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Pricing Power: Leveraging Quotes in Your Sales Process · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:01
  Hello and welcome to the show today.
• 0:03
  I'm not an audio booth, so expect to hear some
• 0:06
  interruptions in the background. And today I figured I'd take a
• 0:10
  break from the the thing about closing high value deals and
• 0:16
  maybe instead we can talk about my proposal process.
• 0:20
  And that's because in the previous podcasts, I think I
• 0:23
  even mentioned it yesterday, I've been talking about how your
• 0:27
  proposal letter, your quotation, your whatever document it is
• 0:35
  that you submit should actually be the last stage of your sales
• 0:38
  process. You shouldn't be the first.
• 0:41
  You should be more of a formality and you should try and
• 0:45
  get agreement in principle whenever you're talking to
• 0:48
  someone, you know, just use the conversations, get agreements
• 0:51
  and principles, you know, before you reduce everything to writing
• 0:54
  and then you submit the document.
• 0:56
  And the reason why I've been pushing that approach, not just
• 0:59
  on you guys listening to the podcast, but also a client I was
• 1:03
  working with yesterday, that was because I think in this part of
• 1:08
  the world, you know, because of how we're brought up in Niger,
• 1:13
  you know, you go to primary school writing skills on points,
• 1:17
  learn how to write your essay on points.
• 1:18
  You know, your handwriting is correct, all the margins line
• 1:22
  up, everything, you know. So because of how we've been
• 1:25
  brought up in this part of the world, we expect that the
• 1:28
  proposal, the document, the PDF, the whatever is going to do the
• 1:31
  selling for us. And so we put a lot of time and
• 1:34
  effort into making sure that that thing is fire so that we
• 1:38
  close the deal. And I'm just trying to get some
• 1:40
  of you to switch your mind frame a little bit.
• 1:43
  It's not as if there's a problem with how that thing works, but I
• 1:48
  mean with that process of making sure that the proposal is fire
• 1:51
  in itself so that people just see the PDF and they're like,
• 1:55
  wow, we have to hire this person.
• 1:58
  So that approach also works. But I think you should take the
• 2:01
  responsibility of selling yourself, your product and your
• 2:04
  service and let the document itself be, let it be supporting
• 2:08
  Striker. You should not be the main
• 2:10
  thing. So today we're going to talk
• 2:13
  about my proposal process and I'm going to give an example of
• 2:16
  how I work it into practice to show you how I leave the
• 2:22
  document itself to the very last thing.
• 2:25
  And I tried to make it just a formality.
• 2:27
  I tried to close the deal in me having conversation with the
• 2:33
  other person, with the other stakeholders.
• 2:35
  I tried to make it a done deal so that by the time we get to
• 2:37
  the issue of proposal, I'm just sending this thing, you know,
• 2:40
  just just for the level of OK, so I'll send it.
• 2:45
  So when are we starting that sort of thing?
• 2:50
  All right now, before we continue the geek list,
• 2:52
  currently on Spotify, I'm listening to Scott Biram.
• 2:59
  Mr. Scott, forgive me if I'm not pronouncing your surname
• 3:01
  correctly. He is an American artist.
• 3:04
  He is more of a country acoustic Blues kind of singer.
• 3:08
  And for those of you who want to check him out, I have to warn
• 3:11
  you guys now, this is strictly grown folk music.
• 3:15
  This is for big boys and big girls only.
• 3:17
  So if you're walking around and, you know, your boxers are
• 3:20
  dragging on the floor and stuff like that, you know, maybe this
• 3:23
  might not be the kind of stuff you listen to except if you're
• 3:26
  one of the disciples of Post Malone.
• 3:28
  Because Post Malone, I mean, he's truly a correct guy.
• 3:31
  Because I listened to some of his hip hop stuff and then I saw
• 3:36
  Post Malone on YouTube playing some Blues leaks and some real
• 3:43
  aggressive electric guitar. And I was impressed.
• 3:45
  I was like, OK, this young man is versatile.
• 3:47
  And so he has dropped an album now that is that has departed
• 3:53
  from the rap thing. I've heard gist that the album
• 3:57
  is mostly country, Blues, rock, you know, that kind of thing.
• 4:01
  And so I want to listen to it because I'm really, really
• 4:03
  impressed that, you know, Post Malone and you know, all these
• 4:06
  all these boys now, you know, that little Wayne thing like
• 4:09
  dirty face, dirty hair, tattoo up and down, just cover your
• 4:12
  body in rubbish and stuff like that.
• 4:15
  And you know, with the drugs and drinking and everything.
• 4:18
  So I'm also impressed that there's some people that have
• 4:21
  range like that that are real versatile.
• 4:24
  So if you're a disciple of Post Malone and you know, Post Malone
• 4:28
  from the hip hop days, you might not be happy with this new
• 4:30
  album. But bottom line, there's some
• 4:32
  good stuff out there that you guys should listen to.
• 4:34
  Good acoustic music, good Blues music, good country music.
• 4:39
  There's good, good stuff out there and it doesn't even have
• 4:44
  to be an Weibo thing, because if we look at the West African
• 4:46
  continent, we also have the equivalent of these kinds of
• 4:48
  music. So we have our brothers and
• 4:52
  sisters in Sudan, Mali, Angola, you know all those areas, people
• 4:57
  who are members of the Tyrek tribes.
• 4:59
  They're putting out real good music.
• 5:01
  There's this group that I used to listen to when I was in
• 5:04
  Aberdeen, Tinari, when, well, I, I don't know how to pronounce
• 5:08
  them, but it's Tinariwen. And basically it's almost like
• 5:14
  Fulani people doing electric rock and jazz.
• 5:22
  I know it sounds strange, but you have to hear this thing to
• 5:24
  believe it, as in this correct stuff that is going on, on the
• 5:29
  going on in, in West Africa. Real, real, real, real good
• 5:32
  things. But of course, you won't know
• 5:34
  that if all you do is listen to regular radio.
• 5:36
  So that's what's going down on my Spotify playlist.
• 5:40
  Scott Biram, Acoustic country music for big boys and big
• 5:44
  girls. Only if you're a small boy, if
• 5:46
  you were born in the year 2000 and something, maybe this might
• 5:50
  be a little too much for you. Then on Netflix, I finally
• 5:53
  finished House of GAA. It's really impressive.
• 5:56
  I did some research. The guy's a historical figure
• 5:58
  and that is really, really, it's cool.
• 6:02
  I'm impressed that now now your cinema has moved to the point
• 6:05
  where we're exploring historical figures in our movies.
• 6:08
  So House of God, watch it. But you know, if you have kids,
• 6:13
  you know, there's, there's small, small nudity involved.
• 6:16
  So if you have kids, just be mindful of that and let's see
• 6:19
  what else some violence in case you don't, you don't like the
• 6:24
  kids seeing stuff that has violence in it.
• 6:28
  But overall, not a bad attempt. And I like movies that explore
• 6:32
  this whole thing of pride comes before a fall, you know, don't
• 6:35
  let your eye tear too much. Don't be too greedy.
• 6:38
  So watch it and you you'll get the gist.
• 6:41
  So I'm really glad that we're exploring historical figures in
• 6:44
  Nigerian cinema now. So Bolani, Austin Peters, I I
• 6:48
  carry bum bum for you as an I dove my heart.
• 6:51
  That's that's a nice one. So I guess I will look for more
• 6:56
  movies in that kind of area to watch then.
• 7:02
  If there are any of you who are in that whole Netflix Nollywood
• 7:05
  kind of space, please can somebody do a movie about Afonja
• 7:10
  and the slave revolt? I think that was maybe about
• 7:13
  1870 ish, if I remember my, my lessons from history back when I
• 7:18
  was in secondary school, because this was one of the things that
• 7:20
  led to the decline of the oil empire.
• 7:24
  You know, if you're not familiar with all the stuff I've been
• 7:25
  saying so far, that's Lisa B, that's the movie that I spoke
• 7:28
  about maybe two or three days ago.
• 7:30
  And then House of God, it's all about the oil empire.
• 7:32
  That's, you know, basically Yoruba folk.
• 7:36
  So one of the things that led to the decline of the oil empire
• 7:38
  was Afonja's slave revolt. And you know, through him the
• 7:43
  they were able to encroach into the empire.
• 7:46
  So the Muslim jihadists were able to come in and sack
• 7:49
  Iloring. And that's part of the reason
• 7:51
  why even though Iloring is your country, you have some people in
• 7:55
  the Loring who think that they're part of Ariwa.
• 7:57
  But anyway, that's a conversation for another day.
• 8:00
  But my own opinion, if you're from Iloring, stop deceiving
• 8:02
  yourself. You are not Ariwa.
• 8:05
  Because when push comes to shove and Ilar boys and girls decide
• 8:08
  to stand together, they'll look at you and they'll be like, who
• 8:12
  are you? What are you doing here?
• 8:14
  Can you go to your father's house, please?
• 8:16
  Yeah. Sorry.
• 8:17
  Excuse me. The code is still there.
• 8:19
  So yeah, House of God, correct film.
• 8:21
  And I definitely, definitely recommend.
• 8:25
  But the violence, the nudity, bear that in mind if you're
• 8:28
  going to be watching it when the children are around.
• 8:31
  So now back to my proposal process and how is going to work
• 8:35
  in practice. This whole thing of don't be too
• 8:38
  quick. You know, any small thing, you
• 8:39
  talk to somebody and then next thing you're flashing proposal,
• 8:43
  flashing quotation, flashing this, you know, what's your
• 8:46
  e-mail address and then you send them a quotation, you know, be
• 8:48
  coming down. Don't let your quotation sell
• 8:51
  for you. Don't let your proposal sell for
• 8:53
  you. Don't let your PDF sell for you.
• 8:54
  You should learn how to sell by yourself.
• 8:57
  So I'm going to give an example of how I'm putting that in
• 8:58
  practice. Now there's a prospect that I'm
• 9:01
  currently talking to. Oh, by the way, when we say
• 9:03
  prospect, we mean somebody that might be a potential customer.
• 9:08
  Also, when we say contact, it means any phone number or e-mail
• 9:12
  address that you've gotten that if you talk to and it seems like
• 9:16
  they're interested, then that person that becomes a prospect.
• 9:20
  But for the purposes of this podcast, whenever you hear me
• 9:22
  talk about prospect or contact or potential customer or lead or
• 9:26
  whatever, I usually mean the same thing for the purposes of
• 9:30
  the show. But just remember that when you
• 9:32
  start flowing in much more refined or academic circles,
• 9:35
  they, they will try and correct you and say that no, they all
• 9:38
  have different meanings, that a contact is not a prospect, a
• 9:40
  prospect is not a lead, a lead is not necessarily a potential
• 9:44
  customer. But for the purposes of the
• 9:46
  show, I use them all in the same way.
• 9:48
  So there's this potential prospect, potential customer
• 9:52
  that I'm talking to, and they are in the entrepreneurial
• 9:56
  development space. It's an international NGO and
• 9:59
  they do work in the north, northeastern part of Nigeria.
• 10:04
  So basically what they're doing is they're going all over the
• 10:07
  northeast because, you know, now that North Central, NE north,
• 10:12
  you get the picture. Those parts of the country have
• 10:15
  been having significant issues with regards to farming, food
• 10:19
  security, insecurity, education, poverty, you know, all those
• 10:25
  sorts of things. So there are some international
• 10:27
  organisations that come in and only work in that particular
• 10:29
  segment of the country, which is not to say that the rest of
• 10:32
  Nigeria is not having problems because you know, problems are
• 10:35
  bound left, right, centre, by the way, that's just where they
• 10:38
  do the work. So the conversation that we're
• 10:43
  having is regarding the documentary work because this
• 10:46
  year we've done, I've not, I've never really focused on
• 10:52
  documentary work. I've always focused more on live
• 10:55
  events, that's for the media of the business.
• 10:58
  So live events, corporate events, all sorts of things,
• 11:02
  live streaming. But the documentary gig came up.
• 11:06
  I figured let me take a crack at it because after all, I always
• 11:08
  wanted to produce something, you know how some actual production
• 11:12
  to my credit. So we've tackled one or two
• 11:15
  documentaries this year and this one has come up.
• 11:18
  So I figured, well, let's just take a look at it.
• 11:21
  So this job is going to require lots of on location shooting,
• 11:27
  shooting on location across Kano and multiple other locations.
• 11:34
  We're going to have to talk to people who are part of a
• 11:38
  business incubation program that was organized by the client.
• 11:41
  I don't want to say who the client is.
• 11:43
  Maybe if we get the deal then and I talk about it in the
• 11:46
  future, I'll now call the client organization by name.
• 11:50
  So the client has done some work in Kano and other parts of
• 11:55
  Northern Nigeria where people have gone through a business in
• 11:58
  creation program and have graduated and have grown their
• 12:01
  business. So the point of the documentary
• 12:03
  will be to show how incubation and entrepreneurial support
• 12:08
  services can grow good businesses in the North.
• 12:12
  So that's the whole point of the documentary.
• 12:14
  They make the documentary, you use it across your social media,
• 12:17
  I don't know, maybe put it on TV or something, but it helps
• 12:20
  people to, for people to see what your organization is doing.
• 12:24
  You can use that for fundraising because you show your people who
• 12:27
  gave you money that look, these are the projects that we
• 12:29
  organized in Nigeria in, in 2024.
• 12:34
  And it also helps to advance the the gospel that in parts of the
• 12:38
  country where things are rough, we actually can improve things
• 12:42
  just by taking young people, young boys, young girls and
• 12:44
  trying to show them this is how you take your business idea.
• 12:47
  This is how you bring it to market.
• 12:48
  This is how you sell. This is how you promote, this is
• 12:51
  how you build a business beyond you.
• 12:54
  And by doing that, we can use private enterprise to uplift the
• 12:59
  community and uplift Nigeria. So that's what the documentary
• 13:03
  is about basically. Now this is the Coco of what I'm
• 13:08
  trying to say. Most of the media professionals
• 13:13
  will have a phone call with this professional, with this client
• 13:17
  and they will ask questions about the location and they will
• 13:20
  ask questions about the interviewees.
• 13:22
  They will ask, OK, where are we shooting Kano?
• 13:24
  And they'll write it down. Then they will ask how many
• 13:27
  people are we interviewing? 20 will write it down.
• 13:31
  What is the time frame that we're going to interview these
• 13:33
  people? Two weeks, they'll write it down
• 13:35
  and then the professional will say, the media professional,
• 13:38
  someone in my own position will now say, OK, no problem, I have
• 13:41
  all the information I need. Give me your e-mail address.
• 13:44
  I'm going to send you a quote. And of course the other person
• 13:47
  is going to say, OK, thank you very much and then end the call.
• 13:50
  You will now take this information and then you will
• 13:52
  now make a quote. The quote will be something like
• 13:55
  this, interviewing people, blah, blah, blah.
• 13:57
  Two weeks, there'll be transportation costs that
• 14:00
  they'll be there. You also put number of
• 14:02
  microphones that you use, number of cameras, the number of
• 14:05
  assistant shooters, gaffers, lighting professionals, editing.
• 14:12
  What's it called? This one where you write text at
• 14:15
  the bottom of the screen subtitling everything.
• 14:19
  You now drop that whole thing, that document, and of course you
• 14:23
  make it look fancy. You put your logo there and you
• 14:26
  know, you make it look real nice.
• 14:28
  And they now send the e-mail. You now send the e-mail to them
• 14:32
  that your bill is 5.6 M You now send it.
• 14:37
  So that is what the average person does.
• 14:39
  They're hoping that this fancy, glossy, nice, you know, whatever
• 14:44
  proposal is going to do the selling, you send it, it's 5.6.
• 14:48
  Now the problem I've been trying to let you guys know is that
• 14:50
  when you send a document like this without any kind of
• 14:53
  context, when the person receives it at the other end,
• 14:55
  the only thing the person is seeing is 5.6 M.
• 14:59
  The person is not seeing all the value add that you think you're
• 15:02
  trying to sell in the middle of the document.
• 15:04
  You know the part where you say you're going to use six gaffers
• 15:07
  and 20 microphones and seven HD cameras and and two subtitlers
• 15:15
  and you will not only subtitle in English, you subtitle in
• 15:17
  Hauser. The person is not going to see
• 15:19
  all of that value add in quotes that you're trying to sell.
• 15:22
  The person will just go to the bottom and see 5.6 and then
• 15:26
  he'll put it in a pile. And of course if he sees your
• 15:30
  own 5.6 and then there's another person in the pile and their own
• 15:34
  was 3.2, you can see how already you're beginning to lose the
• 15:38
  plot because all this person is looking at is a number figure at
• 15:43
  the end of the document. And this is the reason why I say
• 15:47
  don't let this document sell for you.
• 15:49
  The document cannot sell. People will look at it and the
• 15:52
  only thing that they will see is the money, the zeros at the end.
• 15:55
  That is all. If there's any value add, any
• 15:59
  upselling, any value thing that you're trying to do, it has to
• 16:02
  be you that is doing it and not the document.
• 16:05
  And this is the reason why I say let the documents be the last
• 16:08
  part. I'm not saying drop your money.
• 16:10
  You can still keep your bill to be 5.6 or 10.2 M or 40M or
• 16:15
  whatever it is that you quote at the end of the day.
• 16:18
  But I'm not saying let the document be the last bit.
• 16:23
  So that is what other professionals do.
• 16:25
  And unfortunately, when you do it like that and the other
• 16:28
  person receives the e-mail, you call them and you say Abdul
• 16:31
  Kadir. Oh, no, this is the fellow you
• 16:33
  spoke to last week. So.
• 16:34
  Oh, OK, OK. Yes, yes, yes.
• 16:35
  Mr. Jude, I remember I've sent you the proposal.
• 16:38
  I honestly know if you've had a look at it.
• 16:39
  Oh, yes, yes, yes, I've had a look at it.
• 16:41
  I will send it to MD. And don't worry, we'll get back
• 16:44
  to you. We'll get back to you.
• 16:46
  And then that's how you enter ghost meal.
• 16:48
  And then you start following up and following up and following
• 16:52
  up and then after six weeks, you're wondering why are these
• 16:55
  people not responding? My phone call, I thought me and
• 16:57
  Abdul Kadir had a good conversation.
• 17:00
  And then you now become depressed and you say Nigerians
• 17:04
  don't know what they want, Nigerians don't know quality,
• 17:06
  blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So that is why that approach
• 17:10
  doesn't work. Now, my own approach is this.
• 17:15
  Two or three days ago on the podcast episode, I said that
• 17:17
  whenever we come into these things, let's not come in like
• 17:20
  groundhut seller, let's come in pretending to be a doctor.
• 17:23
  A groundnut seller is the person who says how many cups of
• 17:26
  groundnuts do you want? And then you tell them six cups
• 17:31
  of groundnuts. Then they'll reply back, OK, six
• 17:34
  cups of groundnut. That is currently 2500 naira and
• 17:38
  you say what, 25? You guys price back and forth,
• 17:40
  but bottom line, you get your groundnuts for 2000, you get 6
• 17:44
  soap of groundnuts and then the person leaves.
• 17:48
  If you listen to the previous episode, you will get more about
• 17:53
  this whole thing of when I say that for high value deals you
• 17:59
  actually should be a doctor, more like a doctor approach and
• 18:02
  you should be taking a consultative approach.
• 18:04
  So come in here, don't be like a Groundhog seller.
• 18:06
  What do you need? OK, this is what you need.
• 18:08
  Why I take the quote? Buy or don't buy.
• 18:12
  Take a consultative approach. So come in and ask questions
• 18:15
  about the project, but don't just limit yourself to the usual
• 18:18
  questions people ask, which is where are we shooting?
• 18:21
  How many people are we interviewing, How many weeks for
• 18:24
  the shoot? And they now send a quote.
• 18:27
  Ask questions about the project. So what's the project?
• 18:34
  Who is the target audience? What is this thing supposed to
• 18:37
  be for? Are you using this because you
• 18:39
  want to promote what the NGO is doing or are you hoping that you
• 18:43
  can achieve this but then also use that in part of future
• 18:47
  fundraising efforts? What are the goals of the NGO?
• 18:50
  OK, how does this align with other projects that you have
• 18:53
  going on in the Northeast? You start asking all these
• 18:56
  questions. You can see that before you even
• 18:58
  sent a quote, you already sound like a professional because you
• 19:01
  sound different. Other people just said how many
• 19:04
  people are we interviewing, 20? Where are we going to Kano?
• 19:08
  How long for the shoot? Two weeks via Take my bill.
• 19:12
  The bill is 10.2 M And then you all sound the same but you come
• 19:18
  in, you ask different questions just like I've been asking these
• 19:20
  questions. I can assure you I already sound
• 19:22
  different to the other people, even if the fellow doesn't store
• 19:27
  my number the first time around. I mean, when I call, you'll be
• 19:30
  like, oh, OK, is that interesting guy from Abuja that
• 19:32
  I spoke to already, I'm standing apart already.
• 19:36
  I'm sounding different because my first set of questions
• 19:38
  basically was, OK, this is the organization was this project
• 19:42
  about. What are you trying to achieve
• 19:44
  with this documentary and how does this tie into the overall
• 19:47
  goal of the NGO, especially now that we're wrapping up 2024?
• 19:51
  So what plans do you guys have for 2025 and how does this
• 19:55
  documentary aligned with all these other things?
• 19:58
  You can see that I'm already sounding different.
• 20:01
  You can see I'm already sounding professional.
• 20:03
  You guys see I'm ready sounding like a correct guy.
• 20:06
  Other people would just ask a simple question. 20 people can't
• 20:09
  know two weeks, send a quote. Another thing, as we're having
• 20:14
  these conversations with these folks and we're talking back and
• 20:16
  forth, don't you think or can't you see that I'm getting an
• 20:21
  opportunity now to build rapport?
• 20:23
  I'm getting a chance to know, let's just say the guys Jude.
• 20:26
  I'm getting a chance to know Olga Jude.
• 20:28
  Olga Jude is also getting a chance to know who I am.
• 20:33
  These are the reasons why at the end of the day, if I call or if
• 20:38
  my name flashes like oh, is that interesting guy from Abuja,
• 20:40
  these are the reasons why they'll pay attention to me more
• 20:42
  than the other people. So ask questions about the
• 20:45
  project, also ask about the participants and the businesses.
• 20:49
  It's not just a matter of how many people are we going to
• 20:51
  interview, 20 shooting time, two weeks, ask questions.
• 20:58
  How people are we going to shoot 20?
• 21:01
  OK, cool. So it was part of the business
• 21:02
  incubation program. Oh yes.
• 21:04
  When was it held? So, so, so, so OK.
• 21:06
  What communities did you get them from?
• 21:08
  Of course, I'd ask a question like that because I've actually
• 21:10
  lived in Kano, in Rano local government and also in Kano
• 21:13
  City. So, you know, that's small
• 21:16
  rapport building there because anyway, you never know.
• 21:19
  Rano local government is a big local government.
• 21:21
  So I won't be surprised if one or two of the people came from
• 21:24
  my local government. But it's not really my local
• 21:26
  government. But since I lived there for a
• 21:28
  while, I called it my local government.
• 21:29
  So small rapport building. But The thing is I'm asking
• 21:32
  questions about the participants.
• 21:33
  So which local governments, OK, what sectors, what industries
• 21:36
  are the businesses in? Something, something, something.
• 21:39
  I'm already sounding like somebody who is interested in
• 21:42
  the project. And most importantly, when I ask
• 21:45
  all these questions, it will help me to come up with a
• 21:47
  treatment. I prefer to even submit a
• 21:49
  treatment first for the documentary before sending a
• 21:51
  quotation. A treatment is that document
• 21:56
  that says, how will I put it? The treatment is the part of the
• 22:02
  document that says that. OK, from the information we've
• 22:04
  gathered so far, this is the creative direction that we can
• 22:07
  go in from the documentary. So we can go in this direction,
• 22:10
  we can shoot like this, we can explore this thing, we can
• 22:13
  highlight this kind of theme. With me submitting a treatment
• 22:17
  first, can you see that I'm already sounding much more
• 22:21
  professional and standing apart now from the other person who
• 22:24
  just says how many people 20, how many days, two weeks, you
• 22:29
  now send a bill 10.2. These are the things why
• 22:34
  sometimes some people you submit the code 10.2.
• 22:39
  You now find out at the end of the day, the person that won the
• 22:41
  contract, he submitted a bid for 40 M and you now say ah, that
• 22:45
  they deceived, they deceived the person that Nigerians, it was
• 22:48
  funny that they use or something.
• 22:50
  It is not funny. The person is better at the
• 22:53
  sales process than you. It is not jazz and it's not
• 22:56
  funny. So you can see at this point now
• 23:01
  these are the conversations that I'm having and can you hear and
• 23:04
  can you see that I have not submitted a quote.
• 23:08
  I have not submitted proposal. I have not submitted any kind of
• 23:13
  presentation. I have not submitted nothing
• 23:16
  because I am selling myself. I am selling my expertise and I
• 23:22
  am doing needs analysis, qualification and discovery
• 23:26
  around this project. If you don't understand what any
• 23:28
  of those terms mean because this is your first time listening to
• 23:30
  the show Noah Allah, when you're done, go and check YouTube.
• 23:34
  I have a channel there. Just type my name, type any of
• 23:37
  those terms. I have over 950 free resources
• 23:41
  there up on YouTube. So any of the resources that
• 23:44
  I've made around these topics, the thing will just show up,
• 23:47
  listen to it with a pen and paper so that you can write down
• 23:50
  things that you want to go and execute on and you get caught up
• 23:53
  to speed. So let's say like now I said
• 23:55
  qualification. You don't know what
• 23:56
  qualification means in the sales context.
• 23:59
  As soon as you're done listening to this, go to YouTube, type in
• 24:01
  Tavi Shima, that's my name, and then type in Discovery.
• 24:05
  Hit enter. Every single podcast episode
• 24:07
  that I've made over the last 950 episodes where I spoke about
• 24:11
  Discovery, it will be there. So you learn what Discovery is,
• 24:14
  how you can apply to your particular business.
• 24:18
  So let's go back to the kind of conversations and the kind of
• 24:21
  questions that I'm asking then. OK, well, let me just rush it up
• 24:26
  because it's 24 minutes now. The whole point where I'm trying
• 24:29
  to get all this information is because I'm trying to get the
• 24:32
  people to commit to a treatment. Let me get all this information.
• 24:36
  Let me send you a treatment. After I send the treatment, we
• 24:41
  can now discuss outlines, we can now discuss project deadlines,
• 24:48
  and we can now discuss money. Because before I even ask all
• 24:51
  these questions, how do I even know what code to submit?
• 24:54
  And this is how some of you run into trouble.
• 24:59
  You quickly send the quote. 10.2 you send it and then it is
• 25:03
  approved and then you collect the money.
• 25:05
  But then when you hit the field, you realize that those two weeks
• 25:09
  that are budgeted is not going to cut it.
• 25:10
  We actually are going to spend 3 1/2 weeks in the field.
• 25:14
  And of course, if you gave a quote based on two weeks in the
• 25:16
  field, 10.2 the money sounds big, but you're paying a crew of
• 25:20
  seven boys that are showing up every day.
• 25:22
  You've rented camera, you've done this, you've done this,
• 25:24
  you're paying for food and all that.
• 25:27
  By the time you run from two weeks to now 3 1/2 weeks, of
• 25:30
  course, your profit matching is now cutting and cutting and
• 25:32
  cutting. You not be angry.
• 25:34
  You say that the client is stingy.
• 25:35
  The client is not stingy. You did not do your work
• 25:37
  properly before you submitted this bid.
• 25:39
  And this is how we run into problems.
• 25:41
  And This is why I keep telling you people that qualification
• 25:45
  and discovery, all this early talking, talking, toasting stage
• 25:47
  is the most important part of this sales process.
• 25:50
  A whole lot of us, this is where we fumble the thing.
• 25:53
  So I'm getting them to come into the treatment.
• 25:56
  The treatment is the document that is going to outline the
• 25:59
  whole thing. Now, OK, this is what we've
• 26:00
  discussed. This is why I think the project
• 26:03
  should go. This is a story format.
• 26:04
  I think we should approach. I think we should do it like
• 26:06
  this. I think we should do it like
• 26:07
  that. These are the deadlines.
• 26:09
  And this is how I propose that we execute this project because
• 26:12
  by the way, the client will say two weeks of shooting, what do
• 26:15
  they know? They are an NGO, they are not
• 26:18
  the professional. It is you who are the
• 26:20
  professional that will be able to tell them that.
• 26:22
  OK Bros, based on what we've discussed this, your two weeks,
• 26:25
  whatever is unrealistic is not going to work.
• 26:31
  So you don't just listen to the client and whatever.
• 26:33
  That's why seller is not being groundnut seller, Groundnut
• 26:35
  seller person who shows up and says what do you want?
• 26:37
  OK, I'll give it to you. This is the price.
• 26:39
  Be a doctor, go in, ask questions, and then flex your
• 26:41
  professional muscle. Based on what we've discussed, I
• 26:45
  think this and this and this is how we're going to go.
• 26:46
  This your plan, you know you can't work or to make it work.
• 26:49
  We need to do this, we need to do this, we need to do that.
• 26:53
  Then also, if you take this approach, like I said, you're
• 26:56
  going to have lots of opportunities to build rapport
• 26:59
  because there's going to be plenty back and forth, many
• 27:00
  conversations. You're building credibility.
• 27:02
  You're sounding professional. The other people see, to be
• 27:05
  honest, the other people might be more professional than you,
• 27:08
  but The thing is, all they did was they sent in a quote
• 27:12
  immediately. That document is not going to
• 27:14
  show how professional you are. It is when people talk back and
• 27:18
  forth that you now know that OK, this guy knows what's up.
• 27:21
  This is a professional. By the way.
• 27:23
  Can you see all the reason why I also say this whole thing of SMS
• 27:27
  back and forth? What's up back and forth not
• 27:29
  it's hard to pass across your expertise by pinging back and
• 27:35
  forth, But if you pick up the phone and listen is a
• 27:37
  conversation, 20 minute conversation though after you
• 27:42
  drop the phone, the car, say this girl, she knows her stuff.
• 27:46
  Yes, she's more expensive, but clearly this girl knows her
• 27:48
  stuff. She's better than everybody
• 27:49
  else. So yeah, that's it.
• 27:55
  If I submit anything written first, in this case, it's the
• 27:57
  treatment. Because the treatment is a
• 27:59
  valuable document itself. It's value adds, gives me a
• 28:03
  sense to distinguish myself from the competition.
• 28:07
  After I send the treatment, I get on another phone call and
• 28:11
  the goal of the phone call, is this OK?
• 28:14
  You've had a look at the treatments you discussed with
• 28:16
  members of the board. What do they think?
• 28:18
  Where are we leaning? What direction are we looking
• 28:20
  at? OK, so if I have captured your
• 28:23
  vision adequately to achieve this, we could be looking at a
• 28:27
  production budget of anything that is between XYZ and 123.
• 28:31
  Remember Me, I'm always in habit of giving a range because I'm
• 28:35
  trying to fill them out. I'm trying to know where they
• 28:36
  are. So I will not just say budget is
• 28:39
  5.2 or is 10.6, I will come and say based on what we've
• 28:44
  discussed so far, this thing can fall anything between 10 M and
• 28:47
  seven M. Is that doable?
• 28:50
  And then I'll keep quiet or how does that sound to you?
• 28:53
  And I'll keep quiet or how does that compare to other bids that
• 28:57
  you have? And I'll keep quiet because
• 28:59
  let's face it, this is Niger. I'm not the only person he's
• 29:03
  talking to. He's definitely talking to two
• 29:04
  or three other guys. So it's a fair question to ask.
• 29:07
  How does this compare to other beads and now keep quiet?
• 29:11
  In fact, there's one guy, well, a woman actually.
• 29:14
  This one was for Lagos and it was for this Swedish NGO.
• 29:21
  I think it's Swedish IDEA for something that they were doing
• 29:24
  in Lagos around legal. What's it called?
• 29:29
  Legal aid where lawyers come and give people advice for free.
• 29:34
  So I called up and I said, look, Madam, this is what we've
• 29:35
  discussed. This is what this is what this
• 29:38
  project is looking at is looking like.
• 29:39
  Between this and this, is there any point of submitting a bid at
• 29:42
  this point? I asked that straight up, I
• 29:45
  should say no. Now we cannot pass more than so,
• 29:49
  so, so and so, so can you see, now you take this sort of
• 29:53
  approach, you don't even end up submitting a bid and then start
• 29:56
  following up with people endlessly and wondering when are
• 29:59
  they getting back to you? Why are they ghosting you?
• 30:02
  The reason why the woman is ghosting is because she wants to
• 30:04
  be polite. You submitted a bill and the
• 30:07
  bill was twice of what the budgeted for.
• 30:09
  She doesn't want to be rude so that's why she's not answering
• 30:12
  your phone call. But if you ask these questions
• 30:15
  upfront, you even know before you submit the bid you know
• 30:20
  where they are. Like this isn't all case asked.
• 30:22
  Is there any point of submitting the bid?
• 30:23
  She said no. They people are beyond
• 30:25
  everything. And then I now think, OK, if we
• 30:28
  can make it work with what it is, let you have suggested even
• 30:34
  though it's not going to be my crew because of travel and
• 30:36
  everything, a crew that is local to Lagos, Would you guys be
• 30:40
  willing to pull the trigger at that point?
• 30:41
  I should say yes, but please time is going.
• 30:44
  If you're going to do that, we have to be able to know that by
• 30:47
  Thursday morning. Now, can you see that we're
• 30:49
  having constructive conversation because I'm using a budget, a
• 30:53
  range of budgets to qualify. I have said based on what we
• 30:58
  have this discussed so far and what we've outlined in the
• 31:01
  treatment, we would need a production budget of between
• 31:06
  this and this and the shooting time of that, that, that, that,
• 31:08
  that. How does that sound?
• 31:10
  And then I keep quiet. All these kinds of conversations
• 31:14
  let me know whether this is an opportunity that is even worth
• 31:18
  pursuing. Should I even submit this
• 31:22
  invoice invoice by the time I submit the invoice or the price
• 31:26
  quote or whatever, Should I even waste my time following up with
• 31:28
  them? Most importantly, and this is
• 31:32
  what I'm trying to get you guys to understand, I am not relying
• 31:35
  on the document. I'm not relying on the proposal,
• 31:39
  I'm not relying on the PDF. I'm not relying on the whatever
• 31:42
  it is I produce to do the selling for me.
• 31:44
  I am the one who is selling myself, selling my expertise on
• 31:50
  this project. And that is why I say you guys
• 31:53
  should be coming down. It's not just information,
• 31:56
  information, information. Send price quotes, slow down.
• 32:00
  There's an add to this whole sales thing.
• 32:05
  Also, one more thing, by the time you're having these kinds
• 32:07
  of conversations, you kind of have a sense whether the project
• 32:11
  is your own or it belongs to somebody else by the time you
• 32:14
  submit the quote. So that is how I run my process.
• 32:24
  That is how I do qualification and discovery.
• 32:29
  That is how I use ranges to further qualify people.
• 32:34
  I get people to opt in. I get a sense of, you know,
• 32:36
  where they are before I will submit the quote.
• 32:38
  And that is how I know whether if I submit this quote and I
• 32:42
  continue to chase this thing, whether it might click or
• 32:45
  whether it might not click. So OK, let me just wrap up 30
• 32:53
  minutes. If I get the contract, that is
• 32:55
  good. Glory be to God, I'll flex and
• 32:58
  I'll pay some bills. If I lose the contract, no
• 33:01
  Allah, glory be to God. You know, it doesn't matter.
• 33:04
  Another job will always come. God will always sort you out.
• 33:06
  Don't worry, don't be too scared.
• 33:08
  But if I lose the contract, I'll pick up the phone and I'll call
• 33:10
  the guy and we'll run debrief. So I'll got you now.
• 33:13
  Now. Oh my God.
• 33:15
  Here from Camion Procurement. How far now?
• 33:18
  I thought this was a done deal. What happened?
• 33:21
  And of course, our graduate will laugh and we'll have the
• 33:24
  conversation about what part of my treatment was off.
• 33:29
  Was this thing a budget issue? Or is it that creatively I miss
• 33:36
  this or I miss that? We will have the conversation.
• 33:39
  We will keep it casual. It might just seem like gist,
• 33:42
  but me, I know what I'm doing. I'm trying to debrief.
• 33:44
  I'm trying to figure out this contract that I thought was a
• 33:47
  good deal that I didn't get. Why did I lose it?
• 33:52
  The reason why I need to know is so that for future people in
• 33:56
  this space who call me, I will now take this learning that I
• 34:00
  got from here. I'll take dressing, and I'll use
• 34:03
  that to improve my sales processes in the future.
• 34:06
  So if you get the contract, glory be to God.
• 34:08
  If you lose the contract, glory be to God.
• 34:10
  Run a debrief and figure out what went wrong then.
• 34:15
  Because I didn't get this job with Orga Jude, assuming I
• 34:18
  didn't get this job with Orga Jude's company.
• 34:19
  Now I'm still going to ask about the future projects that they
• 34:23
  have going on and the goals of the company going on.
• 34:27
  Because if I know that I lost this one in where, where we know
• 34:32
  we are in is this September, October, we're in October 2024.
• 34:37
  So if I lost the one of October 2024, but I know that in March
• 34:42
  of 2025 another one is going to come up, I now know that by
• 34:47
  December 2024, I can pick up the phone.
• 34:50
  I start healing Auger Jude so that by January, February, I
• 34:53
  start toasting him about the one that is coming up in March.
• 34:57
  So you ask all these sorts of things because it gives you a
• 34:59
  sense about how you're going to run your relationship, building
• 35:04
  your follow up sequence or whatever it is that you want to
• 35:07
  call or call it. Well, by the way, This is why
• 35:09
  SRM is useful customer relationship management tool.
• 35:12
  By the time I finish this conversation, I will go back to
• 35:14
  my CRM and I'll put it there. Orga Jude conversation had so,
• 35:19
  so, so date 8th October 2024 failed bid, reasons why
• 35:25
  treatment was off on so, so so and so budget exceeded by blah
• 35:28
  blah blah blah blah. Future project in Anambra for
• 35:33
  March of 2025. And then I'll now use the
• 35:37
  calendar function and I now schedule the and I'll schedule
• 35:42
  December 26th. No, looking more like December
• 35:46
  27th. And I'll just leave you there.
• 35:49
  So December 27th, I'll call graduate up and guess what the
• 35:52
  agenda will be. I'll get you what's up now, how
• 35:54
  you did, how did that project go?
• 35:56
  Said anything was good. All right, Noah Hala.
• 35:58
  So half hour this Christmas now has the family, blah, blah,
• 36:01
  blah. We're looking forward to a new
• 36:03
  year. I'll be so how the new year go
• 36:04
  be OK, blah, blah, blah. God do bless us.
• 36:07
  God bless our families. God do bless our businesses or
• 36:09
  you're a correct guy. Jude, we'll be talking next year
• 36:12
  now or I greet your wife for me later.
• 36:14
  End the phone call. You see touch up relationship
• 36:19
  building, blah, blah, blah. When I'm done with our
• 36:21
  conversation, I will now go back to the calendar function in the
• 36:24
  CRM and I will now move. OK, so December, OK, this is
• 36:29
  December 27th. The next date I will now
• 36:31
  schedule will be something like maybe, OK, based on discussion,
• 36:37
  OK, let's say the last time the discussion that we had took six
• 36:40
  weeks. And this documentary is going to
• 36:43
  be shot in March. I will now take March 1st and
• 36:46
  I'll do six weeks back. So that will take us to February
• 36:49
  something. So for padding, maybe I'll do
• 36:52
  another four weeks back. So basically maybe the next
• 36:54
  scheduling now will now be January, I don't know, January
• 36:57
  6th or January 7th. And when I call January 6th or
• 37:00
  January 7th will be the same thing.
• 37:01
  Happy New year. We've seen a new year.
• 37:03
  Nothing will happen to us this year.
• 37:06
  Our business will succeed, will not be fine.
• 37:07
  The children will do well, you know, blah, blah, blah.
• 37:10
  And hey, I'll get you that thing we're discussing last year about
• 37:13
  that Anambra project in in March.
• 37:16
  So how far now, like when are we rolling on that or when are you
• 37:19
  guys taking bids on that? And then I've started the
• 37:22
  conversation. So this is also another reason
• 37:24
  why CRMS are important. You don't have ACRM and you're
• 37:27
  not mapping out your deals like that using the CRM tool or using
• 37:32
  the scheduling functions on your phone.
• 37:34
  This is how you lose track of deals.
• 37:38
  So where folks like me say use the CRM or this is how to use
• 37:42
  your phone as ACRM, it's not just academic is the reason
• 37:47
  between is the difference between your company growing or
• 37:50
  dying and this is how people's businesses die.
• 37:53
  Small, small, small because you're not scheduling anything.
• 37:56
  You finish the conversation or graduate and you think, OK,
• 37:59
  there's something coming up in March.
• 38:01
  I will call him next year. And then you forget, Christmas
• 38:06
  will finish, New year will finish.
• 38:08
  And you're just chilling with your wife or your boyfriend.
• 38:10
  And in your mind, The thing is just nagging.
• 38:12
  Like I know I'm supposed to be calling somebody about
• 38:14
  something. I just can't remember who that
• 38:16
  person is and I can't remember who that project is.
• 38:19
  But for me, I don't have to bother myself because whether I
• 38:23
  get the deal or I lose the deal, I plot all these things in my
• 38:25
  CRM. I'm just minding my business.
• 38:27
  And then maybe I might even be driving my phone do ping him.
• 38:31
  By the time I get to location, I check, I open my phone and I see
• 38:34
  the ping there. December 27th, call Orga Jude
• 38:37
  and then the deal is back on track and it is 40 minutes.
• 38:41
  So let me just bring it to a close somewhere.
• 38:42
  What I've been trying to say basically is don't let the
• 38:46
  documents off for you. Don't let the PDF sell for you.
• 38:48
  Don't let your whatever it is sell for you.
• 38:50
  But yes, create all these nice fancy proposals.
• 38:54
  In fact, if you can't take it, spiral, bind it, make it glossy,
• 38:59
  emboss it, put your letterhead. Yeah, do all of that.
• 39:02
  But don't let the document solve for you.
• 39:04
  Sell the whole thing by yourself.
• 39:08
  Don't rush to give a quote. Ask some questions about the
• 39:11
  client, about the project, about their goals, with the extra
• 39:14
  information that you have. Use that to come up with a
• 39:20
  tailored outline of what it is that you're trying to achieve.
• 39:23
  Without outline. Confirm from them that your
• 39:25
  plans and their own plans are In Sync.
• 39:28
  If they're In Sync, then give them a range.
• 39:29
  You can cost anything between this and this.
• 39:31
  How far is it worth continuing conversation at this point?
• 39:34
  If they say this, your other price is kind of pricey sharp.
• 39:38
  But anyway, submit. You now know that if you submit
• 39:41
  that there is hope. And if the person says no five M
• 39:47
  how other people have been telling me 2.5, you already know
• 39:51
  that this project is not something you're going to have
• 39:53
  been able to win at all. So that's it all.
• 39:58
  So that's it for today. As usual, connect with me on
• 40:02
  WhatsApp or on LinkedIn for insights, quick tips, questions,
• 40:06
  comments, queries, especially for those of you who disagree
• 40:09
  with what it is that I'm outlining here.
• 40:11
  I'd really love to hear from you guys that would also inform
• 40:14
  future episodes about the. About these sorts of topics so
• 40:19
  my phone number is 08064662140. The country code is +234 then OK
• 40:29
  yes LinkedIn. My name is Tavi Shima Ayede.
• 40:32
  I'm the host of the show use the link.
• 40:34
  We're listening to this episode. Whether you're listening to this
• 40:36
  on Spotify on apple or on YouTube.
• 40:41
  You see my name there, just highlight my name and copy paste
• 40:44
  it in the search function in LinkedIn.
• 40:50
  And then you see my handsome face come up, send me a
• 40:52
  connection request. I respond to everybody 24 hours.
• 40:56
  Worst case scenario, 48 hours. But I do respond to everybody
• 40:59
  for now. By the time my container arrives
• 41:01
  and I'm a big boy like Dan Gote, you guys will be hearing from me
• 41:04
  again, I guarantee. So yeah, that's it.
• 41:08
  I'll catch you guys at the next episode.