Oh, promotion, what do you mean? Then you were here.
50:39
Then you can all start having a serious conversation.
50:42
If the person owns a newspaper that is widely read in Lagos and
50:46
they said they'll give you 1 advert, you can say look like
50:48
Bros. That is no good work.
50:49
Now are you saying 1 advert in a month?
50:52
I'll be 1 advert per week and the person says no, once a month
50:56
you can say no, no, no, no, no. You can now start haggling and
50:59
negotiating over something that you know what you give us one
51:02
advertisement but that one advertisement will be 1
51:04
advertisement for free every single week for at least six
51:09
months at least. Now you're talking because you
51:12
have asked the person that oh you say promotion.
51:15
When you say promotion, what does that mean?
51:17
Because some people when they say we'll promote you, what they
51:20
mean is when they're having meeting at Ikeja Country Club or
51:26
at Yoruba Tennis Club or something, Excuse me, what they
51:30
mean by promotion is that they will invite you there so you can
51:33
sit down in the meeting and then maybe you can get connected to
51:36
one or two people. If that is OK by you, OK, no
51:39
problem, take it. If it's not OK by you, then you
51:41
tell them that ah chief, like look, that one doesn't work from
51:45
you. Then you can now start
51:48
negotiating back and forth. OK, you know what?
51:50
Instead of me coming to the meeting and trying my luck, how
51:54
about you, I don't know, send me phone numbers of 20 people who
52:00
attend the association, let me call them up directly or
52:03
something. And I don't know, sharp.
52:05
But once you start asking, what do you mean when you say
52:08
promotion? What do you mean when you say
52:09
introduction? What do you mean when you say
52:11
partnership? You are now beginning to have
52:13
some very, very concrete conversations.
52:17
You can decide whether this is good or not.
52:24
So what do you mean when you say promotion?
52:26
Oh, OK. Promotion.
52:27
OK, cool. Over what kind of medium
52:29
exactly? Oh, you want to introduce me to
52:32
people? Oh, OK, alright, No problem.
52:34
Which events are we looking at? What this is that you have in
52:36
mind? Oh, really?
52:37
OK, So who else is supposed to be?
52:39
The more specifically I get, the better.
52:42
If somebody says I'll connect you, I'll connect you.
52:44
You know, so like when I was in events, I just realized that all
52:47
those people who use the same connection.
52:48
Connection for me when I started pushing back like OK, all right,
52:52
cool. So are you saying that by the
52:54
time we're done with this wedding because, you know you
52:57
have five guys on the train and then you have 16 girls on the
53:00
bridal train So are you saying that after this you give me the
53:03
phone number of all 16 babes? Let me try my luck.
53:05
Let me see if I can get business from there is then you start
53:08
seeing people's true colors. Oh say ha ha ha, all my
53:13
bridesmaids, I should give you their phone number because of
53:15
her. Because of what then I don't
53:17
mind. I'm thinking you just said
53:19
you're going to hook me up, you're going to connect me if at
53:21
the very least you won't connect me with all the bridesmaids here
53:24
so I can pursue them and cover their own wedding later.
53:28
Like what exactly do you mean by connection?
53:33
So what's the nature of the promotion?
53:34
Over what medium? How are we doing this thing?
53:38
Oh, you want to connect me? Ask the person to who?
53:42
Because sometimes some people say they will do you connection
53:45
or they'll do your promotion and yes, they'll promote you and
53:47
they'll connect you. But the people that they'll
53:49
connect you to are useless for your own purposes.
53:52
You can't, you can't collect anything from them.
53:55
So you ask them, you need to know the target base.
53:57
Who exactly? What kind of people exactly are
54:00
you planning to introduce me to? For people who throw their
54:05
social media following in your face?
54:08
Because there's some people that say, oh, I'm connected on social
54:10
media, have 10 million followers, blah, blah, blah,
54:12
blah, blah, blah, blah. Like you ask questions.
54:14
Oh, OK, fantastic. Oh, that would be good.
54:16
You tweet about us. Oh, how many times I'm going to
54:18
tweet, blah, blah. Oh, by the way, what is your
54:20
estimated reach? How many people actually look at
54:24
the posts? You know, blah, blah, blah, you
54:25
know, like begin ask some questions.
54:30
Oh, I would love to explore this promotion partnership that you
54:33
have in mind. OK, that's not a problem.
54:35
Big boss. Can I come over to your office
54:37
next week so that we can, we can, we can narrow things down.
54:42
I want us to come up with goals for this promotion campaign that
54:45
we're going to come up with, You know, what are the metrics that
54:48
we're going to use to track whether we're on course or not?
54:51
By the time you start digging down like that, you will find
54:54
that a lot of people will disappear.
54:56
And the reason why they will disappear is because they are
54:58
serious. They are looking for, for
55:00
moguls. Those people are idiots.
55:05
The person who engages with you and who says, yeah, sure, come
55:08
for the meeting and you people are talking and or no, OK, maybe
55:11
there's hope, maybe there's hope.
55:14
Maybe truly, truly the person is just broke at the moment and
55:16
he's trying to see how he can get a good deal.
55:18
And the person means well. So when somebody says promotion
55:24
in promotion, partnership exposure in exchange for lower
55:29
price, my honest opinion, run away.
55:34
But if you're brave and you want to engage, just try and make
55:36
this the more specific, the more specific you can get, the better
55:40
so that you know what to hold people to.
55:43
Now, shy. OK, 55 minutes.
55:47
OK, let me bring it to a close now.
55:49
So Fresh Prince, right? Remember, he sells roofing
55:56
sheets, but he's not the owner of the business.
55:58
He sells on behalf of somebody. Now, Fresh Prince Auger was
56:02
exasperated, understandably so, because it is frustrating.
56:06
It is annoying to be sending somebody paper back and forth.
56:09
So Fresh Prince Olga told him, look, just call up this guy,
56:14
call up big boss and just ask him how much is he willing to
56:16
pay. I'm tired of all this back and
56:17
forth. So Fresh Prince Yoga, his
56:23
intuition is correct that you have to call up and start asking
56:27
some strong questions. But unfortunately, what your
56:29
Olga advised you to do is the is the wrong question, is the wrong
56:32
question. When he has that kind of
56:35
question, how much are you willing to pay?
56:36
You'll make you things even worse.
56:38
You're becoming even more of a beggar.
56:39
You're becoming even more desperate.
56:44
Big Boss now knows that he has the upper hand for sure.
56:47
And he can use you people to do rubbish.
56:51
He will ask for 9 million, I can assure you.
56:56
I bet you he's going to ask for 9.
56:59
The last one you sent was 12. I bet you if you ask him, he'll
57:02
ask for 9. He might even ask for seven.
57:03
So don't be surprised you asked for several million.
57:09
The question to ask when you're at this level, you're
57:12
exasperated, you don't know am I going forward?
57:14
Am I going backwards? The questions to ask is you
57:17
actually go back to the beginning of the sales process.
57:22
You go back to the beginning of the sales process.
57:25
You ask questions to be sure that you're talking to a
57:28
qualified somebody, to a serious somebody.
57:30
The question to ask is, you know, Big Boss, we've been
57:33
talking for about a month now. We've gone from 18 to 15, from
57:36
15. I don't give you 12, this 12
57:38
self. You said it seemed too high.
57:41
Boss, are you, are you still interested?
57:44
Do you want to move forward or not?
57:46
That's the question to ask when you start asking questions
57:51
around whether they're interested or not.
57:53
You might be surprised that Big Boss is not ready to take action
57:57
now. He actually wants to take action
57:58
in October. He just wanted to tie down a
58:00
good price. Now go back to the beginning of
58:06
the sales process. We've been talking for a while,
58:07
blah, blah, blah. Like are you truly interested?
58:12
Is this really a project that you guys want to start this
58:14
year? Now, bro, we've been going back
58:19
and forth. Back and forth is as if it's
58:21
something you don't really need right now.
58:23
Those are the kind of questions you should be asking.
58:26
Go back to the beginning. Are they interested?
58:28
Do they have a want? Do they have a deed?
58:31
Is there any sense of urgency? You can ask questions around
58:34
budget, bro. We've been dancing around back
58:36
and forth and stuff like that. It's as if you guys didn't do
58:38
any research before we started this thing.
58:40
Ask, You'd be surprised. I've asked somebody that kind of
58:44
question and the person admitted, well, yes, you're the
58:45
first vendor that we've spoken to.
58:47
In my mind, I'm thinking, what the bloody hell?
58:52
I'm the first person that you're talking to.
58:53
You didn't even go outside into the market and see what's up.
58:56
So I know how to educate them that look, you know what, based
58:59
on how things operate in Abuja, you know, you know, high class,
59:02
middle class, low class, like this, like this, like this, like
59:04
this, like this, you know, go and do some research.
59:06
You know, when you're ready, let's talk again.
59:08
I'll call you next week Thursday just to see how far.
59:10
So what do you think? That's OK, no problem.
59:12
When I called the person next week Thursday, OK, now we had a
59:15
more realistic conversation because the person had gone and
59:18
spoken to other people. So yes, by the time you're doing
59:23
all this back and forth, you need to ask the person some hard
59:26
questions. The question you must not ask is
59:28
how much are you willing to pay? Don't ask that question at all.
59:32
Don't answer that question at all.
59:35
Go back to the beginning. I thought you were interested.
59:38
Looks like this is not something you guys, you know, want to do
59:41
right now. OK, Chairman, say you should
59:43
come and ask me for quotes. Yeah, I understand.
59:45
But honestly speaking, is this the kind of thing that Chairman
59:48
even wants to invest in now? Oh, big Boss, you know, we've
59:52
been talking since, but it looks like you guys have other
59:54
priorities at the moment. Ask, you'll be surprised by the
1:00:00
answer. Oh, yeah.
1:00:02
Well, you know, actually we had this problem with this factory
1:00:06
in in Sangota, and we're trying to deal with that.
1:00:09
And because of that, you know, we're pressed for cash and blah,
1:00:12
blah, blah. OK, At least now you're
1:00:13
beginning to know the true situation.
1:00:16
True situation on ground. It's better than just staying in
1:00:23
the dark, being frustrated and not knowing what exactly is
1:00:26
going on. I gave this guy 80 million.
1:00:28
He said it's too much. I gave him 15.
1:00:30
He said it's too much. I gave him 12.
1:00:32
He said it's too much. He's now telling me that MO do a
1:00:35
promotional partnership. Yeah, your guy is correct.
1:00:40
Go and ask some questions. But the question I told you to
1:00:43
ask is the very wrong question. Don't go and ask somebody.
1:00:45
How much are you willing to pay? Go back to the beginning of the
1:00:49
sales process? Are they interested?
1:00:51
Do they have a want? Do they have a deed?
1:00:52
Can then afford this thing? Is there any sense of urgency?
1:00:55
What are the priorities that they have at the moment?
1:00:58
And Fresh Prince, honestly speaking, I am.
1:01:04
Look, I feel your pain. I feel sorry for you.
1:01:07
I really feel sorry for you. I understand how we can be.
1:01:10
He's not one client that one lead that looks as if it was
1:01:15
close to closing. You haven't closed anything in
1:01:18
three months. So I understand you're desperate
1:01:19
right now and your guys breathing down your neck.
1:01:22
Honestly speaking, by the time you finish this episode with
1:01:24
this guy big boss by the time whether if the thing close, I
1:01:28
hope it closes if it closes good.
1:01:30
If it doesn't close, well, no Allah.
1:01:32
But from now on your greatest security.
1:01:35
I have Fresh Prince and anybody in this situation listen up.
1:01:38
Your greatest your greatest security is prospecting.
1:01:40
Prospecting means the activity of thinking, strategizing, who
1:01:46
needs, who has a want or who has a need for my product or my
1:01:49
service. Then I go out and start talking
1:01:50
to these people. So yeah, your greatest, your
1:01:53
greatest security is prospecting, talking to many
1:01:57
people. If you are having seven
1:02:01
conversations right now, you will not feel as safe.
1:02:04
Big Boss has you by the testicles.
1:02:07
The only reason why Big Boss can be squeezing your brokers like
1:02:11
this is because you don't have anybody else to talk to.
1:02:15
If the other people to talk to, your body language will show.
1:02:20
You'll be paying attention to other people who are more
1:02:22
serious. It's Big Boss that I'll be
1:02:25
chasing you. This is why prospecting is
1:02:30
important. Prospecting gives you
1:02:35
confidence. It gives you Peace of Mind.
1:02:37
If at any single point in time I'm talking to four, 5-6 people,
1:02:41
one person can be for me, younger for me.
1:02:43
It's not possible because there are other people.
1:02:46
I will go and pay attention to other people first.
1:02:49
In fact, I might even close other things.
1:02:51
And then later I realized that, oh, that is true.
1:02:53
We didn't even talk to this guy. You know what, they probably
1:02:56
wasn't even going to close anyway.
1:03:00
So please, Fresh Prince, after you finish prospecting, double
1:03:02
your efforts. You should always have, you
1:03:06
should always have a few people in the pipeline since you're a
1:03:08
roofing sheets. OK, Not everybody buys roofing
1:03:11
sheets. OK, I don't know what is ideal
1:03:14
for your industry, but I think you should always have for every
1:03:17
single month. If you have like 4 or five
1:03:19
people that you are shadowing every single month, it might not
1:03:21
be a bad idea. Nobody will be able to.
1:03:25
Nobody will be doing you anyhow anyhow, because there's hope.
1:03:29
OK, this one in close. OK, no problem.
1:03:30
I'm still talking to four other people.
1:03:34
Then also this is 1 trick that sales people don't realize.
1:03:40
The best time to prospector or the best time to make sales is
1:03:45
when you have collected money. I repeat the best time to go out
1:03:50
and start making sales when you've collected money because
1:03:52
your motivation is high. So especially since you're in
1:03:55
roofing sales and your Commission is big, you know you
1:03:57
sell something by the time they pay you Commission, your
1:03:59
Commission will probably be like, you know, 3 million or
1:04:01
4,000,005 million, 10 million depending on how much you sold.
1:04:04
So the best time to call, you know when you close that deal
1:04:07
and your guy sends your Commission 3,000,000, once that
1:04:09
3,000,000 hits your account, what you do is you go out and
1:04:14
you declare with your boys, you have a couple of drinks or you
1:04:17
pay your tithes depending on whether you're for God or for
1:04:20
the devil. Shall you pay your dues?
1:04:22
Then the very next day without motivation, pick up the phone
1:04:27
and be calling people. The base in your voice will be
1:04:30
rich. The confidence that you have
1:04:33
would be palpable, like people feel you.
1:04:37
The reason why is because money hit your account yesterday.
1:04:40
So that's the trick. One problem that we make those
1:04:44
are also our professional sales people is when money hits our
1:04:46
accounts, we relax. The money hits your account, you
1:04:49
say, ah, we thank God. You settle one or two things.
1:04:52
Then you Netflix and chill for a bit.
1:04:53
Maybe you go on a holiday. No, no, no, no, no.
1:04:56
When money hits your accounts, that's the time to Rev up.
1:04:59
Rev up when you have a few million in your bank accounts,
1:05:03
when your Commission has hit, that is the time to pick up the
1:05:06
phone. That's the time to go to
1:05:07
somebody's office. You drive it to somebody's
1:05:10
office. You come out of the card.
1:05:11
Security guards, they will salute you because you're coming
1:05:14
as if you know you're not coming, as if you're hungry
1:05:17
because you know there's something in the bank account.
1:05:19
So when you're being fed, when money has hit your account,
1:05:21
that's the time to actually double down.
1:05:24
Don't rest. So Fresh Prince, eventually 111
1:05:29
deal will close, but when it does, when you receive your
1:05:33
Commission, that's the time to double down because you sound
1:05:36
like you like life. So you know, go and drink with
1:05:39
your boys, but spend wisely, spend wisely because nowadays
1:05:43
alcohol is expensive. That's how one guy told me that
1:05:46
I would normally 400K. That's the kind of thing he
1:05:49
would spend on NEC. And in my mind I'm thinking what
1:05:51
the hell, 400K on top alcohol for real.
1:05:56
And so don't go and spend 400K on the boys.
1:05:58
So Basha, you drink, wake up, wash your face, your face, and
1:06:05
then start calling with confidence that there's
1:06:09
something in your bank account. And always make sure that you
1:06:11
have 3-4 people on call every single month and hopefully all
1:06:17
should be well. So that's it.
1:06:20
That's the end of the three-part series.
1:06:22
Thank you very much for listening.
1:06:23
Remember, if this is your first time listening to the episode,
1:06:25
scroll back. There are two others in this
1:06:28
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1:06:30
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1:06:38
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