Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / 30 Pairs of Panties and Zero Responses: A Sales Horror Story

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30 Pairs of Panties and Zero Responses: A Sales Horror Story · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

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Lots of Nigerian businesses, Nigerian business people,
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Nigerian sales people suffer and are not able to bring in
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revenue. Now, the reason why for a lot of
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you anyway, the reason why is that you're not being
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responsive. You're not responding to
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messages, you're not being quick to get back to people.
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And so because of that, it's easy for your competition to
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snatch away the market. I repeat, the reason why a lot
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of you are suffering in your businesses is because you're not
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responsive. People are sending you messages,
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you're not responding or you are responding, but maybe 2 days
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late, three days late, a week late.
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I mean, for whatever reason, I'm sure you have justifiable reason
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for why you're not responding to messages or why you're late, but
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doesn't know that it is costing you revenue.
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And today I want to look at that with a look at this rather with
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a real life case study. So this friend of mine wanted to
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buy some underwear for his wife. Yeah, some underwear for his
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wife. So sorry, Forgive me.
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I was wondering this was a good enough example to use.
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But, and I'll just run with it. Hopefully there are no children
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who are listening to today's podcast episode.
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If you have kids who listen to you for the podcast, then maybe
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this is not the kind of episode that you want them to listen to.
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So just a warning, so if you have kids around, tell them this
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is not the episode to listen to because I'm going to go into
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some more detail concerning certain kinds of styles and
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things like that. So you probably don't want your
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little boys listening to this episode anyway.
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So he wanted to refurbish his wife's episode.
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I say episode his wife's wardrobe because this guy, this
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friend of mine, let's just call him Shagun, but his name is not
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really Shagun. So Shagun, my guy, me and him,
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we did some runs recently and we came into quite a bit of money,
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you know, not massive, but money that can solve one or two
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problems. You know, you do school fees,
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you do this, you do this, you know, that kind of money.
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So he thought it would be a good idea to refurbish his wife's
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wardrobe. At least he will start with the
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underwear section because, you know, it's been a while since
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they've gotten us from the underwear.
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So he did what any young man who is uneducated in these sorts of
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things and who also wants to surprise his wife, he did what
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any young man would do, which is he asked around for some
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recommendations. People gave him Instagram
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handles, and then he went on Instagram to reach out to those
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people to just say, hey, this is me.
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This is what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to surprise my wife.
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What are your recommendations? So that was his approach.
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Honestly, it was the same sort of thing I would have done.
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Because what do I know about women's underwear?
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Absolutely nothing. All I know is that, you know, it
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looks good. It looks hella sexy, if you get
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my points. And, you know, if Madame wears
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it and she feels nice and it looks nice, we're going to end
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up doing something nice. So that's all I know.
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So quite frankly, I'd have done the same thing, too.
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Ask for some recommendations. Reach out to those people and
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say, look, I'm trying to surprise Madame and I want to
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restock. So I beg, what do you advise?
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Now, remember in older episodes where I've been saying that this
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is superpower that we have as business people, as business
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owners or sales people, and that's the fact that we are
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subject matter experts and we should be taking advantage of
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that, but people don't. If you realize that you're the
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subject matter expert and somebody reaches out to you in
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this kind of situation, I want to buy solar and you realize
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that the person is not the expert you are, you take control
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of the sales process. You can ask the person questions
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about what they want, what they need, what their dreams are, do
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they want to be off the grid? 247300 and 65 days of the year.
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And you can walk them through a couple of options.
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At the end of the day, you deliver 3 proposals, Option A,
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Option B, Option C either option should be able to take care of
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your goals. This is the advantage of option
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A, this is the advantage of option B, this is the advantage
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of option C. And these are the downsides.
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So what do you think? Which are you interested in?
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So if you realize that you are the subject matter expert, you
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can take that approach when it comes to solar sales or in this
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case underwear. Somebody says I want to surprise
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Madam, I want to change everything.
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I want to come back from work and just see that the underwear
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side, that I just clean everything and put brand new
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stuff. I want her to be wowed on to
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knock her socks off. What do you recommend?
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And you'll be able to start asking them questions.
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Oh, OK, that's good. How old is Madame?
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How long have you been married, blah, blah blah.
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What is her style? What does she like?
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What does she like? Have you thought of this style?
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Have you thought of this style? When I say style, I'm talking
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about underwear style. Please don't think about any
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other kind of style. So have you tried this style?
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Have you tried that style? You know, things like that.
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And then you make a recommendation.
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OK, Bros, since you want to change Madam's wardrobe, you're
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thinking of buying so, so and so pieces.
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I would recommend this amount for work.
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I would recommend this number for staying at home.
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And I would recommend this number of just comfortable, you
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know, whatever, whatever, whatever underwear.
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So depending on your budget, Bros, we can play it in three
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different ways. We can come up with option A,
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and this is what it would look like.
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Option B, this is what it would look like.
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Option C, this is what would look like.
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So Bros, which one do you think Madame will be more interested
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in? It's a superpower.
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You're the subject matter expert, so you take the lead and
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you lead someone through the process.
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Just in case some of you are not getting it, let me use one more
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example. Excuse me.
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So cakes, you assume that you're the subject matter expert.
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Somebody reaches out and says I want a cake for my 7 year old
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son, his birthday is in two weeks, blah blah, blah.
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You take the lead and answer some questions.
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Oh, what kind of cake, man? One level 2, Level 3 levels,
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butterscotch fondant. This, that, that that.
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What is your son like? What kind of person is your son?
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Does he have any allergies? Blah blah blah.
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Where do you want the thing delivered?
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You know, on and on and on and on and on.
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You know, you ask all the questions you need to ask and at
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the end of the day, OK Madam, based on what you said, because
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your son's birthday is a Power Rangers team style, you know, we
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can do this, this and this. We can do 1 tier with this kind
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of decorated piece something, something and no cost this, we
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can do a three tier cake with this kind of decorated option
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something, something, something, or we can do a 5A7 tier cake
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since he's turning 7 with these kinds of decorative options and
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you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
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So these are the options ma option one, option two, option
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3. Which one do you think your son
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will like or which one do you think you're interested in?
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It's your superpower. Take control of the process,
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lead someone through. So that is the approach that
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someone should take. But remember I said that the
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reason why a lot of you are suffering is because you're not
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being responsive. So that means when somebody
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reaches out to say, how far do you do cake?
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My son is turning 7. When somebody reaches out to say
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how far, I want to revamp my wife's wardrobes, I want to buy
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new pints, brand new pints, fill up the whole place with new
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pints. When somebody reaches out to
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say, hey, what's up my honogia sola, how much does it cost?
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You are not even answering your messages on time.
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And that essentially is what we're going to do today.
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Look at today. Now before we get to the middle
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of today's episode, if you'd like to connect with me, you can
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call, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
8:19
Also, if you're interested in the 15 minutes here lorded or
8:22
you want me to look at some of your business processes, you can
8:24
WhatsApp me on the same number 08064662140 and you can also
8:32
drop my WhatsApp channel. Just send me a WhatsApp message
8:34
on the same number and I'll get you started on that.
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So back to the example now my friend, because me and him, we
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do one small deal and we collected a few M's.
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You know, after you pay school fees and you do this and you do
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this like oh, OK, there's some change left.
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I've been promising Madam then I'm going to refurbish our
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wardrobe. So let me start with the Pint
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Pint section, because, you know, it's a very important section
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and you know, if you get that right, yeah, you might get
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lucky, if you know what I'm saying.
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So his approach was when I did some research because to be
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honest, like I said, we men, we know nothing about Pint.
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All I know is it looks good. It makes Madam feel good.
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And when she looks good and she feels good, something good
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happens. So he now sent a message.
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He drafted one message because remember, like I said, this guy
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Shagun, again, not his real name, he's like me.
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So I would have done exactly the same thing.
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So he crafted the message. Now, because he was recommended
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to five Instagram handles, he sent messages to four of them,
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and then he called one person. So I'm not going to tell you
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what it is that happened. By the way, this is something
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I'm talking live. This thing happened within the
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last like 2 weeks. The money came in like 2 weeks
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ago. So after we settled all we
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needed to settle, that's when we now started on this pint
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adventure. Oh by the way, for those of you
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who are listening to the show for the first time, if you're
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not Nigerian, at any time you hear Nigeria and say pint, that
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just means underwear. It's another way of saying
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pants. When it's also saying pants, you
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say pint. So so now I want to say paint
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adventure. By the way, like I said, this is
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not an episode that children should be listening to because
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we're going to start talking about some some styles next.
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So Shagun crafted the message and his message was, hi, I want
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to buy 30 pieces of underwear. I want to restock my wife's
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underwear and I'm looking for these kinds of style.
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I'm looking for high waisted and full brief styles.
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Then he also mentioned that he needs a mix of Novi PL. that is
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a visible panty line because, you know, he did the research.
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Even myself, I started doing the research.
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Ah, it's true. I should buy pints for my wife,
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you know, because it would be good spice things up.
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So he said he needs a mix, no VPL that's visible panty lines.
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Apparently it's important so that when a woman dresses up for
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work, you know, she won't be walking around and then people
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can, you know, see her underwear please.
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I have said children should not be listening to this episode.
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Please, in case you didn't catch me, I'm saying it again, send
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all the children out of the room.
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OK then I'll put your headphones on then He also said he needed
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some cotton rich underwear for weekends.
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Apparently cotton underwear makes it easier to breathe down
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there. Then by the way, if the women
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who are listening to this episode and Shagun and I in our
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research again, Shaguno, his real name.
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If we got anything wrong with our research, please writing or
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send me a text message or WhatsApp message 08064662140 let
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me know so that the next time you know either of us want to
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buy pints for Madam, we will, you know, I'll I put it, who,
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who acts accordingly? We'll do the right thing.
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We'll do the needful as we say in Niger, we'll do the needful.
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So he said he wants some cotton rich ones for weekends.
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Then he also asked for some premium lace, lace and silk
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options. Now I don't know what lace and
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silk is, but I think those are the ones that look really nice,
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you know, make your man feel real sexy.
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So so he also wants some premium options then autograph or
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equivalent. So I think from our time in the
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UK, Cos Sheg was also in the UK as well.
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I've known him for a while. We're both in Scotland.
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So I think autograph is, you know, like Marks and Spencer
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maybe like the high end underwear for for women.
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So he said, you know, let's throw in some autograph or
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similar like that. And then he asked, can you show
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me what you have in large size? Because Sherman's wife has a
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understand what I'm saying. She has a big old.
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Let me stop there before the mark this podcast episode.
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I say explicit. So it's not as if she's big, but
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you know, in the in the nether region, she's kind of.
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So he asked for large size and then he wanted a quote for 30
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pieces. And that's why I say me, I sure
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were the same because if you want to do this thing, you know,
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do it, one is 1 as well, just one by 30 pieces or maybe 160
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self. So you know that Madame has one
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new pint for every day for two months straight, you know, that
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kind of thing. And he ended by asking do you
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deliver to Abuja? Because unfortunately, all the
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numbers that he got were for people who are based outside.
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That's Lagos. OK.
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So I know he got phone 5 numbers, 4 based in Lagos, one
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in Abuja. So yeah, sorry, he sent this to
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all five people. So he sent this to four people
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on WhatsApp now on Ask you people.
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By the way, sorry for the noise in the background.
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It's a weekend, everybody's home.
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So my neighbor is exercising his dog.
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So that's the barking that you got here in the background.
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Now I want to ask you people now let's do small guessing game.
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This is the message that he sent to four people on Instagram.
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I repeat, this is what the message says.
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Summary. Hey, how are you doing?
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I want to buy under for my wife. I want you to be I want to get
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at least 30 pieces because I want to stock our full wardrobe.
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So I'm looking for some different kind of style.
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If you have high waisted or full full brief, let me see.
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If you have no VPL, that's no visible panty lines, seamless
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ones, comfortable for our work, let me see.
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If you have a cotton rich underwear so that Madame can
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breathe on weekends, let me see. Then also just throw in some
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nice premium option. You like that kind of autograph,
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you know high end Marks and Spencer premium 1 correct one.
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Then Madame will see you should blush.
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If you have those ones, put it there again.
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Then give me all of them in large size because Madam is
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large and in charge. Then give me a quote because I
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want to see 30 pieces, 3030 pieces.
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It's not somebody who was coming to buy one or two pints coming
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to buy 30. Now assuming that each one
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costs, you know, like 8K10K12K, you can see that this is a
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reasonable order. Somebody didn't say, come on,
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give me one pint. He said give me 30 for Madam.
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Then do you deliver to Abuja? 2 questions.
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He sent this to 4 vendors. How many people do you think
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responded now? How soon do you think they
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responded? Let me just pause so you can
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consider. Hope you're considering.
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Hope you're thinking now the answer will surprise you.
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Really really surprise you. None of these people have
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responded. It has been at least four days.
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It has been clear that the message has been read on
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WhatsApp. You know, tick, tick, and then
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it turns blue. Of the four vendors, none of
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them responded. It's been at least four days.
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That's why I'm making today's episode because sometimes, you
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know, I come on the episode and I show you some statistics from
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America to say, oh, that businesses are non responsive
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because statistics show that 80% of people do that blah, blah,
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blah, blah, blah, blah. And you say, oh, now statistics
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in the yarn. You realize that what I'm
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talking about in real life, So forget American statistics.
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This is Nigeria. Somebody wants to buy 30 pieces,
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30 a pint for his wife, wants to blow her brain, you understand,
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knock her socks off, like just impress her.
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Like, oh honey, you shouldn't have, you know that kind of move
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for vendors based in Lagos. It was Abuja.
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I understand, you know, Abuja people are lazy.
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Abuja people don't like money. But legations, none of them
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responded. Then for the 5th person, he
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called the 5th person because he sent a different message to the
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fifth person, something similar anyway.
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But then the person, at least the person responded and said,
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oh, sorry, I don't understand. So it's like, oh, can you talk?
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Let me just call you. So you called the person and
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they started discussing that. Look, this is what I want to do.
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Actually, my name's wardrobe, how to change everything, the
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pint, all of them is old. So I want to buy at least 30
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pieces. How to change everything.
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And then the guy asked, OK, what kind of style do you want?
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And then Shekin was like, like, Madam, I don't know.
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That's the reason why I'm reaching out to you.
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I know nothing about pints. All these things that I spoke
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about high waist brief this that that VP that my research
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research arm. So I don't know, like really, I
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need your help. Show me a couple of things.
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Let's build this thing together. And then the lady I was like,
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please go and check our Instagram handle, the one that
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you like, just click on it and then we'll order it for you.
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And then in the moment of desperation, because remember
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Shagwa and I used to be in Scotland together and I told him
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about that time when I need to buy new pint for my wife and I
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need to go and buy Brazilians from Marks and Spencer's.
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Please, by the way, I hope there are no children.
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Listen to today's episode, please.
18:37
If you listen to your podcast episode on speakers, please,
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your children should not be here, especially the boys.
18:43
You know, if a boy is not yet 20 something, you know, he should
18:46
not be learning about Brazilian underwear and bikinis.
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So this is an episode for mature audiences only.
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Please, if there are children around, please plug in your
18:55
headphones. So at least Shegu knows about
18:59
Brazilian because me, his guy, I gave him testimony that I bought
19:03
Brazilian for my wife and I gave him testimony that I bought
19:08
Brazilian and it was a good experience.
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So in desperation he asked us, OK Madame, OK, at least
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Brazilian. Do you have Brazilian?
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The girl said, what is that? The show said Brazilian.
19:24
I don't know Brazilian underwear.
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I said. She said no, I don't know what
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that is. Go and check my Instagram
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handle. Anything that you see and that
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you like, you know, click on it and then make payment and we'll
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deliver. And then she will said, OK,
19:39
thank you. And then he ended the call.
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Now, like I said, show me is my guy.
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He's just like me. He doesn't know enough about
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butter. He doesn't know enough about
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pint. He doesn't know enough about
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underwear. He doesn't know a lot about
19:53
briefs. So he doesn't feel confident
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that you just go on Instagram and do.
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Then you click, click, click, click, click, select.
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You make payments when the thing arrive, your wife now with the
20:01
vex like you know, maybe you buy something is too small or you
20:07
buy something is too big or you buy something the color is off.
20:11
Or you buy something, the style is off or something.
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I know some of you are saying that wouldn't be easier to just
20:17
tell your wife. Yeah, it will be easier.
20:18
But you know, the whole point of this thing is you're supposed to
20:20
be a surprise. You know, good money has come.
20:23
You put aside school fees, you do this, you do this.
20:25
So with the left of our money is meant to be a surprise, you
20:28
understand? So yeah, it will be easier to
20:31
tell Madam. But anyway, so I was like, so
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the first thing that surprised me is.
20:39
And it's the reason why I say subject matter expertise.
20:44
And this is something that Brian Tracy has spoken about in his
20:48
earlier work, I think the Psychology of selling the audio
20:51
one, not the book. I think there's a part where
20:53
he's talks about how subject matter expertise is the
20:57
beginning of sales, that you need to be the expert in what it
21:01
is that you do, because that's the beginning of how you're
21:04
going to be able to sell. Well.
21:06
Now, you don't need to know absolutely every single thing,
21:09
but there are a couple of basic things that you need to know so
21:11
that some random everyday questions, you'll be able to
21:15
help and educate people on that. So I found it kind of shocking
21:20
that there's a lady who sells underwear in Abuja and she
21:28
hasn't heard of Brazilian underwear before.
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Even I have known about Brazilian underwear for at least
21:34
maybe like 10-15 years. All she knows is bikini and
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lingerie, the different kinds of bikini.
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She doesn't know the difference. Because I wanted to know that.
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OK, I saw something online about high waisted bikini, French cut
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bikini. Which one do you have?
21:53
She doesn't know all she knows. Look, I don't know about
21:56
Brazilian, I don't know about high cut.
21:59
I don't know about high waist, I don't know about French cuts.
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I don't on and on and on and on. I always go and check my
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Instagram handle. One you see and you like click
22:09
when you click, pay when you pay or order.
22:14
Sorry, we will deliver. You can't see why I keep saying
22:22
that subject matter expertise is one of your superpowers.
22:26
Now, a lot of times if you sell female underwear, I guess lots
22:30
of your customers will be women who are calling in, who know
22:34
exactly what they want. You know, no problem.
22:36
But just in case somebody's a newbie and the person is
22:41
confused, or even if the woman knows exactly what it is she
22:43
wants, but exactly what she needs is not available.
22:47
If you are the subject matter expert, you will be able to ask
22:49
questions to figure out what it is that she's trying to achieve,
22:53
what is it that her desires and her wants are.
22:55
And you will be able to make an alternative recommendation
23:01
instead of those interactions, those phone calls.
23:04
Whereas somebody calls and says, hello, do you have Brazilian,
23:06
You say, no, I don't have Brazilian.
23:08
The person will say, OK, thank you, Then don't cut the call.
23:12
If you're a subject matter expert, somebody be able to call
23:15
and say, hello, do you have Brazilian?
23:17
You say, oh, unfortunately we don't have Brazilians at the
23:19
moment. We are ordering a new stash in
23:22
about two weeks. Will that be OK for you?
23:25
Or is the way too long say, ah, the wait is too long ago.
23:28
OK Madam, I'm sorry. I hope you don't mind me asking
23:30
like what you needed? What do you need for exactly?
23:34
Then based on the answer that she gives, you will now know
23:36
what kind of options it says all my wedding anniversary is coming
23:39
up. I want to look nice.
23:40
I want to look sweet. And I've always felt comfortable
23:42
in Brazilian because I like the way it makes my diarrhea look.
23:47
Because woman has said that and because you're the subject
23:49
matter expert, you will now be able to recommend other
23:52
alternatives of pint, other alternative of butter so can
23:56
make somebody look nice and comfortable.
23:58
The thing will look smooth and Sheen, you know, shine well, and
24:02
the thing also make the derriere look, you understand look.
24:10
Palatable and just. Put it that way.
24:12
By the way, please, I hope there are no children listening to
24:14
this episode. This episode is not for kids.
24:17
So based on you being a subject matter expertise, when you ask
24:25
us some questions, you will now be able to know what kind of
24:28
thing to recommend. It won't just be the simple
24:30
thing of hello, do you have Brazilian?
24:32
No, I don't have. OK, thank you.
24:34
Bam, then the call ends. So.
24:42
Share. Will send the message.
24:44
Four different vendors, no response, called one person and
24:48
basically her summary was look I don't understand all the
24:50
questions you're asking. Just go and check on Instagram
24:52
and then order. So.
24:57
Problem one that I wanted to talk to you all about.
24:59
Today's lots of businesses are non responsive.
25:03
People are sending messages, you are not responding, so you are
25:06
easy. It's easy for the competition to
25:08
mop it up because you never stood a chance in the first
25:10
place. Now, because none of the four.
25:13
Responded and like I said, because, you know, I didn't
25:18
think about it because it's been a while, but now that Shake 1 is
25:20
on this adventure, I'm going to join him as well, you know,
25:24
'cause it'll be nice. Also get something nice for
25:27
Madam, especially this Easter season, you know, Yes, I know
25:31
the Easter season is about Christ's resurrection.
25:33
But anyway, that's another, that's a topic for another day.
25:37
You shouldn't stop us from doing something nice for Madam.
25:41
So. Of course, if he's able to sort
25:44
himself out, of course, I asked him.
25:47
Oh, OK, let me see now. Like, how did it turn out?
25:49
Like, what did you get and meet? I might be able to blend
25:52
accordingly. But The thing is, the four
25:55
people now are recommended to him who didn't respond to the
25:58
messages. He definitely is not going to do
26:00
business with them. He's moved on and he's trying to
26:02
look for other people. So we should be responding to
26:04
messages and we should be responding to messages in a
26:06
timely manner. So yes, in America and in the UK
26:10
they aim for minutes. So in some spaces they even aim
26:15
for seconds. Like if somebody got gets on
26:17
your website and they type in an inquiry or something and they
26:21
get off your website AT3O2 by three O 3, you'd have responded
26:29
by an e-mail or something like don't want to be that quick.
26:31
In America and in the UK, in this part of the world, you
26:34
know, an hour or two is not bad, as if somebody sends you a
26:37
message like this. I want to restock my wife's
26:38
underwear. I want 30 pieces.
26:40
The person sends you a message by 10.
26:41
If you respond by 12, one, it's all right.
26:43
It's not bad. But Nigerian standards but shall
26:46
let's respond and let's respond in a timely manner.
26:49
Then. We should also remember our
26:52
superpower, that we are the subject matter expert.
26:55
You should try and learn your craft before you start to sell.
27:00
This is costing you money. There's absolutely no reason why
27:05
you sell underwear, female underwear, and the customer
27:10
calls you and the customer is asking about Brazilian.
27:13
You don't know what Brazilian is.
27:15
You only say you have lingerie and you have bikini and the guy
27:18
says, oh, OK, bikini, no problem.
27:20
I did some research on bikini. Which kind of bikini do you
27:22
have? Do you have High Court?
27:25
You say I don't know what that is.
27:27
Do you have French court? I don't know what French court
27:29
is. Do you have high leg, bikini?
27:32
I don't know what high leg is. These are the kind of things
27:37
that are. Costing you money.
27:38
Imagine now if I was a solar salesman.
27:41
Somebody reaches out to me and they say, do you have lithium
27:43
battery? And I say lithium.
27:44
I don't know what lithium is. And the government says, ah, you
27:47
don't know lithium. Said, look, Madam, I don't know
27:49
what lithium is. Just go to my Instagram handle,
27:51
go to my website, the one that you like, Click once, you click,
27:56
pay once you pay. Who deliver?
27:58
With that kind of attitude, how can I sell solar?
28:02
If somebody calls me up and says what?
28:04
Kind of solar panels do you have is it China made, is it Korean
28:07
made or is it German made? And I as a solar person, I don't
28:11
know that there's any difference where the solar panels come
28:14
from. How am I going to sell or?
28:17
Somebody comes and says. I want inverter.
28:20
I want a good quality inverter. I looked at your website and I
28:24
saw three different brand. Brand A, brand B, brand C What
28:27
is the difference? And then the only answer I can
28:29
give the person is Madam. The difference is the price.
28:32
Just go and look. Now the wonder.
28:33
You can afford to click on it. Once you click pay once you pay,
28:37
we'll deliver. If that is my attitude as a
28:39
solar salesperson, how am I going to make money?
28:44
How we should be striving to be the subject matter expert.
28:48
If you sell solar, go and learn about your market.
28:50
You don't need to know absolutely everything, but learn
28:52
some basic stuff about different kinds of panels, different kinds
28:55
of batteries, different kinds of warranties that come with
28:58
different kinds of products, why some products are rated better
29:01
than others, you know, the storage capacity, the things
29:05
like that. So you can answer questions for
29:08
people also. That you can ask them.
29:10
Questions and from there you'll be able to make recommendations
29:13
for them now. Applying these principles can
29:16
be. Tricky.
29:16
So if you need me to look at your particular circumstances,
29:19
you can't connect with me, you can't call.
29:21
You can send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on
29:24
08064662140. Also, if you're interested in a
29:29
15 minute sale audit, you want me to look at some of your
29:32
business processes, WhatsApp me on the same number, 08064662140.
29:39
Also you can drop my WhatsApp channel, just WhatsApp me on the
29:42
same number. So we've been talking for 30
29:45
minutes. So let me just bring this thing
29:46
to a close. Apart from being non responsive,
29:49
it is clear that lots of business owners, and that's why
29:52
I say time and time again, do not have a qualification
29:55
process, do not have a discovery process.
29:58
A qualification and discovery process is just the part of the
30:00
conversation where you're trying to talk to the person so you can
30:03
figure out who they are, what do they want, what are they trying
30:07
to achieve, things like that. Because that is what is going to
30:09
be able to help you make recommendations.
30:11
So that the next time if you sell underwear and the guy
30:14
Shergel again, not his real name, reaches out to you, says
30:17
how to change my wife wardrobe. I want to buy 30 new pint at
30:21
least not to stock it up. What we recommend you'll be able
30:25
to ask him questions to figure out exactly what he knows about
30:29
his wife or what he's trying to achieve.
30:31
Or in the small conversation between you and him, you might
30:34
be able to guess at the kind of person that his wife is.
30:37
In fact, you might even be able to give him suggestions about
30:39
how he can find information about what Madam might like what
30:42
Madam might not like. So you can make some
30:45
recommendations and then close an order beyond the same auger.
30:49
Go and check Instagram Dwanda you see?
30:51
Click the one that you like. Click once you click pay.
30:55
Once you pay, we'll deliver, no. Don't just be.
31:02
An order taker. And don't give customers this.
31:05
Attitude of Look, Madam, just Olga, just, you know, leave me
31:10
alone. Just you know what you want.
31:12
Just click and pay. We'll deliver.
31:17
So you need to have possible. Lines for conversation.
31:20
So in this case, you should be able to respond to someone.
31:23
Someone sends you this message. I want to revamp Madam's
31:26
wardrobe. I want 30 different kinds of
31:28
pints. I want 30 different kinds of
31:30
underwear. I want 30 different kinds of
31:31
butter for Madam. This da, da, da, da, da.
31:34
You respond. First of all, flatter the guy
31:38
you know. Flatter goes everywhere, Sir.
31:40
Olga, thank you very much for. Reaching out, in fact.
31:45
OK, You're a very good husband. Because I see you're trying to
31:48
treat Madam so Bros. Well done.
31:49
Thank you very much for reaching out.
31:52
You see, you're a human being. You humanize the whole
31:55
everything because of course, the message from Shagun, you
31:57
know, was a bit formal. But look, you can't blame us.
32:00
Like how often do we buy underwear for our wives?
32:03
Now, it's not as if it's something we do every day.
32:06
And like I said, it's not as if you know men, as if we know
32:09
about these things. All we know is it looks good.
32:11
It feels good. Now, when it looks good and it
32:13
feels good and Madam feels good, something good happens.
32:17
So you. Type, you know you.
32:22
You you tap the conversation down, you step it down, make it
32:25
very personal, say, oh God, you're a very good husband.
32:27
Oh, I like that you're trying to take care of Madam.
32:29
So anyway, thank you very much for reaching out in that small
32:32
conversation. Now all these small back and
32:33
forth, you know, how opportunity to build rapport, you know,
32:37
small side talk, opportunity for commonality or guy will feel
32:40
comfortable talking to you. Because whenever people reach
32:43
out, there's there's sometimes it's ignorance, There's a sales.
32:50
What's this thing called again? Sales.
32:52
How did I put it? There's some ignorance and then
32:56
there's some there's some hesitance.
32:59
So you need to bring nothing down so that people can talk to
33:01
you. So you don't just say go to the
33:05
Instagram. Handle Thank you very much for
33:07
reaching out, Sir. I can see you're trying to be a
33:09
very good husband. Noah Hala.
33:10
I like supporting husband like this.
33:13
So no problem, Sir. Let's let me see how I can help
33:15
you. But yes, we have some of these
33:17
things available. I can send you a picture.
33:20
But just as I'm selecting this picture, let's let's, let's just
33:23
be chatting how to find out some things from you, Sir.
33:26
Let me see what else I can recommend.
33:27
So just make sure that Madame will be very, very happy.
33:30
Are you OK with that? Trust me, any or any husband who
33:34
has reached out to you because he wants to buy a pattern for
33:36
his wife. Excuse me.
33:38
Of course, he won't mind if you're asking some questions.
33:41
These are some simple questions you could have asked.
33:43
I look, I'm not a professional in the underwear space, but this
33:46
is just my own guess. This is your anniversary, Sir.
33:49
You ask because somebody says I want to buy 30 pieces for Madam.
33:55
Come on, it's common. Sense you should be asking why
33:59
are you buying these pieces for Madam Independent says, oh, you
34:05
know, it's my wedding anniversary.
34:06
Something something, something. Now for those of you who sell
34:08
underwear, can you see that in your mind there's some
34:11
recommendations already coming to your mind for those of you
34:14
who sell lingerie. For those of you who sell
34:15
underwear, the moment he say anniversary is on the horizon.
34:20
Is it her birthday? Like you ask, you need to know
34:24
why. This will give you opportunities
34:27
for upsells later on and also you'll give you information just
34:34
to make sure that she how happy that you you fulfill exactly
34:38
what is that the client needs. So is this an anniversary?
34:41
Is this a special occasion? Is it her birthday?
34:44
It would also not be a bad idea to ask how long they have been
34:47
married because I'm assuming that when a couple is brand new,
34:50
you know, like you're newly married, you've only been
34:52
married one month, two months. If the man is buying butter for
34:55
Madame, I'm assuming is only certain kinds of butter that
34:59
you'll be buying certain kinds of pints, you know, the kind of
35:01
pints that will unleash. You understand what I'm saying?
35:06
I hope there are no children listening to this episode.
35:08
Nobody should go and report me to Spotify or iTunes because I
35:11
told you at the beginning that children should not listen so.
35:14
You want to. Buy certain kinds of underwear
35:18
that will unleash certain kind of behavior, if you catch what
35:21
I'm saying. So that question, how long have
35:24
you been? Married is also not a bad
35:26
question. And then even if there's no.
35:30
Anniversary. But he asked how long you've
35:31
been married and he falls close to a major milestone.
35:34
Like 10 years is a milestone I think for marriage.
35:36
I think it's 10/15/2025. You know these things give you
35:42
ideas. So let's say the person this is
35:44
their, they've only been married nine years.
35:46
OK, no problem, you fulfill this order.
35:49
But in the small talk you've been having with him, you're
35:53
able to get a sense of maybe when it is that they get, they
35:55
got married. Don't you know that you put this
35:58
information down in CRM and then next year you can reach out back
36:01
to this guy and holler him again because now anniversary is on
36:04
the horizon? And there's an opportunity.
36:09
To make some more money to sell him.
36:11
Up on something? To recommend something new.
36:15
Last year was just general. Purchase, but this year is a
36:18
major milestone. So abros how now this is the
36:20
person I spoke to last year, blah blah, cope and I'm like the
36:24
underwear. Oh that's good that's good
36:25
that's good say bro, you know now that people are approaching
36:28
10 years Abby, you say yes, How did you know you told me now
36:31
that's how I remember or girl will laugh.
36:33
So I know that 10 years is a significant miles don't know.
36:36
So you have to do something special for Madam this year.
36:39
Bross will laugh and then that's how the conversation moves.
36:43
You do a good job. You're calling you know people
36:46
like this because you have you use your CRM.
36:48
Well, you're having lots of these conversations.
36:50
Maybe you know 5-10 of them every single month.
36:54
That's some extra revenue now. Then, of course, you also asked
36:59
the guy. OK, what are the kind of styles
37:01
that Madame likes now, of course, because Shegu again, on
37:06
his real name is like me. And it's like most guys, you
37:08
know, we do not know the names of these things.
37:10
This is the part where you say, OK, is Madame at home?
37:12
Say no, she's not home. OK, no problem.
37:14
And just quickly, quickly for that one snap, like one or two,
37:17
let me see. Then based on that, I'll be able
37:19
to let you know what Madame has, you know?
37:22
Are you OK with that? You know, if the guy says no, I
37:25
can't be sniffing my wife's on this.
37:27
OK, What about video? You do video call.
37:29
You just just put 5 down. Just do small video.
37:32
Let me just see. I don't know which one to
37:34
recommend. It's OK.
37:35
Let me try that. See, all this is need analysis.
37:37
We're just trying to figure out what does this guy want to
37:41
achieve with this batter, with these pints, with his underwear
37:44
that he wants to do, this lingerie that he wants to buy
37:46
for Madam. What is the need here?
37:51
Or. If you noticed.
37:53
In the message that Sherwood sent, we mentioned some
37:55
particular things. Well, he mentioned rather let me
37:59
go back to the message, OK? He said high waisted because his
38:02
wife likes something. I'll be because he knows that
38:06
his wife is always talking about comfort, comfort.
38:08
So he assumes that high waist must be a comfortable something.
38:11
Then he said full brief. Then he said visible, no visible
38:15
panty lines. That's for work.
38:17
Then cotton rich so that you know, downstairs for Madame can
38:21
breathe, then premium bliss and silk.
38:25
What again? So he mentioned some particular
38:27
things. So when somebody is particular
38:34
like that, you don't just say, Oh yes, we have all those
38:36
things. You also need to know why they
38:37
made those kinds of recommendations.
38:40
So if somebody says that they want high waisted, you know, you
38:42
ask like, oh, OK, yes, we've got some high waisted.
38:45
I'll send you a couple of pictures right now.
38:47
Oh, but before I do, did Madam say in particular that she likes
38:51
high waisted or did you say high waisted because you're concerned
38:55
about something? And then you get Olga talking.
38:57
You say, well, all I know is that Madam says that she likes
39:00
underwear to be comfortable. I looked at some pictures and I
39:03
just thought this one is comfortable and then.
39:06
You can advise them accordingly. OK, no problem.
39:08
Yes, these kinds of designs are comfortable, but since wedding
39:11
anniversaries around the corner, I think you can use this time to
39:14
make a nice romantic statement as well.
39:17
So instead of buying 10 high waisted, how about you buy 3
39:22
high waisted? And then I can also recommend
39:25
this other line of lingerie, this other line of underwear
39:30
that is also comfortable because it is this material, is this
39:33
cotton, is this whatever, is this whatever.
39:35
So it all should be comfortable and this and this we can buy 3
39:40
high waisted and then maybe seven of these ones just to
39:45
spice things up. What do you think about that,
39:47
Sir? You see, you are the project.
39:51
I say project the product matter, the subject matter
39:55
expert. Expert lead the person through
39:58
be having conversations with people, figure out what they
40:01
want to start making recommendations accordingly.
40:04
This is what leads people to have a nice buying appearance,
40:07
so that next time when the guy needs to buy better again, who
40:10
else do you think he will call? You are the only person who
40:13
could answer his questions convincingly.
40:15
And you made one or two recommendations if you did your
40:17
job well. Madam saw the butter, she saw
40:20
the pint. By the time she went, she was
40:22
happy. By the time she was happy and
40:23
she smiled, something could happen.
40:25
You think organ won't remember you the next time?
40:29
And. Then one of his friends is
40:30
saying. That shag on that thing you were
40:32
trying last time. How do you think workers.
40:34
Oh boy, that thing was successful.
40:35
Was really. You don't mean it.
40:37
Yeah. So give me the plug down.
40:40
Say no problem. Now this is the person that
40:41
hooked me up. Just call this babe, tell her
40:43
that Orgasha won't send you. You don't think you'll make a
40:46
referral? So you ask.
40:52
So you mentioned some particular styles, you know, how come you
40:54
pick those that is need analysis and.
40:57
Then money. Conversations.
40:59
I like having money conversations early.
41:01
So if it was me, I would say it all right, so OK, 30 pieces.
41:05
This is very unusual. I hope you have the money to
41:08
macho because 30 pieces ego cost to you know, you say it in a
41:12
casual conversation with a girl will laugh and you say OK, like
41:16
how much? And then because I like to get
41:19
down to the money pretty pretty quickly because I don't want to
41:22
spend 45 minutes chatting with someone and then the other day
41:25
they say is too expensive. I want to have 2-3 minutes
41:29
having a preliminary conversation.
41:30
We talk about budget quickly so that if it's too much the person
41:34
will say within 5 minutes, no, I can't afford you and then the
41:37
person goes away. I only invested the 5 minutes
41:41
rather than wasting 45 minutes for the person to now say you're
41:43
too expensive. So have the budget
41:46
conversations. Have the money conversations,
41:48
try to see if they have realistic expectations and say,
41:51
ah, Sir, I noticed that you said 30 pieces.
41:54
Is that correct? You say yes, now I said 30
41:55
pieces. OK, no problem.
41:57
But Sir, you know that nowadays on average, you know, pints,
42:00
butter, lingerie, it can cost anything between like AK to like
42:04
15 K, sometimes even 2020 K for the good, good ones.
42:07
You are aware? You are aware, Sir?
42:10
The one I say 20K. Saying, well, that's for the
42:14
expensive brands like so, so, so and so and so and so.
42:16
They might say, OK, remove all those brands is OK.
42:18
Which brands were you looking at?
42:20
Which one is the 8K brand? OK, It's like this one, like
42:22
this one, like this one. OK, So Sir, as we're talking
42:26
now, I should only be considering this brand, this
42:29
brand and this brand. Yes, let's only consider this
42:31
brand. We've had the money conversation
42:32
early and now know the zone I can play with.
42:34
And then plus listen the man said 30 pieces and I said it can
42:39
cost anything from 8K for one all the way to 20 K for one.
42:46
And the man said we should scratch the. 20K that we should
42:48
stick to the 8. At some point, as we're talking,
42:51
I'm going to do the math on a sheet of paper.
42:52
I'm going to do 20. Sorry.
42:55
Thirty 30,000 * 8. Abby.
43:03
No, sorry. Yes, 30 pieces times 8000, Abby.
43:11
Yes, 30 pieces times 8000. How much is that now?
43:15
OK, sorry, forgive me. My math is no good.
43:17
But let me just guess, that's like 240K.
43:19
So, you know, at some point in the conversation I'm going to
43:21
say, oh, Sir, you know, as we're going, as we're building up
43:23
everything, remember that we're looking at the 8K options.
43:27
So that means at the end of the day, all the things we're
43:29
talking about will come up to like 240K.
43:32
Is that the kind of thing you're open to invest in today?
43:35
I'll have the money conversation early.
43:37
If the guy says 250, you do me discounts now I'll know that,
43:42
OK, this is a Nokia conversation.
43:44
The guy had 240. He didn't run away.
43:46
He's talking discount. No problem, we can proceed.
43:49
But I'm having the money conversation early.
43:51
Other questions that I can ask that you should ask.
43:54
I'm assuming you know, what kind of colors does your wife like?
43:58
All that kind of colors you like to.
44:00
See on Madam or what are the kind of colors that improves
44:03
Madam's morale or what are the kind of clothes that Madam
44:06
wears? What are the kind of colors that
44:08
she has? Then again, if he's you become
44:11
it is like most men, which is you don't know colors because
44:16
it's something my wife and my children abuse me about.
44:19
Like I can look at something and say this is purple.
44:21
Marvel would say which kind of purple that is not purple that
44:24
this is pink. And then my children would say
44:26
yes, it's pink. And I'm looking at them say this
44:29
thing is this innopubble to say no, he's pink, you know, So if
44:32
he's one of those kinds of husbands, you don't need
44:34
analysis. OK, can you snap to say no, I
44:36
can't snap my eyes close. OK, Sir, can you just layout
44:39
like 3 or 41 selects to wear a lot?
44:41
Just do quick video. Just pan.
44:43
Let me see now give you a sense of color that is need analysis.
44:47
Now you're trying to figure out what's going on.
44:50
Then after all these questions, because you're the subject
44:52
matter expert, you can now say, OK Sir, yes, we have all these
44:56
styles available. I think I understand perfectly
44:58
what you're looking for. I can send you 5 photos of each
45:01
one that we discussed. Now we can start narrowing
45:04
direct down what Madam would like.
45:06
So what do you think about that, Sir?
45:07
You say yeah, sure, sure, no problem, no problem.
45:09
Then begin the same. You begin the same picture.
45:12
That's it. So you should be the subject.
45:17
Matter expert then respond in a timely manner.
45:20
When you respond in a timely manner, you're going to lead
45:23
people through qualification and discovery.
45:24
You're trying to figure out who is this person?
45:26
What do they want? Why are they buying this thing
45:29
for you? Make sure you have the money
45:31
conversations because you want to be sure that you're talking
45:34
to people who have realistic price expectations, realistic
45:38
budget expectations. Then you're going to come up
45:41
with proposals, not just one, you're going to come up with a
45:45
couple of proposals, you know, two or three so that you can
45:48
stay in the game, so you can stay in the pockets.
45:50
You know, you can't be negotiating up.
45:51
You can regulate negotiating down, but not just one option.
45:55
You have different combinations. And in the end of the day, it's
45:58
just a matter of the trial close or?
46:02
Soft close. Or ask a question that suggests
46:05
OK, Sir, based on all these things we've been looking at so
46:07
far, which one catches your fancy?
46:10
Or in this case, which one do you think Madame would be most
46:12
happy with? Then from there, that's how you
46:17
start. Narrowing down and try to close
46:19
Anyway, sorry that this has been a long episode, almost 15
46:23
minutes because I came here talking about how we should be
46:27
more responsive in our businesses, but I guess the
46:30
other lessons that we can that we can learn so.
46:39
Yeah, that's it. So.
46:39
Apologies if I didn't give you a heads up and maybe your young
46:45
children had to sit through some part of these episodes.
46:48
I'm sorry about that. Next time I will try to warn
46:52
ahead of time. In fact, because of that, I
46:53
think I'll just put an explicit rating on today's podcast
46:56
episode just to make sure that that mistake doesn't happen.
47:01
And then even though we're talking about underwear, I hope
47:03
I give enough examples to show how it can apply to other
47:06
things. It can apply to solar, it can
47:08
apply to architecture, it can apply to I Greek.
47:10
It can apply to export. It can be applied to anything.
47:13
So we should be responsive and we should realize that we are
47:16
the subject matter expert. So that's all for today.
47:19
If you've gotten value from today's episode, then you can
47:22
connect with me, call me, send me a text message or WhatsApp
47:25
message on 08064662140. If you're interested in the 15
47:31
minute sale audit or you want me to audit any of your business
47:34
processes, then WhatsApp me on the same number 08064662140 or
47:41
you can drop my WhatsApp channel by whatsapping me on the same
47:44
number. Also, if you like the podcast,
47:46
you know, like subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple or
47:49
anywhere that you listen to the podcast and then let other
47:52
people know that we have good valuable business programming
47:55
like this in Nigeria. For those of you who are
47:57
listening from South Africa and other places, just let them know
48:00
that we have good content, good business content on the African
48:05
continent. Now you know where we're making
48:07
our way, we're stepping up. So thank you very much for
48:09
listening. I'll try and keep the next
48:11
episode shorter. I'm making today's episode
48:15
during the Easter season of 2026.
48:18
I hope you all are having a wonderful time with your
48:21
families and with your significant others.
48:23
So, as we say in the Christian circles, Christ is risen.
48:28
Indeed, He is truly risen. So enjoy the Easter season.
48:32
I'll catch you all at the next episode.