Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Why Only Talking to One Person is Killing Your Deals

Transcript

Why Only Talking to One Person is Killing Your Deals · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Hello and welcome to the podcast.
0:03
It's been a while since we had a hardcore business and sales
0:07
episode, so let's just head straight into it now.
0:10
Today, what I want us to look at, so excuse me, what I want us
0:14
to look at today is what to do when you're talking to someone,
0:17
you're trying to close the deal, you're trying to move an agenda
0:20
forward, you're trying to build a relationship, you're trying to
0:22
pursue one or two things in business.
0:24
And then the person says, let me run it by my boss.
0:28
What do you do in that kind of situation?
0:33
This is something that I actually wanted us to talk about
0:35
since the 3rd of March, but you know how it is now.
0:38
You know, things happen and I just kind of forgot.
0:41
So I saw my notes today. Oh, by the way, apologies.
0:44
Making today's recording out and about the parking lot.
0:48
And so I expect to hear some noise in the background.
0:51
In fact, somebody's weeping right next to me.
0:53
So hold on, let me just wind up the windows.
0:57
OK, Sorry about that. Like I said, I'm out and about.
1:00
I'm in the parking lot and one of the cleaners was cleaning on
1:03
the left side of the car. So I said let me just wind up
1:05
that window so she doesn't become too much of A, you know,
1:09
of a distraction. But anyway, like I said, I'm out
1:12
and about. So you're going to hear people
1:13
talking, cars driving by, you know, that sort of thing.
1:16
Oh, and then there's a crash nearby just in case you happen
1:19
to hear kids running about. OK, so like I said, what we're
1:24
talking about today is what to do when you're trying to close a
1:27
deal. You're talking to somebody,
1:29
you're toasting the person, you think you're making progress.
1:31
Everything is going smooth, everything is going OK
1:34
Conversation, they appear soft. Everything is, you know, you're
1:37
making progress, you're making progress.
1:38
You're getting close to the time when you now want to tell the
1:41
person that we are transferred 2.5 M into my account.
1:43
Let's get this thing going, let's get this thing going.
1:46
And then the guy or the woman will look at you and say, oh,
1:49
this sounds fantastic. Let me run it by my boss.
1:53
Let me talk to my old guy. Oh, thank you.
1:55
Let me show my Olga. Now, for those of you who have
1:58
been in that situation, I do not need to tell you that, you know,
2:02
this is a kind, this is like this kind of brake lights that
2:06
comes from nowhere because actually for you are making
2:09
progress. Then they say, let me talk to my
2:11
Olga. There's a way that I think kinds
2:13
of, you know, there's way kinds of you put a damper, you put a
2:17
slow down, you know, you slow down the tempo, that kind of
2:20
thing. And of course, that's not what
2:22
we're looking for when we're talking to somebody.
2:24
And we're hoping that, you know, at least by Wednesday next week,
2:27
they will transfers 2.5, you know, into the account so that
2:31
we can pay one or two bills, you know, get some things going.
2:34
So today we're going to look at what kind of statement is this
2:36
when somebody says, let me run it by my boss, what kind of
2:39
statement is this? Then what are the kind of things
2:42
that lead to this situation where you're talking to somebody
2:44
and you think everything is cool?
2:46
I think everything is going on OK there.
2:48
From nowhere, the person will now say, and let me tell my old
2:51
guy, how can we prevent this kind of situation that we're
2:54
talking to somebody, we are thinking that the next thing is
2:57
that they should transfer us deposit and they'll say, let me
3:00
talk to Madam. Then if you are in that
3:03
situation where somebody says let me run to my boss, let me
3:07
talk to my guy, let me talk to my Adam say wait, Chairman Ode,
3:11
you know, I suppose their chairman first, when you're in
3:13
that kind of situation now, how do you deal with it?
3:17
Now? First off, this kind of thing,
3:20
this is what we call an objection in sales.
3:22
An objection just means that you're trying to pursue an
3:25
agenda, you're trying to close a deal.
3:27
There's something that you're trying to work towards and
3:30
somebody is talking with you. The person, they follow you,
3:32
Jan, you guys are, you know, you, they communicate.
3:35
Then all of a sudden from nowhere, the person starts
3:37
saying one or two things, you know, as if they say no, they go
3:39
forward again, you know, so you guys are already used to the
3:42
most common objections, which are money objections.
3:44
You know, you're too expensive, you're too cheap.
3:47
Yes, by the way, I've heard that one before.
3:49
You actually can lose a deal because you are too cheap the,
3:52
the oh, anyway, you happen to some of you don't understand
3:58
what I'm talking about. I have been in that situation
4:00
where I called with person later on and you know, luckily I built
4:02
good rapport. So I was like, Rabbi, how far
4:05
now you guys, you guys want me to pay school fees?
4:07
You know, Sheila and I should say, well, you know, the
4:10
committee sat, we looked at the the tenders and by the time
4:14
we're done, we could tell that you are not going to execute
4:16
this thing by yourself. I said yes, that I was worried
4:20
about costs. So because of that, I decided to
4:23
outsource to some boys who are local who come and do the thing
4:26
in Kano and I'll stay here in Abuja and then I'll be running
4:29
you from here. And then Rabbi goes, not her
4:31
real name by the way. Rabbi goes on to tell me that
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that's precisely the reason why you lost the deal, that you
4:37
actually were the cheapest. But then we knew that you were
4:39
not going to be on site to pull this thing through.
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I was shocked I said so money was not an issue.
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She said no, that money is is always an issue.
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Now they can get a good service for a low price no problem.
4:52
But honestly speaking, my bid was the cheapest and because of
4:55
that they knew that you know quality No go follow the whole
4:58
thing. You understand so you actually
5:00
can I'm telling you I'm telling you using my own life experience
5:05
this one, no big no big theory. I'm telling you practice.
5:08
You can lose a deal because you're the cheapest.
5:11
Although most of us used to losing business or having issues
5:17
because somebody says we're too expensive.
5:19
So those are objections. You're too cheap or you're too
5:24
expensive or you know what else? Anyway, that's the most common
5:28
one, money. But that is not the only thing
5:31
that somebody can say that can throw AK leg, throw a question
5:35
mark, throw a comma into this conversation, into this setup,
5:40
into this relationship that we're having.
5:42
One of those things is let me tell my Olga, let me tell my
5:45
boss to come. Chairman is coming back on
5:48
Friday. Oh, Madam has traveled when
5:50
Madam come back and all those kind of things, all those that
5:54
is also an objection. We thought we were making
5:57
progress. We thought the proposal is cool.
6:00
We thought the next stage is transfer money out of nowhere.
6:03
You now say all guys coming back on Friday.
6:05
Let me talk to Olga first. So any question mark, any K leg,
6:11
any unforeseen detour in the conversation, that is what we
6:17
call an objection in sales. Now some people don't like
6:20
objection. See first of all, who likes
6:22
nobody likes objections. If I'm talking to somebody and
6:26
I'm thinking correct, correct, correct, making progress, making
6:28
progress, correct, OK, by next week do transfer 20 million.
6:33
If I'm talking to somebody and in my head I'm saying 20,000,020
6:36
million, 20 million and then something comes up and then we
6:40
have to match break. Believe me, I'm not happy
6:42
either. So nobody's happy when you get
6:44
objections. But what you have to understand
6:46
is that objections are a normal state of life.
6:48
Normal because sometimes, well, people object for a number of
6:54
reasons. But sometimes the reason why
6:56
people object is because they have legitimate concerns that
6:59
need to be addressed. They have legitimate questions
7:03
that they need answers. They have things that they're
7:05
trying to understand that they don't quite understand yet.
7:08
So they're just trying to slow it down, let them catch their
7:10
breath, let them understand before they transferred 20
7:13
million to you. And then you know something
7:15
happens next week and you're nowhere to be found.
7:18
Or you say it's not covered in the terms of reference you get.
7:22
And then sometimes it's just a shrug off.
7:24
They're just trying to get you off.
7:27
So people object for different reasons.
7:29
It's a normal part of life. So don't be angry anymore.
7:33
If you're new in business, yes, the first couple of objections
7:35
you will get will annoy you, especially the money objections.
7:38
You're too expensive, you're too expensive, you're too expensive.
7:40
You will now be angry that people are pricing you like
7:43
groundnut now you now be angry at the competition that how dare
7:46
they? Why are they pricing their
7:47
things so, so cheap that I give people a bad time.
7:51
So when it down is normal is normal.
7:53
But after a while, you just need to own up to the fact that
7:55
objections will always happen. So don't feel bad, don't feel
7:57
bad. But then honestly speaking is
8:00
the truth. If somebody they give you
8:01
objection, at least when I see the yarn, at least you're
8:04
talking, at least you can see the person, at least the person
8:07
see they pick up. It is better than when they
8:09
ghost you, right? So if somebody they give you
8:13
objection is good, at least we're still talking.
8:16
You pass in a ghost you. That's where the real problem
8:19
is. Because by the time you think,
8:20
yes, the ghosting level you do not like, you don't know how you
8:25
can possibly rectify the situation.
8:27
Sorry. One moment the sleeper started
8:29
again. Let me just wind up on this
8:30
side. OK, I'm back.
8:33
Sorry about that. You know, this is the beauty of
8:34
creating content live. You know, when you create
8:37
content on the move, you always, you always have to adapt what's
8:41
going on. So it's just one of these things
8:42
I bet more on an ovex. So even though you know, there's
8:45
production delays and noise coming in the background and
8:48
everything, always trying to make sure that on this podcast
8:51
we talk about real cogent, constructive issues.
8:54
So even if production value is not high, at least you know that
8:58
you're receiving good, good, good, good, good content over
9:00
here. So just bear with me.
9:03
So where was I? So I say, look, ghosting is
9:07
normal. Don't be angry then if you're
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receiving, I say no ghosting objections.
9:12
Objections are normal. Don't be angry then if somebody
9:16
is objecting to you, it is better than ghosting because
9:20
ghosting the person is going quiet, they're not picking call
9:23
you suspect that they've blocked you.
9:25
If you go to the office, receptionist will say our guy is
9:27
not on seat, even though you can see from the window the orgas
9:31
Mercedes-Benz is parked outside, but they say our guy is not on
9:33
seat by the time he gets to ghosting level.
9:36
You cannot resuscitate this thing.
9:38
So if objections is all you're receiving, it's good.
9:41
It's good. At least we're still in the
9:43
conversation. So, yeah, so that's what an
9:47
objection is. Any comma, any K leg, any
9:49
excuse, any reason why they don't want to buy or why they
9:52
don't want to continue the conversation.
9:54
Now, if somebody's trying to shrug you off my own opinion,
9:58
people have different ways of handling my own opinion.
10:01
By the time don't reach did not reach like shrug off level,
10:04
just, you know, go. If they're trying to shrug you
10:06
off, get the message, get the hint.
10:08
Go try and secure a referral. Do you know anybody else who
10:11
might be interested in XYZ? If if they do.
10:14
Get the phone number. Leave them alone if they don't.
10:17
Thank you very much for your time.
10:18
Just in case you change your mind.
10:20
Here's my business card. Here's my flyer.
10:21
Here's my website. Here's my podcast.
10:23
Here's my niece. Here's my dad.
10:25
You know that If they didn't shrug you off, then, you know,
10:28
take the hint. Leave.
10:29
I'm going to look for somebody else who you should talk to.
10:33
Now, all these objections that have to do with OGA, let me talk
10:36
to my boss. Let me talk to Madame Chairman
10:38
is in Dubai, he's coming back. He's in Paris.
10:41
He went for Paris Accord, you know, on and on and on.
10:45
All these kind of things, all these OGA objections.
10:48
Let me talk to my boss. It usually happens because we
10:52
failed to ask some very simple questions in the beginning of
10:55
the conversation. So when somebody says let me
10:58
talk to my boss, our guy is in Mecca, he has gone for small
11:01
hatch, all these things. It is because you didn't ask
11:04
questions about the decision matrix.
11:06
Decision matrix is a fancy term that people use in construction
11:10
because in construction projects, the people who sell
11:12
construction projects, they know that it's not just one person
11:15
who is responsible for closing the deal.
11:17
So anybody who is selling a construction project knows that
11:20
they have to be talking to Orga CEO or MD.
11:23
That's the person that will pay the money.
11:24
They also need to know that they'll be talking to the people
11:27
in in procurement, they'll be talking to the people in
11:30
finance, they'll be talking to the people in what else you
11:34
know, they'll be talking to different stakeholders to close
11:37
the deal. So in the construction industry,
11:41
at least in America, there's this idea of the decision making
11:44
matrix. You need to know from the
11:46
beginning that look, if we are going to sell this construction
11:50
project, who and who and who are we supposed to talk to?
11:53
So in the older podcast episode where I spoke about this senior
11:56
brother, well, not my brother, but you know, senior brother as
11:58
well. I used to be a lawyer.
12:00
I can't remember the guy's name, but I think the construction
12:03
outfit is Establioni. I think I can't remember because
12:06
it was a long time ago back when I was in law school.
12:08
So the guy was a senior advocate is rumored that he wanted to be
12:12
in engineering, but his father said on top my dead body, I'm a
12:16
lawyer, you must be a lawyer. And the boy said I must be a
12:18
lawyer. He said yes, I don't know this
12:20
for sure. This was a gist that we used to
12:22
hear back in the day. So the guy went ahead and he
12:25
became a lawyer, but he never stopped the construction thing.
12:28
He did the construction thing. I decided.
12:29
So the guy eventually became senior advocate of Nigeria and
12:33
he also would have a construction company that would
12:35
go on to do MMM 2. That's Muttala Mohammed, you
12:39
know, now the airport in Lagos, MMM 2 And then I think also the
12:44
secretariat in the secretariat in Abuja, the modern secretariat
12:49
in Abuja. So I, I think it's his own
12:51
company that fronted that did those ones, by the way, go and
12:56
verify all these things. Because remember, I was small
12:58
then, I was still, you know, university into law school, you
13:01
know, So it's just gist, it's not verified.
13:05
So anyway, somebody like Establioni, now they know that
13:08
if we're going to get this deal done, Muttalam Mohammed, right,
13:13
We should be in touch with the Lagos State governor.
13:17
But of course, no, because Lagos State governor alone, we need to
13:20
have somebody in the presidency that we should be chasing.
13:24
Then we also need somebody in Lagos State Ministry of Works.
13:28
Then we also need to have one or two connects in maybe like
13:32
Federal Ministry of Works. Then we also, if we know one or
13:38
two senators, you know, go bad, then if we know a few people in
13:42
the State House of Rep, you know, now we'll be good.
13:46
Then who again, you understand, you see to get that kind deal,
13:52
good money, dollars, dollars, dollars, millions of dollars,
13:56
decision making matrix, who are the players that are involved?
14:00
We need to know them so that we'll get to 1 stage and the
14:03
person says, oh, the president has travelled to Paris.
14:07
If you get to that stage where they tell you that, oh, chairman
14:10
has gone for Hajj, you're the one that made the mistake.
14:15
You did not know that chairman is a significant part of the
14:17
equation to begin with. You should have been asking
14:20
those questions. You should be trying to figure
14:23
out who and who and who is involved in saying yes to this
14:28
thing or when it comes to implementing these things, who
14:32
and who and who have a say or who and who have any
14:36
implications when it comes to implementing these things.
14:39
You need to know the people involved so that you get them
14:43
along for the conversation. So when somebody pulls his
14:47
orgathan on, you say, oh, Madame went for pilgrimage, she's
14:51
coming back in two months. Let me talk to my boss.
14:55
You know, chairman, they come, he's not see in all those things
14:59
you fail to ask the questions concerning how people make
15:03
decisions. You need to know the decision
15:05
matrix. You need to know how clients
15:07
make decisions within the organization or within their
15:10
family or within their whatever. You need to figure it out.
15:14
Figure out who is going to say yes, What are the people
15:16
required to hear yes, or what are the people who have a stake
15:19
in how people implement this thing.
15:24
If somebody says chairman is on Hajj, he's coming back next
15:28
month, if that's the objection. The problem is you have been
15:31
talking to the wrong person all along.
15:33
OK, maybe not the wrong person, but you should have included
15:36
somebody else. And clearly Chairman is somebody
15:41
that you should have been included in the conversation.
15:44
Now, usually when this kind of thing happens, you know,
15:47
chairman is, you know, he had, you know, Madam has gone for
15:49
pilgrimage, Madam's daughter is getting married, blah, blah,
15:52
blah, blah, blah. Typically you're only talking to
15:54
one person and that is wrong. That is called single threading.
15:57
You are trying to get into any account.
15:59
You have a complex sale. You're in a complex sale
16:02
situation. You're only talking to one
16:04
person. You're wrong.
16:05
Single threading is wrong. You should be multi threading or
16:08
multi threading depending on how you want to pronounce it.
16:11
You should be talking to 23456 different people in the accounts
16:15
depending on the industry, depending on the context.
16:18
So you can see how I said with Star Leone for instance.
16:21
By the way, I am guessing, I am guessing.
16:24
My assumption is that before they close that deal, they had
16:26
connects in the presidency, they had connects in governor office,
16:30
they have connects in House of Reps, they have connects in
16:33
Senate, they have connects in Ministry of works, they have
16:36
connects in Lagos State works. You know, they have connects in
16:44
FAN, connects in fan. Federal Aviation Authority of
16:48
Nigeria, you guys have connects in Federal Aviation Authority.
16:52
Maybe you know, one or two people serve in the minister's
16:54
office, Minister of Aviation, do you understand those kind of
16:58
deals don't just drop like that? So people in the construction
17:00
space, they know now look, if we're going to get this thing
17:03
and we're going to be getting dollar, dollar, dollar, charging
17:06
good money, we cannot be talking to only one person.
17:11
That's a mistake that lots of you make.
17:12
That's the reason why you'll be surprised that somebody will
17:15
say, let me run it by my boss. So these are the reasons why it
17:21
happens. So now obviously, what can we do
17:23
to prevent it? Very simple, very simple.
17:27
Start asking questions about how people make decisions so that
17:31
you are not surprised by anything.
17:33
Also so that you will know who to involve in the discussions.
17:37
Then once you know who to involve in discussions, you will
17:40
now know how to teleguide the conversation.
17:43
So if from the beginning you know that Orga is a key player
17:45
that is involved, and maybe by now you have Orga the P as phone
17:49
number or Madam's phone number. I know that Madam has gone on
17:52
pilgrimage. You know, there's a way that you
17:55
can be orchestrating the meeting around when August should be
17:58
back from Hajj, or Madam is back from pilgrimage, or Madam has
18:03
returned from her son's graduation, you know, in
18:05
Washington, DC. You now know how you can be
18:08
moving all these transactions around, all these key, key
18:12
people, key key events. You get, well, you have to be
18:18
asking questions about how people make these decisions
18:23
knowing I've listed out some, some sample questions that we
18:26
can run through knowing only if you're hanging.
18:29
So Please remember I said that this applies for people who are
18:32
in the complex hill. A complex hill is any situation
18:35
where you're selling a product or your service, right?
18:38
And then multiple decision makers are involved or multiple
18:42
stakeholders are involved. They're different people that
18:44
are involved. I'm currently working with a
18:46
client right now who is in the ad tech space.
18:49
That's the advertising technology space and it's one of
18:51
the sessions that we had last week.
18:53
I told them, look for your product to be used and to be
18:56
implemented. You cannot sell into the
18:58
organization if you're only talking to one person.
19:01
There are some people that we need to talk to and then we sat
19:04
down and then we teased it out. These are the people that you I
19:07
should be talking to. If I am selling advertising
19:10
technology to Nigerian businesses, these are the people
19:12
that I should be talking to. Sorry, advertising, digital
19:15
technology, these are people I should be talking to then.
19:18
And I told them that look, this is how you think about the
19:21
problem. It's not just about the office
19:22
per SE, but it's about the category, the classes of people
19:26
that you should be talking to. And also so that tomorrow,
19:29
because you know how startup they be now today your startup
19:31
is here and you're doing this thing tomorrow when I will
19:34
pivot. So in the event that you will
19:36
pivot in the future, this is how you think about it.
19:39
You look at your product, you look at your service, and then
19:41
you think about things from a management perspective.
19:43
Who are the people that. Are.
19:45
Involved in making the decisions or who are the people that that
19:51
will be affected from a management perspective.
19:55
So it's not just about the title.
19:57
You're selling advertising software, you're coming into an
20:00
organization. You now start thinking who in
20:03
senior management might be affected by this my software.
20:07
Then you also think about technical users, the class of
20:09
people. You'll now be thinking, OK, from
20:12
a technical background, who is going to be responsible for
20:14
implementing this software? When somebody implement the
20:20
software, who is going to be responsible for generating the
20:22
reports from the software so that the business can decide
20:25
whether it was a good decision or a bad decision?
20:27
Then there are also financial stakeholders.
20:30
Financial stakeholders are people who control the pause,
20:34
who will be responsible for issuing the check, for making
20:37
the transfer, Who do I know in finance, Who do I know in
20:40
procurement? So that's the way to think about
20:41
it. As you are approaching the
20:42
organization and you're involved in the complex hill, that is the
20:45
level that you think of it. This is not the complete way to
20:49
think about it. I'm not saying that this is your
20:51
starting base. Who in management is involved on
20:57
the technical end, the desk officer, who is involved?
21:00
Then on the financial end, when it comes time to authorize the
21:03
money, who is involved? So when you start thinking about
21:07
it in those times, you'll find that you'll find the right
21:10
people in the mix so that at the end of the day, somebody will
21:13
not say, oh, you know what, oh, I'm sorry, the head of
21:17
procurement just got transferred.
21:18
We're waiting for them to send a new MD for procurement.
21:23
The board has not passed the resolution yet, so we have to
21:26
wait until they hire a new chair of procurement.
21:31
If you did not take this approach earlier and if you did
21:34
not know that financial controller, I'll be chief
21:38
accountant or head of procurement or whatever, if you
21:42
do not know that we're a significant part of the
21:44
equation, you wouldn't you wouldn't have known how to play
21:46
this whole thing. If you know that we're a
21:49
significant part of the equation and he knew that maybe their
21:51
tenure is up in December and we're currently in March, of
21:55
course, you now know that this is the time to put fire on the
21:59
throttle because if you're making progress now, this
22:03
person's tenure is ending in December, you're not able to get
22:06
this thing to close by December. You're on your own.
22:11
A new chief of procurement will come, and then guess what, back
22:14
to square 1. So you're on a complex hill.
22:21
You really need to know all of these things involve all of
22:24
these people early. Don't be surprised by nothing
22:27
and then start planning the conversation based on all these
22:30
things that you're knowing. OK, who are the key players?
22:32
OK, are these the ones? OK, OK, what's that movement?
22:38
What's their priorities? What's important to them?
22:41
Then you not be planning your sales motions around those
22:44
people. So let's look at some sample
22:46
questions now, one easy question that you can use without
22:50
offending anybody because to to go and talk to somebody and then
22:55
say I want to talk to your guy. You know, it's kind of like an
22:58
insult. We'll be like, oh, really, I'm
23:01
too small for you to talk to Abby.
23:03
You would want to talk to my Agar Abby, No problem.
23:06
Give me your file when our guy is on seat.
23:08
I will let you know. You know what usually these
23:10
things in Nigeria and of course you know by the time you get
23:14
somebody on that kind levels and the person has your file, Oh,
23:17
your file will sit at the bottom of the pile from now until Jesus
23:20
comes or guy will not see your file.
23:23
So you can't just walk up to somebody and say, let me talk to
23:26
you Orga, relax. You need to use some some
23:29
maturity. Yeah, so you just ask someone.
23:33
Oh, OK, apart from you when it comes to implementing this and
23:36
this and this. You know who else who else is
23:38
normally involved in this kind of something?
23:41
You know that kind of he's not a direct affront.
23:43
It's not you telling the person that, look, you're too small, I
23:45
can't talk to you give me access to you Orga.
23:47
You know, apart from you, who else is involved in social.
23:49
And so as I say, well, you know, there's me and normally Madam
23:54
Rabbi's department, they do something, something, you know,
23:57
by someone asking people like that.
23:58
And two or three people say in Madam Rabbi's department, surely
24:02
you know that you need to try and find a way to get Madam
24:06
Rabbi's phone number or one day when you're in the office, you
24:10
just pass by say, Madam Rabbi, I just say, may I agree to you?
24:15
From asking these kind of questions, you've gotten an idea
24:17
that Madam Rabbi is significant in the equation.
24:19
By all means trying to fall find the conversation.
24:22
It's better you do it now. Then you continue and somebody
24:25
says, oh, Madam Rabbi is not on seat.
24:28
And then your mother will now hang.
24:30
Let me talk to my boss, Madam Rabbi.
24:35
Then another sample question. I started this as a wedding
24:42
photographer because I noticed that normally for weddings it's
24:46
normally brides that is in the suite brides who you know be
24:49
carrying the matter on their head.
24:51
So I just noticed that whenever I'm talking to a couple and is
24:55
as if every time it's only the groom that is showing up.
24:58
It's only the groom I'm talking to.
25:00
I just realized that more it's not, it's not pure.
25:03
It's not pure at all because normally not the bride suppose
25:07
they vibrate. But this one is the groom that
25:09
I'm seeing around. So I started asking boys now it
25:14
was a groom. No first meeting only the groom.
25:16
Second meeting only the groom, third meeting only the groom
25:19
after I said how far? Now the guy, you know, normally
25:22
in a bride's day where they carry this in for airpass.
25:25
But this one that is only you that I'm saying like what's
25:27
going on? I mean she's not interested.
25:30
I will ask. And there are times when the
25:35
things save me say, well, you know, actually I prefer you, but
25:38
she prefers another photographer.
25:39
Oh, at least now I know what the issue is, that the guy likes me,
25:44
but the babe like somebody else, that kind of thing.
25:49
I won't be surprised when it's time to transfer.
25:51
And he says, you know what, let me talk to Chemi.
25:54
I won't be surprised because at least from the beginning I knew
25:57
that, OK, only the guy likes me, Chemi, like somebody else.
26:01
At least I'm not surprised. No heartbreak there.
26:05
So that's when I started asking those kinds of questions.
26:07
He can ask questions like that. You're with somebody, you say,
26:10
what do you think GM will think about this kind of thing?
26:13
And the person says, oh, GMGM know the concern itself with
26:16
this camera at all at all at all.
26:18
In fact, there's no one GM you should be you should be worried
26:20
about is ahead of human resources Najid a true pass when
26:25
it comes to this kind of thing. You ask the question and now you
26:29
know that oh, OK, for this organization, there's no point
26:33
in talking to Cao. CEO.
26:35
Even though CEO has the title, you will now know that the
26:38
person on ground person to talk to is the head of human
26:43
resources. And for those of you who've been
26:45
listening to the podcast for a while, you heard the the episode
26:48
I spoke about last week. You know how I'm trying to get
26:50
on another TV station, you know, and I was talking to GM, but by
26:56
the time conversations were going, I just realized that HA
27:00
is as if this head of program is also a strong person.
27:03
So I talked to my guys. How far now should I show?
27:06
Let me come and see. Head of programming against, you
27:09
know, don't we help? Honestly, we help.
27:12
And then by the time I had the conversation, I realized that
27:14
the head of programming, that woman is in control of her
27:17
domain. She's large and in charge.
27:20
So some of you, you're talking to GM and you think, oh, GM is
27:25
in control of everything. Therefore this is a closed deal.
27:27
You know, you don't realize. You don't realize that.
27:29
OK, well, this one is not a matter of worker because GM is
27:32
on top. Head of program is under.
27:34
You all know that downstairs there's somebody who is in
27:37
charge of the domain and if she does not say pass, you cannot
27:42
go. OK, what's the different
27:45
scenario? But anyway, still the same
27:47
thing. Ask these questions so that you
27:51
know who is important, who is making the decisions so that
27:54
nobody will come and say, oh, OK, no problem.
27:56
This is a brilliant proposal. You know what?
27:59
Our head of programming is currently on annual leave.
28:03
We need to wait for head of programming to call back, ask so
28:06
that you won't be surprised, you won't be blindsided.
28:12
So he asked, what does GM think about this?
28:14
What of the chief technical officer?
28:17
What does he think about this? Oh, the boys in technical
28:20
department, do they have any criteria that we should meet,
28:23
you know, for this, our solution?
28:25
Oh, what about MD? The last company that I sold to
28:30
MD had a few things to say about this and this and this.
28:32
What about your own company? Is it normally the same thing?
28:34
Does MD normally you can inside this matter.
28:37
Inside this matter, you ask? Oh, Madam, Oh, I'm glad that
28:41
we're making progress, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
28:42
Sorry, man, no Vex. But you know, now Niger, we did
28:45
so for some families, you know, the cultures are different.
28:50
But like in your situation, does your husband get involved in
28:52
these sorts of things? You ask?
28:56
You ask, oh, Sir, blah, blah, blah.
29:00
I'm glad that you like the house and this and this and that and
29:02
that. I'm glad that we're making
29:03
progress. But Sir, normally for most
29:07
couples that have closed the deal with, you know, usually we
29:10
see, Madam, that Madam, OK, one or two things about the house,
29:13
you know, like the children's room and the kitchen and stuff
29:16
like that, you know. So how far, Sir?
29:18
When are we seeing mommy, you ask?
29:24
Right, so you ask what also so and so think about this.
29:31
This kind of person is normally involved.
29:32
Are we going to be here from this person?
29:34
Oh, I'm glad that we reached this stage.
29:36
Typically at this stage, this is the stage where we now involve
29:39
the lawyer. Would you like me to send these
29:42
documents to your lawyer? OK, good.
29:44
Can I have his contact details? You ask instead of you continue
29:48
discussion. Then the person now says, oh,
29:51
thank you very much. Let me send this into lawyer
29:53
then. This is the first time you're
29:54
hearing lawyer. You don't know the lawyer's
29:56
name. You don't know the lawyer's
29:57
contact details. How you can, I mean, it's too
30:00
late, But if you have brought these things up earlier and
30:02
you're ahead of Barrister Chuko and Mecca, eventually you get
30:05
Barrister Chuko and Mecca. And then you orchestrate it so
30:08
that accidentally you happen to be in the neighborhood in
30:11
Barrister Chuko and Mecca's office, and then you go and
30:13
greet him, you know, So by the time reaches that level of, oh,
30:16
let me talk to my boss, let me talk to my superior, let me talk
30:19
to my lawyer, let me talk to my accountant, and it's not a
30:22
problem. You already made the connect.
30:25
You'll be able to push it through.
30:29
So these are some sample questions.
30:33
Normally, we would also be talking to car BSE.
30:36
Normally we'll be talking to Olga.
30:38
Normally at this stage, we'll be talking to supervisor or
30:40
Senator. Normally at this stage, we'll be
30:42
talking to line manager. Normally at this stage we'll be
30:45
talking to blah blah blah. So before we take the next step,
30:48
when do you think Car BSE will be available for a meeting?
30:50
When do you think Line Manager will be available for a meeting?
30:53
When do you think Sugaba will be available for a meeting?
30:56
When do you think Overson will be available for a meeting?
30:59
When do you think Marzi will be available for a meeting, you
31:03
ask? Right, you never know.
31:08
And remember our First Lady, our former First Lady.
31:10
Good luck, Jonathan's wife. Remember when she asked?
31:13
Not only you waka com, you can ask too now.
31:18
And only you waka com you know. Based on how they respond, you
31:25
now know whether oh OK, these are the decision makers or other
31:28
people are supposed to be involved.
31:29
Oh, by the way, I'm just kidding.
31:31
Don't walk into an official meeting and say hey, not only
31:33
you, I come. And besides, that time has
31:34
passed. You know, good old Jonathan is
31:36
no longer in office, so the joke is now dry.
31:39
So summary, we need to be asking questions to be able to tease
31:42
out who else should be involved in this matter.
31:45
When we figure out who the players are, we come up with a
31:48
plan and we're going to be multi threaded.
31:51
Now let's say you didn't do all this background work and you
31:55
know it has already happened. You have hook.
31:56
OK, how are we going to deal with it in the moment?
32:00
Because the question mark has now entered the formula that
32:03
I've been telling you guys in the last, let's say the last
32:06
month. The formula still applies.
32:07
We're going to agree and we're going to empathize.
32:09
Then we're going to ask some questions.
32:11
Then we're going to put a new proposal on the table where
32:14
possible. And if that's not possible,
32:16
we're going to secure an advancement, right?
32:19
And advancement just means, OK, there's no proposal on the
32:22
table, but at least both of us jointly we agree to what the
32:25
next step is going to be. So I agree with them.
32:29
If somebody says, let me talk to my boss, you say, oh, yeah, this
32:32
makes perfect sense. Even though you you're surprised
32:35
and you've been saying counting 20 million in your head and you,
32:38
you know, you don't like this comma, but still keep your calm,
32:41
keep your composure, keep it cool, keep it cool.
32:45
You say, Oh yes, yes, yes, this makes a lot of sense.
32:48
Normally we suppose involve a guy at this stage because
32:50
honestly, speaking in my own company is the kind of thing I
32:53
will do at this stage. Now when you say that kind of
32:55
thing, you agree with them. They say, let me talk to my
32:57
boss. I say, Oh yeah, it makes sense.
32:58
We. Suppose involve a guy, the
33:00
person who you know, they'll feel heard.
33:02
If you listen to, they will calm down.
33:03
They'll now know that Oh no, be fight.
33:06
The conversation will continue. Because if somebody says, oh,
33:10
let me run it by my boss, I now say.
33:13
I thought you're the one who's responsible for making decisions
33:16
on this matter. Is an is a personal affront?
33:19
Did he not become adversarial? You're attacking somebody.
33:21
You know, tension is up, barriers are high.
33:25
And in sales, we don't want any walls up.
33:27
Want the walls down. Want want to be able to talk to
33:29
somebody. So long as we're talking, we're
33:31
still in play. When we're not talking, you
33:34
never know. So we agree.
33:37
Let me talk to my boss. Oh, that makes perfect sense.
33:40
At this stage, I would have evolve my boss.
33:42
In fact, I was even thinking, so when are we going to evolve
33:45
chairman in this thing makes a lot of sense.
33:48
Then from there you slide into questions.
33:50
So bro, no beg, I beg. Oga is the one that's
33:52
responsible for this and this and this.
33:54
Abhi, you ask the person and then you hear we're just trying
33:58
to stay in conversation. The person will talk a bit.
34:01
OK, So what kinds of things does Oga like to see in this kind of
34:05
matters? You ask the person because the
34:07
person has said he wants to talk to Oga.
34:09
No problem, you've even recommended it.
34:11
It is not a bad idea to figure out what it is that Orga likes
34:14
and what Orga doesn't like so that if you're able to secure a
34:17
next meeting. You will be prepared to face
34:19
Orga. Do some research.
34:24
So, oh, yeah, makes sense. You should talk to your boss.
34:27
I was wondering how soon we're even going to involve evolve
34:29
your boss. I know.
34:30
I'll. No problem.
34:30
I'll take my leave. Ah, no, Vex.
34:32
Hey, I forgot. So your boss, what are the kinds
34:34
of things they're responsible for?
34:35
What does a guy like? What does a guy doesn't like?
34:38
Oh, if a guy was here now, for instance, based on this proposal
34:40
that is on ground, what do you think Oga would be most
34:42
concerned about? You know the person will talk.
34:46
The thing is, you're just trying to get some info.
34:48
You're trying to get some emotional temperature.
34:50
You're trying to get some extra. Data.
34:52
You know, you never know. You never know.
34:55
Now, based on all the things that the person will tell you,
34:58
you will not be able to put a new proposal on the table.
35:00
That is the issue. You'll be able to say, you know
35:02
what, this makes perfect sense. But you know, Mr. Chukwudi, this
35:05
proposal that I dropped for you, I don't think it's going to be
35:08
adequate anymore. Can I amend this proposal and
35:12
include XYZ and ABC so that when you give it to Orca, when you
35:16
give it to management, they have all the information that they
35:19
need to consider. You see, you're not trying to
35:22
put a new proposal on the table, right?
35:29
Or maybe the new proposal is OK, No problem.
35:34
Based on the conversation you've had now, you now know that there
35:36
might be some things that our guy is concerned about that are
35:39
not captured in the document. You know, the new proposal can
35:41
now be OK. I brought you know what?
35:43
Yeah, this makes sense. I'll leave this proposal here,
35:46
but based on the things that we've said or that might have
35:48
one or two questions or so, what do you think?
35:51
Should I come back so, so and so date, at least let me be there.
35:55
So I want to ask questions. I'm there to answer this thing
35:57
live, you know, just to reduce the back and forth.
36:01
That can be another proposal you're putting on the table.
36:03
But if you're not able to put any proposal on the table, then
36:07
you're trying to secure an advancement.
36:09
An advancement just means you're trying to jointly agree on what
36:14
the next step is going to be. So let's say you're able to
36:20
successfully retrieve. The the.
36:23
Proposal. Excuse me, Let's say you were
36:26
able to retrieve the. Proposal that you drop with
36:28
August, you could be the first time then an announcement can
36:30
now be oh, if I have this new proposal ready by August 7th,
36:34
can I come with you to go and see Olga just in case of
36:37
questions or would August 7th be OK or you know.
36:42
Anything sure that we can narrow it down to a date or to a time
36:46
or to a week or three, whatever, where we both agree that this is
36:49
what the next step is. Going to be if I have the next
36:52
proposal, if I have the new proposal ready before the next
36:55
board meeting, do you think we could get a response maybe by
36:59
June 12th? We're just trying to get an
37:02
advancement. We're trying to move these
37:04
things forward. We're trying to get some
37:05
timelines. We're trying to establish a
37:08
reasonable basis for follow up. How good to follow up with this
37:11
thing you get but whenever you get an objection spiritually?
37:18
This is the process. Agree and empathize.
37:22
After that, ask questions. If you can put a new proposal on
37:24
the table, good. Put a new proposal on the table
37:26
if you can't secure an advancement.
37:31
That is the process for how we deal with objections.
37:35
But the best thing to do? Is to be proactive.
37:37
And to prevent objections from happening in the 1st place and
37:41
this kind of objection, let me talk to my boss, let me run in
37:46
by my boss. My boss is not around, Madam has
37:48
gone on Hajj, Madam's son got married.
37:50
You know, the best way to avoid this thing is we need to be
37:53
asking questions about the decision making structure within
37:56
the company, within the family, within the whatever so that we
38:00
are not blindsided and we are not surprised by any of these
38:03
things. That's the best thing to do so
38:09
summary. You should never be in a sales
38:12
situation and you are surprised by some new information.
38:18
It is OK in the beginning, people will cut you off guard
38:20
down is normal. That's how we the land work is
38:23
normal. You're fresh.
38:25
You don't know all the things that involved.
38:27
You will miss one or two things is normal.
38:30
But we're trying to reduce the number of circumstances where I
38:33
am in a selling situation and I'm hearing something for the
38:36
very first time. You're a sales professional,
38:38
you're a business professional. You should not be caught off
38:40
guard. Even if they catch you off
38:43
guard, at least you should have been getting some hints, you
38:46
know before then, OK, this might be an issue.
38:48
This might not be an issue. And then you go to plan for plan
38:51
for it. You get So don't be surprised by
38:54
any new information. And remember, you are the one
38:56
who's supposed to be in the driver's seat.
38:59
That means you're the one that should be telegraphing this
39:01
thing. If all the time you are
39:04
reacting, it's it's not a good sign.
39:07
It's not a good sign when there's other people that are
39:09
setting the agenda for you. There's a limit to how fast you
39:12
can move things along because after all, if Madam Son is
39:16
getting married in Washington, DC, Madam Son is getting
39:19
married, there's nothing you can get her to change wedding date.
39:21
What I'm just saying is that if you knew that Madam is an
39:24
important part of the equation and you kind of sense that she
39:26
has some personal issues going on and that for the purposes of
39:30
for the period of June, July, August, she won't be around
39:33
because she don't travel. There's a way that you can
39:36
Telegraph the process to suit you, whether you can cover some
39:40
ground before she travel in July or whether.
39:43
You will shift. Some things till around, you
39:46
know, August, November or whatever it is that she's going
39:48
to come back. But sure, you are the one as a
39:51
sales professional. You are the one as a business
39:53
professional who should be in the driving seat.
39:56
If always you're feeling as if Nadem they drive, you know that
40:00
one's driving the car. You you're just a passenger.
40:03
You are wrong. We just to be more proactive.
40:05
In fact, if you don't learn any lesson today, this is the only
40:08
lesson I want Nigerian business owners to learn.
40:10
Nigerian salespeople, too many of us are reactive.
40:14
I'm here at your pleasure. I'm a, I'm a houseboy.
40:16
I'm your servant. Whatever you say, I will do.
40:19
Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir.
40:19
No, you're a professional. Have a hand in this process.
40:23
Drive this process forward. Take some control over your
40:26
career. Take some control over your
40:28
financial destiny. Anyway, let me bring it to a
40:32
close because my meeting is for 11.
40:34
It's now 1038, so let me just copy it here.
40:37
Let me go and prepare. Go and freshen up.
40:40
I need to bite you along somewhere, just in case my mouth
40:41
dismount. You see, when you're going for a
40:44
meeting, you know, prepare, freshen up.
40:45
Look good? Smell good?
40:48
At least today above and wear perfume.
40:50
All right, So thank you very much for your time and
40:53
attention. If you'd love to connect with
40:54
me, you can call send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on
40:57
the 08/06. 4. 662140 If you're having problems with your sales
41:04
process, you're getting too many objections, you need some help.
41:07
You want somebody to look over some things.
41:09
Call me 08064662140 if you think I sound expensive, don't worry,
41:16
I'm reasonably priced. But even on that, I'm going to
41:18
answer one question for free. So reach out.
41:22
Just think really hard and fast about what the question is going
41:24
to be. And you might be surprised that
41:26
even my free advice is very, very, very, very useful.
41:29
But if we need to sit down and start looking at your sales
41:32
process, looking at your selling framework, need to figure out
41:34
issues where you get stuck, figure out how we can prevent
41:37
some of these things, figure out how we can unhook you, unstuck
41:41
you, then we need to have a proper consulting session.
41:45
Because I'm going to invest my time and I'm going to invest my
41:50
mental resources and I should be compensated accordingly.
41:54
But anyway, don't be afraid to reach out.
41:56
So that's it. And that is all for today.
41:58
Oh, and by the way, wish me luck on the interview, the meeting
42:02
that I'm going to have. Well, actually, to be honest,
42:05
it's not the meeting, it's the TV show.
42:06
The TV show that I've been talking about telling you guys
42:09
today is the day. So I'm actually outside the
42:11
studio. It's going to be on DSTV channel
42:15
365 and that is Global TV. It's also on Start Time, so I
42:19
can't remember the channel that Start Times is on.
42:24
So if you're just listening to this podcast now, the TV
42:28
interview has already happened, but if you want to watch it,
42:30
just go to YouTube. Just go to Global TV.
42:34
I'll be global TVNG or something like that.
42:37
Search that. You'll find the YouTube channel.
42:40
Now, once you find the YouTube channel, you will see my
42:42
interview segment there. Now, the name of the show to
42:45
look out for is Wealth Creation. So it's Wealth creation with
42:50
wealth creation with Ambassador Tina Kenichiku, that's the host.
42:55
And then the topic we are talking about is personal brand.
42:59
Yeah, personal branding as a financial asset.
43:02
So that's what we're talking about.
43:03
So yeah, that's it. So I'll catch you guys some
43:07
other time. Let me run and let me freshen up
43:09
and get ready for my TV debut. So I'll catch you guys some
43:11
other time.