Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Stop Dropping Proposals: Close Deals Up Front

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Stop Dropping Proposals: Close Deals Up Front · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Yesterday I promised you guys that we would talk some more
0:04
about what does it mean to sell and how to go about selling.
0:09
And I think it's because when we're doing yesterday's podcast
0:12
recording, I remember the conversation that I had with a
0:15
former client of mine. We did some work maybe two
0:18
months ago. And so I had a check in call
0:20
with members of the team, excuse me, just to find out how they're
0:24
going. They're coming along and we
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discussed some themes around, we discussed some themes around
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selling effectively. Well, obviously if anybody's
0:34
going to engage me as a consultant or a coach, I mean,
0:37
that's what we're going to try and do in their business.
0:41
So essentially today we're going to be continuing the
0:43
conversation. What does it mean to sell and
0:45
how do you go about selling? Now?
0:47
I'm making today's recording out and about.
0:49
I'm in the parking lot, so expect to hear some noise in the
0:51
background, you know, birds chirping, people driving by,
0:54
people talking, that sort of thing.
0:58
And if you love these sorts of issues, how do you sell, How do
1:01
you grow a business? Then this podcast is for you.
1:03
It's your jam. So please subscribe on Spotify,
1:07
YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice.
1:11
And if you'd love to connect with me, I'm the host of the
1:13
podcast. My name is Tave Shima Ayede and
1:17
you can call or send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on
1:20
08064662140. So today we'll continue the
1:29
conversation. What does it mean to sell and
1:30
how do you sell? So like I said, I had a series
1:33
of conversations with a former client of mine, the sales team
1:38
and the production team for all of my clients in order to find
1:41
out basically what have they been up to?
1:44
Now, the companies based in Lagos, they are in the content
1:46
creation space. They create content for, they
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create social media content in particular, you know, for
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businesses, you know, to help them increase their engagement
1:56
and also to drive their revenue. And when they engaged me, they
2:02
were just getting the business going.
2:05
And the the business is a subsidiary of a larger company.
2:10
And basically the larger company wanted me to come in, train up
2:12
the people and see how we could get the company going so that
2:15
they could quickly get enough customers to pay the salaries of
2:19
the team. Because the parent company was
2:21
anxious to make sure that, look, if we get this thing going, we
2:24
want this thing to be able to take care of itself so that the
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parent company doesn't have to keep sending money to prop up
2:30
the operations of the new company.
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So I had some questions for the team.
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Basically, I wanted to know that since the last time we were
2:38
together about two months ago, I wanted to know if their current
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team structure was still in place.
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Because, you know, we did set up some team structure and our
2:46
responsibilities for different members of the team.
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So I wanted to be sure that the team structure was still in
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place. Let's see what else and how do I
2:55
handling leads and how do I handling priorities?
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Oh, by the way, if this is your first time listening to the
3:00
podcast, every single time you hear a lead, this is what the
3:03
term lead means. A lead is someone who might be
3:07
interested in your product or your service, and the person has
3:10
done something that you can see, that you can vouch for, that
3:15
gives you a signal that, yes, these people might be in the
3:19
market. So let's say you sell real
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estate. You can't just hand out Flyers
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to 500 people and say that those 500 people are leads.
3:30
They are not leads. Even if they give you their
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contact details, they are not leads.
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They are contacts. A lead is somebody has who has
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done something over it, something objective, something
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that you can see, something that you can point to, to say uh huh,
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this person donde signal as if they are interested.
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So if somebody collects your flyer, it doesn't mean the
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person is a lead, but the person gives you their phone number.
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It doesn't mean the person is a lead.
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The person is a contact. If you talk to the person and
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the person says I am interested or I might be interested or I
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know somebody who might be interested, now this person is a
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lead or the person has taken some action.
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Let's say you're chilling in your office, you're in your real
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estate office and then somebody comes and says I'm thinking of
4:24
getting property in Metama. Do you have any available?
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How many do you have? How soon can we go and start
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looking at buildings or plots of land?
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Now that is the lead. So some of you wonder why
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splitting hairs? It's not really splitting hairs.
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We just need to be able to think clearly when it comes to
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business. You know, a prospect is a
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prospect, A contact is a contact.
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A lead is a lead. A deal is a deal.
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Not all of them are the same and not all of them should be
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treated the same way because some of you have a deal on your
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hand, but your opportunity as if it's a prospect, you still they,
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you know, laid back. They do anyhow.
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Anyhow, you're not following up on point.
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A deal is a deal. A deal is something that is
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close to being closed. Meanwhile, a lead, it's just a
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lead you get the way you follow, where you follow up on on a
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lead. So we need to be very, very
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clear about who we're talking to.
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Are we talking to a contact? Are we talking to a prospect?
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Are we talking to a lead or are we talking?
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Do we have a possible deal on our hands?
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So it's really, really important that we know what all these
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terms mean. So remember, a lead is somebody
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who has done something overt, something visible that you can
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see, that you can point to, that you can discuss with somebody
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concretely, excuse me, to say, they might be interested in your
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product or your service. So I wanted to find out if the
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processes were still in in place for the team on how they handle
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their leads. Then of course, the goal of the
5:59
engagement was to make sure that they got 12.
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I can't remember it was 12 or 17 clients because we ran the math
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and if they had 12 clients or 17 clients back when we worked
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together two months ago, they'll be able to get enough revenue to
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pay the salaries of everybody on the team.
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So in other words, 12 clients or 17 clients a month was not
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profitable per SE. It was just break even as per we
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can pay office rent, we can pay everybody's salary, we're not
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collecting money from head office.
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So that was the goal. Now unfortunately we were not
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able to achieve the goal before we stopped our engagement, you
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know, for a number of reasons. The parent company wanted to
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change The Wanted to change their strategy for acquiring
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clients midway and usually is not a good thing, but you know,
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I'm used to it. It's just part of the the
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normal. It's just part of the normal way
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of doing things. You come in, you're working with
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a company, but the company is a subsidiary.
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So definitely know how know how every once in a while head
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office go on say one or two things like what are people
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doing? You know why I do it this way?
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So I came in, I gave my recommendations, we started and
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I head office say, no, we are changing, we're going like this.
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And I told head office that look, you know that we tried it
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like this, this is more work, it's less chance of success.
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But then head office says, no, this is what we're going to do.
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And of course, in our case, what I go do now I had said my own,
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that is what we should do in my own professional opinion, that's
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what we tried. So strategy was changed midway
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and and yeah, weren't able to achieve our goals.
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So I wanted to know that, OK, in the last two months since we've
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been together, how many clients did you guys sign up?
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The change in the strategy was when I was, when I came there at
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the beginning, I wanted us to do direct outreach.
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Let us go out, let us come up with a hit list.
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Let us start targeting companies, let us approach those
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companies and let us try to get them to become paying clients
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from the start, from the beginning.
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But then the strategy that head office wanted to do was to use
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free promo to enter the market. By the way, here's a warning for
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you Nigerian companies who are listening.
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This strategy of free promo to enter the market, it sounds easy
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but it's a lot harder than any other thing you can do.
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This idea that if you put your product or service app for free,
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a bunch of people will hop on and then maybe a month 2 or
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month three, you now tell them why I pay me money and then you
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get clients that way. It is hard and this is the
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reason why because conversion rates on these sorts of things
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are typically around 0 to 3%. So listen carefully.
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Those of you who are thinking of this free, free rollout
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strategy, it is possible for you to start your business, roll out
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your app, your product, your service or whatever, and you say
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we are totally free and 100 people will jump on board.
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In your mind, you'll be thinking that next month, if you tell
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them, Oh yeah, it's no longer free, you should pay me 55K now
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to access my product. You, you people have happy years
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and you're very optimistic. You're thinking that when you
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raise that price, 20 or 30 people will stay.
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It is possible that all 100 people who came for this free
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show, because they're all show free, it is possible that once
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you put the price, all of them will evaporate and then you are
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back to 0. So it is zero to 3%.
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And then if 100 people jump on in the beginning and then at the
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end of one month you say well more that they pay me 55K, it is
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possible that 97 of them will fade and only three people will
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pay. So if you've tried this in the
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past and you got zero conversions, conversion just
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means people willing to take the next step.
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If you got zero conversions, it's normal.
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If you only got 3 out of 100, it's normal now.
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So it'd be, in other words, for a business like my client that
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wanted to get 12 to 17, what they needed to do was they
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needed to reach out to, I can't remember, we did the math about
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300 and something or 400 and something clients on the
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assumption that three people will convert.
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Now can you see why I'm saying that?
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This free thing, it looks easy, but it's not as easy as you guys
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think and it's not a good idea. But you know, you could advice
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clients, but it's not always a safe client to listen.
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So if you are thinking about this sort of thing free promo
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and what you're looking for is you want three paying clients at
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the end of the month, then make sure you talk to at least 100
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people to get those three clients.
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This is something I know first time from experience because as
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a wedding photographer, there were some of us, Yeah, I didn't
10:49
do that, but there were some people who tried to get into the
10:51
game by offering free portrait photography in the hopes that
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you will get clients. If you are thinking about that,
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I'm telling you now, conversion is typically between zero and
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three. So in other words, if you want
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to get 3 clients at the end of the day, three people who come
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and patronize you and pay you for wedding photography or
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portrait photography or whatever, you should aim to talk
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to at least 100 people and give them.
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Imagine now free shoot, you go and do free photo shoot for 100
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people. Imagine the time and the expense
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that goes into this thing. So you have to give 100 people
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free shoot in the hopes that three of them will become
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customers. So please, all this free promo,
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free promo, free promo, because I did see I'm everywhere in
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Abuja, any Lagosans are sharp. I don't think Lagosans will be
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doing free, free, free, free, free.
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This free thing. It sounds easy to say the
11:53
execution is hard, very hard. Now sales is already hard as it
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is. So consultants like me were in
12:05
the business of trying to make this thing easier.
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There's no easy way to grow sales, none.
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Any which way you want to grow your sales will be hard.
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But because sales itself is hard as it is, we try and make things
12:18
easier. And honestly speaking, this free
12:21
promo thing, you think it is a good way to sell, but it is very
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hard work, especially for SM ES, it is very hard work.
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Some of you will look at companies, big companies that
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have scale, try to do this strategy.
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You know, it's a different thing.
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They have inventory, they have volume.
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So markets, supermarket chains like Grand Square for instance,
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Grand Square can come and say buy 2, get one free or bottle of
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Coke free for the 1st 100 people.
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They have scale, they have inventory.
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There are other things for people to buy.
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People can come in for the free Coke and on the way out they'll
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buy a loaf of bread. They're using this free offer to
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try and sell some other things. Those of us who are starting off
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new in the SME space, we can't play these games.
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We don't have scale, Scale, meaning we don't have multiple
13:19
locations, we don't have hundreds of products, we don't
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have the scale, and then we don't have the inventory.
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So like Grand Square, they sell tissue paper, they sell frying
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pans, they sell plates, they sell chicken, they sell cups,
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they sell sandwiches, they sell children's juice, they sell
13:41
school bags, they sell biros. There's even a pharmacy in the
13:44
place. They sell TV's.
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They sell all kinds of things. So they have the inventory.
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They can afford to say the first 100 people who come here, you'll
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get a bottle of Coke free because there's other things to
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sell. There is no hope that people
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will shop for a free bottle of Coke.
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Somebody will buy a loaf of bread.
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Another person will say pharmacy day here, they'll go and buy
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Panadol. Another person will say they get
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TV for this place. Somebody might buy ATV.
14:15
So please, fresh people coming into the game, new entrance,
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small and medium scale people. You want to sell?
14:26
Well, I beg this free promo thing.
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I'm telling you for free. This free promo thing.
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Tread wisely. In my own opinion, avoid it
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outright. There'll be a time and a place
14:40
where we can say free. Free promo 25% discount 75%.
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There'll be a time for that. The time is not now.
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We're better off doing the hard work as per your fresh into the
14:50
space. Just come and sit down and know
14:52
that you know what, let us try and get people to pay BAM from
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the beginning. All right, so sorry, forgive me
15:01
for that free rant. Anyway, don't mind me.
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You guys know I don't like anything free.
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Well, when it comes to growing business, I don't like anything
15:12
free. If you give me something free, I
15:13
will take it. But you know, as a business
15:15
owner, I I beg anyway, So I also wanted to I had submitted a
15:21
report to the team. I also wanted to know how people
15:23
at the parent company took the took the report.
15:27
Any feedback on the report? Because unfortunately I didn't
15:34
have OK, politically it wasn't possible.
15:39
Let me say it wasn't possible anyway.
15:40
Let me just say I wasn't able to get any good contacts in the
15:43
parent company. So all my contacts only in the
15:46
subsidiary company. So I always had to go through a
15:49
middle man. So I need to know what did the
15:50
people in the parent company think about the report?
15:55
So the conversation now that I had with the guys, they were
15:59
still doing outreach and thankfully they had taken my
16:02
recommendations in the report and they had stopped this free
16:05
promo. They stopped it because the team
16:08
that I was working with was a six man team.
16:11
And honestly speaking, if you're going to run Freeman promo and
16:15
what you guys are selling is content creation, you can't use
16:19
a six man team to be doing a free promo market entry.
16:24
You can't because there's also the matter of fulfillment, you
16:27
know, creating the content, servicing the accounts.
16:31
So first of all, we need to talk to about 300 or 400 people.
16:35
And you can't use a six man team to talk to 300 to 400 people,
16:40
especially since especially if those six people are supposed to
16:43
be the ones who create the work at the end of the day.
16:46
So from the beginning I told him, look, this thing is not
16:48
possible. It's not going to work.
16:50
It's a matter of mathematics or it's a matter of physics.
16:53
We have to talk to 400 people and people that ones are going
16:56
to do the work. The six of you that how you go
16:58
doing. You're not you're not human
16:59
beings, so you're not superhuman.
17:03
So they they scratch that, they stop with the free plan.
17:06
And what they were doing is they started talking to specific
17:08
accounts and trying to get them to buy.
17:10
Now, although they decided to give samples for specific
17:16
accounts that seem to be promising prospects.
17:18
And I said, OK, that's not a bad idea.
17:20
But then I asked them what was the criteria and they said no
17:23
criteria. And please, that is a problem
17:26
when you are trying to sell and you're trying to come up with a
17:29
new strategy. We need to be absolutely clear
17:31
on what the strategy is. If we're going to offer some
17:34
people samples because they look like promising prospects, we
17:38
need to decide who is a promising prospect.
17:43
That's the number one thing. Are we only going to offer free
17:47
samples to a promising prospect? Because it is a big company that
17:51
has 15 employees and puts out 10 pieces of content every day?
17:55
So therefore by the time we sign them, we expect to be getting,
18:01
you know, let's say 300K in revenue a month from this
18:04
specific account. So excuse me, I'm recovering
18:08
from a gold, but we need to be clear what is the criteria?
18:15
Because when you have 6 guys who are out in the field and who are
18:19
trying to sell a product and you say we'll give samples for
18:22
promising prospects but you don't tell them who is a
18:24
promising prospect. Wahala, good day.
18:28
Somebody will offer a free sample to a prospect that he
18:31
thinks is promising by the time you look at it, you say, but
18:35
these people only post once in a month.
18:37
Now even if we charge them 30K per post, that's only 30K that
18:41
we'll get from this from this person.
18:42
Why are you offering them? For example, you will find a
18:47
wide variety of of prospects coming in.
18:54
So if you want to try something like this, you need to be very
18:56
specific. Who is a promising account?
18:58
And in this case, I think promising accounts should not
19:01
just be a matter of how sweet the conversation was, but it
19:04
should be like, how much money do we expect to make at the end
19:06
of the day? But you have to define it.
19:11
Promising prospect. How big is the company, number
19:14
of employees in this case, since they're in content, in content
19:18
production for social media, What kind of social media assets
19:23
do they have now? What's the potential size of the
19:26
account? If we do something for free, We
19:29
give them a small sample and then they sign up.
19:31
How much do we hope to be making?
19:33
300,400 thousand, 500,000? You know, people will play all
19:37
those games. In fact, myself, I play those
19:38
games too. I won't lie.
19:42
That's how I get some of you to become clients.
19:43
You guys call me, we have a conversation.
19:46
This is me already talking to you guys for free.
19:49
And then some of you realize that boy, will I say this guy
19:53
get sense or this service is very, very valuable and that
19:58
some of you take me up. So there's some people who
20:02
that's how we start the conversation and so far nobody
20:04
has taken me up on my. My most affordable offer, I'll
20:09
be my cheapest offer. I didn't put it that way.
20:10
Nobody has taken me up for my cheapest offer because
20:13
eventually you have a conversation with me and you're
20:14
like, hey, this boy tight. And then people usually end up
20:17
taking the more expensive packages.
20:22
But you can see that I have to, I have to gauge like, you know,
20:27
is it going to be worth it or not?
20:30
So offering free samples for specific accounts, not a bad
20:35
idea. Just make sure that you decide
20:37
on who a promising prospect is and you make sure you inform
20:41
your sales team because you don't want a situation where six
20:44
boys go out to settle on your behalf.
20:46
And then when they come back, all the contact details are
20:50
looking at that. If there's no rhyme or reason,
20:55
then I also wanted to find out if they came up with a new
20:59
prospect list. I'm really big on lists because
21:02
so many people try to sell from idea or sell from memory or just
21:07
sell from motivation. As far as you wake up today,
21:10
you're on fire. Then you go and start talking to
21:12
people and then you wake up tomorrow and you know the spirit
21:15
is weak and so you just relax. But you know, come up with a
21:18
list. Let there be a plan that we are
21:20
following. This is the list.
21:22
There are 500 people on the list.
21:25
There are six of us. More share the list equally.
21:29
So how many people will take what or who will take what and
21:32
then we'll start working. So I need to make sure that they
21:37
didn't fall out of that list habit because people stopped the
21:39
list habit very easily, very quickly.
21:41
So yes, they had a list and I was very happy.
21:44
And over the last month they had approached 100 clients.
21:47
Now can you guys hear what I'm talking about?
21:51
Because there was a list over the last month they spoke to
21:53
over 100 clients. If you're going to wake up and
21:56
sell based on theme, sell based on Ginger.
21:58
I can assure you 6 of you won't talk to over 100 people because
22:02
on some days motivation will be high and you talk to plenty
22:06
people. And now some days you wake up
22:08
and be like Kai, what the hell? A big man sleeps more.
22:12
Or I get that film with you on Netflix, I will finish it.
22:15
You know, Netflix and chill. Well, because there's a list.
22:19
You don't, they streamline some things.
22:21
You don't they, you know, make some things official.
22:25
It's a process. That is why six boys were able
22:27
to talk to 100 people. However, even though they spoke
22:32
to 100 people that were hitting the wall, they hadn't gotten one
22:36
paying client. They had dropped a couple of
22:38
proposals, they had done some physical meetings and they had
22:41
made some phone calls. So basically what I was doing
22:45
now was I started going over, OK, what did you guys try?
22:49
What could we have done better? So I've tried to try to map out
22:58
the outline of what they were doing.
23:00
See, this thing is very, very important.
23:02
Technology is important, but honestly, pencil and paper,
23:05
people don't know what pencil and paper, pencil and paper
23:09
common by roll and paper. A very, very good tool to grow
23:12
your business. When something is on paper and
23:15
you can see it or you draw the thing out, you will now make
23:17
sense. Like so it is along this part of
23:21
the chain that we are fumbling. So please, it is nice that we
23:27
all have fancy phones, fancy computers and everything, but
23:30
please don't overlook common pencil and paper.
23:34
It will improve your life, it will improve your business.
23:37
So pencil and paper will begin in Mapper.
23:41
So what they were doing was they were sending proposals.
23:43
So to send proposals though, first they would research
23:45
clients online and then they would note down some suggestions
23:49
that they had for the clients to get sales and business growth.
23:53
Then from there, some people were interested and then some
23:59
people now started saying, ah, you're too expensive.
24:01
So that is what they were doing. But I drew it out on a sheet of
24:05
paper outline, sending proposal, research stage, come up with
24:11
suggestions, reach out to see who is interested.
24:15
And then the outcome, which was people saying that they're
24:19
getting back on price now, joining it out on a piece of
24:22
paper. We could now see that where the
24:23
problems were. People are saying you're too
24:26
expensive. Let me get back to you.
24:28
We can see that that's where a problem is.
24:31
So we now know that we need to do some work when it comes to
24:33
setting expectations when it comes to money and then handling
24:37
money conversations. And I reminded them that look, I
24:41
told you guys before, when we work together two months ago,
24:44
these money conversations, we need to have this thing upfront.
24:49
This is the rationale of having money conversations upfront.
24:52
It is a waste of your time and it is a waste of your prospects.
24:57
Time for you to spend 2 weeks building relationship with
25:01
somebody. Then they will now say you are
25:02
too expensive. Now listen, if you are too
25:07
expensive, this is the honest truth.
25:09
You have been too expensive from day one.
25:12
It is better for both of you to own up to that fact on day one,
25:16
on day three, than to wait until day, you know, 35.
25:21
So it is a matter of respect for yourself and for your prospects
25:24
to have these money conversations early.
25:28
And if any of you try to engage me, it is a conversation that
25:32
we'll have early. Now, OK, I've heard based on
25:37
what you said, if I understand the situation correctly, this is
25:39
where we are, this is what we're trying to achieve and this is
25:42
where you're trying to go. Am I correct?
25:46
You say yes or you say no. If you say no, no problem, we'll
25:49
go back to trying to do need analysis and discover what needs
25:51
to be done. But when I understand it
25:53
correctly, I was OK based on this da, da, da that to achieve
25:58
these aims, we need to have a working budget of anything
26:02
between, you know, 400,000 to maybe about 650,000 naira for
26:06
the next 4 weeks. Is that correct?
26:08
By the way, I'm not saying I will charge you 650, just call
26:11
me first. Let's have the conversation.
26:13
No, they fear that I said 650. I'm not saying I'll charge you
26:15
650, just call me first. But we'll have the conversation
26:21
that we're looking at anything between 400 to 650 for the next
26:24
4 weeks. Where do you fall along that
26:26
scale? I will ask you.
26:28
Or is that beyond what you're willing to invest?
26:31
I will ask you and we'll have this conversation early Day 2.
26:34
Day three, we'll have this conversation because if you're
26:39
A20K person, I want to know early so that you disappear from
26:43
my inbox. I want to know early.
26:47
I'm not going to invest six weeks with you only to find out
26:50
you're willing to spend 30K. No, we will have this
26:54
conversation early. Day 2.
26:56
Day three, we already done the talk.
26:57
AM. I've not given you a specific
26:59
amount, I've just given you a range.
27:01
You could cost anything between this and this.
27:03
Where do you fall along that scale?
27:05
How does that sound? Is this beyond what you are
27:08
willing to invest? What expectations did you have
27:10
in mind? Now it is when somebody says
27:15
that 300, to be honest, it's a stretch for me, but I'll see if
27:20
I can make it happen if somebody say something like that, OK,
27:23
there's hope. I can budget on some things.
27:28
The person can budget on some things because there's hope.
27:31
There's some people say, ah, 300, Bao, you know that there's
27:35
no room. Then there's some other people
27:38
who say 650. If we're looking at 650, what
27:42
can we expect to get for those kind of results?
27:45
You now know that, OK, you're dealing with somebody where
27:47
they're reasonable, but either way, we should be having these
27:51
money conversations early. You don't give a specific price,
27:55
you give them a range. You say based on what we have
27:58
discussed, based on what you're trying to achieve, to achieve
28:02
these outcomes, we're looking at anything of a budget between
28:05
X&Y, then get feedback from them.
28:09
Get feedback. We're looking at a range of
28:13
between X&Y. How does that sound?
28:18
This is what you're willing to invest?
28:21
What did you have in mind? Like anyhow, should I get some
28:24
feedback and then you let them know that, OK, what I gave you
28:29
was a range, I'd have to ask you a couple of questions, more
28:32
questions so that we can narrow down to a specific price.
28:35
That's the price that will now be in your proposal.
28:36
But either way, money conversations, have money
28:38
conversations early. There is no point in investing 6
28:42
weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks in building relationship with
28:46
people. Only at the end of three months,
28:48
somebody will now come and tell you that you're too expensive.
28:51
You will now be angry with the person.
28:53
It is not the customer's fault. It is your fault.
28:55
You didn't bring up the money thing early.
28:57
How you be talking to somebody for four weeks?
28:59
You didn't bring up money. Don't you have anything better
29:02
to do with your time? You guys stop being afraid.
29:09
Stop being afraid. What's the worst that will
29:14
happen? Somebody will say OK and they
29:16
will say bye bye and they will leave.
29:17
That's the worst that will happen.
29:19
Then you will stand up and look for somebody else to talk to,
29:21
but stop being afraid. Bring up money conversations
29:23
early. Respect yourself, respect your
29:26
time and respect your prospects. Respect them and respect their
29:29
time. If this thing is not going to
29:31
work. No, from the beginning, you know
29:33
this guy made this skit. What's his name?
29:35
This guy, they did a 111111 challenge.
29:38
What's his name again? Brain jotter.
29:40
He did this video where he woke up to a girl and he was talking
29:43
to you together and was smiling and everything I said he said
29:46
wait, wait, wait, babe, no, no, they talk too much.
29:48
What's your genotype? And she said they said no, no,
29:51
no more. They talk to no more, no talk
29:53
too much. What is your genotype?
29:55
The girl said a yes. And I said OK, I don't go.
29:59
I mean, it's this kid, you know, and it's funny and it's comedy,
30:02
but you understand the guy is a yes.
30:05
He's looking for a wife. He's looking for marriage.
30:07
He doesn't want to marry any babe that is a S because if a S
30:10
marry AS they go born sickle cell and he doesn't want to have
30:13
any child that has sickle cell. So it's a joke, you know, but
30:18
you know, it's it's the same thing in business.
30:21
It's the same thing as in relationships.
30:23
It gets on babes that you'll approach and after a while that
30:26
the feeling and everything she'll ask you outright that
30:28
have you given your life to Christ.
30:29
She'll ask you because she know I'm marrying Pagan.
30:33
Excuse me. So I'm not saying that you know,
30:36
if you know born again that you're a bad person.
30:39
Well, for her it's very simple. I know I'm marrying Pagan.
30:41
Therefore she'll ask you have you given your life to Christ?
30:45
The answer is either yes or no. If the answer is yes, uh huh.
30:48
Should be looking forward to it next day.
30:49
If the answer is no, she'll say I beg are they go that you're a
30:52
fine boy and all and I like you and you get prospects, but no
30:55
feed one. It's the same thing in business.
31:00
Some boys too. Get some boys where you will be
31:03
approaching the babe. You're flowing with them
31:04
everything. And then you now hear that the
31:07
baby's from Onicha. Say Onicha.
31:10
Yeah, and then the boy will just evaporate because as far as he's
31:13
concerned, you know, he is from Emily or whatever.
31:16
And the guy, no, am I anybody from Onicha, whether for
31:21
spiritual reasons or cultural reasons or financial reasons or
31:24
whatever. So if we do these kind things in
31:28
personal, on the personal relationship front, we supposed
31:31
one for business as well. And one way of qualifying
31:34
straight from the beginning is we have these money
31:36
conversations early. Anyway, let me just move on.
31:39
I have taken up too much of your time because radio enter like 30
31:42
minutes. So and you see why you map out
31:46
the process. So let me check my notes.
31:48
Let me just go straight to the point.
31:50
Let me hit them so we can wrap up.
31:53
So this reason why pencil and paper are very important.
31:56
You map out something. You now see that, OK, this is
31:58
the area of the chain where they think they're weak, we suppose,
32:00
reinforce I'm here. Then for the physical visits,
32:04
there were dropping Flyers and business cards and then trying
32:07
to schedule calls. So we spoke about that thing
32:10
again. I told them, look, two months
32:11
ago I told you guys that you do not lead the sales process with
32:16
dropping proposals. You don't because this is the
32:19
honest truth, whether in Nigeria, in America, Australia,
32:22
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, you know, anytime people don't read
32:28
proposals, people are busy, they get work, they have families,
32:33
people are busy. You come and drop a 12 page
32:36
brochure, you know, they'll just skim it.
32:37
Ah, this thing looks nice. They'll skim it and then they'll
32:39
close it and they'll go about their work.
32:41
People don't read proposals. So you cannot use your proposal
32:45
to be the driving force of the business.
32:47
You can't. There's a stage for proposal and
32:50
that stage is not in the beginning.
32:53
The stage is not in the beginning.
32:55
I repeat proposal, it works, but it doesn't work when that is
33:00
your opening salvo. You don't start with the
33:02
proposal. So I reminded them.
33:05
Now look, when I was you guys, we discussed that this is the
33:07
traditional prospect process. Oh, sorry, remember I'm in the
33:11
parking lot. That's why you're hearing people
33:13
starting cars and driving off. So I reminded them, now look for
33:17
people in your own space. The traditional process when it
33:20
comes to sales would be prospecting stage.
33:22
Prospecting stage is when we're deciding who are we going to
33:25
talk to. You guys already don't know who
33:28
we're talking to. People in fashion and in real
33:30
estate so that we can create content for them.
33:31
So that's stage 1 prospecting. Who are we going to talk to?
33:36
Where are they online or offline?
33:38
How are we going to approach them?
33:39
How are we going to start off the conversation?
33:41
That's the early, that's stage 1 prospecting stage.
33:43
Then stage 2 is the actual outreach.
33:46
Outreach is when you go out as per you see now outreach out
33:51
plus reach. You have gone out to reach out
33:53
to that person. So that's where if it is online,
33:56
you don't they slide into their DM or if it is a physical
33:58
something you're going into the office to try and get
34:00
appointment. So stage 1 prospecting, stage 2
34:04
outreach. And I reminded them and I'm
34:06
telling you now listening to on the podcast, when you're doing
34:11
outreach, the goal is not to sell on the spot.
34:14
Very few people are that good now.
34:16
They'll enter the office now and then.
34:18
They'll sell on the spot now and walk away with a paying client.
34:21
Now, very few people are that good.
34:25
It's a hard job. Don't give yourself that kind of
34:27
job. Slow things down, especially for
34:29
those of you in a complex sale. When you go for outreach and you
34:38
go and you talk to people, the goal that you're trying to
34:41
achieve there is you're just trying to figure out, is this
34:44
person interested? Do they have a problem?
34:46
What is the nature of the problem?
34:48
That is the focus of your initial outreach.
34:52
So that if they are not interested, you will say thank
34:55
you very much for your time and you will leave and you will drop
34:57
a flyer and you'll never come back again because they're not
34:59
interested. Or if they have a problem, but
35:02
the nature of the problem is not of a serious nature for them or
35:07
it's not something they're willing to spend money on, you
35:09
say thank you very much for your time, and then you will drop a
35:11
flyer and then you will leave and you will not come back
35:14
again. Because even though they have a
35:15
problem, they don't think the problem is that that big of a
35:18
deal. So prospecting stage 1, stage 2,
35:23
outreach. When you get to outreach, you're
35:25
not trying to sell, you're not trying to figure out is this
35:28
person interested? Do they have a problem?
35:31
After you figure out whether they're interested or they have
35:34
a problem, the next stage is meeting you now call for meeting
35:37
now. OK, based on all talks spoken
35:40
about so far, looks as if you guys have issues around this or
35:43
this or it looks as if my product or service can help you
35:46
here and there. So this is what I'm going to
35:49
recommend. Are you guys free for Wednesday
35:51
next week? Me and my team can show up
35:52
again. Let us discuss in depth so that
35:55
we can come up with some proposals on how we can help.
35:59
Can you guys see how proposal is beginning to enter the picture?
36:04
Can you guys see that this is the natural order of things?
36:07
You know, a child is born, you crawl from crawling, you walk
36:10
from walking, you run. It's like that in business too.
36:15
There's a natural order of things.
36:16
You don't walk into the door and then slam a proposal on
36:18
somebody's table. The time for the proposal will
36:20
come. So when you call for this
36:23
meeting now and you get all the information you need now, you
36:28
can create your proposal now you create it.
36:33
And this is when somebody will read it because the things that
36:35
are in the proposal will come from things that you discussed
36:38
in that meeting. The things that are on their
36:40
mind, the thing where they took them, the thing where they bond
36:42
them, the thing that is really, really, you know, firing them
36:45
up, then they'll read the proposal because your proposal
36:48
is going to be answering specific questions that they've
36:51
been asking you in the meeting, specific issues that have been
36:54
raised and addressed during the meeting.
36:56
You can see now that is the genesis of the proposal.
37:00
Some of you are just going to drop proposal on the table.
37:02
The proposal you're dropping on somebody's table.
37:04
The information in the proposal, where did you get it from?
37:06
You just used your idea and you think they'll read it.
37:10
You're just using an idea. No, Slow down to sell well, slow
37:16
down to move fast. Go through the normal process.
37:21
It is only when you have gotten a sense of what their burning
37:24
priorities are that you can now create a proposal.
37:27
And in fact, you can see now that in this case, your proposal
37:29
won't even be thick. It won't even be a 20 page
37:31
proposal. Your proposal will now be slim.
37:33
It will be two or three pages because it is answering very
37:36
specific questions that they want to answer.
37:39
This is how your proposals are short, they're effective.
37:43
They're straight to the point and you increase the chances
37:45
that it will be read because your proposal is answering two
37:48
or three main questions that came up during the meeting.
37:50
Simple. And then of course, you know,
37:52
you put in there that you know for option A, you know this
37:56
amount, option B that amount, option C that amount.
38:01
Then after the proposal, you now try to close, which is where you
38:04
try and get people to take action on the issues that you
38:07
have discussed so far. But I hope you guys can see when
38:12
it comes to selling, see the flow, right?
38:17
But for some reason, this proposal culture, they don't
38:19
enter Niger. Everybody wants to sell.
38:21
The first thing you do is you create proposal.
38:23
Now understand that when it comes to government power status
38:27
like Ministry of Finance and all or not, they want you to prepare
38:30
proposal and buying that first. But I'm not talking about
38:32
selling to government. So yes, if we selling to
38:35
government, I play that game. Create the initial proposal and
38:38
send and just drop. You use that one to get into a
38:43
DG's office or into minister's office.
38:46
Then from there you can now start talking in serious
38:48
business. You can always amend the
38:49
proposal later. But outside of those kind of
38:52
situations, maybe you're selling to Ministry of Finance or you
38:55
want to propose something to CBN.
38:57
Outside of that, relax. Proposal is not the first thing.
39:01
The first thing, prospecting after that, outreach at the
39:04
outreach stage, are they interested?
39:06
What's the nature of the problem?
39:07
Then you propose a meeting, secure a meeting.
39:10
At that meeting, discuss in details, find out what the
39:12
problem is. It is then you'll now be able to
39:14
give an effective proposal saying this is how my product or
39:17
my service will help you and it will help you.
39:20
Based on option A, this is the amount.
39:23
Option B, this is the amount. Option C, this is the amount for
39:26
option C, this is what we give you.
39:28
Option B, this is what we give you.
39:29
Option A, this is what we give you.
39:35
So yeah, that's a conversation that I had with the team.
39:38
Basically. There's some other stuff that we
39:40
discussed, but it's already 14 minutes.
39:41
I don't want this broadcast to get any more longer than it
39:45
already is. Excuse me, but you can see why I
39:50
said I wanted to share with you guys the conversation that I had
39:52
with the team because there's some repercussions.
39:56
I mean, repercussions have been implications, some implications
39:59
for how we sell. So 1 moment.
40:05
OK, sorry, I'm back. I was about to sneeze.
40:07
I don't want to sneeze into the microphone and turn some of you
40:10
off. You know, I feel as even Muko is
40:12
hitting your eardrums. So yeah.
40:15
So that's why I shared the conversation because it has
40:17
implications for how it is that we sell.
40:21
So if you're discovering the podcast for the first time, I
40:24
hope you're having fun. I hope the things that I'm
40:26
saying make sense. And if you love these sorts of
40:28
things are big, subscribe. It's not for my benefit.
40:31
Actually, it is for your own benefit because when I drop the
40:34
next episode, you'll get the notification and you come and
40:37
you get that goodness to learn about how to sell, how to
40:41
promote yourself, promote your agenda, promote your business,
40:43
promote your career, promote your whatever.
40:47
So that's it. And that's all for today.
40:49
Thank you very much for listening.
40:50
Again, I'm your host, Tavishima Ayede.
40:52
If you'd love to connect with me, call, send me a text message
40:55
or a WhatsApp message on 6466 2140 and No Fear.
41:01
I called 650 doesn't mean I would charge 650.
41:04
There's some people where you would charge 650.
41:06
There's some people where you would charge 1.7.
41:09
There's some people where you would charge two 5300.
41:11
So during no, they fear. And in the beginning, I'm not
41:14
trying to collect money from anyone.
41:17
I'm just trying to figure out, you know, is there a problem
41:19
here? Can I will help this person
41:21
solve the problem? And you know, for the people we
41:23
know who you know, you don't get money, it's not a problem.
41:26
I will always point you to one or two resources where you can
41:28
always find some help. So don't worry.
41:31
So far, I have only turned away one person and that's because
41:35
that *** was trying to hit me up after midnight and like what the
41:39
hell, You know Niger, we did. What are you calling after
41:41
midnight? Like I don't know you.
41:43
So I've only turned away one person so far and it's been five
41:47
years, so reach out. I love meeting listeners of the
41:50
podcast. So that's it.
41:52
I'll catch you guys some other time.