Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / How to Hire, Train, and Manage a Successful Sales Team

Transcript

How to Hire, Train, and Manage a Successful Sales Team · 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 in the audio booth, so apologies for any interruptions
0:06
coming in through the background.
0:08
If you'd love to connect for a strategy session, the phone
0:10
number is 08064662140. The country code is +234.
0:17
Then you can find me on LinkedIn.
0:19
The name to look for is Tavishima Aide.
0:21
I'm the host of the show and then you can also find me on
0:25
YouTube in case you like to get the podcast over there.
0:29
So last week on my radio show. But I mean, I called in from Wu
0:34
and she had some troubles with managing car sales people.
0:38
Now because the connection was sporty, we couldn't really get
0:41
into detail about what business she's into.
0:45
But I was able to hear one of the stories.
0:47
It turned out to be a sob story show, a very sad story and one
0:51
of those things that breaks my heart because lots of Nigerian
0:55
employers can be very cruel or wicked.
0:59
But then in her own part, she went out of her way to be really
1:02
kind to her sales people, in fact, paying house rent for one
1:05
of them. And the lady just upped and
1:07
left. And so the investments in salary
1:10
and in house rent just went up in smoke basically.
1:15
So Madam Mommy and I had some questions about how to manage
1:18
sales people. And while we're on the air, I
1:21
was able to tackle some parts of the question.
1:25
I tried talking again, I think this week, but we didn't finish
1:31
it anyway. But I'm going to make a podcast
1:33
recording. Today's episode is about that
1:36
just so that those of you who are in a similar position, you
1:39
know, you're having problems with managing your sales people,
1:42
you know how to go about it. So the way that we tackle this
1:46
problem for Madam, I mean, I also look at it from a three
1:48
pronged perspective. So First off, we have to make
1:51
sure that we hire the right kind of sales people because if we
1:54
want to make sure that people don't up and abandoned us or you
1:57
know, don't do a strong team, we have to make sure that we're
2:01
hiring the right people in the 1st place.
2:03
The next one to make sure that the incentives are aligned.
2:06
Incentives just means, you know, what's that sugar?
2:09
What's that sweetness? What are you trying to do to get
2:12
them to play along as a part of your organization?
2:15
So what are the incentives? And then the last part of the
2:19
discussion that we looked at was on how to train people well, on
2:23
how to train sales people well because they need continual
2:27
training. So there is nothing that is 100%
2:32
correct, foolproof. So it doesn't mean that if you
2:35
take these three steps that you won't have sales people that
2:38
will disappoint you or that you have sales people that will
2:40
never leave you or that you'll have sales people that will
2:43
never 'cause you headache. There's nothing that is 100%
2:47
correct. I mean, think about it.
2:50
I mean, even, you know, even God who is the master of the
2:53
universe, you know, can't OK, well he has chosen not to compel
2:56
us to, to do things 100% correct.
3:00
So The thing is, if God can't achieve 100% success rate when
3:06
it comes to human beings, then don't expect that you will in
3:10
your own business achieve 100% success rate.
3:13
However, if you're mad I'm in a situation you've been having
3:16
problems with managing sales people, this is the starting
3:20
point about how you need to look at things #1 higher right?
3:23
Make sure you have the right people on your team #2
3:26
incentivize well to make sure that your goals and your visions
3:31
are aligned so that if you're heading north, they do, they're
3:34
also heading north. Then also train your people
3:37
well. Then after that, we're going to
3:38
have some particular advice around character assessment and
3:45
then some particular recourse that might be available to Madam
3:49
Amina in case you're in that kind of situation.
3:51
You know, all kind of things you can do with the with the courts
3:53
and then how to get your money back.
3:56
If you're somebody like Madam Amina, you had some sales
3:58
people, you're trying to treat them nice.
3:59
You paid house rent and at the end of the day, Sharda just
4:02
ghosted you. And then house rent issue is,
4:06
is, is pending. You're looking for a new sales
4:10
person. That one is pending to get your
4:12
millions back that you spent house rent on, you know, down is
4:15
spending. So let's start off on high right
4:17
now. To hire the right salesperson.
4:19
You need to look for somebody that has a growth mindset.
4:22
You also need to look for people that have listening skills.
4:24
I also need to look at people that have talking skills.
4:27
Most of you go straight to the whole talking skills thing, but
4:31
let's just break things down 1 by 1 so you understand what is
4:35
the way, what we are, where we're heading to.
4:41
So First off, growth mindset. Now what does a growth mindset
4:45
means and what does it mean? Now in the Nigerian context,
4:48
every single time you hear growth mindset, it just means a
4:50
person where they hear word, as in somebody who listens to
4:53
instruction, somebody who believes that things can be done
4:56
and somebody who has an air of humility.
4:59
Again, growth mindset just means person where they hear word,
5:03
somebody who believes it can be done, person who has an air of
5:05
humility, somebody who is willing to learn because if you
5:10
mess up and you marry somebody that, so I say marry, hire
5:13
somebody that has a fixed mindset because a fixed mindset
5:15
is the person who believes that look, nothing is ever their
5:18
fault. Things never change.
5:21
The problem is always the customer, the problem is always
5:24
you, blah, blah, blah. If you go and carry somebody
5:27
like that and put that person in your business as a salesperson,
5:30
you've given yourself one chance.
5:31
That is serious hanging. You know, like you, you do high
5:36
jump. You just hang yourself in the
5:37
air like you're in a serious predicament.
5:39
There's nothing you can do apart from sack that person.
5:43
Because people who have a fixed mindset, you can't, you can't
5:49
shake them. That's just how they are.
5:52
Is that they were born like that or when they were born, you
5:54
know, their parents, I don't know, maybe their parents mess
5:58
them up or something, sure, But that's just their factory
6:01
settings, their default. You can't change it.
6:03
Well, you can't. You can't change, but it's hard.
6:05
So that is why I advise clients that it is better to make sure
6:09
that we hire the right person first, then we now train them on
6:13
other things. Some people like to look at
6:15
technical expertise. So if you're hiring, let's say
6:18
you own a shop that sells paint. Some people want to hire
6:22
somebody who knows everything about paint.
6:25
They know the different kinds of emotion, they know the different
6:27
kinds of this is the different technique, the everything.
6:30
You want to hire the paint specialist now that's not a bad
6:32
idea. But The thing is you hire a pain
6:35
specialist, but the person has a fixed mindset.
6:38
That guy will mess you up severely, seriously mess you up.
6:42
Because if the client says, oh, I don't like this, it should be
6:45
like this. The person with the fixed
6:46
mindset will say, no, I am the pro, I'm the specialist or the
6:51
customer chew where you are. I will do this thing my own way.
6:55
Now, I'm not saying that we should bend to whatever it is
6:58
that the customers want. But The thing is, if we don't
7:00
handle these things the right way, customers leave some
7:03
situations not feeling heard, not feeling validated, not
7:06
feeling appreciated. And that is what limits their
7:10
chances of coming back for repeat business because the
7:12
money is made when people come back and do business with us
7:15
again or referrals to somebody else.
7:17
So if you run a paint shop and somebody comes and buys paints
7:21
and everything, at the end of the day you give them B, you
7:24
know, the bill is like 900 K and you're like God has done it for
7:28
me. See, The thing is that 900 K is
7:30
not really the sweet money. The sweet money is if the client
7:33
comes and she dropped in 100K now and then she now calls you
7:37
in four months to say, OK, that my last house I finished
7:40
building it, but now I'm building another house in
7:44
Guzabe. So how far can you guys come and
7:46
paint that thing? Now that is where the sweet
7:48
money comes in because she dropped 900 K three months ago.
7:52
She's calling you up. Now.
7:53
This one is possibly maybe like 1.5 or something.
7:57
And the reason why it's a sweet money is because the first time
8:01
she came in, you had to advertise, you had to hustle,
8:05
you had to all kinds of things to get people into the store.
8:07
But then the 2nd and the 3rd and the 4th and the 5th time that
8:10
the woman comes into the store, that is easy money.
8:13
That is money that you are not chasing.
8:15
It is money that you woke up and you were thinking, Kai, what we
8:17
do today and then all of a sudden this person shows up and
8:20
then the deal is easier to close.
8:22
Because if everything was sweet the way that she worked the last
8:25
time and she trusts you guys and you guys had a good
8:27
relationship, it makes it easier to close the sale now.
8:30
And then if she starts referring people to you, they think it
8:33
becomes even more sweeter. So when we're in sales, what
8:36
we're looking at is customer lifetime value or look at repeat
8:40
business, repeat purchases. We're looking at referrals.
8:44
That's where the sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet money is.
8:46
So it's not just that somebody will come and drop 900K or not
8:49
today, bam, that means things are good.
8:51
We're trying to see how somebody will drop 900K in January, maybe
8:55
they can drop 1.5 in September, maybe next year they can drop
8:59
maybe 400,000. But in between they have been
9:03
sending more people to us that have been, you know, giving us,
9:07
you know, 150 K 1.2, you know, 300, you know, all those kind of
9:12
things. That's where the sweet money
9:13
comes from. So if you have somebody who is
9:16
the expert, but the person has a fixed mindset, they get a
9:19
totally out of your business. So in my own opinion, I tell
9:22
people that look, when it comes to medicine and all these other
9:25
technical stuff, hire the right person.
9:28
So if you run a hospital, please hire the doctor that graduated
9:32
first class. But when it comes to sales, on
9:36
the other hand, hire the person who has a growth mindset.
9:40
Hire the person, you know, person where they hear would
9:42
hire that person first. You can hire that person and
9:45
then now start training the person.
9:47
OK, look for paint. This is emotion, this is gloss,
9:51
this is a vostic. This is this, this is that.
9:55
This is the best for this. This is the best for that, for
9:58
this kind of wall up stroke, for this kind of wall side stroke,
10:01
for this kind of wall down stroke, for this kind of wall
10:05
use roller. For this kind of wall, use
10:07
cement blaster. You know, you're now trained a
10:09
person on technical stuff. That is the kind of person who
10:12
is amenable to working really well in your business.
10:16
So Please remember this is contextual.
10:18
If you're hiring for a professional, if you're hiring
10:20
an engineer or an architect or a lawyer or a doctor, hire the
10:24
person who finished first class who knows their stuff.
10:27
Because if you hire the engineer who graduated Tutu and then they
10:31
finished the building or the architect finished two, two or
10:34
third class or pass and they finished the building and the
10:37
building collapses is going to be on your head.
10:40
Police will be after you, Governor will be after you.
10:42
It's on your head. So when it comes to these
10:45
technical professions, law, medicine, what else?
10:50
If you're looking for a pilot, please go and hire the best
10:52
pilot possible law, whether they have growth mindset or fixed
10:55
mindset, make sure you hide the best pilot.
10:57
Because if you go and hide a pilot that graduated with pass
11:01
or you know, let my people go degree and the plane crashes,
11:06
it's all on you, right? But when it comes to sales, look
11:10
for the person that has a growth mindset first.
11:14
They're now trained the person upon the other things.
11:16
So for Madam Amina and other people in that situation, we
11:19
should be looking for people who have a growth mindset.
11:22
Another thing is that people who have growth mindset, like, you
11:25
know, I'm with, you know, let's grow, let's do this thing.
11:29
Those people also have more. What's the word?
11:31
I don't know what the word is of like stickiness.
11:34
They hang around, they give it a shot.
11:36
Like almost I started it. Let me just let me finish it.
11:42
Let me just let me just see more people fix mindset.
11:46
They can't start something like I man, this thing is this thing
11:51
is long story. And then next thing they start
11:52
to do U-turn and they start doing reverse on you and then
11:56
you're left in the lurch. But somebody with a growth
11:58
mindset will say, I don't you care.
12:00
Let me just follow through. So that's why I look for people
12:03
who have growth mindset. Then of course you need to
12:07
listen to hire people who have listening skills.
12:09
Listening skills are important because well, first of all, you
12:11
want them to listen to you because you're the old guy.
12:13
You're the one who knows the best way to sell your product or
12:15
your service. In theory, you know you've been
12:17
selling whatever it is you're selling for, you know, 10/15/20
12:20
years. So you know what's up.
12:22
You know who the customers, who the best customers are.
12:24
You know the best lines to use. You know the best ways to choose
12:28
people to buy the product or the service.
12:31
So they should be listening to you.
12:32
Listening skills also come in handy because you also need to
12:35
listen to the customer and figure out what the customer
12:38
values, what the customer thinks is important.
12:41
It is only when you listen to the customer, you know what the
12:43
customer values, that you can now make a a convincing sales
12:48
pitch. So you want sales people who
12:51
listen back to the painting. Some people might roll up on
12:56
somebody and start saying Madam, buy this paint.
12:59
This paint is the best because it is emotion.
13:01
It is ISO 15 something, something certified and it is
13:06
sustainable, is built with these, you know, sustainable
13:12
what's what's this thing called? Sustainable business practices
13:15
something, something, something, you know, all those things.
13:17
And technically speaking, what you're saying might be correct.
13:20
It might be the most modern paint on the market that is done
13:24
with sustainable business practices.
13:26
So it has no adverse effect on the environment.
13:29
And it is this and this and all that and all that.
13:31
But The thing is the Madam who is in the paint shop now, who
13:33
wants to buy paint, if she doesn't care about sustainable
13:36
business, then what are you talking about sustainable, sorry
13:38
sustainable business products and what are you talking about
13:40
sustainability for? If as far as she is concerned
13:44
environmental global warming is scam and you keep on saying this
13:48
thing, you actually will be irritating her.
13:51
So that's why you need to listen to the person, figure out what
13:54
they find valuable. You will now know how it is that
13:56
you're going to sell because if Madam is like most Abuja mothers
14:01
and she is tired of seeing mode inside the building because
14:05
well, for me, I've just gotten used to the fact that look,
14:08
anywhere you go, share Adobe mode.
14:10
It's just Abuja builders are useless.
14:13
Oh, by the way, I just finished moving house recently.
14:15
So we're done. We're finally settled in.
14:18
But of course, as we're coming in, we had to was that thing
14:22
scrape the we had to scrape off mold from the wall and do
14:27
treatment and everything. So that's just how Abuja
14:30
builders are. Abuja builders are useless.
14:32
They're stupid. I don't understand it, Abuja is
14:35
in a dry location but every single house in Abuja has mold
14:38
in it. How in a dry climate?
14:41
On the other hand, Lagos is next to the sea and it's moist and
14:45
everything. But in Lagos, I have lived in a
14:48
house in Lagos back when I was in Mumsy, we lived in one house
14:51
for 10 years. We did not see a single spot of
14:53
mold. So I don't get it in Lagos that
14:56
is wet and moist, people can build and there will be no mold.
15:00
But for some reason Abuja developers very useless, very
15:04
stupid. Every single house has mold in a
15:07
dry climate. I don't understand.
15:09
In the UK it rains every single day but you will live in your
15:12
house in the UK you will not see a single spot of mold.
15:16
I only heard of one of my guys that had more treatment in the
15:18
bathroom so I mold in the bathroom and they had to call
15:21
the landlord to treat it. So I don't understand.
15:23
UK is wet no mold, Lagos is wet no mold.
15:26
Abuja is dry mold everywhere. I don't know Abuja different
15:30
anyway where was I? So what I'm trying to say is now
15:34
so that Madame dies in is in the shop if I own his outlook.
15:37
I'm tired of seeing mold in my house.
15:39
I have three young babies under the age of seven.
15:43
I don't want it. Our own mold, you know I don't
15:45
want them allergies, blah, blah, blah.
15:47
If you listen to it, Madam, you now know that.
15:49
OK, this Madam, I entered into the shop the categories of paint
15:53
we should be showing her. Let us leave all this
15:55
sustainable ISO certified international.
15:59
This is. Let's leave all that one.
16:00
Let us only show her these ones. This one that is mold treatment.
16:05
This one that is mold prevention.
16:07
This one that is non harsh smell, non allergy, non nothing,
16:12
and these are the things that make you effective in selling.
16:15
So if you hire somebody who listens to the customer, that is
16:19
how we determine, OK, which one are we going to present?
16:22
Which paint will we show? What are we going to talk about?
16:25
How are we going to toaster? How are we going to get her to
16:27
buy? So that's why listening skills
16:28
are important. Then of course, talking skills.
16:31
Talking skills is just when you know, being able to communicate
16:33
value to say that, Madam, this is what you should buy.
16:36
So these are the things you'll be looking out for when you're
16:38
trying to hire a salesperson. But please make sure you hire a
16:41
salesperson that has a growth mindset because with a growth
16:44
mindset, they will listen to you.
16:47
They will take dressing, they will listen to the customer.
16:50
They will also hang around for longer because people who have
16:53
growth mindset, when they start something, they must finish it
16:56
or at least they must push it to a logical conclusion.
16:58
Somebody who has a growth mindset is going to say, look,
17:01
when I started with this company, I said I was going to
17:04
achieve this. I was going to achieve this, I
17:05
was going to achieve that. They will do their best.
17:08
If they have problems, will come and meet you and say, OK, line
17:10
manager, I beg, you know, I don't hook.
17:13
Yes, we agreed on this. But to be honest, this is where
17:16
I'm struggling. And you guys will have that
17:18
conversation. Somebody who has a fixed mindset
17:21
will say, like, I beg, I don't tire.
17:23
I can't go and kill myself. And then one day they'll just
17:26
will show up to work. You will now be calling them,
17:29
you know, phone number switched off and blah, blah, blah.
17:33
And for some reason it's becoming like a problem even
17:36
Niger to and look, if you're listening to this podcast, it's
17:41
dishonest. Stop it.
17:44
If somebody has you to work for them, this whole thing of like,
17:49
you know, you just don't show up again, like it's absolute
17:51
rubbish. I don't get it.
17:52
There's one person I was consulting for that one of his
17:55
staff. One day she didn't show up to
17:56
work and you know, where is she? Where is she?
17:59
Where is she picked up course, she said that she's stressed
18:02
that she's taking a mental health day.
18:04
Taking a mental health what? See, mental health is important.
18:08
But The thing is when you decide to work for someone, you have
18:12
contractually committed yourself to working for a certain number
18:16
of days. So show up when you said you're
18:20
going to show up. If you can't show up, you tell
18:22
the employer ahead of time that boss, Madam, blah blah blah, I
18:27
won't be able to come on Friday because XYI mean things happen.
18:31
I can't come on Friday because my house flooded, God forbid, or
18:36
Popsy died or you know, this or this or that or that or, OK,
18:41
they snatched my back so I don't have TFA or something.
18:44
But call ahead of time. You don't just take mental
18:46
health days or you don't just resign without telling anybody.
18:49
It's absolute madness, absolute madness.
18:52
OK, so next. OK, it's advising people.
18:57
No, Madam. I mean, she did something that
18:58
was really, really nice because she gave them salary.
19:02
And once in a while she was also sorry.
19:04
One moment. Sorry about that.
19:07
I record these things on my phone and the notification came
19:10
in. I just wanted to be sure what's
19:11
up because, you know, now this is how I make a living.
19:14
So if I'm making a podcast and somebody calls because I want to
19:16
give me money, you better believe I'm going to pause,
19:19
pause the recording, you know, deal with them first, collect
19:22
deposit, and then I'll get back to you guys.
19:25
Where was I? So what I mean, but I mean, I
19:28
did was she used to give them extra money, you know, stuff
19:31
like that. So we know, bless our heart, my
19:33
mom and I was trying to do the right thing.
19:36
But when you hire people, this is the best way to look at it.
19:40
Don't give people a wage, a salary that is unrealistic.
19:44
And then every two, two weeks, you're now adding something.
19:46
Or I take 500 or I take recharge card, take this, take that.
19:51
When you're dealing with sales people, just give them a living
19:53
wage straight from the beginning so that there's no excuse.
19:59
What is a living wage? It depends.
20:01
A living wage in Abuja is different from living wage in
20:04
Kano. Because I remember when I was
20:06
serving in Kano, the guy whose house I was squatting in, I said
20:09
I wanted to contribute to the house rent because the guy had a
20:11
5 bedroom, house was 5 bedrooms. So I said look, this nice house,
20:17
everything ought to contribute. The guy said look, there's no
20:19
need. I said Sir, please on the
20:21
country we said, look, I don't understand, you're coming from
20:22
Lagos and you know that it was in Lagos we pay millions,
20:25
1,000,000 millions for this kind of house.
20:27
But here there's no deed. I paid for three years.
20:30
I said, OK Sir, I'm just curious, how much was it?
20:32
He said this five bedroom house I've been, how much do you think
20:35
it is? So back then serving, I just
20:38
tried to use like Lagos. I, I said, OK, I think it should
20:41
be like 1.5, maybe 1.8, you know, he laughed.
20:44
He said no, that this, this place, what I paid was 150,000
20:48
for a year. I said yeah, they say yeah but
20:50
150,000. But Kano is an easy place to
20:53
live in. Now this was 2008, one hour
20:55
serving of 2007, 2008. So please don't go to Kano.
20:59
I'll be looking for a House of 150K.
21:01
Now what I'm telling you was a long time ago.
21:04
I'm just saying that coming from Lagos, I expected the house rent
21:07
to be like 1.51.82 M as per his five bedroom in in the centre of
21:13
town. But what he paid was 150 K.
21:16
So cost of living back then in Kano was easier than cost of
21:21
living in Lagos or Abuja. So living wage depends where are
21:25
you, what is the industry? Then there's also legislation on
21:31
living wage, minimum wage. So if you take all these factors
21:34
into the account, what does the government, what does the law
21:36
say that minimum wage is supposed to be?
21:39
Which city do we live in? What is realistic?
21:41
You know, stuff like that. They might now round it up.
21:44
Use your church mind, use human kindness, you know, just round
21:47
it up, you know, milk of human kindness, round it up, make sure
21:50
it's a living wage. But this whole thing of you have
21:53
sales people and then today you say I take recharge card,
21:56
tomorrow you say take, go and buy bread.
21:58
Next tomorrow you say go and take, go and buy a car.
22:00
After that you say, we'll take this your transport.
22:02
And so none of that, just give them living wage.
22:05
Bam, one time. Dealing with sales people is not
22:09
the same thing as dealing with an accountant or dealing with a
22:11
lawyer or dealing with a medical doctor is not the same.
22:15
Our mind frame is different, Our world view is different,
22:19
personalities are different. So when you're dealing with
22:21
sales people, stop it. Stop all this extra, extra,
22:23
extra, extra, extra. Stop all this handout.
22:26
Just give them living wage one time, manage them.
22:29
Now you go do your job. Although traditionally this is
22:34
what is done. You give them a base fee, which
22:37
is not much, then, you know, compensate them whenever they do
22:43
something that has a big upside. In other words, traditionally
22:48
you might say, OK, architect, your staff.
22:51
Let's say you run an architectural firm.
22:54
OK. No.
22:54
How will I put it? Yeah, let's say you run the
22:56
architect. No, let's go back to the
22:57
painting. So you have an accountant on
22:59
staff because you sell paint. So traditionally, maybe your
23:04
accountant, you pay your accountant 250K every month
23:07
fixed. Because of that, you think you
23:09
can pay your sales staff 250K every month fixed.
23:13
Well, there are some play. There's some parts of the world
23:16
in West, in the West, North America particularly where
23:20
people are trying out that experiment.
23:22
So I'm watching to see how it goes and I'll let you guys know.
23:26
But traditionally what you do is the sales person will now have a
23:31
low base. The base is just shall let them
23:35
have credit, let them have TP, you know, let them have
23:38
something to eat. But then the big money is going
23:41
to come when they close the deal.
23:43
So accountant, you can be paying the accountant 350K every month,
23:46
but the sales people, you can say, look, we're giving you a
23:49
base of 150 K every month. Every single time you close a
23:52
deal, you're getting 10% on that deal.
23:54
So that's what motivates sales people.
23:56
So the salesperson is collecting 150K every month at the end of
24:02
the year. That means the base is as one
24:04
point something happy. And I'm not good at math.
24:06
So that's one point something as a base.
24:08
But every single time you close the deal, that's 10%.
24:11
So the salesperson can go out and find business or maybe like
24:14
2 M and they give him 10% of that.
24:17
Two M is 10% of 2 million should be what?
24:21
What is that like 200,000 or something?
24:23
When do you get my point? So there's the base, but then if
24:29
they work very hard, they make plenty of money.
24:31
If they don't work very hard, they don't make much money.
24:33
So traditionally that's how sales people are compensated.
24:36
But either way, it is not a good idea to be dashing sales people
24:42
money and to be giving them things on a It's not a good idea
24:49
to be giving sales people money that is not a reward or things
24:53
that they have not earned. Yes.
24:56
So if you want to see other accountants, well, don't know,
24:59
take this one go and buy small shops.
25:02
You know that's different. But for your sales team, if
25:06
you're dropping stuff, you should be tied to output, you
25:10
should be tied to merit, you should be tied to reward.
25:14
Yes, you want to be kind, but I'm just letting you know that
25:16
your accountant is not the same as your as your sales person.
25:24
So this whole thing of sales people taking their owners for
25:27
granted when you try to be kind, these are some of the ways where
25:30
we start seeing trouble. So if you're going to give them
25:33
a salary, just make sure that it is a living wage one time, bam.
25:38
And then there's no take this, top up this, this, this, not
25:41
that. Give them a living wage and
25:43
manage them or do the traditional thing, which is give
25:46
them a low base and then give them high upside that will
25:50
motivate them to sell more like an insurance because I tried
25:54
selling insurance for a bit. In insurance, depending on the
25:56
firm you work for, you find that the base is rubbish.
25:59
Maybe it's like 50 KA month or 100 KA month or something like
26:02
that, but it's not much. Very low base.
26:05
But then the commissions are very, very sweet.
26:09
So there's some people who don't even know what the base is
26:15
because for them, Commission, Commission, Commission, that is
26:18
what they're chasing. So there's some industries like
26:20
that, that some people don't even know their base because the
26:23
Commission is what they're after.
26:25
So there's some people who live that way that maybe in January
26:29
commissions can bring in 500 K, maybe in February, 200 K in
26:33
March, maybe one point something, you know, yes, it's
26:36
up and down and up and down, but that's what motivate them,
26:39
motivates them. Now this is the difference.
26:42
An accountant will never work that way.
26:43
An accountant will say, look, give me my money, 350K flat
26:50
January, February, March, April, May all the way to December.
26:54
A salesperson is OK with making 2 million in January, excuse me,
27:00
two M in January, then maybe 200K in February and maybe
27:06
nothing in March, but then maybe in June 700 K and maybe in July
27:12
another one M. So for sales people, they're OK
27:15
up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, no problem.
27:18
Feast and farming sales people used to it.
27:21
Other people, they just want their money.
27:24
So a doctor, you can't pay a doctor on Commission.
27:26
A doctor will say look I don't care how many clients I see pay
27:30
me my salary. So in January if I saw 400
27:33
clients, I don't care pay me my 500K.
27:37
If in February I only saw two clients, I don't care pay me my
27:41
500K. I'm not in control of who comes
27:43
into this hospital or not. My own shy is my salary is 500 K
27:47
every month. So for sales people, that's how
27:51
it works. Either give them a living wage
27:54
one time and stop all of these dashing, dashing, dashing, or
27:57
let it be a low base and plenty of upside.
28:00
But either way, you can dash all the employees stuff, but sales
28:06
people don't be dashing them things that they haven't earned.
28:09
So let me skip this whole part about training.
28:13
Well, because we're almost at 30 minutes and let me, so I, let me
28:16
look at my notes and go to a specific advice that I had for
28:21
Madam Amina, people who have been in that situation.
28:24
So unfortunately, Madam Amina, when she wanted to pay the house
28:27
rent of this girl, one of her team members has said, Madam,
28:30
you know, free this team, blah, blah, blah.
28:32
But I mean, I decided to do the nice thing.
28:34
And it is my prayer that God will continue to bless and
28:37
continue to reward Nigerian employees like Madam Amina, who
28:41
have their interests, the interests of their employee at
28:44
heart and who go out of their way to make sure that people are
28:47
settled. You know personally that they're
28:49
settled, family issues are settled, all kinds of things are
28:52
settled. So May God bless Madam Amina for
28:53
that. But Madam Amina and other people
28:56
who are like her, please pay attention to your team when it
28:59
comes to character assessment, especially if you consider
29:02
yourself to be a nice person. Now, my mom likes to say that we
29:05
are born in twos. She says that because I'm one
29:09
way and my brother is another way.
29:10
And my mom says that the reason why God made us like that is it
29:12
evens things out. It balances things out.
29:14
And it makes sense cause I've noticed that in family matters
29:19
or in business, there's some things that I will catch.
29:20
And my brother, my brother, I will not click.
29:23
And I think that, you know, for, for him, some things, you know,
29:26
it will click. But for me, I will now go and
29:28
rock it. So there's a tension that kind
29:31
of evens itself out. The same thing in marriage.
29:34
There are some things that my wife will not see that me I will
29:37
see and I stop her from running into trouble.
29:39
And then there's some things that my wife will see and I will
29:41
say, I beg you over acting. And then when I go and hang in
29:45
front, she will now keep quiet. Should not be looking at me with
29:47
side eye. And I say yeah, I know, I know
29:50
you want me. I know.
29:51
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
29:52
I'm sorry. You said no, I'm not saying
29:53
anything. No, I'm not saying anything.
29:55
I'm not saying anything. No.
29:56
What are you telling me sorry for?
29:57
I know it was your choice now that you made your choice.
30:00
So what are you telling me sorry for?
30:02
So anyway, that's how my wife is.
30:03
She can be petty sometimes. So it's the same thing.
30:07
If you think you're a nice person like Madam Amina, please
30:11
pay attention to the people on your team who are Bulldogs.
30:14
If you're saying you want to help this person, you want to
30:15
help this person, and then the Bulldogs on your team are saying
30:18
no, not this person. Even if they can't give you a
30:22
convincing answer, there's something that they're seeing.
30:25
So for me, I find it really interesting that there's
30:28
somebody on her team who's not as nice as she.
30:30
And when she wanted to help out two of the sales people, the
30:33
person said Madam, not these two.
30:36
Pay attention to people like that.
30:37
So trust members of your team when it comes to character
30:39
assessment, especially if you think you're one of those people
30:41
who is very nice. If you have Bulldogs on your
30:44
team, if you have devils on your team, pay attention to the
30:47
Devils. You know, you you're an Angel.
30:48
There's some things you're not seeing the devils, they're
30:51
saying some things. So if you want to help somebody
30:53
like this, you want to do this thing and then two or three of
30:56
the devils on your team say, ah, Madam, no, no, no, no, no.
30:58
Is it in case anybody else but knowing itchy, just trust them.
31:02
There's something that's seen about in kitchen that you you're
31:04
not seeing. All right.
31:05
So Madam, I mean, in my own opinion, especially since
31:08
experience has showed twice that this guy's assessment was
31:15
correct, in the future, when this guy says something about a
31:20
sales person's character just just taking on board, he'll be
31:25
100% all the time, correct all the time.
31:27
But just taking on board then for if you're in, Madam, I'm in
31:32
a situation now what, to be honest.
31:35
OK, let's just go through this now.
31:36
What's the recourse #1 lawyer. But to be honest, the whole
31:41
thing about lawyer is cost. You have to pay the lawyer.
31:45
Even if the lawyer is your friend, at least you have to
31:48
mobilize the guy. Like, OK, look, this thing
31:50
you're going to go to court is going to be, you want to spend a
31:53
lot of time before the matter is called and everything.
31:55
So if nothing else, you mobilize the guy with something.
31:58
Let not be as if he's totally wasting his time.
32:01
Yeah, he wants to help you. But sure, you have to mobilize
32:03
the lawyer. So this cost then there is time
32:08
because lots of other people are also trying to get things done
32:12
in the court system. So your matter is going to be
32:14
added to a queue and you know it's first come first serve.
32:18
So you go down, you sit down, your matter might be called at
32:21
9:00 in the morning, your matter might also be called at 5:30 in
32:24
the evening. You have no idea.
32:26
You have no control shy. The thing is if the court opens
32:30
830, you have to be there at 8:30 because first come first
32:32
serve, the call your matter, you're not there.
32:34
You know they skip you. So you have to be there 8:30, if
32:38
you're lucky, you might be there until 5:30 in the evening
32:40
because you're trying to get that listing closed.
32:43
Then also, when it comes to timing, the courts like to be
32:46
very fair. So they would like to listen to
32:48
everybody. So if Madam Amina goes to court
32:50
and files proceedings because she's trying to recover house
32:53
rent and stuff from this lady, the court will give Madam Amina
32:58
and her team leave to serve the other party.
33:00
Leave to serve the other party just means you have to tell
33:02
these other people that Luco, I'm taking you to court.
33:05
Come and answer the query. Now back when I was in school,
33:08
I'm not sure what the rules are. I think it was three weeks that
33:10
you had to serve the other party.
33:11
So in other words, what that means is if I go to court
33:13
January 1st and I'm taking you listening to the podcast right
33:18
now, I'm taking you, dear listener, I'm taking you to
33:20
court. The court will give me until I
33:25
say 3 weeks, January 1st, 3 * 721.
33:29
So the court will give me till January 21, give you to January
33:35
21 to show face. So in other words, I'll take the
33:38
paper and I won't drop it with you when I'll be waiting for you
33:41
until January 21st to see if you show.
33:44
If you do not show on January 21st, we now have to apply to
33:47
the court for substituted service.
33:49
So substituted service just means, I mean, trying to hold
33:52
this guy sharp, but I can't find this guy.
33:55
So let's let's notify him some other place, let's go and catch
33:59
him somewhere else or something. That's what not substituted
34:02
service and other these other kinds of service.
34:04
That's just what it means. So in other words, I can go to
34:08
court January 1st, but then all of January and February, we
34:12
still have not forced you. We still have not compelled you
34:14
to come to court. So you see how time starts
34:17
wasting. You can start the thing January,
34:21
but maybe you don't even show up in court until April or March.
34:25
And the fact that you guys showed up in court in March does
34:28
not mean that this matter will be decided this year in 2025 S
34:32
when it comes to legal actions, you know, sometimes this is
34:35
where I tell people that, look, it's costly this time involved.
34:39
What's the possibility of you winning?
34:40
You know, these are the things. So like I told you guys on the
34:45
podcast, when moms you work with quadrant.
34:49
So it was no quadrant. Yeah, I think it was a quadrant.
34:52
And what they were being old was 7:00 AM.
34:54
By the time they spoke to lawyers, they saw that legal
34:56
fees and law was like 3.5. And that doesn't mean you're
34:59
going to win. And that doesn't mean you
35:01
collected this year. Also, just about the I beg
35:04
doesn't make sense. The biggie is 7 M.
35:07
We're trying to use 3.5 to go and chase 7 M like doesn't make
35:11
sense. And then they met a factor.
35:14
Factors are people who buy your liabilities.
35:16
If you have basic, the fact that this person will say, OK, no
35:19
problem. How much is this basic worth?
35:21
OK, it's worth this amount. I will buy this basic from you
35:25
give you the money. Anything I make on top is my
35:27
own. So like in this case, what the
35:29
factor took for that 7 million, I think the factor give them I
35:33
think 4 point something. So OK, this is the problem Abby.
35:36
No problem. Give me all the paperwork.
35:39
I will chase it myself. You take this 4.5 in cash that
35:42
is your own. If I'm able to chase this thing
35:44
and I'm able to recover the seven M in full, then seven M -.
35:50
4.52 point 5. That 2.5 is his own profit.
35:56
For those of you who are hearing this for the first time, you
35:59
believe me the way you're confused, That is how I was
36:01
confused to the way I was hearing it.
36:03
I was like, so there are people who, that is their business.
36:06
They go and look around for who is in basic.
36:08
Then they buy the basic from you, give you discounts and then
36:12
try and make the money on top. I, I just, I don't know, I was
36:16
confused. But anyway, it's a thing.
36:19
Discounts, factors, that's what they're called Factors are in
36:23
Nigeria, factors are in America, factors are in the UK, they're
36:25
all over the world. So there are people who make
36:27
their living that way, but you will never catch me doing that
36:30
kind of business. No way, no way, no way.
36:32
I like my piece too much. So that's how they settled it.
36:36
They made a factor instead, who gave them 4.5 clean and went
36:40
with it. So if the guy was able to
36:42
recover the 7 million, then it was a good deal.
36:45
That means he made 2.5 on top the whole thing.
36:47
So yeah, that's my advice. When it comes to lawyers, it's
36:50
only a matter of cost. How much are you going to spend?
36:54
How much time do you have? What's the probability of
36:56
winning these things? So it depends.
36:57
But Madam Mamina, yeah, that's an option that's available.
37:00
Go and get a lawyer and go after this babe.
37:03
So at least, if nothing else, the money that you spend in
37:06
house rent, at least you collect that one.
37:08
Then I prefer soft touch. Since you settled this babe's
37:14
house rent, my guess is that Madam Mamina was in touch with
37:18
the landlord. So you can call the lawyer.
37:22
You know, human touch, soft touch, you can achieve a lot.
37:25
Hey, Olga. So I said Lord, the landlords.
37:27
Olga landlord. How now this is me person that
37:30
paid the rent for in kitchen. Yeah, two months ago.
37:33
So Madam. Oh yes, yes, yes.
37:35
Nice to meet you. Hope there's no problem.
37:37
So Yeah, So there's a problem. Have you noticed that in Katie's
37:39
no longer in that house? In Katie's not there.
37:41
Yeah. So in case she has left Abuja,
37:43
she said that her mother told her to come back to the village,
37:46
say OK, no wonder. No wonder I've not been seeing
37:49
the lights on at the property. Maybe we even go to the
37:51
property. You check, you now see that
37:53
property is vacant and then you reason with the landlord that
37:56
look on the landlord, you know, teachers done me strong thing.
37:59
So this money that I paid for higher rent, you know, I beg, I
38:03
want the money back. No human touch.
38:06
You know, this way that you can reason some of these things,
38:09
there's some things you can work out.
38:11
The landlord might say, ah, Madam, that's 2 million you gave
38:15
me. I have spent you 2.
38:16
Then you guys can now enter into a discussion.
38:18
OK, You know what? Since this house is vacant, it
38:20
means you can still rent it out again.
38:22
You rented it out at 2,000,000. If you rent it out at 2 million
38:25
again, then you can give me my money back like that or you can
38:28
give me partial refund like that.
38:30
You know, So I'm not saying that there are soft touches, soft
38:33
touch ways that you can worry about getting your money.
38:35
By the way, I'm not giving legal advice here.
38:37
So if you're in this sort of situation, you know, speak to
38:39
your lawyer. But I'm just trying to let you
38:41
know that legal recourse now, one day you can go to the court.
38:46
Soft touch, that one is also there.
38:49
If you're in this situation, you can see how you can partially
38:52
recover, partially recover something.
38:55
Even if you want to talk to the landlord and you get half the
38:57
money back, the landlord says, OK, you know what, let's see if
39:01
I can write this thing again. He rents it out.
39:03
He gives you one M. It's better than nothing.
39:05
It's better than losing 2,000,000 outright.
39:08
Then also I did some research. If harmonize a Muslim, they are.
39:12
If both parties are Muslims, there's a Center for Alternative
39:15
Dispute Resolution run by the Sharia Court of Appeal that is
39:20
also another Ave. that is available there.
39:22
Alternative dispute resolution just means this quarrel that we
39:25
have. Let us solve it, but let's not
39:27
enter court. That's just what alternative
39:29
dispute resolution mean by the weekly.
39:31
Those of you who are lawyers, I'm sure some of you will be
39:32
angry saying that look, my definitions are being too
39:35
simple. Yes, my definitions are being
39:37
too simple, but I'm just trying to explain things in a way that
39:39
ordinary non lawyer people will understand because alternative
39:44
dispute resolution eventually, at some point you have to get to
39:47
the court to enforce the matter. But it's it's it's a much
39:52
quicker process of trying to solve quarrel.
39:55
So lawyers, please don't be angry or let me just educate my
39:58
people right now who are non lawyers.
40:01
Alternative dispute resolution does means this quarrel between
40:03
us. Let us solve this quarrel, but
40:05
let us not enter court. So Madam Amina, if you are
40:09
Muslim, I was doing both of you have to be Muslims to go to the.
40:16
Set up for alternative dispute resolution that's under the
40:18
Sharia Court of Appeal, abuse the Sharia Court of Appeal.
40:21
I can't remember, sorry, forgive me, but Sharp Google, if you're
40:26
in that situation, then there's also the National Industrial
40:29
Court of Nigeria. They have offices in Abuja and
40:31
Lagos. They have an ADR center,
40:34
alternative dispute resolution center.
40:36
Remember, ADR just means this quarrel that we have, let us
40:40
solve it without going to court. So the National Industrial
40:45
Court, they have a center where you people will just step aside
40:48
and go and solve this thing. It handles disputes between
40:51
employees and employers. So Madam Amina and staff, you
40:54
guys can go and query your stuff.
40:55
You can go and talk about health and safety and welfare and all
40:59
these sorts of things. Now, the only thing I didn't do
41:02
in this research is I didn't research whether it's available
41:04
to big businesses or because there's some things that work
41:09
best for, you know, big, big businesses, maybe like Zenith
41:12
Bank kind of business, you know, millions and millions of
41:15
employees and they don't quite work for small situations where,
41:18
you know, you're selling paint in your shop is you and you have
41:22
10 sales people. So I didn't do that.
41:24
But I just wanted to say that beyond this whole thing of
41:30
sorry, let me check my notes. Hiring, right, incentivizing
41:32
people and training people. If you have already entered,
41:36
you're now stuck with this troublesome sales person, there
41:39
are things that you can do. You can go meet your lawyer.
41:42
There are ways you can do soft torch outside of court.
41:45
And then there's alternative dispute resolution where you try
41:48
and settle the matter with trained legal professionals.
41:51
But you guys are not doing it in court.
41:53
That is what makes ADR run a whole lot smoother because the
41:57
person who is trying to settle the matter is a lawyer.
42:00
So you know, the, the person, the arbitrator or the mediator,
42:05
the person is able to think quickly that OK, legally this
42:08
was involved, financially, this is what is involved, you know,
42:10
this and this and that and you'll be able to solve things a
42:13
whole lot smoother. So that's all for today's
42:17
episode. It's close for 5 minutes.
42:19
Let me just bring that to a close.
42:21
But sure, bottom line, my prayer goes out to Madam Amina and
42:25
other people in that situation because currently I'm working
42:27
with a client who is based in Benin who is also dealing with
42:30
one of these sorts of issues. You know, the person has said,
42:36
look, I'm tired. I'm going, they've disappeared.
42:38
Meanwhile, you pay salary and you know, things like this just
42:43
hanging in the balance. Now, this is not what I do
42:46
professionally. What I do is I solve sales
42:48
problems. I help you to increase the
42:50
profitability of your, of your team, the effectiveness of your
42:53
sales team. I help them handle conversations
42:56
better. But I'm knowledgeable on this,
42:59
on some stuff. And then of course, I know some
43:01
other professionals that I can refer you to because it's
43:04
normally in this business that you're doing something and maybe
43:07
there's an accounting challenge. I'm not an accountant.
43:09
I might know one or two other accountants.
43:11
I said, OK, go and talk to this person.
43:12
Go and talk to this person. They will help you out.
43:14
So it's also the same thing. We're also trying to help this
43:16
guy reason this thing and come to a solution.
43:20
So my heart goes out to Madam Amina and other nice employers
43:23
out there because the problem is this.
43:26
By the time somebody does you strong team one time like Madam
43:29
Amina does you strongly again two times like Madam Amina.
43:33
If it happens the third time, you know, happens that people
43:36
like Madam Amina might now become those employers that
43:38
everybody hates, you know, like that tight fisted, they don't
43:42
trust, you know, they're wicked, they're inhumane.
43:45
You know, sometimes this is how these people are born.
43:49
And This is why we, we ought to be careful those of us who are
43:52
employees because sometimes we are creating the very employers
43:56
that we do not like. There was one lady like that who
43:59
used to come clean my house. This was a long, long, long,
44:04
long, long time ago. What we negotiated was, I can't
44:09
remember what we negotiated anyway, but she used to do
44:12
anyhow. Anyhow, when she went outside
44:14
and she went do I meet somebody was going to be paying her 35 KA
44:17
month. This was a long time ago.
44:19
I mean, now 35 KA month is not living wage anymore.
44:22
So this was long before Fioscasity increased, long
44:25
before this, long before that. You know, in fact, somebody
44:29
might even say that for a cleaning lady, if she negotiates
44:31
35 with somebody and negotiates, you know, 35 and she's cleaning
44:35
for people's houses, that it might not be a bad deal after
44:37
all. So she now negotiated 35 with
44:41
somebody, but that person required her to work Monday to
44:44
Sunday from 7:00 up until 6:00. And if she came in at seven O 5,
44:49
the person started reducing the money.
44:53
Meanwhile, me, the amount we negotiated, I can't remember
44:56
sharp, but I think was maybe like maybe close to like 20.
44:59
I only wanted her to come once a week.
45:02
I know once a week I only wanted her to come like around 9-10.
45:07
And you know, I ordered her to leave the house, you know,
45:10
before the kids come home by 2-3, you know, but somehow she
45:19
thought where was I? Anyway, I guess what I'm just
45:23
trying to say is that employers who end up being very strict,
45:27
very wicked, very whatever, you know, I guess the one always
45:30
born that way. So that Madam who said, look,
45:32
it's 35,000, you must be here from 7:00 to 6:00.
45:35
It's probably because these sorts of things happen to her.
45:37
So please, while we're dealing with employers, let's try and be
45:40
on our best behavior. Let's not try and create any
45:42
Frankenstein's. And if you're like Madam, I
45:44
mean, you're trying to do what's right.
45:45
May God continue to bless you, provide for you, and help your
45:49
business to grow. But also you try and do one or
45:52
two things to make sure that you don't get hurt in the business.
45:56
So hire the right people, incentivize them well, train
45:59
them well. Pay attention to your team when
46:02
it comes to character issues. Let's see what else?
46:04
And then remember, you always have recourse to the legal
46:07
system. Lawyer, it was a criminal
46:09
matter. You also have recourse to the
46:11
police. And then there's a way that we
46:13
can solve things. I'm out of court.
46:15
So that's it for today. Thank you very much for your
46:17
time and attention. If you'd love to connect with me
46:19
for a strategy session, the business audit or you have some
46:22
questions you'd like me to answer, the number is
46:24
08064662140. The country code is +234.
46:29
For those of you who are not Nigerian, that's my WhatsApp
46:32
number as well, the name to look for if you want to connect with
46:35
me on LinkedIn, establish my IED.
46:38
Thank you very much for your time and attention.
46:40
I'll catch you guys in the next episode.
46:41
And remember, if you're don't like Spotify, if you're a
46:44
YouTube person, just check for me on YouTube.
46:47
You find the channel there. All 1050 something videos are
46:51
currently up and available. So thanks for your time and
46:54
attention. I'll catch you guys in the next
46:55
episode.