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Your Proposal: The Conversation Starter, Not the End · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the podcast.
• 0:03
  My name is Tavishima Aede and I'm your host.
• 0:06
  I'm making today's recording outside church 'cause, you know,
• 0:08
  it's a Sunday and the kids are having cat kissing classes as
• 0:11
  usual, so there will be some noise in the background.
• 0:14
  Now today, what I want us to look at on the podcast is
• 0:17
  something that we've done before, I think, but was part of
• 0:21
  a larger broadcast. And so I just want to make it
• 0:23
  more succinct. Succinct Abby.
• 0:27
  Yeah, sorry. Forgive me.
• 0:28
  Anyway, So where are we? All right, so this is about
• 0:31
  proposals. Now, this is something I was
• 0:33
  spoken about before. Oh, I forgot.
• 0:37
  For those of you who want to connect, you can call, send me a
• 0:39
  text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.
• 0:46
  Now lots of us have to make proposals, presentations, you
• 0:49
  know, you name it because we're trying to drum up business.
• 0:53
  But then there's some of us have gotten into the very bad habit
• 0:55
  of, you know, you create your proposal, it's just one document
• 0:58
  and you just send it like that. The person will say, oh, thank
• 1:01
  you very much, send me an e-mail.
• 1:02
  And then you just send it. And then you don't hear about
• 1:05
  from the person. And then you now send them a
• 1:08
  message saying, have you received the proposal?
• 1:11
  They didn't answer. You now send another message.
• 1:13
  Have you read the proposal? They didn't answer.
• 1:15
  You know, send another message. Have you considered the
• 1:17
  proposal? No, they didn't answer.
• 1:20
  And you're now wondering, are these people, like, ghosting me?
• 1:22
  Like, why now? Why are people so wicked?
• 1:25
  So the problem is not that people are wicked.
• 1:27
  The problem is that you didn't quite think through the sales
• 1:29
  process and you didn't anticipate next steps.
• 1:32
  And so you send people a proposal.
• 1:34
  They've received proposals for three or four other people.
• 1:37
  And to be honest, they'll just carry the proposal and keep, you
• 1:40
  know, until it suits them or until they make a decision.
• 1:44
  Then they'll now call you if you're the anointed 1.
• 1:47
  So what you have to do is whenever you're sending over a
• 1:51
  proposal, well, first of all, I'm not one of those people who
• 1:54
  believe that you should send a proposal 1st and then you now
• 1:57
  start playing catch up. What I prefer to do is create
• 2:00
  the proposal, you know, keep it, but then call the person and
• 2:02
  then walk them through the proposal.
• 2:04
  After you walk them through the proposal, you now send it after
• 2:07
  you've agreed on the next step. So in other words, it's like
• 2:11
  this. So, Olga Bio, how are you doing
• 2:14
  now? You know, the last time that we
• 2:15
  spoke last week Wednesday, you said I should create proposal
• 2:19
  and no problem, I don't create them.
• 2:20
  But I say let me just call you before I send it.
• 2:24
  There's one or two things in this proposal that I want us to
• 2:28
  discuss. So are you are you free?
• 2:30
  Share your with your computer now, Abby.
• 2:32
  OK, no problem. I just send the e-mail.
• 2:34
  No, no, no, just hold on. Well, I don't send them.
• 2:37
  Have you seen it? OK, let me send it to you on
• 2:40
  WhatsApp. Well, let me send it.
• 2:42
  Have you seen it? If you don't drop, OK, no
• 2:44
  problem. So I'll go by or now you just
• 2:46
  open the proposal. You go and check this section
• 2:48
  where I said this and this and that and that.
• 2:50
  This is where I refer to that thing that we spoke about last
• 2:53
  week. Remember I was telling you that
• 2:55
  we supposed on like this, like this, like this, and that's the
• 2:58
  reason why we arrived at this amount that's at the bottom
• 3:03
  here. So you remember when we were
• 3:04
  talking like that, I had any proposal.
• 3:06
  I also added this one, added this one, added this one.
• 3:10
  So I'll go by. I beg, is there anything that I
• 3:11
  forgot? It's important to answer that
• 3:13
  question because Ogabyo might say you need answer.
• 3:16
  So this is very important. You know now very good.
• 3:19
  You now know that there's issues with your proposal before you
• 3:22
  send it. It's OK, No problem.
• 3:24
  No vet. So this one I sent to you, just
• 3:27
  disregard it. Let me edit it.
• 3:29
  OK, Today is Sunday, give me like around.
• 3:31
  I can't use the I'll send you another one.
• 3:33
  Is that OK? Or Gabyo will say yes.
• 3:35
  So you see, in the process of walking somebody through, you
• 3:38
  can get feedback on a couple of things.
• 3:39
  You now know whether you're hitting the mark or whether you
• 3:44
  are missing the mark. But let's assume that everything
• 3:46
  checks out, everything is OK. We still have to have some kind
• 3:49
  of call to action. So off the top of my head, one
• 3:52
  simple 1, is this OK? So I'll go by now.
• 3:55
  So as I've sent you this thing, most of my customers in the
• 3:58
  past, the satisfied customers we've had in the past, usually
• 4:01
  they take like 2 weeks to look over the proposal and then
• 4:05
  decide, do you think that's OK? OK, Bayo might say sure, two
• 4:09
  weeks is enough to consider, no problem.
• 4:10
  In that case, you paint him down as two weeks.
• 4:13
  You also tell him no OK Bayo, sure, no problem.
• 4:15
  Today is September 1st. That means I'm calling you
• 4:17
  around that kind of September 14th.
• 4:18
  You say sure, no problem. You can say that you guys have
• 4:21
  agreed to a next step now while he's on the phone so that when
• 4:27
  you're trying to call him on September 14th, there's a clear
• 4:29
  reason for why you're following up.
• 4:32
  We see how you're keeping the conversation, the conversation
• 4:36
  in play. Now, the good thing about doing
• 4:39
  this is that some people who say 2 weeks, no big jam.
• 4:41
  Now call me back by Wednesday I would have decided and then
• 4:46
  that's perfect. Now you know, because the person
• 4:48
  has given me a timeline. It's not as if you just send the
• 4:51
  proposal by yourself and then when you remember, you now be
• 4:54
  portioning the person. Have you received the proposal?
• 4:56
  Did you read the proposal? Have you considered the proposal
• 4:59
  or Gabio, how far my proposal? So this is my own default.
• 5:06
  Call this person and walk them through the proposal.
• 5:09
  Then you send it, gaining some feedback on some things.
• 5:12
  Then you agree on the next steps.
• 5:14
  That is my own default. Now assuming that is not
• 5:17
  possible, you know, some people will say, look young man, I say
• 5:20
  I'm busy, just send me this proposal.
• 5:22
  Sure, no problem. You can send it in the WhatsApp
• 5:25
  or in the e-mail. In fact, for me, I prefer to do
• 5:28
  both because I repeat, e-mail is not a conversational platform.
• 5:33
  You send somebody a proposal only on e-mail, like e-mail just
• 5:37
  has that vibe. It has that kind of official
• 5:39
  vibe. You can't carry a conversation
• 5:40
  over e-mail most times. And if you carry a conversation
• 5:43
  over e-mail, the thing won't be smooth at all.
• 5:47
  So yeah, I will send it no problem. e-mail.
• 5:49
  I also send it as WhatsApp. Now all the portioning I'm going
• 5:53
  to be doing on WhatsApp, you see now everything will rhyme.
• 5:56
  Instead of you send somebody e-mail, the person has received
• 5:59
  it. You're now going back to go and
• 6:00
  be portioning in WhatsApp to see how far would that.
• 6:03
  So I'll send e-mail, I'll also send WhatsApp, but for me I'll
• 6:08
  be pursuing the person on WhatsApp because WhatsApp is
• 6:10
  much more conversational. So at the end what?
• 6:16
  Sorry, not at the end. Yes, at the end of the proposal
• 6:19
  document, yeah, usually put, I make sure you put call to action
• 6:22
  on there. If it's not proper, what you do
• 6:24
  is you attach the proposal as a document, but then in the
• 6:27
  communication you put a call to action there.
• 6:32
  So let's use that simple first call to action that I came up
• 6:34
  with, which is OK bio. Most of my happiest customers
• 6:38
  usually take like one week to go through the proposal and
• 6:44
  consider the proposal and then let us know if they have a
• 6:46
  decision. So would that be OK?
• 6:51
  Question mark send, ending your e-mail, ending your WhatsApp
• 6:55
  communication ending or whatever with a question like that
• 6:57
  increases the odds that people will respond to you.
• 7:01
  Now, it's not everybody that will respond.
• 7:03
  Don't worry whether we'll say those people lack home training
• 7:06
  or whatever. Look, don't worry, you're 1 is
• 7:08
  we're just trying to increase the odds.
• 7:09
  There's no way that we'll close every single deal that we have
• 7:13
  on the table. It was like that all of us would
• 7:16
  be billionaires, but we don't close every single deal.
• 7:18
  So don't worry. So end your communications with
• 7:22
  a question mark, with a call to action.
• 7:24
  You know, something like that just to get the conversation
• 7:26
  going. Now if you do that, chances are
• 7:29
  you stand the chance of of getting a response later.
• 7:35
  Now, let us assume that you know, you didn't catch this
• 7:38
  podcast on time. You've already sent it and you
• 7:41
  didn't put call to action. You also didn't call the person
• 7:43
  to walk them through. Sorry, one moment.
• 7:47
  OK, where was I? So you didn't call them through
• 7:51
  now. So it is what you do when you
• 7:53
  try to call them later on. Then the answer you send text
• 7:56
  message, don't send a message. Have you read the proposal?
• 7:59
  Have you received the proposal? Have you considered the
• 8:02
  proposal? That's bad because you know
• 8:04
  clearly most times the person have received it.
• 8:06
  It's just that they're not ready to talk to you yet.
• 8:08
  And to be honest, have you received the proposal?
• 8:10
  Have you read, have you considered the answer that can
• 8:13
  come will either be yes or no. And remember what I've been
• 8:16
  telling you guys on the podcast, that is best when we are asking
• 8:20
  questions in a way that are much more open or in a way that can
• 8:24
  prompt conversations because a lot of us are in complex sales
• 8:27
  environments. So The thing is, we're just
• 8:29
  trying to stay in play. You understand, we're trying to
• 8:31
  remain top of mind, continue to follow them to the yarn, you
• 8:34
  know, so that we stand a chance. So let's be talking.
• 8:39
  So that's how that's how you do it.
• 8:40
  So proposal, have you received proposal?
• 8:42
  The answer is either yes or no. That's no good then.
• 8:46
  So what you do now is you ask questions in a way that are much
• 8:49
  more open and remember that open-ended conversations begin
• 8:54
  with the 5 W framework. You know who, why, what, how,
• 8:58
  when, how you know all those sorts of things.
• 9:01
  So when you ask like that, OK, sorry, how is not AW, but how
• 9:04
  people put them there. So who let let me be counting
• 9:08
  yourself. Who, why, what, where, when?
• 9:13
  Those are the five WS who, why, what, where, when.
• 9:18
  So when we start conversations like that, you can see that it's
• 9:22
  much more. The chances of getting a
• 9:24
  conversation are much more open. Like those of us who have
• 9:26
  children. If you ask your child, how was
• 9:28
  school today? Your song we say was good.
• 9:32
  That's what they always say, especially those that are,
• 9:35
  excuse me, especially those that are like around that current
• 9:39
  teenage age. Sorry about the noise in the
• 9:41
  background though. You know, today the Pentecostal
• 9:43
  people, they're praying. It's like they're beating the
• 9:45
  devil out of somebody today. You know how their prayer
• 9:47
  service can be. So where was I?
• 9:52
  So your son will say it was good.
• 9:53
  But then if you use five, you know, The Who, why, what, where,
• 9:57
  when, how the chances are you can get your teenage son or
• 10:00
  teenage daughter have a conversation with you.
• 10:02
  You can say, OK, how was school today?
• 10:04
  OK, no, that one who say it was good.
• 10:06
  You can say oh, what fun things did you do in school today?
• 10:11
  You see, what fun things did you do in school today?
• 10:13
  It prompts a conversation. So that is a what?
• 10:17
  Or you can say, OK, like when, OK, tell me when something
• 10:22
  exciting happened in school today.
• 10:26
  You see that kind of thing prompts a conversation.
• 10:28
  So whether we relationships now with our children or with our
• 10:31
  boyfriend, girlfriend is the same with our customers.
• 10:34
  So 5 WS who, why, what, where, when That's the five Some people
• 10:39
  now say we can throw in How so One question you can send.
• 10:44
  It's not saying have you received, have you read?
• 10:46
  Have you considered you call the person bring bring get an answer
• 10:52
  and you send a text message. OK bio try calling you earlier
• 10:56
  number busy. No holla, no need to call me
• 10:59
  back. Just wanted to find out how do
• 11:01
  we compare to the other vendors that you have looked at the
• 11:04
  proposal so far, question mark Blap, you see that, that kind of
• 11:09
  thing. Now if they respond, the chances
• 11:12
  are the response should be much more conversational.
• 11:14
  So look, some people will ignore, don't worry.
• 11:17
  See, don't worry about people who ignore whether they have
• 11:20
  good home training or not. You know, it's none of our
• 11:22
  business. You just remember that sales is
• 11:24
  a matter of probabilities. We're trying to do things that
• 11:27
  increase the odds in our favour. Because I know some of you
• 11:29
  saying I asked this question, but then one person didn't
• 11:31
  respond like like, what the hell does that have to do with me?
• 11:34
  One person didn't respond, I hope.
• 11:36
  And so pay attention to the people who responded and let's
• 11:39
  let's see how we can move this business going forward.
• 11:42
  If you waste much of your time complaining, this didn't work,
• 11:44
  this didn't work, this didn't work, you will not do anything.
• 11:47
  So just learn the one that is best business practice and then
• 11:50
  begin to apply. Sometimes you will work,
• 11:52
  sometimes you will not work. The time that it works, glory to
• 11:55
  God, you keep moving forward. The time that it did not work,
• 11:58
  you know what did our guy Jay-Z said?
• 12:00
  You know, for those of us used to listen to Jay-Z when we're in
• 12:02
  secondary school, if you're feeling like a pimp, go on,
• 12:05
  brush your shoulder off. That's how you do it.
• 12:08
  You know, you got to stay fly. If it works, nice.
• 12:12
  If it doesn't work, brush the dead off your shoulder and
• 12:15
  continue moving. Keep flowing.
• 12:16
  Stay fly, stay in the game. That's how you do it.
• 12:19
  So that's one question. How do we compare to other
• 12:22
  vendors? If some people response, they
• 12:25
  might say, well, you're on the high side.
• 12:27
  At least now there's room for you to continue the conversation
• 12:30
  because the person say you're on the high side.
• 12:33
  Hopefully the person will say you're the cheapest.
• 12:35
  Well, because you know, that can be either good or bad depending
• 12:38
  on how you look at it. But you see, that's an example
• 12:40
  of a question they can use to open up the conversation using
• 12:46
  the five WS who, why, what, where when there's some people
• 12:51
  say let's add how even though it's not AW OK, well, it ends in
• 12:54
  West. So we can say is it is AW.
• 12:57
  So how do we compare to the other vendors?
• 12:59
  Another question you can ask. OK, bio try.
• 13:02
  OK. No, I've said bio busy Madam
• 13:04
  busy. Try calling earlier number busy.
• 13:07
  No, Hala, just wanted to find out since I sent you over the
• 13:11
  proposal, what thoughts have come up since you read the
• 13:14
  proposal, See what thoughts have come up since you read the
• 13:18
  proposal. Question mark, just end it like
• 13:21
  that. Let it end with the question.
• 13:23
  When we're trying to prompt a conversation, this is not
• 13:26
  something that people can reply with yes or reply with no.
• 13:33
  It is something that if the person replies, it will have to
• 13:35
  be conversational as you don't see the proposal.
• 13:39
  Now what are the what are the important things that you are
• 13:43
  considering? See what are the important
• 13:46
  things that you're considering? Now they're using the proposal.
• 13:49
  So you go ahead and assume if the person has there's no right
• 13:52
  do say ah, Tarisha beg no Vex. I haven't read it.
• 13:56
  No problem. The conversation is continuing.
• 13:58
  Like I said, complex sale. The goal is let's stay in the
• 14:03
  know more. They relate.
• 14:04
  Let's have a conversation. Let's keep things moving.
• 14:07
  The only time when there's a problem is when people are
• 14:09
  quiet. If the person is quiet, the
• 14:12
  ghost, you, they zip up a hand, there's a problem.
• 14:14
  But so long as you, they young, you say 1, they say 2, you say
• 14:18
  A, they say B, they still hope. I'm just trying to keep this
• 14:22
  hope going. Remember, it's a game of
• 14:25
  probability. You're talking to 10 people.
• 14:27
  You can keep the conversation going along with 10 people, God
• 14:30
  willing. You close like four or five.
• 14:33
  You make some daily bread. So that's the scope.
• 14:36
  What was that? What are the important things?
• 14:39
  Are you considering another one? But I'm beside you.
• 14:43
  I tried calling you earlier. Number was busy.
• 14:47
  Number was billion, number was busy.
• 14:49
  Just wanted to confirm, now that you've had a look at the
• 14:51
  proposal, what would you like to see in the proposal?
• 14:54
  What else would you like to see? See another what question?
• 14:57
  Question mark send. If I may, I'd like to make it a
• 15:02
  little bit much more stronger, although some people say it's
• 15:05
  two forward. Boscha, may I say what would you
• 15:07
  like to see in the proposal that will make you confident in US
• 15:10
  moving forward? Question mark, send another W
• 15:15
  Another question is I was saying, have you received the
• 15:17
  proposal? Yeah.
• 15:19
  You see, Madam Barbara try calling you earlier.
• 15:23
  No bar unavailable. Just wanted to find out, Now
• 15:26
  that you've had a look at the proposal, how does this proposal
• 15:28
  fit into your timeline? Question mark, It is something
• 15:31
  that begs a conversation. It is not something that Madam
• 15:35
  Barbara can say yes or she can say no.
• 15:40
  And this is the one that a lot of you are afraid of.
• 15:42
  But quite frankly, you know, I've said it, but there's no
• 15:45
  problem with this is there's no problem you can use to start the
• 15:48
  conversation. But I'm Belinda try calling
• 15:52
  earlier your number was busy. But I believe that try calling
• 15:57
  earlier number was busy. Wanted to find out about the
• 16:00
  proposal. Now that you've had a look at
• 16:02
  it, how do we compare to the other quotes that you have
• 16:05
  received? But I believe that cannot answer
• 16:08
  yes or no. If she's combative, maybe she
• 16:12
  will answer back other proposals.
• 16:14
  Who told you that I had other proposals?
• 16:16
  Some of you are afraid because somebody can reply like that.
• 16:19
  But remember, this is a conversation.
• 16:21
  But I believe I cannot beat you. She will not slap you.
• 16:23
  This just business, hear me. Most you can do at that case,
• 16:28
  but I believe that I beg no vex. Usually most people that we have
• 16:31
  done business with the past were considering about two or three
• 16:34
  quotes before they ended up doing business with us.
• 16:37
  No Vexma, that is just the reason why I asked.
• 16:42
  So I'm assuming that ours is the only proposal that you've been
• 16:44
  looking at. See your continued conversation.
• 16:47
  Small, small, small. But this fear thing, please,
• 16:51
  evil should stop being afraid. The worst that will happen is
• 16:54
  that somebody will shout at you. Let me repeat.
• 16:56
  The worst that will happen is somebody will shout at you.
• 16:58
  Let me say one more time, the worst that will happen is that
• 17:02
  somebody will shout at you or they will ghost you or they will
• 17:05
  ignore you. Nobody will come to your house
• 17:07
  and beat you. If they come to your house and
• 17:09
  beat you, then I can assure you that you have been doing things
• 17:12
  that are highly unethical. That's the reason why.
• 17:18
  So just man up or woman up. Let's try and keep these
• 17:24
  conversations going. Try and learn best business
• 17:29
  practice around sales, around handling conversations, around
• 17:32
  negotiations, around all these things and you will be fine.
• 17:37
  But where a question needs to be asked to get the conversation
• 17:40
  moving, please ask that question.
• 17:43
  Nobody is perfect, nobody's 100% and sometimes you will ask and
• 17:48
  you'll be too forward. When that happens, you say oh,
• 17:52
  I'm very sorry Sir. No Vex, the reason why I asked
• 17:54
  the question is because of this, this, this, this, this.
• 17:57
  I'm sorry Sir, did not mean to offend.
• 17:59
  It's not a problem. Most Nigerians are decent human
• 18:03
  beings and the guy will say oh sorry, that's the speaker in
• 18:09
  church. I don't know why The thing is
• 18:10
  vibrating anyway. So most people will say most
• 18:13
  people are no more human beings or say, young man, you know,
• 18:16
  we're doing business, but you know, not be.
• 18:18
  So next time talk like this, talk like this, talk like this.
• 18:20
  You say thank you very much. I appreciate it.
• 18:23
  OK, So ask the question that needs to be asked.
• 18:26
  If you're Miss Yan, I apologize. Walk it back, take dressing and
• 18:30
  then move forward and you'll be fine.
• 18:32
  So that's just what I wanted to talk about in today's podcast
• 18:36
  episode. So basically, you've already
• 18:38
  signed the proposal. No problem asking have you
• 18:40
  received, have you read, have you considered?
• 18:43
  That's that's that's a foul? That's that's that's bad because
• 18:46
  he has the answer. Yes, they don't say anything.
• 18:49
  You now hook because if they just answer yes, they didn't say
• 18:52
  anything. And what you now say that will
• 18:56
  not make you sound too pushy. So let's try to keep a
• 18:58
  conversational. I remember the five WS who let
• 19:02
  me count who, why, what, where, when.
• 19:10
  Some people say we can throw in how so use that simple formula
• 19:18
  to get the conversation going again.
• 19:20
  But remember for me, the way I like to sell what I prefer is
• 19:26
  I'll finish the proposal. I will hold it.
• 19:29
  I will now call the person. They have not received the
• 19:31
  proposal yet, so there's still some incentive to talk to you.
• 19:35
  I will now talk the person through the proposal and gain
• 19:38
  feedback on the idea. If we are good, I will send it.
• 19:44
  Sometimes I will send it while we're on the call, but I'm
• 19:47
  trying to gain feedback on the idea.
• 19:48
  And now I want to know how is this proposal looking now so I
• 19:55
  can go through the proposal in my first scenario and then say
• 20:00
  OK or Gabriel. So now that we've discussed
• 20:02
  everything, you know, now that we've discussed everything so
• 20:08
  far. Based on this final figure that
• 20:10
  was spoken, how do we compare to the other quotes you've
• 20:13
  received? You see, I'm asking this
• 20:14
  question now down on the phone. So let's say I'm quoting or
• 20:18
  Gabio 5.5. The way he responds, the way he
• 20:24
  will laugh or the way he will keep quiet or the way he
• 20:28
  whatever, at least I will know now before I send this proposal
• 20:31
  that is 5.5 I sent is either looking good or is either
• 20:35
  looking bad. So and it does the way anyways,
• 20:38
  20 minutes, then Nova stretches this thing.
• 20:40
  So that's it. And that's all for today.
• 20:42
  Remember if you'd love to keep in touch, then the number to
• 20:46
  call to send a text message or WhatsApp message to is
• 20:49
  08064662140. Thank you very much for your
• 20:55
  time and attention. I'll catch you all at the next
• 20:58
  episode.