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Transcript

The Power of Questions: How to Uncover a Customer's True Needs · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome. My name is Tavishma Ayede.
• 0:04
  I'm the host of the podcast that I'm making today's recording at
• 0:06
  home. So I expect to hear some noise
• 0:08
  in the background because it's late at night and everybody's
• 0:11
  home. Now the goal of this podcast is
• 0:13
  tackling business problems. So issue the customers,
• 0:17
  marketing, side hustles, something holding your business
• 0:20
  back. Then this is the show for you.
• 0:22
  Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of your
• 0:26
  choice. And if you'd love to connect,
• 0:27
  you can call SMS or WhatsApp me on 08064662140.
• 0:35
  Today is going to be another diary episode, but I apologize
• 0:39
  in advance because to be honest, this is diary episode where I
• 0:42
  don't take. So I might have forgotten some
• 0:45
  of the things that I would have loved to emphasize over here on
• 0:51
  the podcast, but let me just go through my notes anyway and see
• 0:55
  what I can dredge up, see what I can remember.
• 0:58
  Now, this was a live call review session that I'm doing with one
• 1:04
  of my clients. Now, typically when I do this
• 1:06
  sort of thing, I like to be, you know, face to face, flesh to
• 1:10
  flesh. Like I'm over here, I'm sitting
• 1:12
  down, you, you're over there, you're sitting down, we
• 1:14
  chilling, we're across the desk and you're getting ready to make
• 1:17
  some phone calls. And then we'll talk you through
• 1:19
  a couple of things. Oh yeah.
• 1:21
  Before we call, what's the game plan?
• 1:23
  Now, this step is really important because lots of you,
• 1:26
  before you call somebody, like you just call and you just
• 1:29
  freestyle and. And unfortunately, yeah, like
• 1:37
  it's the wrong way to go about it.
• 1:38
  You can just be picking up the phone and just be freestanding.
• 1:40
  Anyhow, when you want to call a particular person, you need to
• 1:44
  have some game plan, some outline like what do I want to
• 1:48
  achieve on this call and happens with every single prospect.
• 1:51
  Now, the best that can happen is maybe sometimes you're talking
• 1:54
  to contacts or prospects that you met or they met you in a
• 1:59
  similar way. And so because of that, the
• 2:02
  frame, the, the conversational framework is going to be the
• 2:04
  same. Like in this case, it's for of
• 2:08
  course, you know, my 3 Musketeers, you know, Cheryl, LC
• 2:11
  and Rudolph. Well, in this case, we're
• 2:13
  sharing what we're talking about and I was calling customers that
• 2:17
  responded from responded to the company's Facebook
• 2:22
  advertisements. Now this is your first time
• 2:24
  listening to the podcast. Don't worry, you'll catch up.
• 2:26
  But shall just there's plenty of episodes in the back.
• 2:29
  Just try and listen, By the time you listen to like 2 weeks
• 2:32
  worth, you will hear some more diary sessions where I get the
• 2:36
  proper, you will get the proper background as to who these three
• 2:39
  people are. But just suffice to say that you
• 2:42
  know, they sell solar, solar equipment.
• 2:44
  The company is based in Lagos. And then I am their trainer.
• 2:48
  I'm trying to make sure that they know how to have
• 2:50
  conversations with people the right way, especially
• 2:53
  conversations that convert people into becoming customers
• 2:56
  at the end of the day. So anyway, yeah, so that's it.
• 3:02
  It was nice to have an outline what I want to achieve on this
• 3:05
  call and that's the reason why I keep giving you guys this
• 3:08
  general outline for conversations.
• 3:10
  Greeting, intention, question, proposal close.
• 3:15
  Always start off with an appropriate greeting.
• 3:17
  Write that thing down on paper. Then intention.
• 3:24
  You need to be able to get to a quick, let this person know why
• 3:27
  are you, why are you calling questions?
• 3:29
  Because always our salespeople, we suppose have questions, these
• 3:33
  questions that will help us understand who's this person?
• 3:36
  What's the problem? What do they need?
• 3:38
  It is when we gather all that info, we'll now be able to move
• 3:41
  to the next step, which is proposal.
• 3:42
  Proposal is the part where you say OK Madam, I've heard you.
• 3:45
  Based on what I've heard, I really think this what we should
• 3:47
  do next. And that's one thing that is
• 3:49
  missing from lots of you who are trying to close the sale.
• 3:53
  How can you finish your conversation and just say OK,
• 3:56
  I'll be in touch. That What kind of rubbish is
• 3:58
  that? What do you mean I'll be in
• 3:59
  touch. That conversation is going
• 4:01
  nowhere. You just sat down.
• 4:04
  You were just talking, friendly talk and it's OK, I'll be in
• 4:07
  touch. Like no, there should be
• 4:10
  something you propose. You are the salesperson, be in
• 4:13
  charge of the conversation. You're not also OK, My base on
• 4:16
  what we've discussed, I think the next step is let me send you
• 4:19
  a proposal, blah, blah, blah. Or the next step is let's go for
• 4:23
  side visit or the next step is you'll be having one or two
• 4:26
  objections. OK, you know what, let me send
• 4:28
  my engineer. Let them come on site so that
• 4:30
  the engineer will see what's going on.
• 4:32
  Basha, you should be proposing something on every single call.
• 4:36
  Don't finish your call and say so we'll be in touch now that's
• 4:42
  rubbish. I'll be in touch is rubbish.
• 4:44
  And if you've been saying I'll be in touch, knock yourself on
• 4:47
  the head right now and then listen to this podcast so you
• 4:50
  can find out better things to do.
• 4:52
  So I'll be in touch is rubbish. So that's proposal.
• 4:54
  Then the final state is close. close is when you get the person
• 4:57
  to take action and that specific thing you're proposing.
• 5:00
  So if you say OK, but or Galenos, the next thing is, you
• 5:05
  know what, I think engineers should come and see what's up so
• 5:07
  that we'll be able to figure out what's going on.
• 5:10
  And if organ lino says, yeah, you know what, that makes sense.
• 5:12
  The next thing is where organ linos, my engineer is free.
• 5:16
  Wednesday, Thursday. How far will anybody be on site?
• 5:20
  Wednesday, Thursday. That's you closing.
• 5:23
  You're trying to narrow down on what the next course of action
• 5:25
  is to say no, I'm not available. Wednesday, Thursday.
• 5:28
  What about Saturday? Say OK, Saturday, no problem.
• 5:31
  I can send somebody on Saturday and there's a Saturday.
• 5:33
  What time? Morning, afternoon or evening.
• 5:36
  I will go to Shosh. So like around that time, 2:00
• 5:39
  PM, it's OK, no problem. 2:00 PM, my engineer will call you at
• 5:42
  10 AM to confirm. Sit down is OK.
• 5:44
  So no problem. You now got the fault, man.
• 5:47
  That's it. close. You've gotten organized us to
• 5:51
  take action. You people will have agreed.
• 5:54
  You put it down on calendar. Of course, remember, the organ
• 5:57
  liners is going to forget. So as soon as you're done, you
• 5:59
  send the conversation organ liners pleasure talking to you
• 6:03
  concerning your social and soul project.
• 6:05
  Remember, just as we agreed, engineer will be coming to the
• 6:07
  site on Saturday. He will call you around 10 AM.
• 6:11
  You will see on site at 2:00 PM That's it.
• 6:15
  They also schedule reminders for during the week.
• 6:18
  That's simple. But either way, before you pick
• 6:21
  up the phone in your head, just have one small outline.
• 6:25
  See. Well, not in your head because
• 6:27
  write it down first. If you're new, be writing it
• 6:30
  down. After a while, the thing will
• 6:32
  become internalized. So for me, it's internalized,
• 6:36
  but I still keep the discipline. If I'm calling somebody, I have
• 6:40
  pen, I have paper. If I'm receiving a phone call, I
• 6:42
  have pen, I have paper. Now take some calls on the move.
• 6:47
  When that happens, I try to limit the agenda to just one
• 6:50
  thing so I can remember. Because if we go and discuss
• 6:54
  4567 things is wahala. So I try and limit the agenda to
• 6:58
  one thing and I say, you know what?
• 7:01
  But I'm age, I'm on the road right now.
• 7:03
  But I understand that you want us to discuss this particular
• 7:06
  part of the project and that particular part of the project.
• 7:09
  So how about we do it this way? I'm emotional man, so please
• 7:13
  give me like 2 hours by the time I get to my desk, Let me call
• 7:16
  you back. Then we'll discuss all these
• 7:18
  other issues. But at least this one and two, I
• 7:20
  remember those ones. We'll just take it from there.
• 7:23
  So always come up with an outline.
• 7:26
  Then this formula that I give very, very simple, very, very
• 7:29
  simple or use it greeting, appropriate greeting intention.
• 7:35
  Why are you calling? Question, ask them question,
• 7:39
  Understand what's going on proposal.
• 7:41
  When you understand what's going on, you make an adequate
• 7:44
  proposal and then close. Get them to take action.
• 7:48
  Schedule something on the calendar.
• 7:49
  Both of you agree. What is the next step?
• 7:52
  Am I going to do something for you?
• 7:54
  Are you going to do something for me?
• 7:55
  Are we going to do something together?
• 7:57
  Are we going to go somewhere? Are you going to send me
• 7:59
  something? Am I going to send you
• 8:01
  something? What should I schedule
• 8:04
  something? Propose something.
• 8:09
  If I catch any of you saying I'll be in touch, I will knock
• 8:13
  you on the head. That's rubbish.
• 8:16
  Excuse me. So sorry.
• 8:19
  I forget that that some people who are listening to these
• 8:21
  podcasts that are 65 and older, please, my seniors.
• 8:24
  It's not people that I'm talking to.
• 8:26
  I can't go and be knocking my father's mates on his head.
• 8:29
  Oh, I had for that case. If I can't knock my mother on
• 8:32
  her head, that's not possible. So.
• 8:35
  So the first call now was showing.
• 8:38
  We did our live call session and this is how the call went.
• 8:42
  So where was I? So he called.
• 8:47
  Now I will say the person's real name and I've already told you
• 8:51
  guys about data enrichment. That's the last podcast episode
• 8:56
  I made, so I won't repeat myself here.
• 8:58
  If this is your first time listening to it and you hear
• 9:00
  data enrichment and you're wondering which one is data
• 9:03
  enrichment? Is there something like data
• 9:04
  poverty? Listen to the last episode.
• 9:06
  You understand it will all be clear and make sure that when
• 9:09
  you call you MA, you will do data enrichment.
• 9:13
  So after data, we didn't do data enrichment.
• 9:16
  In fact, you even see why data enrichment is impossible in this
• 9:18
  case because we did not do it. If we had done it, there would
• 9:21
  have been one or two things that would have seen that would have
• 9:24
  helped us to plan and anticipate certain elements during the
• 9:27
  call. So we called the guy, remember
• 9:31
  that showing them showing Elsie and Rudolph their solar cells.
• 9:35
  So he called the guy and the client said that he was
• 9:38
  interested in 15 KVA installation with 10 solar
• 9:41
  panels. So once he went very specific
• 9:44
  like that, you know, this is a problem with my team showing us
• 9:47
  assumed that, oh, you know what, anybody who calls it a very
• 9:50
  specific request, the person knows what they're saying.
• 9:52
  Because that guy, he sounded like he knows what he was
• 9:54
  saying. He sounded like it, and it's
• 9:57
  something I've been trying to tell salespeople that, well, you
• 10:01
  know what? Don't assume that everybody
• 10:04
  knows. Also, you're the sales
• 10:05
  professional, so you are the specialist.
• 10:07
  Until you know. To the contrary, assume that
• 10:09
  you're the one who knows also. So don't just assume that, OK?
• 10:12
  This person sounds like they know what they want, therefore
• 10:14
  they know what they want. It's not the case.
• 10:16
  You are the professional. It is something I learned early
• 10:19
  when I was a wedding photographer.
• 10:21
  Some brides want some kind of photos to be taken in some
• 10:23
  locations. I'm the one who is a
• 10:24
  professional. I have to tell them that Luke
• 10:27
  but this thing that he want to shoot cannot be shot except if
• 10:32
  you know who rough it and then later will do in Photoshop.
• 10:35
  What you want to do cannot be done can't.
• 10:42
  And you need to begin to the habit of asking people why this
• 10:46
  and that is OK. Why do you want it?
• 10:48
  What are you trying to achieve so that you can give your
• 10:50
  professional opinion, say, ah, Bros, based on what you're
• 10:53
  saying, this configuration that you've called, you know, quote
• 10:56
  up is no way to work. Anyway, he did a bit of that
• 11:02
  because, you know, I don't understand this solar
• 11:04
  mathematics, but he was telling the guy that the number of solar
• 11:07
  panels is not going to be enough for the setup.
• 11:09
  The guys I understand, but you know, based on budget, let me
• 11:12
  just start here. I know that later on I'll have
• 11:15
  to upgrade. And the client also asked about
• 11:18
  the possible client asked about financing options.
• 11:20
  She told the guy and no problem, financing is there.
• 11:23
  You drop 30% down and then this is how you liquidate the rest of
• 11:27
  it over the next couple of months.
• 11:30
  The guy said I wasn't, it sounds interesting.
• 11:32
  Then we also figured out that the client was based in Lagos.
• 11:37
  So Sharon, I told the guy that, OK, you know what, all these,
• 11:42
  I'll prepare something so that you and I will discuss later.
• 11:45
  So like, sure, I can call you again by so so so the guy said
• 11:49
  no problem, call me anytime. And then they ended the
• 11:52
  conversation. So I now asked everybody,
• 11:55
  Rudolph and Shell, Rudolph and Elsie, less access.
• 11:59
  How did the call go? Now, some of you say that
• 12:02
  conversation was all right and truly, truly conversation was
• 12:05
  all right now because she only demonstrated his knowledge and
• 12:11
  expertise in advising the guy. His composure was on point.
• 12:15
  You know, they were flowing, so all was well, very good.
• 12:21
  But by the time I have some questions, a couple of things
• 12:24
  became clear. We had already noticed it.
• 12:26
  I just wanted other members of the team to see it themselves.
• 12:30
  And then what show What we decided was that there are some
• 12:35
  elements that were missing. The thing is before any of you
• 12:39
  are preparing quote for somebody, not just in solar but
• 12:43
  in whatever business you are, before you prepare a quote for
• 12:46
  somebody, you need to ask some kind detailed questions so you
• 12:48
  know exactly what it is they're quoting, quoting for.
• 12:54
  So Rudolph, who is the oldest member of the team, oldest
• 12:59
  Aspire, he's been working longest.
• 13:01
  He said I should, they should have asked more questions like
• 13:03
  number of air conditioners, number of water pumps, you know,
• 13:05
  things like that. Else he said we should have
• 13:07
  asked about exact location and whether the property was
• 13:10
  residential or business, You know.
• 13:12
  So these are some basic questions that we missed because
• 13:13
  you remember when Shell had the guy give very exact
• 13:18
  recommendation, 15 KV installation, 10 solar panels.
• 13:22
  As in the guy Shah, he said it like he was a pro.
• 13:25
  She'll just assume this guy knows what he wants.
• 13:27
  So this guy's probably an engineer.
• 13:29
  And I say, Cheryl, how do you know?
• 13:32
  I've been telling you, let's not assume anything that we assume
• 13:35
  we ask. Like if that was your first
• 13:37
  impression, you say, ah, bro, you really know.
• 13:39
  It seems like you know this thing very well.
• 13:41
  Are you an engineer? You know what the guy says based
• 13:45
  on his response, you now know what is next.
• 13:46
  The person says, yes, I'm an engineer and you now know that
• 13:49
  you 2 of you can start talking technical, technical St. but
• 13:55
  ask. Don't just assume that because
• 13:58
  the person sounds like he knows what play ask like nobody can
• 14:02
  come and bamboozle me by saying, oh, I want to do a documentary
• 14:06
  is going to be a three camera shoot Something something some
• 14:08
  the first thing I say is OK, wow, OK, interesting.
• 14:10
  Looks like you've already thought this thing through.
• 14:13
  I'm already have you done, have you developed a treatment with
• 14:17
  any other person? I will ask.
• 14:19
  So yes, we developed a treatment with so, so and so company and
• 14:22
  you know, OK, how come you didn't go with them or what was
• 14:25
  the problem with the treatment you guys came up with?
• 14:28
  We will start asking our answer. I'm not just assuming that all
• 14:31
  this person has asked about the documentary as if they know all
• 14:33
  the specs. Therefore this person is a pro.
• 14:36
  I will ask and then we'll have a fruitful conversation, then I'll
• 14:40
  be able to educate the person and I'm OK.
• 14:42
  You know what, you develop this treatment with somebody else for
• 14:45
  A3 camera setup. But from what you're saying, to
• 14:47
  be honest, execute this thing nice.
• 14:49
  You know, we need A5 camera setup, maybe a mixer on site.
• 14:53
  You know, we need this, we need this, we need that.
• 14:55
  So yeah, in my own best opinion, my best opinion, this is how we
• 14:59
  need to carry this thing out. So our gap prospect, you really
• 15:02
  have a choice to make on your hands here.
• 15:05
  You know, you trust these other people and the expertise.
• 15:08
  Are you going to go with them or do you buy into the vision that
• 15:11
  we have crafted over here? And then I leave it up to them
• 15:13
  to decide. But I'm not going to take your
• 15:15
  hood line and sinker that somebody will come and tell me
• 15:19
  the the specs for the shoot and just dictate and I'll just say
• 15:23
  yes and then deliver. No, I am the one who is the
• 15:27
  professional. I'm the one who knows camera
• 15:28
  work. I will ask questions.
• 15:31
  So please, whenever you're with a customer or potential
• 15:33
  customer, somebody calls with a very specific quote.
• 15:36
  Don't anybody bamboozle you. You are the pro.
• 15:38
  You've been doing this for a while, except this is your day
• 15:43
  one. OK, if you if this is day one
• 15:46
  and you know you haven't done anything, I understand.
• 15:50
  But for those of you who've been doing this thing 345 years, you
• 15:53
  have some expertise now ask some questions.
• 15:57
  So we all agreed, yes, there were some issues that were
• 16:01
  outstanding. And so I told him, you know
• 16:03
  what, let me call this guy back. But first I asked them, like, if
• 16:09
  I call, if I call back, will I spoil this thing?
• 16:11
  Because, you know, they are the ones who are professionals who
• 16:13
  sell solar. So I need to take dressing from
• 16:15
  them. So Rudolph, who's the oldest
• 16:18
  who's been there longest? He said, look, Mr. Tauf, if you
• 16:21
  call back, what exactly are you going to say?
• 16:23
  I'll say, look, I'm just going to say that look, I'm a
• 16:25
  supervisor in the in the firm. And then my younger associates
• 16:30
  spoke to me about this deal while coming up with a proposal.
• 16:33
  Before we give the proposal, I need to ask a couple of more
• 16:36
  questions. So everybody agreed.
• 16:39
  OK, if it's like that, no problem.
• 16:41
  After all, I can't pretend to be a supervisor.
• 16:43
  By the way, it's not a lie. I'm the sales trainer.
• 16:46
  Yes, but in a way, you know, I'm supervising them now.
• 16:49
  So not a lie. It's not a lie.
• 16:52
  So I said no problem. So I took the guy's number.
• 16:56
  Then I gave a call. So when I call the person back
• 17:00
  now and I started asking for more particular things, we now
• 17:06
  discover some background to the story that we did not know.
• 17:09
  The reason why we did not know is because we did not ask the
• 17:12
  questions. So Yani, with the guy, it became
• 17:15
  clear that look, this project is not for residential and it's not
• 17:19
  for office. Well, it's for business.
• 17:21
  Well, it's for a filling station.
• 17:22
  And what the guy wants to power is not the building that is next
• 17:26
  to the filling station. He wants to power the four pumps
• 17:28
  themselves. And then of course, I asked him,
• 17:31
  this one that you say 15 kva, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah is
• 17:36
  as if you have you have discussed this thing with
• 17:39
  somebody before. And the guy say, yes, in fact,
• 17:42
  two or three other businesses have come to do inspection.
• 17:44
  I say, yeah, they've come to do inspection.
• 17:46
  I say yes. I say this year.
• 17:48
  I say, can't remember the last time the guy now started being
• 17:51
  cagey. Of course, you know, when you're
• 17:53
  in sales, people don't want to give too much information.
• 17:55
  You say, well, showers this year.
• 17:57
  And then I leaned in some more. So look, that's the case.
• 18:01
  It's as if you're ready to execute on this thing.
• 18:03
  These two, three quotes you already got, Why don't you just
• 18:05
  go any of them? And guys are, you know, it's
• 18:08
  based on budget. Now I say, OK, in the
• 18:12
  advertisement when you reached out to us, you indicated that.
• 18:16
  So let me look at her. Five indicated that between 5:00
• 18:18
  to 10:00 M is the budget that is comfortable for you, Is that
• 18:22
  correct? The guy said yes, but I remember
• 18:25
  that time that Sharon was trying to educate him because you know
• 18:28
  me, I don't know solar, but at least I was listening to the
• 18:30
  conversation when she was trying to educate him about number of
• 18:33
  panels. So I said, let me just
• 18:34
  freestyle. So I told him.
• 18:37
  I said, bro, you know what? I know you've indicated 5 to 10
• 18:40
  is realistic and you've looked at other proposals.
• 18:43
  But let's be honest here. If I go back and I talk to my
• 18:46
  technical crew and they say that based on panel, based on
• 18:50
  everything, the realistic budget is more like 15.
• 18:54
  How far is 15? Is 15 doable?
• 18:57
  The guy laughs. I said no, let's let's be
• 19:00
  straight now. Is 15 doable or should we end
• 19:03
  it? The guy said not only end it, we
• 19:04
  should kill it. I said OK, 15,000,000 we should
• 19:07
  kill it. He said kill it, we'll stop it
• 19:08
  there, it's OK, no problem. But at least with the way we
• 19:12
  spoke now I know some parameters.
• 19:14
  It is filling station. It is 4 pumps.
• 19:17
  He wants to power 4 pumps without powering the lights.
• 19:21
  He gave me the kilowattage of the lights and then for the
• 19:24
  office just to power 1 fan. He's looking at between 5:00 and
• 19:28
  10:00. If we stretch beyond 10, it's
• 19:31
  manageable. If we enter 15, we should just
• 19:33
  kill it. You can see that now I have my
• 19:35
  parameters, the parameters of the deal are taking shape or the
• 19:39
  parameters of the proposal like I understand and everything has
• 19:42
  been need to take shape. And then of course I also asked,
• 19:46
  OK, in case we need some photographs, somebody should
• 19:49
  just take small picture sent to our engineer so the engineer can
• 19:52
  see, is that OK? The gas station, no problem.
• 19:56
  I said, what if want to send somebody on site?
• 19:58
  He's saying no problem, there's always somebody there, There's
• 20:01
  always somebody there. Now, of course, you know, how
• 20:04
  soon are you willing to take action?
• 20:06
  You know, on this thing? He didn't give me timeline
• 20:08
  because you know, some people like to be cagey, but he says
• 20:10
  soon, He says very soon, that's OK, no problem.
• 20:14
  My guy will call you back later. He's going to be in touch.
• 20:18
  You guys are going to orally discuss some setups then based
• 20:22
  on where we're looking at budget wise?
• 20:25
  You know, after that, we'll now send a proposal.
• 20:28
  So how about that? Was that cool?
• 20:30
  The guy said OK. I said, oh sorry, before I go, I
• 20:34
  forgot to confirm. Where's the location?
• 20:35
  He gave me the location. It says Abu Legba in Lagos.
• 20:41
  I've been in Lagos in a while. So when I was scribbling Abu
• 20:43
  Legba, I was even now thinking, how do you spell Abu Legba?
• 20:46
  Anyway, I just wrote rubbish on my notes.
• 20:48
  See, this is the reason why we should be keeping pen and paper
• 20:50
  handy because The thing is when you're talking to customers, all
• 20:53
  kinds of details are dropping. They're dropping details,
• 20:55
  dropping details. If you're freestyling as they're
• 20:57
  dropping, you are forgetting. So just pen and paper, just the
• 21:01
  scribble, just be writing, put it down.
• 21:05
  The importance of all these thing is as you put it down, go
• 21:08
  and put it on CRM. If you don't have CRM, that's
• 21:11
  customer relationship management tool.
• 21:13
  Put it under the contacts name on your phone so that any single
• 21:16
  time you want to call the guy and then you open the phone.
• 21:18
  Let's say the guy's name is Romeo and Juliet.
• 21:22
  By the time you open your phone and you check Alhaji, Romeo and
• 21:25
  Juliet, other details, you see this whole history.
• 21:28
  I called him On this date. This is what we and after that,
• 21:31
  this is what we and proposal. This is what it was.
• 21:34
  You just see outline. Everything will now register in
• 21:37
  your head. You will now be able to call
• 21:39
  Alhaji, Romeo and Juliet and have another productive
• 21:41
  conversation. But either we'll be writing some
• 21:44
  of these things now. So like I said, there's a lot
• 21:53
  more things honestly emphasize, but I also can't remember
• 21:55
  because this was a while ago. But the main thing that I'm
• 21:58
  getting on this mic right now, but I'm making this recording is
• 22:01
  I'm hoping in the future that Shell will listen to this and
• 22:03
  remember. And also some of you who are in
• 22:07
  a similar situation, I'm hoping you guys will listen and take it
• 22:10
  to heart, but just know that you're the professional.
• 22:14
  When somebody calls you with a specific quote, be curious and
• 22:17
  ask how did they arrive at it? Don't just assume that this
• 22:21
  person knows what's up. You know, when the guy called,
• 22:26
  Shawn assumed that because of where this guy was talking, he
• 22:28
  assumed this guy's an engineer. Meanwhile, this guy is not an
• 22:31
  engineering nothing. He's not an engineer.
• 22:33
  He's just a normal entrepreneur like the rest of us who has
• 22:36
  gotten into oil and gas business.
• 22:40
  So don't assume all these things that we keep talking about on
• 22:43
  the podcast, Qualification and Discovery, they're out of asking
• 22:46
  questions, the kind of questions to ask, the different
• 22:49
  qualification frameworks that are there, how you guide the
• 22:51
  conversation along. All these things are important.
• 22:54
  But the thing that I want to stress today is Please remember,
• 22:58
  you are the one that is the professional.
• 23:01
  Even if you've only been doing this thing two years, to be
• 23:04
  honest, your two years experience is more than the
• 23:07
  experience that your your normal clients have.
• 23:10
  Please understand me, if you're a tailor and you've been
• 23:13
  tailoring 1 1/2 year, the experience that you have is more
• 23:17
  than the average experience that you other people have about
• 23:20
  tailoring. Like take me for instance, I
• 23:23
  woke up the tailor and I start telling him I want this, I want
• 23:26
  this, I want this, I want that. And the guy says OK Sir, OK,
• 23:28
  Sir, OK Sir. No, you are the professional now
• 23:30
  ask question. Now sadisting you're telling me
• 23:33
  is it for you or for somebody else?
• 23:36
  Yes, I know Vex, but you know your body size.
• 23:38
  Now, if we make it like this, if we make it like this, you know,
• 23:41
  we're not too sweet, you know to tap because of this, because of
• 23:44
  that. So you know what, because of
• 23:47
  your body size, you know, we're supposed consider like this,
• 23:49
  consider like asking, have a conversation with this person.
• 23:52
  You are the professional. Because believe me, there are
• 23:59
  lots of times that the customer will come and say give me this,
• 24:01
  You say yes Sir, you go and give them exactly that.
• 24:04
  At the end of the day, what you gave them was inadequate.
• 24:07
  The inquiry will start. And that's the reason why
• 24:11
  Nigerian business people say customers don't know what they
• 24:13
  want. The problem is not with the
• 24:16
  customer, the problem is with you.
• 24:18
  You're not asking enough questions.
• 24:20
  Ask ask questions and know that you are the professional in this
• 24:27
  situation. Of course, the time will come
• 24:30
  when you meet somebody who has expertise.
• 24:32
  When he has expertise, then you know, blend accordingly and go
• 24:37
  on technical. So for me, when I was in events
• 24:41
  as a photographer, I know that I was a professional and I'll ask
• 24:44
  questions and I will give my opinion, I'll ask the questions
• 24:47
  that I need. There was 1 rare case that the
• 24:52
  babe, the bride was a photography enthusiast.
• 24:56
  I was myself as an enthusiast. Oh, that was a different
• 24:58
  conversation. We went technical.
• 25:00
  OK, you won't like this, you won't like this.
• 25:02
  I normally shoot depth of field. My aperture I like between 1.8
• 25:06
  and 2.8. All the aperture is OK for you.
• 25:10
  That kind of couple, they knew exactly what I was saying.
• 25:13
  The normal couple, by the time I say aperture, the glaze over,
• 25:15
  they say a beginning. They wonder what is this guy
• 25:18
  talking about anyway? So please just know that you
• 25:22
  guys are the professionals. Please ask enough questions.
• 25:25
  Ask enough questions before you give quote, ask enough
• 25:27
  questions. I've done plenty of episodes
• 25:30
  about the kind of questions I should ask.
• 25:32
  Just keep listening to this podcast.
• 25:34
  These are the sorts of things that we talk about every now and
• 25:37
  then. So let me just wrap it up here.
• 25:39
  I think let me just let me just stop here.
• 25:45
  So that's pretty much what I wanted to talk about on today's
• 25:51
  episode. So that's it.
• 25:53
  And that is all. So remember, if you'd love to
• 25:57
  connect, then call SMS or WhatsApp on 08064662140.
• 26:05
  Thank you very much for your time and attention.
• 26:07
  I'll catch you next time. Same place in your headphones or
• 26:10
  in your speakers.