Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Managing Middlemen in Nigerian Business: Navigating the "Chief" and the "Connector"

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Managing Middlemen in Nigerian Business: Navigating the "Chief" and the "Connector" · 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
  Today we're going to be talking about what to do when you're
• 0:06
  being forced to work with an intermediary in business.
• 0:11
  In other words, what we're talking about today is this.
• 0:14
  Sometimes you are in that situation where there are two or
• 0:19
  three parties in the middle of a transaction.
• 0:21
  You know, there is you, then there is the client, then there
• 0:25
  is a connector, the middle man, the middle woman, you know,
• 0:29
  whoever it is that you want to call, whatever it is you want to
• 0:32
  call that person. And these situations can get
• 0:35
  tricky for a number of reasons and that's why we're going to be
• 0:38
  looking at it today also because there's one of my clients based
• 0:42
  in Lagos, they're in the business of content production
• 0:44
  and they are precisely in this situation.
• 0:47
  They are the ones who provide content production and there's a
• 0:53
  client who needs the service and there's somebody in the middle
• 0:58
  who has made the connection. But this person in the middle
• 1:01
  won't just get out of the way. And of course, it creates
• 1:04
  problems. But you know how for, do you
• 1:07
  know we're Nigerians now. So it's just one of these things
• 1:10
  we have to deal with. Is this your first time
• 1:12
  listening to the podcast? My name is Tavi Shima Ayede.
• 1:15
  I am a former lawyer turned business consultant.
• 1:19
  I'm making today's recording out of about the kids are having cat
• 1:22
  keys and classes and I'm in the parking lot.
• 1:24
  So expect to hear some noise in the background, whether it's
• 1:27
  instructors shouting or children running about or, you know,
• 1:31
  people just cleaning the compound.
• 1:32
  Well, then of course, there's a construction site right next to
• 1:35
  the church because there is another shopping mall coming up
• 1:38
  in Abuja, Everywhere in Abuja, shopping mall, shopping mall.
• 1:41
  So that was one of these things anyway.
• 1:45
  So of course, you know that we're not here today to talk
• 1:47
  about Abuja or my family situation.
• 1:50
  So we're talking about what to do when you're being forced to
• 1:52
  work with an intermediary in business.
• 1:55
  Oh, by the way, if you'd love to get in touch with me, you can
• 1:58
  call, send me a text message or send me a WhatsApp message on
• 2:01
  08064662140. So again, we are dealing with a
• 2:09
  situation where there are two or three people in this transaction
• 2:12
  in this business marriage, there's you, there's the client,
• 2:15
  there's the middle man, middle woman, the connector, the
• 2:17
  whatever. So you are the person who has
• 2:21
  the product, you are the person who has the service.
• 2:23
  You are the person who is going to do fulfillment.
• 2:26
  Now, if you've been listening to the podcast for any length of
• 2:28
  time, you know that fulfillment just means carry out the work.
• 2:32
  So for my clients who are in the business of social content
• 2:39
  production for for businesses, fulfillment means when they
• 2:44
  actually design the campaign, when they actually execute the
• 2:48
  campaign. Now for another client of mine
• 2:51
  who is in the solar space, fulfillment means when at the
• 2:55
  time actually comes to install the inverter equipment, install
• 2:59
  the battery, put the solar panel up on the roof, you know those
• 3:02
  sorts of things. So there is you and this is your
• 3:05
  responsibility. You have the product, you have
• 3:08
  the service, you're the one who does fulfillment.
• 3:10
  Then there's the client. The client is the beneficiary.
• 3:13
  The beneficiary is the person who is receiving the benefits of
• 3:16
  what it is that you are doing. So the person on top whose house
• 3:20
  you go and put solar panel, that is the client.
• 3:24
  That also is the person who is paying the bills.
• 3:27
  Then there is the middle man, there's the connection, the
• 3:30
  connector, the person who made the introduction, the person who
• 3:33
  called you to say, oh boy, how far they say I'm good man, I'm
• 3:36
  good. So what in there now any better?
• 3:39
  The person say yes, so that you know, I met Chief so so and so
• 3:42
  and this and this and this and that and the guys saying one do
• 3:45
  solar. That's the reason why I'm
• 3:46
  bossing you because you're the solar guy.
• 3:48
  No problem. Now hook me up now and a small
• 3:51
  thing. So what kind of houses is you
• 3:54
  know, blah, blah, blah. You start having the
• 3:55
  conversation. You tell the guy that and let me
• 3:58
  put you in a beg. Now just put me in touch with
• 4:00
  chief. Let me find out what chief
• 4:01
  wants. But in the middle man will start
• 4:03
  to you start now start to play funny.
• 4:06
  He won't give you chief's phone number.
• 4:07
  He won't carry you to the office to go and see chief.
• 4:10
  Excuse me? The guy always wants to be in
• 4:13
  the middle. He won't put you in direct
• 4:14
  contact with the chief. And you know, we're in Nigeria,
• 4:19
  so we understand, you know the reason why the guy doesn't want
• 4:22
  to connect you directly to chief because he doesn't want you to
• 4:26
  go there and then secure a deal of like 50 M and then maybe by
• 4:30
  the time you finish, you now remove maybe like 500 K and then
• 4:33
  dash him. No, no, no, no, no, no.
• 4:35
  He's not going to be happy with that, that for this kind of
• 4:37
  connection, how you give if I already came, the guy wants to
• 4:41
  be in the middle so that the end of the day he will say this is
• 4:44
  my 10% or this is my 20%. The middleman, the connector is
• 4:49
  looking out for his own pocket. He's not really concerned about
• 4:52
  chief. He just wants his own.
• 4:54
  He wants his own pound of flesh. So for those of you who find
• 4:59
  themselves in situations where there's a connector, there's a
• 5:01
  middleman, there's a middle woman, and then you begin to
• 5:04
  frustrate, like why are you getting frustrated?
• 5:05
  Calm down. Where Nigeria, this is just how
• 5:08
  it happens. You have no interest.
• 5:11
  Chief has his own interest, this middleman has his own interest.
• 5:14
  So getting angry is not going to solve the problem.
• 5:17
  You can't wish these people away.
• 5:20
  In fact, when we're new in business, sometimes this middle
• 5:22
  man, this middle woman disconnect us.
• 5:24
  Sometimes they're a good way for us to enter into the business.
• 5:28
  So don't be angry. What we do now.
• 5:32
  Well, what we're going to do here today on this broadcast
• 5:34
  episode, we're going to figure out how we can solve this
• 5:38
  problem. Oh, by the way, Speaking of
• 5:40
  solving problems, if you have 2345678910 business ideas, no
• 5:46
  matter how many you're trying to run all of them, but you're not
• 5:50
  making a single cobble with any of those businesses, then stop
• 5:53
  wasting your time. What you need to do is you
• 5:55
  actually need to reach out to me because I talk to people all the
• 5:59
  time who are facing these kinds of problems.
• 6:02
  Talk to me so I can help you figure out which of these
• 6:04
  business ideas is the best one to pursue.
• 6:07
  After that, we're going to validate the business idea.
• 6:11
  We're going to show the one that there's actual demand for, that
• 6:14
  people are willing to pay for and the people are willing to
• 6:16
  pay well for. And then after that, we're going
• 6:19
  to come up with a come up with a selling system for you so that
• 6:24
  you can have regular revenue. So if you're in that situation,
• 6:28
  you're juggling a bunch of ideas, you don't know how far,
• 6:31
  you don't know how to make this thing work, then reach out to
• 6:33
  me. I gave my phone number at the
• 6:35
  beginning of the podcast episode, but here it is again.
• 6:37
  It is 08064662140. So reach out to Bing unless here
• 6:45
  this help you get your business started in three easy steps.
• 6:51
  So back to what was saying now. So this whole connector, you
• 6:57
  know, hookup dynamic, The problem is whenever there is a
• 7:03
  somebody in between, it now becomes he said, she said, they
• 7:08
  said and that they said he said she said, You know, Kai, the is
• 7:15
  bad communication is Hanford. The reason why it has a problem
• 7:20
  is because whether OK, let's look at these my 2 clients now.
• 7:23
  If you're in the solar space, there's something that you need
• 7:26
  to do, which is need analysis. A need analysis is a very
• 7:29
  technical thing. So if you're on the solar space,
• 7:32
  you actually need to find out what kind of house does Chief
• 7:34
  live in? What kind of roof does Chief
• 7:39
  has? Is the roof facing to the east
• 7:43
  or to the West? How many kind of solar panels
• 7:46
  can go on Chief's roof? How many deep freezers does
• 7:50
  Chief want to power? How many TV's?
• 7:53
  How many fridges? How many this?
• 7:55
  How many that? Does Chief have children?
• 7:59
  Does Chief's children? Do they have maybe PlayStation 4
• 8:03
  inside all of their rooms and this and this and that and that?
• 8:07
  What exactly is Chief trying to power the building that Chief
• 8:10
  wants to power? Is it an office or is it a
• 8:13
  residential something? If it is an office, what are the
• 8:16
  kind of things that they power? Is it machines that are going on
• 8:19
  there? OK.
• 8:20
  If it's a residential or something, do people live there
• 8:22
  every single time of the year and is everything always on?
• 8:26
  I be is it just a holiday house that people come once in a while
• 8:29
  every two, two months and then they leave?
• 8:33
  So if you're on the solar space and your friend has got this
• 8:36
  kind of connect, now that's the problem.
• 8:39
  You actually need direct access to Chief because you need all
• 8:42
  this information direct and you need it quick so they can give
• 8:47
  them a quote or so that you can, you know, whatever it is, you
• 8:52
  need the information quick, quick.
• 8:54
  Now when there's a middleman, he will slow things down.
• 8:57
  Communication will be happened because the middleman will have
• 8:59
  to talk to Chief first. Then Chief will now tell that
• 9:03
  middleman what's up. The middleman will now relate it
• 9:05
  to you. Now for any of us who have been
• 9:07
  in this situation, we know that it is not effective.
• 9:11
  In fact, it is inconclusive. Inconclusive just means we no
• 9:14
  goofy conclude because the middleman will always forget one
• 9:19
  or two things that have very, very serious implications about
• 9:23
  how how we do this job, about the kind of quote that will drop
• 9:29
  or about the kind of configuration that we use.
• 9:32
  Now putting the solar panels on top of the house.
• 9:34
  So all these kind of middleman whatever always causes serious
• 9:38
  quarrel. Now, the reason why it causes
• 9:40
  squirrel because expectations are all clear and The thing is,
• 9:43
  if chief has told your middleman what's up, the middleman no
• 9:47
  relate time to you in a very clear way and then he's busy
• 9:51
  going forward this problem, you think your middleman is going to
• 9:55
  say chief no vex namir fob. The middleman will throw you
• 10:00
  under the bus. And that's all reasons why these
• 10:02
  things are very, very frustrating because for you,
• 10:06
  you're just trying to do a job and collect your money.
• 10:08
  But in this middleman, he's there and he's just frustrating
• 10:12
  everything. He's frustrating chief, he's
• 10:15
  frustrating himself, he's frustrating me.
• 10:19
  Now when expectations are unclear and when obligations are
• 10:21
  OK like this, this is is not the best.
• 10:26
  This is not the best way to talk to a potential customer, to be
• 10:29
  talking to that customer through the person.
• 10:32
  But remember what I said, the reason why we have this impasse,
• 10:35
  the reason why we have this breakdown is because the first
• 10:37
  guy that is hooking you up, his own concern is he wants his
• 10:41
  Commission or he wants his appreciation or he wants his
• 10:45
  payment, he wants his money, whatever it is that we call it.
• 10:48
  And then also sometimes people are guarding relevance and
• 10:51
  social currency, you understand? So if you need to get to
• 10:55
  President Tinobu, for instance, there are some people who will
• 10:58
  never give you direct access to the president because that is
• 11:00
  their relevance, that is their social currency will always be a
• 11:04
  matter of OK, you want to pass a message to the president, tell
• 11:07
  me, I will tell president, Whatever president says, I will
• 11:11
  tell you. So these are the reasons why
• 11:15
  some people want appreciation or they want Commission.
• 11:18
  Other people are trying to preserve their relevance and
• 11:20
  their social current currency. Now, what is the solution since
• 11:25
  we've been able to spell out what the problem is and remember
• 11:28
  what I said, solution is not to get angry, at least not now.
• 11:32
  It is the first time you're jamming it.
• 11:33
  Don't get angry. What we need to do is we need to
• 11:36
  have some very, very frank conversations.
• 11:39
  Excuse me, Obviously you can't have a frank conversation with
• 11:42
  Chief because the guy has not given you the direct access to
• 11:46
  Chief. So the first thing you do when
• 11:49
  you have a connector like this, who is looking at his own
• 11:52
  pockets, looking at his own appreciation.
• 11:54
  OK, well, women too are in this situation.
• 11:56
  In fact, if you're dealing with a woman, if I let me not talk,
• 12:01
  let me not talk, at least if it's a guy, you'll be able to
• 12:04
  say I'm a guy. How I'll be able to talk to one
• 12:06
  or two things. But it was a woman, she'll be
• 12:08
  like, so because I'm small, you think you can do me like this
• 12:12
  thing that do me like that? She will now double down.
• 12:14
  You'll now be in the worst situation.
• 12:15
  So sorry, I'm not trying to feel sexist, Say anything sexist.
• 12:19
  You know, I'm just being real. You know, usually women in
• 12:23
  business in this part of the world, they actually have to be
• 12:27
  more was that word. They have to be more unlabuted,
• 12:33
  you know, like they have to take a stand so that nobody will say
• 12:35
  and a woman will don't like this.
• 12:37
  No dorm like that. So I should need to stand firm.
• 12:41
  So I'm just saying that, you know, sometimes or knowingly we
• 12:43
  trigger one or two things. I've been in that situation and
• 12:46
  I was talking to a lady and I wanted to give them some
• 12:50
  suggestions about some of the campaigns that we're working on.
• 12:54
  So I said, oh, Madam, did you consider this?
• 12:55
  Madam, did you consider that? And I didn't realize that every
• 12:59
  single time I said Madam, Madam, Madam Rumor was taking it as a
• 13:03
  jab or as a court, you know, trying to be respectful.
• 13:06
  But every single time I said Madam Rumor was taking that me,
• 13:08
  I was, I was jabbing her, you know, like calling her Madam
• 13:13
  when she's not really like as if like I'm abusing her or calling
• 13:20
  her authority into question or something like that.
• 13:22
  But honestly speaking, I was just trying to be respectful if
• 13:25
  I'd have left my lesson because since then, there are a couple
• 13:28
  of women who have told me do not call me Madam.
• 13:31
  And I have to say, oh, sorry, sorry, Ma, no, Vex.
• 13:34
  I'm just trying to be respectful.
• 13:35
  What would you like me to call you?
• 13:36
  And I'm still working on it because there's some people who
• 13:39
  say, no, just call me Alice. And I'm like, Madam Nina, Jawe
• 13:44
  do if people see us outside and I'm saying, Alice, how are you
• 13:48
  doing? Like they will slap me like
• 13:51
  you're my mom's age, mate. I can't be saying good morning,
• 13:53
  Alice, so I can't. So sometimes I try to get around
• 14:00
  it, you know, I say my once in a while, maybe I say auntie or
• 14:03
  something. And some people that the thing
• 14:05
  still causes quarrel. My wife has said was your own.
• 14:08
  If she says call her Alice, just call her Alice.
• 14:11
  Anyway, maybe maybe one day I'll have the liver look at my mom's
• 14:15
  age, mate, and I'll say, oh, good morning Alice, how are you
• 14:18
  doing? How are the children?
• 14:21
  Anyway, let me move on. So we need to have a frank
• 14:26
  conversation now without middle man or that middle woman.
• 14:31
  Now, first of all, since these people are just worried about
• 14:33
  themselves, themselves, themselves, we have to play into
• 14:35
  the whole thing. I know some of you won't like
• 14:37
  it, but hey, that money will be fine.
• 14:40
  You know, when you have an obstacle, we have to go through
• 14:41
  it somehow. If based on principle, you don't
• 14:45
  like doing these things, then just hashing, just hashing like
• 14:52
  somebody else talking to, I can't remember.
• 14:54
  The guy said he would never call anybody bigger Bros.
• 14:56
  So OK, no problem. You don't want to call people
• 14:59
  bigger Bros. It's not as if it's compulsory.
• 15:01
  But you know, there are times that, you know, it's Niger that
• 15:05
  we just do one of those things, Say senior man, I heal you.
• 15:09
  What's going on now is money you're looking for, you know,
• 15:12
  say anything, get out of the way.
• 15:13
  I'm not saying go on grovel. I'll never recommend any of you
• 15:18
  should grow up anyway. Let me just keep going.
• 15:22
  So first of all, now they only care about themselves and no
• 15:24
  problem. Let's continue.
• 15:25
  So first of all, you thank the person you acknowledge the
• 15:27
  person you say. Guy, I appreciate you because if
• 15:31
  not because of you, I cannot get this kind of connect at all.
• 15:34
  Thank you very much, my brother. Thank you very much, my sister.
• 15:38
  You put that one out there, you know, you smoothen their ego and
• 15:44
  even if you think you could have gotten this job without them, as
• 15:46
  far as they're concerned, they're the ones who are the
• 15:48
  alpha and the Omega. They're the ones who are the
• 15:50
  way. They're the ones who are
• 15:51
  connecting you to, to, to, to eternal life.
• 15:55
  So it doesn't matter what you think.
• 15:57
  So let's just get this over with, Bros.
• 16:00
  If not because of you, if I don't get this kind of connects
• 16:02
  like how, how for no presidency, my guy, I appreciate you.
• 16:09
  Then you now move straight into intentions.
• 16:14
  You tell the person, now look, say Bros, see this situation
• 16:19
  away. Now I want to do a very good job
• 16:22
  here because this kind serious contract like this, I don't want
• 16:27
  to rubbish your own reputation. I don't rubbish my own
• 16:30
  reputation. Because if if we don't handle
• 16:34
  this thing well and I rubbish your reputation, who knows how
• 16:37
  we'll see this kind of opportunity again.
• 16:40
  And then like you're my guy now, like you've you've you've tried
• 16:43
  to hook me up on this thing. So no, how, no, how.
• 16:47
  I can't solve your own reputation.
• 16:48
  I can't. I want to do this thing.
• 16:51
  Well, so that chief will come back again, presidency will call
• 16:56
  us again so that they can give us good business, good contract
• 16:59
  again. So, you know, at least before
• 17:03
  presidency, you know, let's say this in no workout, at least
• 17:06
  this year we'll chop one contract.
• 17:07
  Next year we'll chop one contract.
• 17:08
  You didn't know. Enter.
• 17:09
  No problem. At least we don't chop 2.
• 17:13
  But how you tell the person the intention will be like, look, I
• 17:16
  don't want to mess this thing up because I don't want to spoil
• 17:19
  your reputation and I want us to be able to get good money again.
• 17:25
  So that's how you set the scope of the conversation.
• 17:28
  That's how you lay down the intention.
• 17:33
  Eventually you have to start talking about money expectations
• 17:35
  because remember, whether we like it or not, money and social
• 17:38
  relevance are the root of these whole things.
• 17:41
  So there are two ways of going about it.
• 17:46
  When it comes to sales. I've told you guys about how for
• 17:51
  me, I like to set the expectations.
• 17:56
  There's some other people who prefer to try and tease out what
• 17:59
  the other person's expectations are.
• 18:00
  You know, either way is fine. So in this case, you can try and
• 18:07
  tease out the other person's expectations.
• 18:08
  You say, you know, Bros for this kind of thing, you know, I
• 18:11
  suppose greet you whenever you don't finish.
• 18:13
  So she if I bring 10%, you know, go bad.
• 18:17
  Put it like a question. This is the beginning is the
• 18:20
  opening salvo is just the beginning of you haggling.
• 18:23
  But start off with whatever is customary in your trade.
• 18:27
  So like, OK, guys I'm working with right now is based in Orca.
• 18:32
  He does real estate. So for that particular part of
• 18:35
  the world, the lawyer collects 10%.
• 18:39
  So if you are talking to the lawyer and you tell the lawyer
• 18:42
  that you give him 5%, you're insulting him.
• 18:45
  So if the lawyer normally collects 10% and the lawyer is
• 18:49
  the connector and you tell him and you tell him that you tell
• 18:52
  him 10%, you know that is not an insult at all.
• 18:56
  You're recognizing what is customary.
• 18:58
  The lawyer will now say, what do you mean 10%?
• 19:01
  That 10% is my official something.
• 19:04
  We have to put something extra because I'm the one who
• 19:06
  introduced you to him. They will now start jumping back
• 19:09
  and forth, whether it's 15% or 20% or whatever is customary,
• 19:13
  start from there. But you can see how you know,
• 19:15
  you ease into it. You know, oh, when this thing is
• 19:18
  over, I'd like to greet you. So if I come like this, would it
• 19:21
  be OK? But either way, we started
• 19:25
  discussing these things upfront. When you discuss these things
• 19:28
  upfront, these are some of the things that make people relax.
• 19:30
  Like, OK, this person that I'm connecting that I'm bringing in
• 19:34
  or this deal is not a greedy bastard.
• 19:36
  The guy who shines me, the guy will try and run away, The guy
• 19:38
  will try and corner, you know. So these are the things that
• 19:41
  make people relax when we start discussing these things upfront,
• 19:44
  money expectations. If you don't discuss these money
• 19:48
  expectations upfront, expect that this middleman, this middle
• 19:51
  woman, we still want to stand firm in her place between you
• 19:56
  and between chief or between president or between senator or
• 19:59
  between whoever. He or she will stand firm.
• 20:04
  When you start discussing these things, people can now start
• 20:07
  relaxing, they can start shifting because they can see
• 20:10
  that you're a serious person, you are mature somebody you know
• 20:13
  what's up, you know, you know, game, recognize game, you know
• 20:17
  what's going on, You're not trying to be too quick.
• 20:21
  So discuss these things upfront. These are the kind of things
• 20:25
  that give people confidence. So they will say, OK, here's
• 20:28
  Chief's phone number, but never you call chief, only WhatsApp
• 20:31
  message or no problem, let's go and see chief.
• 20:36
  But never you go there on your own, only when two of us are
• 20:39
  together. When you get to that level, you
• 20:42
  know it's better than he said. She said, oh, I spoke to chief,
• 20:46
  Chief said this. Chief said that at least this
• 20:49
  one, when you're on WhatsApp level with chief, you can ask
• 20:51
  directly or when both of you go house to the house together, you
• 20:55
  can go directly. Now that is when you try and
• 21:01
  tease out what the person is thinking whether that 10% is
• 21:04
  good or not. Now there are some place, there
• 21:08
  are some people like my mom see for instance, because she was a
• 21:11
  marketing executive. And of course, you know like I
• 21:13
  said now Niger we day is just one of those things.
• 21:17
  So it doesn't matter when you started, whether you started
• 21:19
  your career in the 80s or you started into business in the
• 21:22
  2000s is something that will not go away.
• 21:25
  So I've seen my mom see in those kind of situations before.
• 21:29
  I've seen it. And I'm sure that for people who
• 21:33
  entered business, you know, 2-3 decades before, my mom see was
• 21:35
  the same thing now. So that's some people like my
• 21:38
  mom see who come forward and say, oh, how can I say thank
• 21:41
  you? And they put the ball in the
• 21:42
  person's court also. Because sometimes when you put
• 21:47
  the ball in the person's court, you know, they're reasonable.
• 21:49
  Somebody, how will I put it? You know, their sense of shame
• 21:53
  will take over and they won't call something that is too high
• 21:57
  anyway. But these are just two general
• 21:58
  approaches. But we can't run away from the
• 22:00
  fact that, look, this middleman, this middle woman, she wants
• 22:04
  something. We both know that he or she
• 22:08
  wants something. The sooner we start talking
• 22:11
  about what this something is, what constitutes this something?
• 22:14
  What is this efficient something?
• 22:16
  We can get people to start to relax on one or two things.
• 22:20
  Who knows, if you conduct yourself well, who knows, you
• 22:24
  might even get the phone number. And they say, oh, you know what,
• 22:27
  just whenever I need to call Chief, call him.
• 22:29
  Whenever I need to see Chief, see him, just keep me updated.
• 22:32
  You never know. So in fact, this update is also
• 22:36
  another mistake that some of us make.
• 22:39
  Now, whether somebody says they want something or they don't
• 22:41
  want something, it is just good business practice, whether in
• 22:44
  Nigeria or America or in the Netherlands or in Antarctica, it
• 22:48
  is just good practice to regularly update people.
• 22:51
  Any referral just be updating somebody.
• 22:53
  Somebody gives you a referral and they tell you 10% be
• 22:56
  updating them when things go on. Somebody gives you a referral
• 22:59
  and they say no, I'm just doing it because, you know, I'm a
• 23:03
  Christian. No, don't give me Commission.
• 23:05
  I don't need Commission. No problem.
• 23:08
  Whatever the terms, make sure that you update the person.
• 23:15
  Update the person just means you give the personal phone calls or
• 23:18
  you give the person text message at major milestones.
• 23:22
  So when you establish contact with chief, update this person,
• 23:26
  say, bro, what's up now? And that chief where we
• 23:28
  discussed last time and I finally called him today, update
• 23:32
  him. If Commission is on the line.
• 23:37
  That's the kind of thing that make the middleman feel at ease,
• 23:40
  like, OK, this guy is not going behind my back.
• 23:43
  If there's no Commission on the line.
• 23:45
  It's the kind of thing that make this person feel at ease, like,
• 23:47
  oh, OK, he's taking my referral seriously.
• 23:51
  So phone call, SMS, WhatsApp are the major milestones.
• 23:55
  When you establish contact, give them update.
• 23:58
  Whenever you visit Chief, give them update.
• 24:01
  If you and Chief have gone for physical inspection, give them
• 24:03
  update. If you went to Chief's house,
• 24:05
  since we're talking about solar and you climbed on the roof and
• 24:08
  you did measurement and everything and you can fit 50
• 24:11
  solar panels there, give the connector update.
• 24:14
  When people are at the contract stage, at the proposal stage and
• 24:17
  you're talking money, give the guy update.
• 24:20
  When Chief makes a payment or a deposit, give the guy update.
• 24:24
  If there's any quarrel, you and Chief are quarreling, there's
• 24:27
  any set back, give the guy update.
• 24:30
  When you have started doing fulfillment, you started doing
• 24:32
  partial delivery, you started doing installment, give the guy
• 24:36
  update the connector any which way, always loop the connector
• 24:41
  in. It is just good practice
• 24:44
  anywhere in the world. It is good practice if I connect
• 24:49
  you to somebody else, whether I ask you for appreciation, I
• 24:53
  don't ask you for appreciation. It's just good practice.
• 24:55
  When you call the person you say oh tavish most up now or that
• 24:59
  guy finally called the personal, this how it went.
• 25:01
  Oh, OK, if I didn't ask for anything good, it's not a
• 25:05
  problem. You're updating me.
• 25:07
  You're showing me that you are a professional and that you're
• 25:09
  taking the referral seriously. But either way, always update if
• 25:14
  commissioner is on the line. These are the kind of things
• 25:15
  that make the person relax and don't be afraid, especially in
• 25:23
  Nigeria. One reason why it's very, very
• 25:24
  important is because let's say commissioners on the line and
• 25:27
  you go, you do update. Somehow, somehow the person we
• 25:29
  hear because it's a, you know, it's a small world, it's a small
• 25:33
  world. Any which way you connect all
• 25:37
  here the owners are thinking, I was thinking Tavishima is a
• 25:42
  correct guy. I made this introduction to him.
• 25:45
  He now went to go and see Chief behind my back.
• 25:48
  Meanwhile, it was not like that. It's not as if you're sneaking
• 25:50
  around. So let him know because whether
• 25:53
  he like it or not, he will hear it's a small world.
• 25:56
  He will hear that you went. Then there's some other things
• 26:01
  that we can, what was I going to say now?
• 26:07
  So I lost my train of thought. So anyhow, sure.
• 26:13
  So we always keep this person up to date.
• 26:16
  Then for all these things that I'm suggesting, you know, these
• 26:18
  conversations that you have with the person about the money or
• 26:24
  when we get to the point of talking about how this thing is
• 26:26
  not working out for you, you always have to explain things
• 26:29
  from their own point of view. That's from the connector's
• 26:32
  point of connector's point of view.
• 26:36
  And I already gave an example. So how what you're trying to
• 26:41
  basically what you're trying to say is that look, all these
• 26:43
  things that I'm saying, all these things that I'm suggesting
• 26:45
  or all these changes I'm recommending is because I don't
• 26:48
  want to mess you up and I don't want to mess chief.
• 26:51
  If you come at it saying this thing does not profiting me.
• 26:54
  This thing is not benefiting me. This thing is not good for me.
• 26:59
  Now not be an easy conversation. So it's not me, me, me, me, me.
• 27:05
  Yes, you're looking out for yourself, but to make this
• 27:08
  conversation easy or pretend that we're coming from their own
• 27:11
  point of view. So it will always be you, you,
• 27:13
  you and chief, chief, chief or presidency, presidency.
• 27:16
  So you say, bro, I appreciate disconnect.
• 27:20
  But then you now have to be honest.
• 27:21
  Like bro, no vex. But I guess to be honest with
• 27:23
  you, you know, this back and forth is making me slip on a few
• 27:27
  things. Because you see now this chief's
• 27:30
  house, you know, based on this back and forth, that's how I
• 27:33
  didn't know that his roof pan, his roof pan is so, so and so I
• 27:37
  thought the thing will carry only 45 panels, but meanwhile,
• 27:42
  there's space for 51. Then based on the power
• 27:45
  consumption and everything, you see that this system that is now
• 27:48
  on paper is not going to be enough to power chief's house or
• 27:53
  to power his office or to power his factory.
• 27:56
  So you tell your boy to turn that.
• 27:59
  Look bro, if we continue like this, I will end up rubbishing
• 28:03
  you. If I don't do it well, I will
• 28:06
  rubbish you. And I don't want to rubbish you.
• 28:09
  I don't want to disappoint Chief.
• 28:11
  I don't want to mess up this opportunity because you're my
• 28:14
  guy. I appreciate you.
• 28:18
  So it is now that you now make me ask You see, bro, I beg.
• 28:22
  Next time you're going to go and see Chief.
• 28:25
  Can I come with you? Let me go and see him.
• 28:28
  Of course, you know, remember to soothe their mind because
• 28:31
  they're afraid. They don't.
• 28:31
  You had to hijack everything. So next time you're going to go
• 28:37
  and see Chief, can I follow you? But don't worry, when we get
• 28:42
  there now only the technical aspect I'll be talking.
• 28:45
  Anything will concern money. I'll leave it to you.
• 28:49
  My own is I'll just talk to technical something when we go
• 28:52
  outside. And you and Chief, you can carry
• 28:54
  the money thing on your own. So that's where you now make
• 28:57
  your proposal. Next time you're going to go and
• 28:59
  see Chief, can I follow or boss? It will help if the next time
• 29:04
  you want to talk to chief, can we do group call or WhatsApp or
• 29:08
  can we do group meeting on Zoom? Then you'll explain to the guy
• 29:14
  the rationale that look, and once me and Chief are talking
• 29:16
  directly when it comes to the technical something or the
• 29:19
  technical something, you know, the panel on the roof, the
• 29:23
  number of battery, the number of gas worker, number of TV, number
• 29:25
  of AC. When we're on that level, I will
• 29:28
  now know exactly what Chief needs so I can make him happy.
• 29:32
  And once Chief is happy with this system I provide, it will
• 29:35
  be sure for us, it'll be sure for you, be sure for me so you
• 29:42
  can see how you're making the something, you're making this,
• 29:45
  the suggestions you're trying to make, the change you're trying
• 29:48
  to make. You're not trying to say this is
• 29:50
  frustrating me. It is difficult for me.
• 29:53
  It is impossible for me to work under this condition.
• 29:55
  It is not me, me, me, me, me. It always be him, him, him, him,
• 29:59
  him and Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief, Chief, you know the
• 30:02
  prospect. So always from the own point of
• 30:06
  view. And Please remember, please,
• 30:10
  Please remember these people who are standing in the gap, what
• 30:13
  they're looking for is their Commission.
• 30:16
  A lot of times some people are looking for social relevance.
• 30:19
  So always assure this person who is the connector that you are
• 30:23
  only going to be discussing scope or outcomes with the
• 30:27
  client. You will always leave money
• 30:30
  conversations to the other person.
• 30:32
  Start like that as a proposal. You never know.
• 30:36
  Some people who say Oh no no, no, Tavishma is OK now I trust
• 30:39
  you. It's OK.
• 30:39
  Even if it's money, discuss money with chief.
• 30:42
  Just let me know what's going on.
• 30:47
  But sort of like that said, I look, when I'm with chief, I
• 30:49
  will only discuss the technical requirements.
• 30:51
  I will only discuss the scope of the project.
• 30:54
  I will only discuss the outcomes of the project.
• 30:56
  Tell the person like that, oh, that when I follow you and when
• 31:00
  in front of the President, I will only discuss the technical
• 31:03
  requirements of the project. When we are done and we leave, I
• 31:07
  will leave you to discuss money with the president or with the
• 31:12
  vice President or with the governor or with the Speaker of
• 31:15
  the House of Reps you know, with the whatever.
• 31:17
  I will leave all the money conversations to you.
• 31:20
  A lot of these connectors are only concerned about their share
• 31:23
  of the money. So start like that.
• 31:29
  So going ahead, here are some simple suggestions how to give
• 31:35
  those of you listening who are new in the business.
• 31:37
  If you find a connector that is easy with all, by all means
• 31:40
  continue. Continue.
• 31:43
  If it's easy, continue. Don't look at the Friday.
• 31:46
  Your profit margin is small now just continue 1st until you know
• 31:50
  the lay of the land, until you know what's up, until you know
• 31:53
  your left from your right. Just continue and be happy that
• 31:55
  you find the connector that is easy to work with, because if
• 31:58
  you ask anybody, it's noise at all.
• 32:03
  What would all these middle men is noise.
• 32:06
  Now, if the connector is easy to work with, but the Commission is
• 32:11
  too high, no problem, try and renegotiate.
• 32:14
  But after you do like two or three jobs first, because
• 32:16
  remember, I'll say you're trying to land the lay of the land.
• 32:20
  And then if you're doing two or three jobs with a guy, you know,
• 32:25
  it shows in good faith that you're trying to be, Allah put
• 32:28
  it, reasonable, appreciable. Also, you don't even know the
• 32:33
  quality of what this connector is.
• 32:35
  So I say two or three jobs because it will give you a sense
• 32:37
  of, oh, this guy, I'm going through all this stress, He's
• 32:41
  collecting 30% from me. Isn't the clients that he's
• 32:44
  bringing his own sweet self. That person now know they can
• 32:48
  get away. You can leave that person.
• 32:51
  But if you see that, OK, this guy is asking for 40%.
• 32:53
  But every single time the person brings jobs, it is correct Jobs
• 32:57
  that even though you don't benefit in money, at least the
• 33:00
  fact that your name is associated with this and this
• 33:02
  and this project, you know, it's still good for you.
• 33:04
  You know, that's why I'm saying that if the Commission is too
• 33:06
  high, but the person is easy to work with and try and negotiate.
• 33:12
  When you're negotiating. Renegotiating remember what I
• 33:16
  told you guys you start off with bro I appreciate you you know I
• 33:19
  respect you know thank you very much for the hookup
• 33:22
  unfortunately Bros you know my margins are really tight and if.
• 33:27
  This spread is too. Small I will not be able to
• 33:30
  maintain quality when we get to bigger and bigger contracts.
• 33:36
  So bro, the reason why I'm constrained to start talking
• 33:39
  these things because I don't want quality to sleep when we
• 33:43
  start moving on to bigger and bigger contracts or I want to be
• 33:47
  able to maintain after service and warranties and this and this
• 33:51
  and this. Well move to bigger and bigger
• 33:53
  jobs because if I F up on this one it will spoil the
• 33:58
  possibility of other ones coming to us.
• 34:01
  So that's how you level with the get.
• 34:03
  By the way, in case you have not figured this out because some of
• 34:06
  you are not sharp, you won't get it.
• 34:08
  This is not the kind of conversation that you have over
• 34:10
  e-mail. Please, this is not.
• 34:13
  The kind of conversation that you have over e-mail.
• 34:16
  In fact, let me repeat, this is not even the kind of
• 34:19
  conversation that you have over WhatsApp message.
• 34:22
  If you're going to call this kind of connector to renegotiate
• 34:27
  this thing, it had better be face to face.
• 34:29
  Go and see him in the house. Go and see him in the office or
• 34:32
  when he passes by your office, your house, your studio, you
• 34:35
  know, your workshop, your whatever.
• 34:37
  You know you have the conversation face to face
• 34:39
  because when you are texting these things back and forth,
• 34:42
  there is a lot that gets lost in translation.
• 34:46
  There are some things you would type that the guy we think what
• 34:49
  the hell, how is this small boy being so rude that where did he
• 34:52
  come from? We can give and this kind of
• 34:54
  liver to be telling me this kind of thing.
• 34:57
  It happens, it happens. This Madam, Madam conversation I
• 35:01
  was talking about, it was through text.
• 35:03
  I was texting her to say, oh, Madam, what about this Madam?
• 35:05
  What about that? I didn't know that.
• 35:07
  Every single time I put Madam, this thing was just jabbing her.
• 35:10
  I typed, Madam, she'll see a jab.
• 35:12
  I typed, Madam, she'll receive a stab.
• 35:14
  But meanwhile, I was trying to be respectful.
• 35:19
  If it was face to face and I was saying, oh, Madam, what about
• 35:21
  this Madam? What about that?
• 35:22
  She would have seen that. Oh, OK, this guy is trying to be
• 35:24
  respectful. Then she would have said, oh,
• 35:26
  no, no, no, Tavishma, That's that's unnecessary.
• 35:28
  Call me Alice. So this kind of.
• 35:33
  Conversation please. This is not the kind of
• 35:37
  conversation that you send e-mail.
• 35:38
  In fact, if you send e-mail to, if you try and have this
• 35:41
  conversation over e-mail, forget it.
• 35:43
  I think you have burnt, you have burnt the you have finished the
• 35:47
  relationship. The guy is not calling you
• 35:48
  again. Text, text message or WhatsApp.
• 35:52
  You stand a better chance. Well, please, where possible,
• 35:54
  face to face. In fact, amongst my own people
• 35:58
  to teach. People, you know, people believe
• 36:00
  that is that there's some conversations that you have to
• 36:02
  wait, like even if the person is in another state, there's some
• 36:05
  conversations that you wait until you go and see the person
• 36:07
  face to face. So, you know, like when when my
• 36:10
  father was still alive and I used to follow him is something
• 36:12
  I used to see someone would have said, no, we haven't seen you in
• 36:15
  a long time. No happen.
• 36:16
  You say that, Chief, that the reason why is because there's
• 36:19
  nothing that's been on my mind and it's not the kind of thing
• 36:21
  that you talk on the phone. So I say I will call and I will
• 36:24
  come here and I'll see you face to face and say is it like that?
• 36:27
  Said chief is like that was OK, no problem.
• 36:30
  If it's like that, please excuse us and let's go inside the
• 36:33
  office. Let's go and talk.
• 36:36
  So if it's that kind of thing, then let's say the person is in
• 36:39
  Plateau, you're in Abuja. When you're in Plateau, when you
• 36:42
  have time, you know, you drive down there and then go and have
• 36:45
  this conversation. Do not send e-mail.
• 36:48
  Do not send, do not send e-mail at all.
• 36:52
  It's against, it's against the rules.
• 36:54
  Don't send e-mail. Let's say you are tight and you
• 36:57
  want to send WhatsApp. OK, I'll manage.
• 36:59
  But please, face to face is best.
• 37:03
  Or phone call. Don't use text.
• 37:07
  Let's see what else. Another thing, when you're
• 37:10
  having this conversation, be prepared to walk away.
• 37:13
  Be prepared because there's some people who will not move and
• 37:16
  there's another person I'm working with right now who's in
• 37:18
  the Web development space. The middleman refused to move.
• 37:22
  The middleman said, I understand all the things you're saying,
• 37:25
  but this agreement that we've entered, forget it.
• 37:27
  We entered at 5050. I will collect my 50%.
• 37:30
  Forget it. I'm not moving nowhere.
• 37:37
  Even 45% no go moves. I will move 46 No 48 no 49 No,
• 37:42
  it must be 50. But Bros like, yeah, I'm giving
• 37:47
  you 50%, but you know that if the margins are small, how will
• 37:52
  I pay web hosting, How will I pay this?
• 37:54
  How will I pay this? How will I pay this?
• 37:56
  The guys say I understand, but I know they move so that some
• 37:59
  people who are like that. So in that situation, now you
• 38:03
  can't be. Bluffing.
• 38:04
  Anyhow, be prepared to say, Ah bro or Sir or Madam Abe no vex
• 38:11
  this one don't pass my power. This one not pass my power.
• 38:18
  So be prepared to walk away when it comes to that situation.
• 38:22
  Now there will always be quarreling business when?
• 38:24
  Situations like this were declared to everybody that you
• 38:26
  are open and you are respectful, you did all you could do.
• 38:30
  Once again, No, nobody will begrudge you.
• 38:33
  The funny thing is, these kinds of connectors are only concerned
• 38:35
  about the money. The moment you move, they will
• 38:37
  find somebody else and they'll be fine.
• 38:39
  So don't worry, don't worry, be ready to walk away.
• 38:45
  Be ready to walk away if the connector is difficult.
• 38:50
  To work with thoroughly difficult to work with.
• 38:52
  Then, in my own opinion, don't even wait for the second job.
• 38:57
  After this first job debrief. And then in debrief you say
• 39:00
  thank you very much, Bros. Thank you very much, Sir.
• 39:02
  Thank you very much, Ma for the hookup.
• 39:04
  I really appreciate it. And then so I hope the
• 39:07
  everything was cool for you. The money was OK for you, Abby.
• 39:10
  Good. Good.
• 39:11
  The client is happy, Abby, there's no problem.
• 39:12
  They didn't call back. They didn't do this.
• 39:14
  OK. Then you know, so I brought over
• 39:17
  a bit. Can we change XYZ terms next
• 39:20
  time? Because it is affecting my
• 39:23
  quality control, is affecting the timelines, it's affecting
• 39:25
  fulfillment. You will continue like this for
• 39:27
  the next one. Unfortunately, you know you will
• 39:30
  now look bad on you. It will now mess you up.
• 39:34
  And you know it will mess up our ability to be able to get more
• 39:37
  and more contract like this. So I need to make sure that
• 39:41
  quality control is tight. I need to make sure after sales
• 39:44
  service is tight if we continue like this bro I can't guarantee
• 39:47
  that I won't make mistake and I won't rub issue and I know our
• 39:50
  rub issue. How far can we change XYZ now?
• 39:56
  If the connector is smart, he'll keep you.
• 40:00
  But I told you that there's some people who are unreasonable.
• 40:03
  Like this particular situation where for my clients, the guys
• 40:06
  say I know they move 50% and I am not moving, guys say on my
• 40:11
  50% I stand. The guy tried his best that
• 40:16
  look. See, I'm doing web maintenance,
• 40:19
  I'm doing this, I'm doing this. If they call us for customer
• 40:23
  support and I need to hire more team like, you know, for me it
• 40:27
  will now be minors and I can't continue in the minors.
• 40:29
  You know, say I don't marry, It's not like before, but the
• 40:33
  guys say it's not moving. Some people are like that.
• 40:37
  Ready to walk away, we connect only.
• 40:39
  Once it's money, any which way you'll be fine.
• 40:45
  The summary of what I'm saying is this.
• 40:47
  If you're in a situation where you can't do effective need
• 40:50
  analysis with the client, you can't talk to the client
• 40:52
  one-on-one just for need analysis, just for need analysis
• 40:56
  and none, there are going to be too many surprises.
• 40:59
  Then there'll be frustration for you, there'll be frustration for
• 41:01
  the client. So we're trying to look for ways
• 41:04
  to exit the situation so that we can have direct connections with
• 41:09
  the customer at least for need analysis.
• 41:13
  At least if the connector allows you to do good need analysis and
• 41:19
  the margins are good for you, continue.
• 41:22
  The reason why I'm recommending that is because sometimes, like
• 41:24
  I said, sometimes these people open doors for us to enter into
• 41:27
  an industry. You now get a reputation in the
• 41:29
  industry. After a while, some people will
• 41:32
  start calling you direct. Is normal about what I?
• 41:36
  Used to do because of somebody. Who made connects for me in the
• 41:41
  NGO space, in fact, anyway, let me not go into detail.
• 41:46
  The person made some connects for me in the NGO space.
• 41:49
  You know, after all people started calling me direct.
• 41:51
  What I now do was, hey bro, what's up now?
• 41:54
  Yeah. About social sound.
• 41:55
  So event say Oh no, I didn't hear say OK when they reached
• 41:59
  out to me directly. I don't say I should, I just I
• 42:02
  should let you know. We say they reach out to you
• 42:04
  directly. So yeah.
• 42:06
  So, OK, so how far now should be actually still send over you
• 42:11
  know? So I sent over one or two
• 42:15
  things. But after a while I was like,
• 42:17
  no, no deed, it's OK, it's OK. I appreciate that you are honest
• 42:20
  with me. I appreciate it.
• 42:22
  You know that calling you now direct, you know, it's no big
• 42:24
  deal, no need to even be updating me anymore.
• 42:27
  And then? That's how that one, you know,
• 42:29
  ruled. Out Bosher, I stuck with you for
• 42:32
  a while even though I was giving up more than half.
• 42:36
  Yeah, I know some of you busy half and one or two of you
• 42:38
  slapped me, but for me, that's what I was just thinking.
• 42:41
  Now look, I need to enter into this place first.
• 42:43
  I need to understand what's going on this industry.
• 42:46
  How is it like? How much do people even charge?
• 42:48
  Who are the players? You know, so I needed to know.
• 42:53
  What's up? So, so long as the margins were
• 42:56
  manageable for me, I needed to just enter and see the industry
• 43:01
  and then match, match ground first.
• 43:05
  Eventually people started calling me, cussing about it
• 43:11
  when we're on site. Who would they see?
• 43:13
  Is it the connector? It's me?
• 43:15
  No, when there's a. Problem I am talking to
• 43:18
  somebody's. Boys who the boys report to the
• 43:21
  connector or me. After a while, people kind of
• 43:26
  got the point that when you call, OK, let's just call the
• 43:30
  guy's name Jigger, but that's not your name.
• 43:32
  After a while, people figured out that any single time you
• 43:34
  call Jigger establishment UC. So after a while, people started
• 43:38
  calling intervention man. So it's just one of these
• 43:40
  things. Anyway, let me wrap it up.
• 43:44
  Wow. OK, this is almost 45 minutes,
• 43:46
  OK? So I hope those of you listening
• 43:48
  have been able to get a lot of value out of the things that we
• 43:50
  have discussed so far. And if you have any questions,
• 43:54
  any comments, any queries, you can call me, send me a WhatsApp
• 43:58
  message or a text message on 08064662140.
• 44:04
  Also, like I hinted at at the beginning of the show, if you
• 44:09
  have two 3/4 business ideas, you're not making a single
• 44:11
  couple on any of them. Reach out to me.
• 44:13
  Let me help you solve the problem.
• 44:16
  I can coach you. To make sure that you.
• 44:18
  Pick the business idea that is right for you, then we will
• 44:23
  validate the business idea so we can be sure that the market is
• 44:26
  willing to pay for the product or willing to pay for the
• 44:29
  service and pay the price that will make sense for you so that
• 44:33
  you can reinvest back into the business.
• 44:34
  And also there's something remaining so that you can flex,
• 44:38
  although the flexing part might come later.
• 44:40
  Just letting you know then we will.
• 44:43
  Also create a selling system. So that you can keep people
• 44:48
  coming back happy, let them give repeat purchases and also so
• 44:53
  that they can make referrals. So don't stay confused because
• 44:59
  you. Have two 3/4 business ideas
• 45:01
  reach out to me let me coach you through this thing and let's
• 45:04
  make sure that we set you up right for business success so
• 45:08
  that you start your business in three easy steps even though I'm
• 45:13
  saying. Easy.
• 45:14
  Don't be some hard work. Involved.
• 45:16
  Don't come and say because I said it was an easy step, that
• 45:18
  there's not going to be hard work.
• 45:20
  There's always hard work involved, but you know, because
• 45:22
  of marketing, you know, sometimes we'll say this one
• 45:24
  easy, this one easy. All right, anyway, so let.
• 45:28
  Me stop there. Thank you very much for.
• 45:29
  Your time and attention. I will catch you all some other
• 45:31
  time.