Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Don't fear the algorithm: Why AI is an essential tool for Nigerian entrepreneurs

Transcript

Don't fear the algorithm: Why AI is an essential tool for Nigerian entrepreneurs · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at how to do
0:04
business outreach using AI. And then we're also going to
0:08
talk a bit about the Challenger sale because I think last week
0:11
or maybe 2 weeks ago, I mentioned it on an episode and I
0:15
didn't really do well. So don't worry, I'm going to
0:17
make an episode soon about the Challenger sale, you know, flesh
0:22
out that whole approach so that you guys can understand it and
0:25
see how it applies to your business, you know, particularly
0:28
those of us who are doing business in Nigeria.
0:31
So excuse me because, you know, when the challenges all came
0:33
out, you know, a long time ago, it was all the rage.
0:36
But you know, it was as if it's a conversation that happened a
0:39
lot in the West but didn't reach this side, didn't reach Niger.
0:45
So how to do business outreach using AI?
0:48
Of course, you already know what AI is.
0:51
Everybody says artificial intelligence, but the way I
0:54
prefer to look at it is augmented intelligence, because
0:58
these technologies are not really intelligent and they are
1:03
not doing intelligence in the real sense of the word, since
1:07
these are just algorithms that are running statistical
1:10
probabilities. OK, So with these bunch of words
1:13
that we put here, statistically speaking, what are the next
1:16
bunch of words that should show up?
1:19
So that's essentially what these tools are doing.
1:22
So they're not intelligence. So I don't like to say
1:24
artificial intelligence. I prefer to say augmented
1:27
intelligence because we can use these tools to augment our
1:31
intelligence. You know, just like the
1:33
calculator, the science calculator.
1:36
So the science calculator itself has no concept of semantics or
1:41
meaning. It doesn't understand the
1:43
numbers that you're punching in. But the algorithms have been
1:46
programmed in such a way that if one, 2-3 and four variables
1:51
appear, it is supposed to give you output, you know, in terms
1:55
of 456. Excuse me.
1:58
Which is one of the reasons why people say that AI can tell lies
2:01
and it hallucinates. And I'm like, what are you guys
2:03
talking about? It's not telling lies.
2:07
It's doing exactly what it was programmed to do since it has no
2:11
concept of meaning or semantics or truth.
2:16
If there are number of variables that show up like this, and
2:21
statistically it makes sense that an output should come out,
2:24
you know, like that, it will go ahead and give you that answer
2:27
whether it is true or not. Because it has no concept of
2:30
truth. The thing is not alive.
2:33
So please, you people should stop saying that artificial
2:36
intelligence tools tell lies or that it hallucinates.
2:40
It's hallucinating nothing. It's not telling lies.
2:44
It has no concept of the truth. However, these tools are very
2:49
effective, so we should be using them for our business.
2:53
We should be using it to augment that is the A there for me,
2:57
augment our intelligence, augment our skills.
3:00
Now for those of us in particular who are running
3:02
businesses in Nigeria, we should be using these tools every
3:06
single day in our business and that's part of what we're going
3:09
to discuss over here. If you're new to the podcasts,
3:12
my name is Tava Shima Ayede. I'm the host of the podcast and
3:16
these are the sorts of things that we talk about over here on
3:18
the show. How do we grow our business?
3:21
How do we get new customers? How do we overcome challenges?
3:24
How do we get more efficient? You know, things like that.
3:27
So if you like what you're hearing so far, subscribe on
3:30
Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice.
3:35
And if you'd love to connect with me, if you have a question
3:37
or comments, a query or you want a collaboration, then call, send
3:41
a text message, send a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
3:50
Now I'm making today's recording at home, the kids at home
3:52
because of the midterms. So there's going to be some
3:54
noise in the background. And then a bit of a warning,
3:58
this episode is going to be a freestyling episode kinda
4:02
because to be honest, this case study that we're using actually
4:06
is a conversation that I had with someone last year, I think
4:13
was last year July. So, you know, I won't be filling
4:18
in a lot of the gaps, you know, using memory.
4:21
You know, this is just one of these things that happen.
4:23
You know, you have really interesting conversations and
4:26
you want to make some content out of it, but you know, you
4:30
forget, which is why it's important to write things down.
4:33
Use reminders. Use schedulers.
4:34
Things like that. So yeah, how to do business
4:39
outreach using AI tools? The reason why we should be
4:44
using AI tools is because they're quicker, faster,
4:48
sometimes more efficient. So we should be using them.
4:54
Now, since you're listening to this podcast and you're involved
4:56
in sales or marketing or trying to grow your business, one of
5:00
the first things that I'm going to recommend that you use AI for
5:04
is for ideation. Ideation is shall.
5:07
Let's come up with some ideas. What should we be doing next?
5:11
Some of you say, I don't want to outsource my idea, my
5:15
brainstorming to AI tools. And to that I say, my friend, do
5:19
not deceive yourself because this is precisely what we used
5:25
to do in the past. Those of us who are in business,
5:30
we don't sit down and think of all our ideas ourself.
5:34
It's just that in the past you will call your brother and you
5:36
say, bro, what's up? I'm thinking about one or two
5:38
things. How you see him or you will call
5:43
your husband or your wife and you say, babe, I'm thinking
5:45
about this, you know, how do you see this name?
5:49
Or you go and call somebody respect in church, you say
5:52
Deacon token, I beg. I'm thinking of getting into so
5:55
so and so business. You know, I see you, I respect
5:57
you. So I'll be what do you think was
5:59
the way forward? So whether we like it or not, we
6:05
have always been outsourcing some aspects of our ideation,
6:10
some aspect of our creativity because we've been asking people
6:13
for opinions like, you know, oh boy, how far?
6:17
Like, babe, I'm going into business.
6:18
Like, what's up? What do you think about this?
6:21
What do you think about this? All I'm saying now is while in
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the past you had to wait until Sunday before you see Deacon
6:27
Token, you can sit down now on your computer, on your phone,
6:32
back, back, back and do that ideation now.
6:35
You don't have to wait till Sunday.
6:39
Sometimes you say, babe, I'm thinking about blah blah blah.
6:41
Your wife who said I've had a long day at work, I beg, I'm
6:44
tired. I just want to watch Desperate
6:46
Housewives and sleep. You now be angry, you now be
6:51
Bony, You now be carrying face for your wife.
6:53
That's how you guys require for two days, then maybe you know,
6:56
two days reconcile and then you finally talk about it.
6:59
Shower. One week has passed.
7:01
All I'm saying is you don't need to quarrel with your wife now
7:04
that is not being a supportive wife.
7:06
You can sit down, sharp, sharp, excuse me, and then start
7:10
brainstorming and get some solutions.
7:12
Or for those of you who have parents who are involved in
7:17
business, you know, you don't have to wait until you travel
7:21
home or you don't have to wait until you find a good time for
7:24
both of you to talk. You can sit down and come up
7:27
with some ideas using AI tools. And that is why we should be
7:30
using these things because these AI tools, like I said, they're
7:33
not intelligent, they're not alive.
7:34
They're no gay feelings. So while your wife can say I
7:38
beg, I've had a busy day at work.
7:40
I just want to watch desperate housewife and sleep.
7:44
Once you hold Google Gemini and you give an instruction, he'll
7:48
respond to you. Google Gemini.
7:50
She's never tired. So if you'd be having these
7:56
issues with your husband, for instance, you want some ideas,
7:58
you want to brainstorm and your husband says, babe, the business
8:02
you're doing is fashion. You know say me I no get fashion
8:05
skill like why are you asking me Like from where to where You
8:10
will now quarrel with these AI tools.
8:16
You won't have any quarrel that your husband is not being
8:18
supportive. Once you take Google, no book LM
8:23
that guy never sleeps. No book LM always awake, always
8:26
available. It's not like your husband no
8:28
book LM won't say that he's tired.
8:31
He won't say he has your time. Sorry that he doesn't have your
8:35
time. Use these tools.
8:38
That's why they're here. Use them especially now that
8:41
they're free because with the kind of things that these things
8:45
can do, I'm surprised if 510 years from now, Google will now
8:48
tell Nigerians oil, if you want to use these things, begin their
8:52
pay. So please use these tools and
8:59
don't worry about outsourcing your creativity except if you're
9:04
a Don's. Trust me, you are putting some
9:08
creative element into the process and in fact this can
9:14
Even so excuse me covering from a bit of a cough, this can even.
9:23
Help your creative brainstorming because if you sit down with
9:25
Gemini and talk about one or two things, research one or two
9:29
things, by the time you now sit down with Deacon Token or sit
9:32
down with your wife or sit down with your husband, you can even
9:34
have much more productive conversation because you're
9:38
already starting with some good ideas on ground and it's already
9:43
been 10 minutes. So let me move on, Washa, I'm
9:45
just telling you guys, stop shying away from these tools.
9:47
They're free. They're on your phone, they're
9:49
on your laptop already. These two that I've mentioned
9:52
Gemini and notebook LM if you bought your phone this year, 2
9:56
of them are on your phone. So don't do yourself.
9:59
Just begin, start applying now. The person that we did this case
10:06
study with, her name is Joy. I'll use her full name to
10:10
preserve, you know, give us some anonymity.
10:12
But by the way, Joy, if you hear yeah, it's you.
10:14
This is the conversation that we had last year.
10:17
So Joy. Now she's based in pH Port Icott
10:21
or Port Icott, like my roommate used to say.
10:24
The first time I remember, you know, when we met in law school,
10:28
I'm like, hey, what's up? My name is so you know, blah,
10:31
blah. I start talking.
10:32
Which school did you go to? You know, he asked me as I went
10:35
to where you were you correct. So which school did you go to?
10:37
The guy called his and said, hey, where is that guy said what
10:40
I called. I say where say what I called.
10:43
By the time he said it the third time is then he clicked Oh my
10:46
guy. They say Port Harcourt.
10:48
OK, OK, so Joy she's based in, but I got and she's involved in
10:56
tech space always like talking to you tech people, always very
10:59
interesting ideas and the product that Joy was selling at
11:03
the time. Joy, I hope you're still in that
11:05
business. Oh, because too many people will
11:07
start one Business Today by the time you jam them in three
11:09
months. I'm just saying, you know what?
11:10
I'm no longer doing crypto now I'm doing forex.
11:13
Then you meet them three months afterwards.
11:15
I'm no longer doing crypto nor forex.
11:17
Now I'm doing event planning. Then you meet them next year,
11:19
say I'm no longer doing crypto, no forex, no wedding planning.
11:23
I'm now doing so your business. So please no up and down.
11:28
Stay in your hustle and give something a chance to work.
11:32
So join up The business was doing demos they were using,
11:37
they were coming up with AI tools to help schools come up
11:42
with personalized plans for their students so that they can
11:46
study for exams. I really like hearing this kind
11:50
of innovation in Niger is a very sweet something that we're using
11:53
the word designing AI tools that a school can use to come up with
11:57
personalized study plans, personalized tutoring sessions
12:01
for children just to help them, you know, boost, you know, boost
12:05
their studies, secondary school kids, of course.
12:09
So that was the plan. And of course, the challenge
12:12
that Joy had in time was with this groundbreaking product,
12:16
with this new approach in the Nigerian market, how we sell
12:20
this thing now, how we enter into the Nigerian market.
12:25
So of course I asked you a couple of questions about the
12:27
company, about the product, about the kind of schools that
12:32
they were trying to trying to target kind of schools are
12:39
trying to approach. Because believe me, when it
12:41
comes to sales and business development, this is the first
12:43
question we have to ask ourselves.
12:45
Who is the ideal customer? Who are the people that we love
12:49
working with or who are the people that we think have money
12:53
or assuming, you know, you've been doing it as a hobby before
12:56
you ask yourself why the people that have paid me the best, paid
12:58
me on time, the ones that I enjoyed working with the most.
13:02
So that is one that you will now double down on as your ideal
13:05
customer. So if before you've been, you
13:09
know, like me taking pictures, you know, birthday party,
13:12
wedding, but you know, you just do it on the, you know, those
13:16
like on a very hobby level where people like your stuff, maybe
13:21
one or two people dash you something.
13:23
You're now ready to go into business.
13:26
These are some of the questions you ask yourselves.
13:28
Who are the kind of people I want to attract or who are the
13:30
people that I enjoyed working with the most or the people that
13:33
are dashing me money, which sector did they come from?
13:37
So if you are taking picture generally and you know parents
13:41
with children who are dashing money, maybe it's a good idea to
13:45
start focusing on that batch. But anyhow, shall, no matter how
13:52
you want to reason it in the beginning, who is your ideal
13:57
audience? Who is your target audience?
13:59
Who are the people that we should be chasing after?
14:01
If you don't answer that question, you waste time and you
14:03
waste money running after people that you need not have been
14:08
running after at all. So this is the first question.
14:11
So with Joy, that's the first session that we had.
14:13
Who are you chasing after? After some back and forth now
14:16
asking, answering some questions, it became clear that
14:20
Joy obviously was looking at private schools.
14:24
Of course, you have to look at private schools.
14:26
Is it government school that will come and pay for this kind
14:28
of tool for where when the total budget of education is not even
14:35
enough, the small and I remains. Yeah, politicians will now go
14:39
and invest lead. So, Joy, I don't blame you.
14:43
It's a pity that those of us in our public schools would not be
14:48
availed of these resources. It's a real pity.
14:50
And the thing makes me sad because I, as you hear me and my
14:55
brothers and my sisters, all of us are a product of public
14:58
education. We all went to LGA schools,
15:00
local government, something, something I can't remember LGEA
15:04
in Abuja, that's where those calls the schools used to be.
15:09
So if you are in Zone 2 for instance, and you're close to
15:14
the Catholic Church, there's a one school, there is a secondary
15:17
school. Now when I was a little embryo
15:21
running up and down, a little miscreant that used to be called
15:24
who say one primary school, that was my school.
15:28
Seven of us went there, seven of us, me, Sevy, Gabriel, Theodora
15:35
Sue, who again, OK, I can't remember Boja, there were seven
15:40
of us. We went there.
15:43
We are a product of these kind of schools and it's a pity that
15:47
Nigeria, we have given up on these schools.
15:51
So I passed there now and I see my my junior brothers and
15:55
sisters. I see the young ones, not, you
15:59
know, that's not like that from my family.
16:00
But because that's my school, I still have like, I still see
16:03
them like this is my school. I see our children, tattered
16:07
uniforms, overcrowded schools looking like prisons.
16:13
I think it really pains me. Education can be a tool for for
16:19
developing this country. Honestly, you can some of you
16:25
meet me or you think I went to school in Harvard?
16:27
No, I'm not Harvard educated. I'm public educated all through
16:30
and through. Well, for three years, my junior
16:35
secondary school was Christ the King College, Abuja.
16:38
You can say that was the first private school that I touched.
16:42
Even for my master's program. When I went abroad, my master's
16:46
program was also in a public school.
16:48
I didn't go to a private university, although to be
16:52
honest, you know, public university abroad and public
16:57
university here, they're not the same thing.
16:59
The difference is clear. I won't lie you anyway.
17:03
For those of you who are going to be involved in education and
17:06
determining public policy in the future, I beg, let's pay
17:09
attention to these schools. My parents were a product of LG
17:16
of local government schools. Me and my siblings were also
17:19
products of LGEA schools as well.
17:21
We should pay attention to these things.
17:22
But anyway, bottom line is I'm trying to say I don't blame Joy
17:25
for looking at private school because my this is about, this
17:27
is about money, collect good money.
17:31
So private schools, of course, she's also looking at
17:34
international schools and she's looking at schools that have a
17:36
focus, excuse me now have a focus on STEM, STEM, science,
17:41
technology, engineering and mathematics, which I think is
17:47
also another mistake that the Nigerian educational all I say
17:53
system is making while focusing too much on STEM.
17:56
We also need liberal arts programs because they help
18:01
people to think. There's no point in producing
18:04
scientists to technicians, engineering and mathematics,
18:07
people who do maths. But when it comes to critical
18:10
thinking, the skills, no D it's part of the reason why I think
18:16
everybody's running around shouting AIAI and everybody's
18:19
afraid. Of course you're afraid.
18:22
You didn't have the benefit of a liberal education.
18:24
You don't know the difference between intelligence and and
18:29
computation. So you see something where they
18:32
compute at a very high level. You say, hey, this thing is
18:35
intelligent because you guys did not have the benefits of of a
18:41
liberal arts education. So any small team they fear any
18:45
small team they shake. Why are you shaking anyway?
18:52
Where was I? So private schools,
18:55
international schools with a focus on STEM.
18:57
Now when we're coming to define our ICP now who are we chasing
19:01
after? Can you see how specific we need
19:02
to be? You say joy, she says, Sir, who
19:05
are you chasing? Private schools that didn't give
19:08
money, International School that didn't give money and the
19:11
connects because if you finish from one school and the team
19:15
makes sense, you can leverage that in another school to say,
19:19
you know, Sir, have you heard of British International?
19:21
So on. So yes, I've heard of them.
19:23
The AI program, not me, I'm the one that did it.
19:26
You can leverage on that. And then schools with a focus on
19:29
STEM in sales, there's some guesswork.
19:32
You know, we're assuming that if the school has a focus on STEM,
19:35
then they will look kindly on all these AI things.
19:39
But you can see the level of granularity.
19:43
When we say who's your ICP? So if you're selling something
19:46
to the educational space, who's your target audience?
19:48
Don't just say schools in Abuja, private schools in Abuja or
19:53
international schools affiliated with the British Council that
19:56
have a focus on STEM, especially the schools that prepare their
20:01
children for GCSE and educational opportunities abroad
20:07
when you are. Specific like that, we now know
20:09
where to start searching. Now nobody knows everything and
20:16
I don't know everything. And this is where the beauty of
20:19
these tools come out. I said OK now since I'm in
20:24
Abuja, I've been a Lagos boy and I lived in EFA.
20:27
I know nothing of pH no more. We guys go Internet.
20:30
She said no problem. So I told her, download these
20:33
two apps on your phone, download Google Gemini.
20:38
So say what about ChatGPT? I say and well, anyhow, sha,
20:42
whatever you want. But for me, the reason why I say
20:44
Google Gemini is because number one is free.
20:46
Number two, it has access to the Internet and that's on the free
20:50
plan. So I don't have to pay for any
20:51
upgrade downgrade this grade that grade.
20:54
So sha, that's why I recommend it to everybody.
20:56
Google Gemini things already on your phone, especially for those
21:00
of you who are using all those sweet expensive phones like the
21:04
Samsung. Phone.
21:05
I'm still repeating any of you want to bless my life.
21:08
I give my phone number at the beginning and at the end of
21:10
every episode. Just call me up, holler at your
21:13
boy. I'll take that gift and I'll
21:15
pray for you well, and God will bless you.
21:18
So if you bought iPhone 17, you bought Samsung, whatever,
21:22
whatever these tools are already on your phone and then no book
21:26
LM I'll explain why. OK, let me explain.
21:31
Now Google Gemini. It's a large language model.
21:34
It has access to the Internet. The data it has been trained in
21:38
is data available on the Internet.
21:40
So carry one like that and just keep old one.
21:44
Then notebook LM is also a large language model.
21:47
But The thing is, it allows you, the user, to program in the kind
21:51
of information that you want it to be running searches and
21:58
running queries for. So in other words, if I ask
22:02
Google Gemini a question, Gemini will be answering me from all of
22:06
the Internet. But I can take notebook LM and
22:10
let's say, OK, let me go religious now, let's say you
22:13
like Bishop or edible. OK, No, no, let me, I use
22:18
Christians all the time. Let me use Muslims now.
22:20
So let's say you like Zag. Zag.
22:21
You're one of his disciples, you know, free Zagi.
22:24
I really, really love Zaki. You can take all of Zaki's
22:27
sermons and just be putting it inside Notebook Ellen.
22:29
But but, but anytime the guy drop sermon, drop it in Notebook
22:34
Ellen. Then one day, let's say you have
22:38
like 7080 sermons in Notebook Ellen.
22:41
You can ask Notebook Ellen that dear Notebook Ellen.
22:44
Excuse me. I'm a devout Muslim living in
22:47
Abuja. I'm dating this babe.
22:50
She's a Pentecostal Christian. I want to marry this babe, but I
22:54
don't know whether it would be a good idea under Islamic law for
22:57
us to get married. What would zag Zaki advise
23:02
another prominent Muslim scholars in this field?
23:04
You know, hit enter, bam, no book.
23:07
LM will only be answering you based on our input that you've
23:10
given it. The sermons of Zaki.
23:17
If you sound mind blown, trust me, the first time I heard it,
23:21
my mind was blown too, which was why I downloaded this thing
23:25
promptly and I've been using it ever since.
23:28
So you need these AI tools, one like Gemini Open Access to the
23:32
Internet, then another one like notebook LM that you can
23:36
customize, that you can tell it answer me question, but only
23:40
answer based on this input that I don't give you this training
23:44
material, these resources that I've given you.
23:47
So we need two of them. So I told Joy, download those
23:49
things to your phone. She downloaded it.
23:51
I said cool, let's go forward. The next thing now is private
23:55
school, International School, the focus on STEM.
23:57
Me, I'm not based in pH, but of course, we know that information
24:04
is free on Google. So that was the first prompt
24:07
that we used. Excuse me now, of course, since
24:11
we had this conversation in July of 2024, I can't remember the
24:14
exact prompt, but basically it would have been something like
24:16
that. I'm a Nigerian entrepreneur in
24:20
the education space, Edu tech space.
24:22
Trying to come up with I have developed a tool that helps
24:28
create personalized AI sessions and AI bots for students so that
24:35
they can pass their exams. We're focused in particular on.
24:39
Private schools in Port Harcourt, Nigeria international
24:43
schools with international affiliations that have a focus
24:46
on STEM and that prepare children for educational.
24:51
Opportunities abroad. Give me a list of schools in
24:58
Port Harcourt and environs that match this description.
25:02
Bam, that was it. 1 prompt and then you started giving off
25:09
schools. By the time she looked at
25:12
school, you know I'm not a pH boy.
25:14
But by the time Joy looked at school #1 school #2 she said
25:17
this thing makes sense. Can you guys hear what I'm
25:21
saying? It's not every single school
25:24
there that made sense on the list, but by the time she saw #1
25:26
and #2 she said. These are the schools I'm
25:29
targeting. You can see how in the old days,
25:34
you have to sit down, be thinking which school?
25:36
Which school? You write 1, You write 1.
25:38
You now call your friend. Oh, I don't know.
25:39
Let me think about it. Your friend might say, oh, my
25:42
auntie started the school. Something, something, something.
25:44
She sends it to you. But then it's not the kind of
25:46
school. But we Gemini.
25:48
Yeah, Downloading the app, plus coming up with the prompt plot,
25:51
all of these didn't take 30 minutes.
25:54
And before you know it, sharp, sharp, we already have a list
25:56
of, you know, 1020 schools that were already going to chase.
25:59
Can you see how these tools can make your business life easy?
26:07
Can you see you're not being a Dons when you do this?
26:14
You're making yourself more efficient because AI can give
26:17
you the list of the 20. Schools AI is not going to go to
26:21
the school and talk to the people.
26:23
So don't worry, there's still plenty of work for you to do.
26:26
But sure, 30 minutes we had our list.
26:30
This is what we call traditionally speaking, this is
26:32
what we call a prospecting list. And please, it has to be a
26:37
concrete list, physical list on paper or somewhere on your phone
26:40
so that we can be going down the list.
26:41
Number one, number two, number three, number four, be going
26:45
orderly until you finish it. Because if you don't write it
26:50
down and you're trying to freestyle, you're trying to
26:52
remember, how can you remember 20 schools all at once?
26:56
You forget after two months you realise that oh, I never went to
26:59
evened young university, I didn't try them.
27:02
So ideation, AI tools, ideation very important.
27:08
It help us narrow down our ICP, help us come up with a
27:11
prospecting list. This is how we help Joy and
27:13
believe me, this thing can help you too.
27:16
So now people are shouting AI is going to cause the end of the
27:18
world. I know what not look, just you
27:20
know, it may be true, it may be not, but just leave them.
27:22
We're trying to build a business here.
27:25
Let's see how we can use these tools to build a business.
27:31
So where was I now? So that's my prospecting list.
27:39
Now we now have to figure out who are we going to talk to in
27:45
this school Because Joy admits that before what she was doing,
27:48
what she was sending e-mail to schools and I told her no.
27:53
If you have listened to the partners episodes that I made, I
27:58
think it was yesterday or maybe the day before on writing
28:02
effective proposals, you already know that I propose that way.
28:05
That's not the way. First of all, any proposal that
28:09
you're sending, it is going straight to the general e-mail.
28:12
So let's say there's a school called Igmani International, for
28:15
instance, and you have info at Igmani International and you
28:21
send it to info at Igmani. The person that will receive
28:24
that e-mail is a secretary or an intern.
28:30
And if something is not urgent, if it doesn't look like it's of
28:33
any consequence, this is what they will do.
28:35
They will delete that e-mail or they will leave it and the inbox
28:41
will clog. Another person who has higher
28:44
administrative authority will come at the end of the month and
28:46
then just click on select all and then delete.
28:49
In your own mind, you will say that I tried to drum up sales by
28:52
sending emails to 100 schools. But think about this logically.
28:57
Did you really send 100 emails, you know, emails to 100 schools?
29:02
If what happened is that 99 of those schools, the secretary
29:09
either deleted his thing immediately or somebody who had
29:12
higher admin authority came and deleted it at the end of the
29:14
month, Realistically speaking, you only sent one e-mail.
29:19
So stop with this general approach.
29:22
Stop. Even if you must do an e-mail
29:25
something, at least get a name, get a title, get a department.
29:30
So you're sending it to 1 specific department so that the
29:33
intern will open the inbox and see that oh, this thing is
29:35
supposed to go to Madam Principal and therefore to Madam
29:38
Principal. Now of course, for those of you
29:44
who listen to the older episodes, you will not be
29:46
surprised that I recommended that Joy should not even be
29:48
sitting down and just be banging out emails.
29:51
I told her, pick up the phone and make a call or go to the
29:55
school, talk to someone. We need to try and figure out
29:58
who is the right person that we are supposed to be talking to.
30:01
So the question now then became who are the people that we're
30:04
supposed to be talking to? Of course, nobody knows
30:07
everything. I'm not in the educational
30:09
space. I know that well principal maybe
30:15
maybe, maybe principal maybe Who else did I think of?
30:20
I thought of VP academics, I think Bosha, since we still had
30:25
the original prompt, we now added an identity, added an
30:30
extra bit to the original prompt.
30:32
We now added thank you very much for the information Yes, I know
30:36
I'm one of those people who say thank you to AI tools.
30:38
I know it sounds somehow does anything you do something that
30:41
is not alive, but I don't know, it's just the habit.
30:43
So thank you very much for the information.
30:46
Now, can you please give us a list of officials who most
30:55
likely will be involved in decision making when it comes to
30:58
these sorts of opportunities? So give us a list of officials
31:02
in the school that we should target.
31:04
Excuse me. And then we hit man.
31:07
And then before you know, you think came out with a list now.
31:11
Proprietor or proprietors was there.
31:13
That's good. But then the AI tool also said
31:16
principal. Good also said head of school.
31:19
I didn't think of head of school actually, he said director of
31:22
academics. I didn't think of director of
31:23
academics because to be honest, when I was in school, there was
31:26
no such thing as director of academics.
31:29
Then it said head of curriculum. I didn't even know that there's
31:33
something called head of curriculum because when I was in
31:35
school we only had was it called principal and then vice
31:40
principal. That was all So some of these to
31:42
be honest, then new titles to me never heard of it.
31:45
You see why these AI tools are good then it also put.
31:49
ICT manager and when they say ITICT manager was like OK you
31:53
know what that makes sense because I know that schools have
31:55
ICT managers but somehow the thing didn't click in my head
31:58
that we should include ICT manager.
32:00
You see why these AI tools are good for brainstorming.
32:03
Then it also put a head of department and.
32:08
That's also good. And to be honest, I didn't know
32:11
that was HOD because I didn't never heard of an HOD until I
32:14
got to university. I didn't realize that primary
32:17
school secondary school has now become.
32:19
You know another thing, so you can see how we use the AI tools
32:24
to refine our ICP and then to also figure out who within those
32:28
accounts we should be talking to.
32:31
You see how if we're using these tools for ideation, we're saving
32:35
ourselves a lot of stress. And by the way, hope you can see
32:40
now why I say that in 2025. The idea is not the problem
32:45
because the idea is free. The idea is cheap.
32:47
The idea is very available. Execution is the thing.
32:50
Because I can assure you, Joy is not the only person who is
32:53
working on this. In fact, I'm sure there's one
32:55
person listening to this podcast right now.
32:57
Who, as I'm talking, the person is saying, Chai, this is my
32:59
business idea, so there's really somebody working on it.
33:02
Of course there's somebody working on it.
33:04
What do you think you're the only person who's going to come
33:06
up with an AI idea for how it applies to Nigerian schools?
33:10
Be realistic in 2025. Ideas are free, ideas are cheap.
33:16
The person who wins is the person who executes.
33:21
If Joy executes well, she would beat all these other people in
33:24
pH. But if Joy slacks, other people
33:27
who are executing better than her will end up beating her.
33:30
It's that simple idea is not what sets anybody apart again in
33:35
2025 in Niger. It is execution, execution.
33:40
That's what we need right now. Don't just come up with all
33:43
these fancy ideas. You move, you move.
33:48
No time move. So when I came up with the list,
33:54
we now have people there. Then we look at the.
34:01
What's it called, the e-mail or the proposal?
34:03
You know, just generic proposal. I said no, no, no, no, no.
34:05
That's not going to work. What I need to?
34:08
Do is let's see how we can reach into these schools, maybe offer
34:13
a pilot program to a couple of them.
34:16
Pilot program just means you know with the rollout, you know,
34:18
with the test time, you know, so you will get the benefit of you
34:22
know the 1st. 50 people free. You know, something, something,
34:25
something. Let's on board.
34:26
Let's see how this thing works. Let's validate the concept.
34:28
You know that kind of approach. That's one approach.
34:33
It's just an easier way of getting into the school so that
34:36
if you get in, The thing is free 50 students, you're able to show
34:39
progress with maybe 10 students is the kind of thing that
34:42
principal can say. You know what?
34:43
OK, let's roll this thing out to the whole school.
34:49
So I can't remember which approach we agreed on because
34:52
like I said, this was July in 2024 currently now when 2025
34:57
when in September. So that's like one year or
35:00
something. How many months?
35:02
Like four or five months? So I can't remember the exact
35:06
approach. I'd have to check my notes.
35:11
But remember when I said? We need to know the person or
35:15
the office or the department that might be a good idea to
35:19
talk to because. Sending a generic e-mail to info
35:24
dot social school, that's rubbish.
35:27
Or going to the school and handing the secretary a proposal
35:32
that is marked to whom it may concern, that's absolute
35:35
rubbish. Our proposal is dead on arrival.
35:41
So I told her, you walk in or you call.
35:48
So let me see, let's see, let's see, let's see.
35:55
So one of the talking points that I came up with at the time,
35:59
like I said, sorry, apologies. Oh, this gist is one year
36:02
something months old. So I'm it's just from scraps in
36:06
my notebook. I'm trying to piece this
36:07
together talking points, talking points.
36:12
So so the question now became OK if I call now.
36:15
How will I start this phone call?
36:17
Because when I call is a general person that will answer is the
36:19
secretary. Don't answer.
36:20
I say no problem. You just call.
36:23
You remember the call outline that we've spoken about in the
36:25
past. If you've listened to the
36:27
podcast in the last one week, you've already heard me talk
36:29
about it. So it's the same thing.
36:30
Greeting intention of our proposal close.
36:34
So hello. I'm so, so, so and so.
36:36
You know, that's the greeting part.
36:37
Hello. I'm so and so from XYZ company.
36:40
That's greeting intention. Get straight to the point.
36:44
The reason why I'm calling is I want to make enquiries about how
36:49
your school is adopting AI to support students.
36:52
Prepare for, you know why AQGCSE something, something, something
36:55
and then you leave it like that. You've gotten to the intention.
37:05
Of course some people will be confused.
37:09
That's where you get a chance to explain.
37:12
Some people want you to explain more.
37:15
Some people will say, yes, we already have a program.
37:19
You talk about the nature of the program because you're trying to
37:22
figure out whether it is similar to what you have to offer or
37:26
not. Remember, we're keeping the
37:29
conversational. We're just asking simple
37:31
questions here. That's how we'll know how we're
37:35
going to pursue this opportunity or whether there is an
37:38
opportunity here in the first place.
37:42
As of course we say. We've never even thought of it
37:45
at all. Now this is where the challenges
37:47
here comes in. The idea behind the challenges
37:50
here is this, that you're going to start conversations with
37:52
people by using helpful insights in the industry that they have
37:56
not considered before. This sets you apart as a
38:00
professional, and it also makes your expertise and your solution
38:04
appear much more valuable. So in this case, if you call up
38:07
a school that is private. On International School, it has
38:11
international affiliations. It focuses on STEM.
38:15
You ask them about how they use AI to be able to prepare their
38:19
children for GCS, ES and everything.
38:22
They're not doing it. You can drop an insight here.
38:26
Oh, really? You don't have one?
38:27
Because I have noticed by the way, we went online and we did
38:31
some research. So we found some schools, we
38:33
found that pounds, that's Lagos Business School, Pan African
38:37
University based in Lagos. Then we also found Covenant
38:41
University. Can you see the beauty of AI
38:43
tools? I didn't know this myself.
38:46
I went to go and research it using Google Gemini to find out
38:50
which schools in Nigeria have programs that use AI to help
38:55
their students. So we found, we found more than
38:58
two, but the popular ones are Pounds, Lagos Business schools.
39:01
And then we also found Covenant University.
39:03
Of course, we didn't find any secondary school, but that's no
39:06
problem. It's just enough to say, oh
39:09
really? You don't Because I've noticed
39:13
that schools like Lagos Business School and Covenant University,
39:16
you're aware of them. Oh yes, of course I'm aware of
39:18
them. There's also Walden University
39:23
that has OK as Walden University in America with affiliations
39:28
here in Nigeria. These schools have programs
39:32
adopting AI, you know, blah, blah, blah, adopting AI, you
39:36
know, to help their children learn better on and on and on
39:38
and on. That's an insight that you can
39:40
drop something with the challenger sale as a challenger
39:44
sale approach. You can use that in insight to
39:48
get an introduction. So Madam, that if you could just
39:53
hook me up with your ICT manager or hook me up with your OK, who
39:58
is the appropriate person that we came up with?
40:00
I can't remember who we said we're going to target.
40:02
OK, let's just say. We were going to target ICT
40:06
manager. OK, no, let's say head of
40:07
academics. So, OK, well, so if you can hook
40:09
me up with your head of academics, you know, I'd love to
40:13
have this conversation with her and I'm sure that.
40:17
We can, how do I see it now come up with some useful proposals
40:24
for how this school can implement AI solutions to make
40:28
your children score higher in GCSE or whatever.
40:34
So I've been out of school for a while so I can't remember.
40:36
I think GCSE is the one that like if you write it you prepare
40:40
for school in the UK, but I can't remember, it's been a
40:43
while. So you see the approach.
40:48
Instead of sitting down and sending general e-mail to info
40:53
at something, something something, you actually pick up
40:55
the call from the phone and call somebody, in fact, for joy.
41:02
My recommendation to her and my recommendation to anyone who is
41:05
in a similar position to her actually go to the school.
41:10
And have a conversation with some more physical.
41:13
The dynamics are different. Sometimes, you know, Nigel
41:17
factor comes into a play. You know how?
41:20
Like if you're a young girl and you're trying to hustle.
41:21
And people see you. They're like, let me encourage
41:23
this girl's hustle. That is how you might be able to
41:26
get past the receptionist and get into the office of
41:29
proprietors. Just because wherever you meet
41:32
likes you. You sound nice.
41:34
You're a young girl. Let me not block your horseshoe
41:36
then. That's how you get through.
41:40
It's not necessarily the case if all you do is pick up the phone.
41:43
So don't run away from going to some of these places.
41:47
Physical. Physical. 11 meeting. 11
41:49
meeting. I know.
41:51
That it takes time, but the payoff is worth it and it's
41:59
before one minute. So let me quickly round up here.
42:06
What I was trying to stress basically was this, especially
42:09
as I came across these notes. Some of you are wondering or you
42:15
know what to do next in business.
42:17
You need ideas. There are some simple tools that
42:19
are already available on your phone that can help you.
42:22
Now, Google is not paying me anything for this.
42:26
I'm not an affiliate. I'm not making any money off of
42:28
this. But these are tools that I use
42:31
every day and tools that you can use every day and they are free.
42:35
I always talk about the free tools because I don't want any
42:38
excuses. If it's free, easily available,
42:43
and it's easy to use, please use it.
42:46
So Gemini, it's on your phone. If you're an Android user,
42:49
Notebook LM, OK. I'm not sure if Notebook LM is
42:52
on your phone, so check if it's not downloaded.
42:55
But Gemini, that is definitely on your phone.
42:57
Use these things for ideation. If you're trying to narrow down
43:00
your ICP, it's not a bad idea. If you have a clear sense of
43:03
your ICP, but you're selling business to business, you're
43:07
selling in a corporate environment, you're not sure.
43:09
Which official, which department, which person you
43:12
should be going to be talking to?
43:16
Use these tools to try and figure out who it is you should
43:18
be talking to. Or one more thing, LinkedIn.
43:20
So I told Joy that the thing will make more sense, even even
43:24
be more sweet, if when you call in or when you go to the school.
43:28
You say good morning, ma'am. I want to see Madame Juliet
43:32
Hadiza, please. Honestly.
43:34
Madame Julia Hadiza, please. I said, oh, is she expecting
43:37
you? Oh, no, she's not.
43:40
No, she's not. But it's concerning your
43:42
school's. It's concerning your school's
43:44
program of how do I put it now? No, she's not expecting me, but
43:49
it's concerning your school's adoption with AI.
43:51
That's the reason why I want to see her today.
43:53
You know, that kind of thing. That approach is a lot easier to
43:55
get pushed through because you came and you asked for the name
43:59
of someone in particular. In fact, in some places, when
44:03
you show up like that, I say good morning.
44:04
Can I see Juliet Hadiza, please? Some people will assume that you
44:08
already know what's up. You and Madam Juliet, you guys
44:11
are already talking. They'll just pass you.
44:13
Through. So if you can go on LinkedIn
44:17
itself and start doing some research or go on these schools
44:19
websites and do some research and identify the name of
44:23
somebody in particular is even better.
44:26
So instead of going there and saying, can you put me through
44:28
to director of academics? You go through and you say good
44:31
morning, can I see Madame Hadiza, head of head of
44:34
academics? Is it different?
44:36
You know, the feel, the approach is different, especially if you
44:41
package yourself well. When you're going for this
44:43
meeting, don't wear spaghetti top and I don't know how you're
44:48
supposed to do it. Basha hair nice, you know, dress
44:51
nice, suit nice, smell nice. Don't overdo it with the perfume
44:56
or don't wear a bath in perfume. You know, package yourself well.
45:00
Use these tools, come up with the idea.
45:02
Go and look on LinkedIn, identify some of the school
45:05
officials. Who is the principal?
45:07
Who is head of academics? Who is head of this?
45:08
Who is head of that? Check their website come under
45:11
your information. Then you go there.
45:15
I'm ready to have conversations with people in this kind of
45:20
situation. The challenges here will not be
45:21
a bad idea. Come armed with some insights.
45:24
If some people are skeptical, but then you say, oh, schools in
45:28
the UK have already started doing it and they have been able
45:30
to show a 5% improvement rate. By the way, I just made that up.
45:34
But assuming you can find that kind of statistics, these are
45:37
kind of things that help your help, your approach because the
45:40
person you're talking to, it's an insight to the person.
45:43
It is not information that they knew of before.
45:48
So come in, educate them, give them helpful insights, expand
45:53
their horizons, show them what these possibilities are.
45:59
These are the kind of things that help you to be
46:00
consultative, to sell well in a complex hill.
46:04
And please, please and please, especially for those of you
46:07
listening to this podcast, can I please just sending out these
46:11
generic proposals? Please.
46:14
The goal is not to send out as many as possible.
46:16
The goal is the few that I send out, how many get read?
46:20
The ones that get read, how many get actioned?
46:25
How many? How many of them does action get
46:27
taken upon? That's the goal because it
46:30
doesn't profit you to send 100 proposal.
46:32
I even know I had one meeting. But meanwhile, you walk into
46:36
some schools or you try and call some schools, you only drop 5
46:40
proposals and then you have three meetings.
46:42
I'm telling you, the second approach pays more.
46:45
It's just that the first approach of blanketing 100
46:48
emails or blanketing 100 proposals or whatever, you can
46:51
do that in one week and say yes, I've done work.
46:54
But then if you want to go physical, physical into the
46:56
school, especially with the back and forth, you know, come again,
46:58
everything you know to visit 5 schools alone now probably take
47:01
you maybe like 2 weeks, but it's worth it at the end of the day.
47:07
All right, so let me let you guys go.
47:08
Thank you very much for listening again.
47:10
If you have questions, comments, queries you'd love to connect or
47:13
you want to discuss collaborations, then call, send
47:16
a text message, WhatsApp message 08064662140.
47:23
Thank you very much for your time and attention.
47:25
I'll catch you guys some other time.