Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Fit into Their Flow: How to Adapt to Client Processes and Close More Deals

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Fit into Their Flow: How to Adapt to Client Processes and Close More Deals · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:02
  Hello and welcome to the show. Before we begin, apologies
• 0:04
  because I'm out on the road, so expect to hear interruptions in
• 0:08
  the background. So with that, let's get straight
• 0:10
  into the meat of the show for today.
• 0:13
  Now we are still on the, We're still on the Whole Conversation
• 0:18
  series where we've been talking about the different kinds of
• 0:21
  objections that you face in business.
• 0:24
  You know, trying to close the business, whatever agenda you
• 0:26
  have that you're trying to move through at the office or
• 0:29
  whatever. And we've run through a couple
• 0:32
  off the top of my head. There are two or three I can't
• 0:35
  remember right now. We've dealt with what to do when
• 0:37
  people say your product is too expensive, you're too expensive,
• 0:41
  your product is not useful. Let's see what else.
• 0:44
  I can't remember anyway, but this is your first time of
• 0:46
  listening to the show. Then after you're done listening
• 0:48
  to this episode, skip back a couple of episodes 4-5, maybe 6.
• 0:52
  You get caught up to speed and you'll you'll get intimated on
• 0:57
  the other objections that we've dealt with so far.
• 1:01
  Now, this one is an objection that some of us have faced when
• 1:07
  trying to sell into companies much more complex sales
• 1:11
  scenarios. OK, well, OK, let me skip back,
• 1:15
  let me go back a little bit into my history.
• 1:17
  For those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a
• 1:18
  while, you know that I started off as a wedding photographer A
• 1:21
  decade and a half ago. Now that kind of sale is, it has
• 1:25
  some complexity, but it's relatively straightforward.
• 1:27
  You're talking to the bride, you're talking to the groom.
• 1:29
  You know this is family. You can sort things out in two
• 1:32
  or three weeks, simple conversations and you can be in
• 1:35
  control of the whole process from beginning to end,
• 1:38
  relatively speaking. But then when you start trying
• 1:41
  to sell to companies, you're dealing with multiple
• 1:44
  stakeholders you may have to talk to, you know, Madam, MD,
• 1:49
  Madam Managing Director. Like you know the example I came
• 1:51
  up with yesterday, talk to Madam Managing Director IT, you know,
• 1:55
  blah blah blah, no, what? Not OK Well in the photography
• 1:58
  context, you know what that meant was trying to start
• 2:01
  working with corporations. Now let's say the you're trying
• 2:05
  to put a pitch for end of year parties.
• 2:08
  You're providing media coverage for an end of year party.
• 2:11
  Now I'll be talking to someone who is in charge of the team,
• 2:14
  you know, the planning committee or whatever.
• 2:17
  I'd also have to last with somebody who is in charge of the
• 2:20
  Finance Committee or the Treasury committee or whatever.
• 2:23
  I might have to talk to people in procurement.
• 2:28
  Let's see. And then also might have to be
• 2:30
  in touch with someone in protocol department because
• 2:33
  eventually you have to talk to someone when it comes to moving
• 2:35
  camera equipment in setting cables here and they're placing
• 2:38
  cameras, things like that. So you have to talk to lots of
• 2:42
  people. Now, when you move from a simple
• 2:44
  sales environment and you start getting into much more
• 2:46
  complicated, sorry, much more complex scenarios, you do, you
• 2:51
  now bump into another objection where people say, oh, we have a
• 2:54
  different process for XY and Z. Now, this doesn't necessarily
• 2:57
  have to be an objection. It's just that for most people
• 3:00
  you hear we have a different process for XY and Z.
• 3:03
  It happens a couple couple of times and then you lose heart
• 3:05
  and become dispirited in like, whoa, like, I'm tired of this
• 3:09
  crap. And then you leave what could
• 3:11
  otherwise be profitable, A profitable business venture for
• 3:15
  you or a profitable niche for you to explore.
• 3:18
  So it's not really an objection per SE, but it's one of these
• 3:22
  reasons, one of these things that people put forward that can
• 3:25
  kind of slow down the traction that we would hope to get when
• 3:28
  we're trying to close the deal and do business with certain
• 3:32
  companies. So these kind of things come up
• 3:35
  in typical scenarios where, like I said, you're dealing with
• 3:37
  companies, much more complex sales scenarios and where
• 3:41
  companies will have their internal bureaucracies.
• 3:43
  Now, bureaucracy sounds like a bad word, and sometimes it can
• 3:46
  be, especially for those of us in the Nigerian context.
• 3:49
  If you've ever had to go to Ministry of Lands or you're
• 3:51
  trying to chase something at Ministry of Commerce or Ministry
• 3:54
  of Health, now you know exactly what it is.
• 3:56
  And I'm talking about Gocom. This person is not on seats.
• 4:00
  Put this file. You didn't pay this fee, you
• 4:02
  paid the fee, but you didn't get stamped.
• 4:04
  You stamped this, but you should have stamped another thing
• 4:07
  before. And so yes, in the Nigerian
• 4:09
  context, bureaucracy just sounds like a bad word.
• 4:12
  But The thing is, bureaucracies are just rules and systems,
• 4:15
  processes, procedures that businesses and companies put in
• 4:18
  place just to make sure that everything is done correctly.
• 4:21
  You know, everything is. What's the expression?
• 4:24
  You know when they say you dot all the IS and cross all the TS
• 4:27
  just to make sure that things are done correctly.
• 4:29
  So bureaucracy is not all a bad word.
• 4:32
  So yes, you're going to be dealing with some companies
• 4:34
  where you will have to talk to procurement and procurement are
• 4:37
  going to have rules about how you get things done.
• 4:40
  For me, that was one of the big shockers.
• 4:42
  When I think the first corporate gig that I did was for a British
• 4:45
  councillor. For me, that was kind of like
• 4:47
  the first shocker when I sent in an invoice.
• 4:49
  And then they told me, no, this is not how we handle invoicing
• 4:54
  here. Your invoice should be like
• 4:55
  this, should be in this format, should include this information,
• 4:58
  reduce, remove that information, do this, do this, do that.
• 5:00
  Yeah. So for me that was a big shocker
• 5:02
  because dealing with private clients in the wedding space,
• 5:05
  that was never an issue. You know, invoice is invoice,
• 5:07
  you just send it, you send it. And people are not particular
• 5:09
  about font size, the information that was on the invoice and
• 5:14
  where the information was placed.
• 5:15
  You know, so long as information was correct, name was correct,
• 5:17
  price was correct, deliverables were correct.
• 5:19
  But you know, the British Council, they had their own way
• 5:21
  about how invoices are supposed to be submitted.
• 5:24
  And I found that dealing with other organizations, it's it's
• 5:27
  just a thing. It's to be expected.
• 5:30
  And so I've incorporated that to be a part of my sales process.
• 5:33
  And it's some of the things that we'll discuss later on towards
• 5:37
  the end of the episode, how you know, you even start
• 5:39
  anticipating some of these things.
• 5:40
  You have a good conversation and then you ask, you know, upfront.
• 5:43
  So what format do you guys like your invoicing in?
• 5:45
  Do you guys have a template? Can I have a look?
• 5:47
  You know those sorts of things. So you'll be talking to
• 5:50
  procurement, You have to do whatever procurement says.
• 5:54
  You have to talk to finance. You have to do whatever finance
• 5:57
  says in the manner that finance wants it to be done.
• 5:59
  Depending on what business you do, you might have to talk to
• 6:02
  the legal department and you'll have to comply with legal
• 6:04
  issues. How legal department says it
• 6:06
  should be complied with, not how you want it to be complied with.
• 6:12
  OK, yes. That's also another thing.
• 6:14
  My first experience with OK, no, that was not bring this council.
• 6:17
  I can't remember the organization anyway, but they
• 6:19
  had their fixed terms of engagements and with the
• 6:22
  contracts and you know, there was nothing that can be varied.
• 6:24
  So at the end of the day was like, look, these are the terms.
• 6:26
  These are the terms. Take it or leave it.
• 6:28
  I spoke to the boys. We didn't think it was too much
• 6:30
  of a big deal, so we took it. So it's one of those things.
• 6:33
  Then you also might have to talk to technical.
• 6:36
  And of course technical is going to have their own process for
• 6:40
  doing things as well. Let's see what else?
• 6:43
  OK, I've already spoken about rules around how you send in a
• 6:46
  quote, how you send in an invoice, how you secure
• 6:48
  approvals. And then of course,
• 6:50
  organisations have their different ways for vetting
• 6:53
  vendors before they do business with them.
• 6:55
  So these are the sorts of scenarios where you're going to
• 6:59
  run into someone who says, Oh no, we have a different process
• 7:02
  for this. Oh no, we have a different
• 7:04
  process for that. It is not necessarily an
• 7:07
  objection, but I'm including it here because it does slow down
• 7:09
  the pace of business because you you're thinking the children are
• 7:13
  going back to school in March. This deal is going to bring in
• 7:16
  600K school fees. I'm really owing like 200 K will
• 7:19
  be nice if this thing clicks in the next 5 days.
• 7:22
  So yeah, it does seem like a bummer when somebody says no, we
• 7:24
  have a process for this. We have a process for that.
• 7:27
  And you are thinking of collecting your money in three
• 7:29
  or four days, but now it's looking like the money might
• 7:31
  come in in two weeks or three weeks.
• 7:33
  So I understand, you know why, Niger, we we all go through it.
• 7:36
  That's for those of us who have kids anyway.
• 7:38
  So it's not really an objection per SE.
• 7:41
  In fact, sometimes I think it's a good thing because if you're
• 7:43
  still having a conversation, if you guys are still yearning, you
• 7:47
  guys are still relating, it's a good thing.
• 7:48
  It means you're not dead yet. They haven't thrown you out.
• 7:51
  So I think it's a good thing. Now how to deal with these sorts
• 7:54
  of stalls or objections or setbacks or whatever it is we
• 7:58
  want to call in. Let's First off, like I have
• 8:01
  always been saying the past couple of episodes we've done on
• 8:04
  objections, acknowledge, empathize, empathize, whatever
• 8:07
  it is you want to call it so. Because nobody wants to seem
• 8:10
  like they're fool or like an idiot or they're coming up with
• 8:13
  arbitrary rules. So we say, OK, back to the
• 8:15
  invoice. You think like, oh, oh, I'm
• 8:18
  sorry, forgive me. Yes.
• 8:19
  Actually, it does make sense that you guys would have your
• 8:21
  own internal processes then since you guys are now in a
• 8:26
  conversation, ask questions, gather details and ask
• 8:29
  clarifying questions. You're trying to figure out more
• 8:32
  about the approval process, more about the decision makers and
• 8:36
  more about timelines and critical decision points.
• 8:38
  The reason why you're asking these questions is because you
• 8:41
  want to know ahead of time what to comply with and how to comply
• 8:45
  with it and in what time manner. So let's say the invoicing
• 8:48
  thing, the lady says, no, we do our invoices differently.
• 8:51
  So you acknowledge, you empathize.
• 8:54
  So say, oh, forgive me, yeah, it's true.
• 8:56
  It makes sense. You guys would have your
• 8:58
  processes, right? No, no problem.
• 9:00
  So for the invoice, how is it going to be?
• 9:02
  Do you guys have a template that should look at what kind of
• 9:05
  information should be on it? OK, all right, no problem.
• 9:08
  And apart from the invoicing stage, you know from here, who
• 9:11
  else would I? Who is the invoice going to be
• 9:14
  addressed to? Who else needs to sign off on
• 9:17
  it? What is the next step?
• 9:20
  OK, when do we talk to procurement?
• 9:22
  Are we going to get the PO number?
• 9:24
  The PO number is purchase order number.
• 9:27
  Is there going to be a purchase order number?
• 9:29
  Will you guys require delivery notes after this?
• 9:32
  At what time? When all the paperwork is in?
• 9:34
  When will payments start being processed?
• 9:38
  What time do you need this process done?
• 9:41
  What time do you need that process done?
• 9:42
  Ask all of these questions. It makes you prepared.
• 9:45
  It gives you all the information you need so that there's none of
• 9:47
  these back and forth. And it makes it easier for you
• 9:49
  to, you know, hurry up and then get paid because like I said,
• 9:52
  school fees. School is resuming in March.
• 9:54
  Right now it's February. Something you know.
• 9:56
  It would help for you to speed things up and collect your money
• 9:59
  in four or five days instead of collecting it in one month.
• 10:02
  So that's the process. Acknowledge, empathize, continue
• 10:06
  the conversation. Be cool.
• 10:08
  Just flow with how you flow in your own, your own style, your
• 10:15
  own context. And like I said, these kind of
• 10:16
  conversations don't necessarily have to be in English.
• 10:19
  If you're a Yoruba person and the lady you're talking to is a
• 10:22
  Yoruba person and you guys are flowing on that thing by team by
• 10:24
  team level, then by all means enter Yoruba.
• 10:27
  You know, but the structure of the conversation is still the
• 10:29
  same. Acknowledge, emphasize, ask
• 10:31
  questions and and yeah, get more clarifying information.
• 10:39
  Figure out what's the approval process, who is involved in
• 10:42
  making what decisions, what else needs to be done, what are the
• 10:45
  timelines, what are the critical decision points.
• 10:49
  In fact, very, very important if you're dealing with government
• 10:53
  power status in Nigeria, this whole critical decision points
• 10:55
  thing because something you might need to pay for something
• 10:58
  and stamp something and then you pay and then stamp and then you
• 11:00
  get to the desk only to realize that before you paid and
• 11:04
  stamped, there was all that approval that you needed to get.
• 11:07
  So this payment and stamping that you have gotten is now
• 11:11
  invalid. So you don't have to go back to
• 11:13
  the start and get another process and then pay for another
• 11:16
  stamping. And yeah, I know it seems like a
• 11:18
  hassle, but it's one of these things.
• 11:19
  So just be prepared if you're pursuing any contracts through
• 11:23
  National Orientation Agency or through Ministry of Finance or
• 11:27
  Ministry of Commerce or whatever you're dealing with.
• 11:31
  So acknowledge. Empathize.
• 11:33
  Especially if you're dealing with the desk officer.
• 11:35
  This is the perfect person to talk to.
• 11:36
  You're dealing with a desk officer, an admin officer, a
• 11:39
  receptionist, or whatever. Be cool with that person.
• 11:42
  Be respectful. Have this conversation.
• 11:46
  If the person is a human being, you know they'll give you all
• 11:47
  the information that you need. If the person is a grouch, then
• 11:52
  tough luck. Just keep trying.
• 11:54
  Eventually you run into someone who's a human being.
• 11:56
  Then let's see what else. And the whole point of all these
• 12:00
  conversations is you're trying to show that you can be
• 12:03
  integrated into their processes, into their procedures and into
• 12:06
  their own timelines. Also try and offer some
• 12:09
  references. The way that I do is I don't
• 12:11
  say, oh, do you need a reference?
• 12:12
  I can give you or Gachukudi's phone number.
• 12:14
  You know, I don't do that. What I do is I refer to a
• 12:16
  project that I've been involved in in the past, the kind of
• 12:20
  project that they should know, and I bring it up in the
• 12:22
  conversation. OK oh, do you know, you remember
• 12:24
  the social so and so event. You were at that event, right?
• 12:27
  Yes. We were the ones who handled it.
• 12:28
  Those video guys. That, that was my crew.
• 12:30
  The the, the screen. Those are my people.
• 12:35
  Did this, did that. You know, those are my whole
• 12:36
  crew. Yeah.
• 12:37
  So we're responsible for that, you know, blah, blah, blah,
• 12:39
  blah, blah. So this is just a casual.
• 12:41
  It's not a reference per SE, because references, you hand
• 12:44
  over a phone number, you hand over contact details for them to
• 12:46
  contact. But putting it this way, it just
• 12:51
  helps boost your credibility. The person can relax like, oh
• 12:54
  OK, you know the jam bite. This is not the the first time
• 12:57
  that you've done this thing, so you're familiar with the
• 13:00
  processes so they can let their hair down.
• 13:02
  Sorry, let me check the time. OK, over 10 minutes, So I think
• 13:07
  I can continue. Then, with all this information
• 13:10
  that you have so far, now what you do is you now customize your
• 13:15
  processes, your proposals, your presentation, your invoice, your
• 13:19
  whatever, Customize it to their own needs.
• 13:22
  Don't complain no matter how silly it might seem like.
• 13:25
  For delivery notes, I was submitted a delivery note to one
• 13:29
  organization and they told me to take the sum out and I just
• 13:32
  thought, how can you remove the amount of money that was paid on
• 13:36
  the delivery notes? Didn't make sense to me but I
• 13:38
  just complied. They say I should remove the
• 13:39
  final amount. I said OK no I removed it.
• 13:42
  The amount is on invoice so no big deal.
• 13:45
  So customize your processes to fit theirs.
• 13:47
  Then also another thing, try and facilitate open communication.
• 13:51
  Whoever it is that you're talking to, whether it's a desk
• 13:53
  officer, secretary, admin officer or whoever, or chairman
• 13:59
  or chair lady of the planning committee or the Treasury
• 14:01
  committee, just let the person know.
• 14:04
  Give the impression that you're willing to talk to other
• 14:07
  stakeholders and to answer any questions you know.
• 14:09
  You let them know that you know there's there's no big deal.
• 14:12
  We've done this before. We've handled that project.
• 14:15
  In fact, if Madam MD wants to ask me particular questions
• 14:18
  about this and that, no problem. I'm I'm available.
• 14:20
  When is Madam MD free. OK.
• 14:22
  She's free on Friday. What time?
• 14:23
  No allow drive by the office, no big deal.
• 14:26
  So be open, be willing to facilitate communications,
• 14:30
  willing to talk to other stakeholders.
• 14:33
  Now, the goal of all these that I'm saying right here is you're
• 14:36
  just trying to show that you're a willing partner in their own
• 14:39
  progress, in their own scheme, in their events, in their
• 14:44
  agenda, in their whatever it is that they're trying to do.
• 14:47
  And along the way you're trying to build trust and rapport and
• 14:51
  credibility. The whole point of doing all
• 14:54
  this legwork is this. If you finish this job and you
• 14:57
  do a good deal, because front desk secretary now knows you,
• 15:03
  chairperson planning committee now knows you, Treasury person
• 15:09
  now knows you. Madam MD now knows you.
• 15:12
  Ogakunde in payment or procurement, now knows you.
• 15:15
  The next time there's another job, everything will just flow
• 15:18
  smooth because you walk into the building and they'll be like,
• 15:21
  oh, OK, is that ATV boy or OK is that a EBO girl?
• 15:25
  And everything will just flow because you're part of the
• 15:29
  family now, you know that's how I don't think of you.
• 15:32
  And then also, if there's a need where you're trying to pursue
• 15:36
  something with another department, with another agency,
• 15:39
  with another, whatever, these are people that you can talk to
• 15:41
  to give you tips or give you recommendations or introductions
• 15:44
  to help you move things along. So that's the whole point of
• 15:48
  this approach. So yeah, that's it.
• 15:51
  Pretty much. Acknowledge, empathize, ask more
• 15:54
  questions, get all the information, Who are the
• 15:56
  decision makers, What's the approval process?
• 15:57
  What are the timelines And then comply, be willing to have more
• 16:02
  conversations to any other stakeholders.
• 16:06
  Yeah. So that's it pretty much.
• 16:08
  And OK, 15 minutes. So, yeah, let's bring it to a
• 16:12
  close. So thanks for your time and
• 16:13
  attention. Let's see.
• 16:16
  Yeah, you'd like to connect with me.
• 16:17
  I'm available on WhatsApp. The phone number is 08064662140.
• 16:25
  The country code is +234 for those of you who are not
• 16:27
  Nigerian. Oh sorry.
• 16:29
  Let me just repeat the phone number again.
• 16:30
  I got distracted for a brief second.
• 16:32
  In case I gave the wrong phone number, it's 08064662140.
• 16:40
  Country code +234. Then connect with me on
• 16:43
  LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede.
• 16:45
  I'm the host of the show. You can confirm the spelling of
• 16:48
  my name from the link. We're currently listening to
• 16:51
  this episode, so thanks for your time and attention.
• 16:53
  I'll catch you guys at the next recording and hopefully at next
• 16:57
  recording. I shouldn't be in such a noisy
• 16:59
  environment, so I'll catch you guys on the next one.