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When is the Best Time to Call a Client in Nigeria? · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:00
  Lots of Nigerian business people, lots of Nigerian
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  self-employed people, especially people who are newbies.
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  You're just coming new into the space, have lots of anxiety over
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  when is the right time, when is the most appropriate time to
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  make business calls. So you have a conversation with
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  a potential customer, a potential client and both of you
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  agree that you are going to talk on a Monday.
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  And of course, you guys didn't narrow down the time then lots
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  of people just wake up on the Monday and start wondering, OK,
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  when should I call? Should I call at 7:30?
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  Can I call at 8:30? Can I call at 9:30?
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  If I call at 10:30, would that be too late?
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  Or should I wait until when things start quieting down in
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  the afternoon? Maybe 23330.
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  So today's podcast episode is meant to address all these sorts
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  of things. So excuse me now.
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  The reason why this is what we're talking about today is
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  because I'm currently one of the sales people for my client is
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  currently in that whole conundrum myself.
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  So she's new on the job and I had a chat with her at 9:59.
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  So let's just say that's 10 AM. And basically I was like, hey,
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  what's up? How's the weekend?
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  You know, Are you ready? Have you started cranking out
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  those calls? And what she told me was that
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  she's waiting for the appropriate time to call some
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  clients and other people that she has unfinished business
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  with. So we had to have that
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  conversation. And I had to tell her that,
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  look, you know, in Niger, anytime from 9:00 AM for
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  business calls is an appropriate time to call.
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  So 730, yeah, that definitely would be too early except if you
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  and the customer or the potential client agreed to it
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  ahead of time. SO73830 now too early.
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  But 9:00, it's a business call. That's not going to be any
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  problem. So for most people, what I would
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  recommend is that if it's a business call, anytime after
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  9:00 AM is good for business calls.
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  I repeat, as at the time of this recording in Nigeria, anytime
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  after 9:00 AM is good for business calls because except if
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  you're dealing with someone who is, who is in an MDA, you know,
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  like Ministry of Finance and you know, all those places where you
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  know, I don't want to bad mouth our civil servants.
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  But you know that some of them, you know, 930 is just when
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  they're getting into the office. So except if you're dealing with
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  those sorts of people, you know, like even 9:30 AM, they are
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  already expected to be in the office.
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  They are already expected to be at their desks.
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  So for rest of us who are private and in corporate, 9 AMI
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  think it's fine? I think it's fine.
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  Me personally, I'm not asking you to try that, but me
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  personally, 8:30 I'm OK with calling people 83845 I'm OK with
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  doing that, but I'm not going to recommend that for you.
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  But nine AMI mean this is Nigeria.
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  Come on, 9 AM 930, everybody's expected to be alert at their
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  desk, diligent and working. So it was a business call.
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  Feel confident and call anytime after 9:00 AM.
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  My own recommendation is, you know, go drop the kids at
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  school, watch Netflix, do whatever it is you need to do.
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  But 9:00 AM sharp, you are at your desk, your phone is out,
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  your pen and your paper are there so that you can make
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  notes. As you are discussing with your
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  potential customers and clients, start banging out those calls
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  9:00 AM sharp. Now, one way that we can get rid
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  of this anxiety is when we learn how to secure advancements when
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  we're having conversations with people.
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  Now, an advancement is just a mutually agreed next course of
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  action. It just means if I'm having a
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  conversation with someone, we agree on what it is that we are
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  going to do next. So let's say me and Uncle Tony,
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  that's Tony Illumelu. Let's say me and him.
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  Eventually we'll become friends, as we will be.
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  And so we're working on one or two deals together.
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  If I'm talking about Uncle Tony today, because today is a Monday
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  as at the date of this recording.
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  And we agree that we're going to talk by the end of the week now,
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  because Uncle Tony to Estonia Lumelu, by the way, he's not my
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  uncle. So because Uncle Tony now is a
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  billionaire and you know, a very busy guy, I know that he means
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  well when he says end of the week.
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  But The thing is, end of the week is too vague.
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  End of the week can be Thursday, end of the week can be Friday,
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  end of the week can be Saturday or Sunday.
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  So when I'm having the conversation with Uncle Tony, I
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  want to narrow it down. Say end of the week.
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  It's OK, no problem Uncle Tony. So you say end of the week.
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  That means like I don't like I'm Friday morning, Abby.
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  So if Friday morning doesn't work with him, Uncle Tony will
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  say no. Now Friday, I'm going to be
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  having a meeting with the president.
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  How about we talk Saturday morning instead?
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  Now it's OK, no problem. Saturday morning you normally
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  gym around that time might be. And then, you know, we'll
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  probably laugh about it or something because I think I saw
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  one of his Instagram post a while ago, you know, him working
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  out on a Saturday. So they're working out on, you
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  know, gym time Saturday morning, Abby, you know, small talk,
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  blah, blah, blah. Okay, in that case, how about we
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  talk maybe around noon? And then he says, okay, no noon,
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  my grandchildren are coming over, let's talk. 2:00 PM Okay,
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  no problem. 2:00 PM Uncle Tony. So I will call you at the end of
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  the week, 2:00 PM Saturday. Sure, That's OK.
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  We'll say yeah, OK. So in that case, Uncle Tony, I
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  hope you don't mind. I'm going to send you a text
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  message the day before just to confirm that you're done with
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  the president and you're back in Lagos so that we can talk.
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  And then he will say, yeah, Tavish Amanda school.
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  And then we'll end the call. Now in this case, because I have
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  secured an advancement and because the advancement is
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  fairly, in fact not fairly, it is very specific for Saturday at
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  2:00 PM. Now I know that confidently
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  Saturday 2 PMI can call knowing that I am not a bother.
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  Even if I catch him at an inopportune time, he is the one
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  who gave me the time. So it wouldn't be out of place
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  for him to take the call. And then we try to reschedule.
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  So another way of removing this anxieties just for you to secure
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  advancements ahead of time and be as specific as possible.
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  So don't agree on end of the week and don't just say oh
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  Monday morning because Monday morning can be 839101030111130.
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  All of those times are Monday morning.
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  So when somebody says oh call me Monday morning, you're so
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  fantastic. No problem.
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  Monday morning I'm usually at my desk by 9.
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  Is that cool for you? You ask the person, the person
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  was 9 K9, I'll be in traffic. Let's talk 1130.
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  Now you will know that. OK.
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  For this person, Monday morning means 1130.
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  So summary, what I'm trying to say is anytime after 9:00 AM is
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  good for business calls in Nigeria from Monday until
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  Friday. Now for me, I make business
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  calls on a Saturday. I'm not going to recommend that
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  you should do the same, but I'm comfortable doing that.
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  So for me, I think in terms of Monday to Saturday, but if
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  that's little too much for you, Monday to Friday, anytime from
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  9:00 AM. So secure advancements so that
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  you know exactly when to call people.
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  Then also there are some people who after you talk with them for
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  a certain while, you just get to know their habits.
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  And so you will now know when it is a good time to call for this
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  particular person. So for instance, let's say
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  because Uncle Tony, Tony Olumelu, again, he's not my
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  uncle, let's say because he's a billionaire and me and him are
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  friends, By the way, we're not friends.
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  I'm just, you know, I'm manifesting.
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  So let's say I call him a few times and I just realized that,
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  oh, it's like for Uncle Tony, Saturday at 2:00 PM seems to be
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  his thing. So even on days when I've not
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  secured an advancement, I can have a reasonable hope to call
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  at Saturday at 2:00 because based on our previous
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  interactions, it looks as if Uncle Tony, it's kind of like a
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  Saturday, 2:00 PM person for business calls.
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  So yeah, call anytime after 9:00 AM, secure advancements.
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  So you don't have to do too much of A guessing game.
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  But then there are some people that you have call them from
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  time to time, you know their habits.
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  And so you kind of know when is a good time to call.
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  Well, by the way, before I hop off today's recording, there are
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  some exceptions to this 9:00 AM rule and these exceptions are
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  industry specific. Now for those of you who are
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  trying to sell into the construction space now when
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  you're trying to call architect, engineer, blah, blah, blah,
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  those kinds of people who are on site.
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  Oh, by the way, I heard this first on a, on an American
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  podcast, one of those American contracting podcasts.
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  I can't remember anyway, but there's someone who objected to
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  the 9:00 AM thing because he, he found out that because he sells
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  to people engineers who are on site because for health and
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  safety reasons, I think you're not supposed to have mobile
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  phones on site, you know, saying it's not causing distractions.
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  So he was able to call people 4-5.
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  That's why he was able to catch people 4-5 at night or very,
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  very, very in the morning before, you know, sites work
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  supposed to start at around 839, but he preferred the evenings.
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  And I've heard from a couple of people that in Nigeria, the same
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  thing, that same thing applies. Now, I don't know this for sure.
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  It is just gist that I have heard.
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  So industry specific, if you're selling into construction, if
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  you're trying to reach an architect, if you're trying to
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  reach a site engineer, you're trying to reach a foreman, and
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  the person is on site from Monday all the way through to
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  Saturdays, then it might make sense that if you want to call
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  this person for business calls, you call the person after four
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  or five in the evening when things have wound down at the
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  site. So if you're sorry, excuse me.
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  So you're settling into construction then weekends or
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  late in the evenings. Now there are some of my past
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  clients that's back when I was in the event space, some of my
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  past clients who are pharmaceutical reps, Those are
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  people who sell medicines, treatments, you know, all kinds
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  of things to to doctors and hospitals and things like that.
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  So I have two of them in part in particular.
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  Now for those people in Nigeria, I'm not sure how it operates in,
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  you know, different parts of the world to try and get doctors.
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  If you're trying to sell to a doctor, trying to sell to a
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  hospital and you're trying to call them during regular working
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  hours, it is almost impossible to reach them because they are
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  #1 talking with clients #2 they're in surgery #3 they're
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  doing hospital rounds, you know, different kinds of stuff.
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  So it's hard to reach doctors during regular working hours.
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  So if you sell to doctors and you're trying to call doctor,
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  so, so, so, So who is the head of Pediatrics and you're calling
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  at 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM or 11:00 or 12:00, you might be wasting
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  their time. So if you know how to target
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  their launch hours, which is really, really hard, then you
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  know, call during launch, launch hours.
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  But I have found at least from the two clients of mine who are
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  in the pharmaceutical space is that they either target what's
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  it called, surgeries, ward visits, or they target end of
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  the day. So there's one of my clients who
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  sells, what are they called? Forgive me, I don't know the
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  technical terms, but some things that you use in in surgeries,
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  you know, like some tools in surgeries or disinfectants and
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  you know, things like that. So the time to catch the doctor
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  is if you are at the hospital as they are prepping for surgery
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  and you have one or two of these things that the doctor can test
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  while they are in, you know, can actually use for the surgical
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  procedure. So basically you will accompany
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  Dr. into surgery or you catch doctor after surgery.
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  Then there was one of my clients that when I went to see a
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  cardiologist, in fact, that's how I knew that she was a
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  pharmaceutical Rep because you know, we didn't we just didn't
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  talk about work. So I was there to see the
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  cardiologist and lo and behold, as the cardiologist was doing
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  his consulting, she was there as a pharmaceutical Rep so that as
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  the doctor was making prescriptions and diagnosis and
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  stuff like that, she'll be able to, you know, call the doctor
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  outside for a small Tetra Tetra, Oh, doctor, in this particular
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  case, our medicine can help our, this can help our, that can
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  help. So these are some industry
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  specific timelines. If you're trying to sell to
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  doctors and head of medical practices, trying to call them
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  at 9:00 AM, maybe that thing is not going to work.
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  Trying to accompany them on their surgeries or their
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  consultations. You know, if you build that
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  level of trust, that's a good deal.
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  If not, just try and target them after working hours when they're
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  done with the surgeries, with the consultations, with the
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  every every. Then if you're trying to sell
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  into schools, you're trying to talk to teachers, you're trying
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  to talk to head of admin, trying to call them from 9:00 AM.
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  Anything between 9:00 and 2:00 is not a good idea because
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  they're busy with students, they're busy grading papers,
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  they're busy with disciplinary work, you know, discipline
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  students and you know, stuff like that.
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  So for teachers, it's pretty much the same criteria.
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  You want to catch a teacher, make sure you're in school and
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  make sure that you're going to be able to target the lunch
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  time. OK, lunch time for teachers is a
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  whole lot easier. So if you can be in the lobby,
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  for instance, at lunch time at the receptionist, you put
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  through a call and they're able to see the teacher.
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  You know that works. Or you wait until after school
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  hours when the teachers have access to their phones, then you
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  call them. Some of you might wonder, why
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  would I be calling teachers? Well, because there's some
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  things that you want to sell that you might need the help of
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  a teacher. For instance, there's somebody
• 14:41
  that I do some work with from time to time.
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  I won't exactly call her a client, but what she has is she
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  has sort of this like tech incubation thing, but it's for
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  children in primary school, especially children.
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  So especially females age between I think 88 and 18 or
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  something like that. So primary school into secondary
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  school, like late secondary school.
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  So in order to sell that her program, to sell registration to
• 15:15
  her different services and things like that, she has to be
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  talking directly with teachers who teach ICT information, ICT
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  information communications technology, yes.
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  So she has to be in touch with ICT teachers, she has to be in
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  touch with teachers who are, or administrators who are in charge
• 15:37
  of the the IT department. Let's see who else.
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  Again, I think she has found it useful to also talk to what are
• 15:49
  they called? CS OS, That's chief security
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  officer, chief security officers of the primary schools.
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  Because sometimes she's not able to get any, you know, leg work
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  inside. That's to talk to a teacher or
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  principal. But if she's able to talk to the
• 16:04
  chief security officer and if she's able to get her profile,
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  she now has permission to share her Flyers on the school
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  campuses. So you can see that for some of
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  you, that's some of the things that you sell that you might
• 16:14
  have to get in touch with teachers.
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  So this whole thing of 9:00 AM, anytime from 9:00 AM might not
• 16:19
  work for teachers. But summary, what I'm trying to
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  say is you sell in Nigeria, when is the best time to call?
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  The best time to call is anytime after 9:00 AM or whenever you
• 16:32
  and your potential contact agreed that you're going to talk
• 16:36
  to them. So you should be seeking
• 16:38
  advancements every single time that you are talking to people.
• 16:42
  Then there are some things you need to pay attention to the
• 16:45
  industry specific. So for construction, 9:00 AM
• 16:48
  might not work. For doctors, 9:00 AM might not
• 16:51
  work. For teachers, 9:00 AM might not
• 16:53
  work. But when in doubt, ask your
• 16:55
  colleagues who are in a similar trade, who are in a similar
• 16:58
  business, and they will tell you that, oh, OK, to call our
• 17:00
  customers, to call our clients. This is the best time to call.
• 17:03
  That is the best time to call. But either way, you shouldn't be
• 17:06
  anxious about calling. Just make sure that you have a
• 17:10
  clear agenda, a care reason for why you're calling.
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  Because you want to make sure that when you call, your phone
• 17:16
  call is going to be valuable for the person who receives it.
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  Because if your phone call is not a valuable call and people
• 17:24
  source out that look, every single time this guy calls me,
• 17:27
  every single time this lady calls me, it's not a valuable
• 17:29
  call. This person is a pest.
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  Then they'll stop picking your calls.
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  So just call anytime after 9:00 AM, Make sure it's a valuable
• 17:36
  call. Have your agenda prepared.
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  Just come up with a small outline.
• 17:40
  I always talk about the conversation outline on the
• 17:42
  podcast. Greeting, intention, question,
• 17:45
  proposal, close. So greeting, use the appropriate
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  greeting that is customary in your industry and that is
• 17:52
  customary to your relationship or whatever.
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  Now, the reason why I say appropriate and customary is
• 17:57
  because sometimes the appropriate greeting is good
• 18:00
  morning, Sir. Sometimes the appropriate
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  greeting is boss, how you do. Sometimes the appropriate
• 18:06
  greeting is Madame, your boys are loyal.
• 18:09
  So it doesn't always have to be good morning.
• 18:11
  It is appropriate to who the person is, what your
• 18:14
  relationship is, what industry is, what prior relationship that
• 18:18
  both of you have. So honestly, it's OK for you to
• 18:20
  call and say, ah, Madam, your boys are loyal.
• 18:23
  Even that is a good greeting. Then intention, you have to go
• 18:26
  straight into the reason why you're calling.
• 18:28
  Don't waste people's time with happy new year, happy new month,
• 18:31
  happy Valentine, happy this, happy that.
• 18:34
  Going to the reason, Madam, your boys are loyal.
• 18:37
  Remember the one we spoke last week, we said this dot dot dot
• 18:40
  dot, that's your intention. So that's the reason why I'm
• 18:42
  calling. Then you ask Madam one or two
• 18:44
  questions based on her answer. That is how you'll be able to
• 18:48
  move to the next day, which is proposal.
• 18:50
  You'll put a proposal on the table for what both of you are
• 18:53
  about to do next. Move the relationship of the
• 18:55
  deal forward. Then after that you will try to
• 18:59
  close. close just means getting the person to commit to taking
• 19:02
  that next step. So in this case, just like with
• 19:05
  the Uncle Tony example, if it's going to be another meeting, for
• 19:09
  instance, unless you're an architect, and so you and Madam
• 19:12
  are going to meet on the site, you narrow it down.
• 19:14
  So Madam says end of the week. You say, fine, no problem, End
• 19:17
  of the week is perfect. But Madam Thursday, I'm busy.
• 19:23
  So end of the week, That means it has to be Friday.
• 19:25
  Saturday. Which one works for you?
• 19:27
  Yeah, Madam, I say, oh, I'll be on the road Friday.
• 19:29
  How about Saturday? OK, fine.
• 19:31
  No problem. Perfect, ma'am.
• 19:33
  So Saturday, what works for you? Morning or afternoon and I would
• 19:37
  say afternoon. And then you say oh, OK, so
• 19:39
  you're looking around that kind 2:00 PM and I would say no, now
• 19:42
  at 2:00 PM is still hot. Now let's see like 5 and it's
• 19:45
  OK, no problem. We see at 5:00 on Saturday.
• 19:49
  Bye bye Ma. Now you see the reason why we
• 19:51
  have to be specific like this is because when Madam said
• 19:54
  afternoon, in your mind you're probably thinking anything
• 19:56
  between 12:00 and 3:00. But for Madam, she thinks 4-5 is
• 19:59
  still afternoon. So this is the reason we have to
• 20:02
  seek advancements. Sorry, this is the reason why we
• 20:04
  have to be very clear when we're trying to seek advancements and
• 20:08
  try to schedule appointments and things of that nature.
• 20:10
  So that's it. And that is all for today.
• 20:14
  Remember, if you'd love to connect with me, you can call
• 20:16
  me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
• 20:23
  If you're interested in the 15 minutes they'll audit, you can
• 20:26
  WhatsApp me on the same number 08064662140.
• 20:32
  And if you'd like to join my WhatsApp channel, send me a
• 20:34
  WhatsApp message on the same message, the same message on the
• 20:37
  same number, and yeah, I'll hook you guys up.
• 20:41
  So that's it. And that's all for today.
• 20:43
  I'll catch you all at the next episode.