Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / Stop Selling! How to Use Education to Close 50M Deals

Transcript

Stop Selling! How to Use Education to Close 50M Deals · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:01
Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking about
0:04
closing complex deals and plugging leaks in your sales
0:09
funnel. Again, today on the podcast,
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we're going to be looking at how do you close the complex deal,
0:14
What is a complex deal? What does closing mean?
0:18
What is the sales funnel? These are the sorts of things
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that we're going to talk about because I had a conversation
0:24
recently with a podcast listener.
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So shout out to Abdul from Show Trucks.
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That's the name of his company. He's an Apple podcast listener.
0:33
And I think I mentioned him maybe two or three episodes ago.
0:36
And I figured, let me come over here and share some of the
0:39
things that we spoke about because I think that there are
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some people who could learn one or two things that will help
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them move their business forward, particularly those of
0:48
you who sell really, really, really high-priced items because
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a lot of us are in the SME space.
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But then there are a few listeners of the podcast who
0:59
sell items that are rather pricey, like take Abdul, for
1:01
instance, selling things that are 30405060 or 100 million.
1:07
So yeah, it's time that we start putting out content that these
1:12
sorts of people can relate to because, you know, they're also
1:14
a member of the family as well. So if you're interested in these
1:18
sorts of things, how do we close deals and if you sell big, big
1:21
things, you know, 100-M50M200M, how do you close the deal, then
1:27
this podcast is the thing for you.
1:29
This is your jam. So subscribe on Spotify,
1:32
YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice.
1:36
My name is Tavishma Ahede, I am the host of the podcast and that
1:40
is all I do here every single week.
1:43
Solving business problems, especially problems that have to
1:46
do with sales and marketing. So let's get straight to the
1:51
cocoa. Closing deals, plugging leaks.
1:55
OK, close. Now close is somewhat of a
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technical term, but some of you already know what that means.
2:03
The thing is when most of you hear close, you think collecting
2:07
the money, bam, one time. So a lot of you who are
2:11
listening to this thing now and you hear that Abdul is selling
2:14
things 50M100M. When you hear close, you're
2:18
thinking collect 100-M1 time. Unfortunately that is not the
2:23
case when we're talking about high ticket items.
2:26
When we're talking about high ticket items, you will find that
2:28
the deal is closed in several stages.
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So for those of us in this community in the SME space, you
2:36
know, you're selling maybe Ankara 75 for six yards, you
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know, 12 K for six yards, that kind of thing.
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Yes, you can collect your money in one sitting.
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Somebody who DM you in the morning, 8:00, nine o'clock
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saying how far do you have this fabric?
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Do you deliver to Abuja? He will chat back and forth by
2:57
3:00 PM. She don't transfer and then next
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thing you're talking to your delivery rider, send it to this
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address. So yes, there are those
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situations where you can collect your money, bam, one time.
3:11
But when you start talking about complex deals or high value
3:15
deals, typically you close the deal in stages.
3:19
You yawn small, you get the person to take one step, you
3:21
yawn again, you get the person to take another step and another
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step and another step. Each step is also considered a
3:30
close or a conversion. But just know now, when you
3:34
start getting into big, big, big money, you don't close the deal
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one step. It is small, small, small.
3:40
Now, the example that I've always used on the podcast is
3:43
wedding photography because not because it's the perfect example
3:47
to use, but just because that was my own background, that was
3:50
my own constituency. And also because in wedding
3:52
photography and in video, we used to close it.
3:55
Small, small, small. You go to the bridal show, you
3:58
talk to 50 potential brides. Let's say you're able to pull 50
4:03
of them to the stand. That is a small close.
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That is a conversion of the 50. You're able to get 30 of them to
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drop their phone number. That is also a close.
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That is also a conversion of the 30 you call them.
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Maybe you're able to get 20 of them to agree to have a meeting.
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That is also a close. You have close on a small step.
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That is actually also a conversion of the 20 that agreed
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to the meeting. Let's say you're able to get 15
4:30
of them to actually come to your studio or you go to their house.
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That is also a close. That is also a conversion,
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another small step. And you see that's how it works.
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Step by step by step from the studio, discuss options from
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discussion options, send proposal from send proposal,
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collect deposit. So you can see that when you
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start going up, up, up and the money is becoming big, big, big,
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it is step by step by step. That is not that one time close.
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It is not that beam one time transfer.
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So that is what closing is. And if this is your first time
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listening to the podcast, Please remember that have that
5:10
perspective as you listen to all these episodes to the future
5:15
episodes. Well, and also the past
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episodes. I mean, for you, this is your
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first time hearing it, but you know, a lot of the stuff that
5:22
you want to be listening to is in the past because people who
5:24
subscribe to this podcast, I noticed that you guys binge, you
5:27
come, you like it, and then you listen to maybe like 10 at a
5:32
stretch or something. And I really value the time and
5:35
attention that you guys give over to the podcast.
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So that is the proper perspective to have when it
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comes to closing. So let's see.
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Okay, sales funnel. Most of you already know what
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the sales funnel is. The idea behind the sales funnel
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is this, excuse me, that before you have a potential customer,
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somebody that will transfer plenty of money to you, you
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would have started off by talking to a wide number of
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contacts. So back to the wedding
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photography example. You go to the bridal show, you
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talk to 70 brides on the floor. For the 70 brides on the floor,
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60 come to the table. From the 60 that come to the
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table, 50 drop their name. For the 50 that drop their name,
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30 agrees to a meeting. For the 30 that I agree, because
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you know everybody that says yes, I'll take a meeting that
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will show for the 30 that I agree, maybe 25 show up.
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So you can see that in the beginning the number is wide as
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you're coming down, down, down, down, down.
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As you declose, small, small, small, small, small.
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As you're making conversions step by step, the number is
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dropping and dropping and dropping.
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Now. That's why it is called a
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funnel. Although when people say sales
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funnel, they typically think online.
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So that's the definition of some key terms.
6:48
So let's just go straight ahead to the meat of what Abdul and I
6:54
spoke about South. One of the things that we spoke
6:58
about was good social media strategy.
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If you are in the heavy duty machines business, the mega
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machines business. Now the reason why we had to
7:11
tackle this is because I had to look at the guy's social media
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and he had a lot of buy now content and that is not a good
7:17
idea. Buy now content is the thing
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that says oh I have this truck here it is 50 tons.
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If you want to buy, buy now send me Adm These are my account
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details. You know that kind of content.
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Now the problem with that kind of content especially for people
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who are in complex sales scenarios or who sell high value
7:35
items, that is not really how people buy and not everybody is
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in the market for your thing at all times.
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So when you sell Ankara, you actually can say see the Sankara
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very nice, very smooth, very neat, very good, fresh from
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Ghana, Ghana kinte slash Ankara, if you want 6 yards, send me 75
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now, now, now to take advantage of our, you know, 20% promo
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discount or whatever available for people in Abuja.
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Now people can buy now because it is Ankara.
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I mean, what's the risk? And everybody knows what Ankara
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is, you know, so no risk. But then trucks, it's different.
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It's in cost, 20M50M. People are not just going to go
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and drop money like that. And then apart from that, people
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even want to know this truck that I'm buying, you know, is it
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a good quality truck? Is it brand new?
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Is it accidental? How many miles does it have
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before the tyres are? The tyres are on point.
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You know, the pneumatic system, the hydraulic system is
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everything on point. You know, there are lots of
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things there that people have to consider.
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Oh, by the way, forgive me for the noise in the background, you
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know, while he's on leave. And so she's watching TV in the
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living room while I'm making this podcast recording.
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So where was I? So buy now content is not a very
9:06
good idea when you are in the high ticket items because
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everybody's in market at that time.
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And that is one of the reasons why I keep on saying over here
9:14
on the podcast that educational content is a good idea for you
9:18
guys. Because educational contents, no
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matter what you do, especially for those of you who sell high
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ticket items, as in all the things that you will sell
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between the costs, you know, millions, 1,000,000 millions,
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not single thousands or 10s of thousands.
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It's because educational content is value add.
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Somebody will come on your Instagram and they will see
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something, you know, the team makes sense.
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They learn one or two things, they go away, they come back
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again. Before you know it, they will
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begin the sleep on your social media.
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You know they come, they imbibe your social media.
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As they imbibe, as they're listening, as they are watching,
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as they're reading, you know they're learning.
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Trust is being built. And that's the reason why for
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those of you who do educational content, you might find it
10:01
surprising, but that's the reason why some people just call
10:03
you up and they say, I'm ready. And in your mind, you're
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wondering, how did this happen? It happened because you've been
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putting out educational content. People have been sleeping on
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your channel, they've been living on your channel, they've
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been learning. Trust has been built.
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So by the time they buzz you up, they think you're the very guy.
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If I told you about one of my potential customers, how that
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that's how it was. He called and he just went
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straight to the point and said, oh boy, I've been listening, I'm
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ready. I have a sales team, It's three
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people. How far, what can we do to get
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it started? So that's the benefit of
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educational content. So if you are in high ticket
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items like this, educational content also because educational
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content is is low commitment, you can come, you can watch, you
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can read, you can swipe, you can whatever.
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And then you go, no pressure, no pressure at all.
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That kind of thing I make over here on the podcast.
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I'm educating you guys, but it's no pressure.
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You listen, you know, if you want to finish it, good.
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If you don't want to finish it, no problem.
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You want to go, go. You want to come back, come
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back. I'm not trying to force you to
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do anything. Eventually you feel as if, yeah,
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this guy knows what's up. Let me give him a call.
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So it's the same thing, high ticket items, educational
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content, that is the way to go. So the educational content that
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someone like him can produce if you are in the similar space to
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Abdul is you can excuse me, you can feature your trucks and say
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this is the MDZ 1000 Something, something, something.
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It is popularly used in Nigeria and India and China, especially
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for people who are in the construction space building.
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So, so, so and so highway or in the oil and gas space doing so,
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so, so and so. Excuse me.
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So these are the conditions under which you can use these
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kinds of trucks the best, they're best for this disease.
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Now that in fact, for Nigerian buyers, if you're going to be
12:03
engaged in mining, you're going to be driving through NASA.
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You know that NASA is a very hilly area.
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So some tippers normally struggle when they're going up
12:13
the mountain and down the mountain, but this truck has a
12:16
special seven gear system so that by the time you downshift
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from three to seven, you can climb any hill.
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No need for your boys to be putting stone behind the truck.
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You drive small, you put stone. You drive small, you put stone.
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This kind of truck will eliminate all those kind of
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worries. If you'd love to learn some
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more, if you're curious, you know what's at me or slide into
12:39
my DM, that kind of thing. Very nice, very educational,
12:43
very easy. By the time potential customers
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come to your channel will be as if you're talking directly to
12:52
them because you're featuring one truck.
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You're talking about setting use cases.
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In the beginning when you say customers in Nigeria, China,
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blah, blah, blah, the Nigerian people, the Chinese people, the
13:04
Indian people, they'll begin to pay attention.
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And the funny psychological thing is this, because you are
13:10
being specific, saying Nigeria, you find out that people who are
13:16
based in Ghana, for instance, them too, they will listen
13:20
because Ghana, Nigeria, nobody the same thing as they were next
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door neighbors. Sometimes people want to talk to
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everybody. They keep it broad.
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I say no, no, no, no, no be targeted.
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The more relevant the better, the better.
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Like take this is my podcast. I'm talking to Nigerians also.
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They're Ghanaians who see the podcast and be like, OK, all the
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podcasts we've been seeing is Oibo, Oibo.
13:44
But it's something for Nigerians.
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They say, OK, no problem. Let me listen.
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Because after all, Nigeria and Ghana are not the same, you
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know, at least on an international level.
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Niger and Ghana, what's the difference?
13:56
We're like brothers. So this is the kind of content
14:01
that you can make if you are in this space.
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So feature the truck, feature your equipment, talk about its
14:08
optimal use, talk about these features, talk about how they
14:11
can help clients get the job done or how we can get clients
14:16
to grow their business or to improve their, you know,
14:18
whatever it is that they're trying to do their mining
14:20
operation there. You know, that's the whole idea
14:25
then. So excuse me, where was I?
14:35
So we also had conversations on leakages in his sales funnel
14:39
because Abdul has a sales funnel.
14:41
Now this is what the guy has been doing.
14:44
He's been running advertisements, Meta, Facebook
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to specific videos on his channel.
14:50
And so he was wondering that Omar, you know, I've missed some
14:54
small deals, but the money not true, you know.
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So where's the problem? Is it that I am targeting the
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wrong people or is it that my targeting is OK, but then when
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people enter my funnel, my conversion is not on point?
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Like I don't know how to toss them.
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Maybe that's the problem. So for those of you who have
15:17
similar concerns, yes, Abdul was spot on.
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Usually when you're losing money in your advertisements, some of
15:25
the first places that will check is either targeting or
15:28
conversions. Targeting just means am I
15:33
running after the right person? Those are the kind of people on
15:38
this podcast that we keep on saying ICP ideal customer
15:41
profile or ideal customer avatar or your ideal customers, or you
15:45
know, preferred customers or you know, best customers or whatever
15:49
it is you want to call them. But we have to be targeting them
15:54
because if you are talking to the wrong people, if you are
15:57
targeting the wrong people, there's no chance that you're
16:00
going to get good business out of it.
16:02
Let me repeat, if you're targeting the wrong people,
16:04
there's no chance that you're going to get good business out
16:06
of it. So in his own case, since he is
16:11
trying to be selling all these big, big, big machines, but
16:17
somehow he doesn't set up the target incorrect.
16:19
And maybe lots of the people who are seeing these advertisements
16:23
are people in the aviation space, for instance, and then
16:26
they land on his page. But aeroplane, they know them.
16:31
They know sea, you understand then there's not going to be any
16:36
way that the deal will close because his targeting is off.
16:41
It is big machines, but because of that people in the aviation
16:46
space, people where they find aeroplane are landing on his
16:49
page. But the guy know they sell
16:51
aeroplane. There's no way that deal will
16:53
close. So it is what happens when
16:55
you're targeting is off. So we need to make sure that we
16:58
are reaching out to the ideal customer profile.
17:05
Now, of course, trying to figure out if the ICP is correct, would
17:08
have to look at the advertising campaigns, would have to look at
17:11
the criteria that he's using, the demographics and the
17:15
psychographics. Is he putting in the right
17:16
terms? Is he putting in the right
17:18
location? Is he putting in the right age,
17:21
occupation, income level, you know, all these sorts of things
17:26
that will make sure that we're finding the right kind of buyer.
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Well, of course, excuse me, since, you know, I tried to give
17:33
value to everybody who comes in touch with me.
17:35
You know, I try and answer one or two questions.
17:37
So, you know, why not on that level yet?
17:39
You know, if he wants me to go deep like that, then you know,
17:42
the guy, guys drop some money and then we'll start looking at
17:45
things on a real deep whatever. So we didn't go into that.
17:50
We're targeting. It has to be on point.
17:53
Then the next thing now conversions.
17:56
Conversions just means we are talking to the right people.
18:00
Definitely we're talking to the right people, but can we get
18:03
them to take the next step? Remember the example that I gave
18:06
in the beginning? I go for a bridal show as a
18:09
wedding photography guy or as a wedding video guy.
18:13
He's a bridal show. So definitely I'm in the right
18:15
place now. The skill is now on me.
18:19
When I'm on the floor mingling, do I know how to start
18:22
conversation? Well, if I start conversations
18:24
with 70, do I know how to pull some of them to the stand?
18:27
The ones that I pulled to the stand, do I know how to collect
18:30
their number? The ones that I collect their
18:31
number, do I know how to call them?
18:34
The ones that I called, do I know how to fix meeting?
18:37
The one that I fix meeting with? Do I know how to show sample?
18:41
The one that I show sample to, do I know how to issue proposal?
18:44
The one that I issue proposal to do, I know how to ask for the
18:47
payment. That is conversion.
18:52
And that is the small, small, small closing that I've been
18:54
talking about. So targeting that one day are we
18:59
chasing the right people? But then now conversions, the
19:04
one that fascinates all of you, the sweet mouth element, the
19:07
talking element. Can I do that?
19:10
Move them forward one step after another, after another after
19:14
another. So if you don't know how to get
19:21
people to take the next step, then my brothers and sisters,
19:25
there's little chance for you to close all these big, big deals.
19:28
Because when it's for simple items like Ankara, for instance,
19:33
that one is not too much talking.
19:36
Do you have it? Yes.
19:37
How much? 75 per yard, 75 per yard.
19:41
Will you take? 6-8?
19:43
OK, 6-8. How many pieces do you want?
19:45
Do you want 10? No, 10 is too much.
19:48
Give me 7. OK, my name, your Billy.
19:50
So, so, so here's my account detail.
19:52
You can see that I want the storage.
19:53
Not too much, or for wedding photography, or for selling
19:58
solar, or for selling big machines or for selling property
20:06
development complexes or real estate.
20:11
Small, small, small, small, That's how it works.
20:15
So we have to work on that. Now I have mentioned complex
20:21
hill scenarios, but I don't think I've defined it.
20:23
So let me just define it. So let me see how how will I do
20:27
it now, OK, I've been talking about Ankara and then I've been
20:30
talking about trucks. Now Ankara is a simple sale
20:33
scenario most of the times because the price is not much.
20:40
So by the way some of you who sell Ankara, you guys will be
20:44
offended at the price I'm calling.
20:46
Please don't blame me. To be honest is a long time
20:48
since I bought Ankara. The last time that I bought
20:50
Ankara it was before teen who came to power and yes that time
20:53
75 could give you like 6 yards. I don't know how much you can
20:56
cost now. OK I should have asked my wife
20:59
before I started but you guys know vex I'm not saying that
21:02
what you do is cheap. So Ankara now defint the price
21:07
in No2 cost compared to other things.
21:11
That's a simple sales scenario. When the price is not too big,
21:15
then the subject matter itself is this simple or complex.
21:18
Ankara, The subject matter is simple.
21:23
When you see Ankara, you know Ankara if it's good quality 1
21:27
you know OK, well, me, I don't know anything about clothes and
21:30
in fact there was one time that I went to go and buy some my car
21:33
and I thought I did a good job. My wife looked at this time.
21:36
My wife said Kai, I said what happened?
21:38
She said never buy a car again. I said why no, she really broke
21:43
my heart. But anyway.
21:45
But for people who know also, once they see they know it, this
21:48
one is good or this one is not. So the thing in itself, it's
21:54
simple. Then the number of stakeholders
21:58
that are involved when you're buying Ankara is not too many
22:01
people that are involved. You are chatting to the person
22:04
who's leading to your DM. It's that simple.
22:08
You're not having to wonder about whether the person has a
22:11
lawyer or an accountant or the husband's opinion or something.
22:16
It's just a one-on-one conversation.
22:20
And then relationships are not really key when it comes to
22:23
closing simple sales scenario. So for the Ankara thing, you can
22:28
have like 5 or 6 Ankara plugs. As for those of you who like to
22:32
buy this kind of material, so when it comes to Adiria and all
22:36
these things, there's one person you patronize.
22:38
When it comes to King T, there's one person you patronize.
22:41
When it comes to Ankara, there's one person you patronize.
22:44
When it comes to, you know, I don't know, animal prints,
22:49
there's another person you patronize and you know, now it's
22:54
not a problem. But let's say trucks now or cars
22:57
for instance, you can have different plugs.
23:02
Typically somebody who likes to buy cars over and over again,
23:04
you find that the person buys the car from the same person
23:08
until the person mess up. They now look for somebody else.
23:10
The same thing with big machines like this.
23:12
Once you find your plug, you find your person.
23:15
Excuse me. OK, sorry about that.
23:19
I'm recovering from a bit of a cold, so I had to go and clear
23:22
my nostrils. Let me not be doing fusion fuel
23:24
over here on the podcast. Let me try and sound
23:26
professional. So why was I?
23:30
And hence when it comes to these big machines, now relationships
23:33
are really, really important. So you the person will have just
23:38
one blog. Now when it comes to big, big
23:40
things, I'll go and buy from Abdul and Abdul only he's only
23:44
one to Abdul mess up then guy will now start looking for any
23:47
other place. But for Ankara is no problem.
23:49
You can have, you know, Ankara rapper, native material, you can
23:53
have 5 or 6 blogs, there's no problem.
23:55
You'll just be switching back and forth.
23:56
There's no big deal because after all, the risk is not high.
24:01
So for complex sales scenarios, the price of the things are big
24:05
and Abdul is selling stuff 30-M50M and above.
24:11
Excuse me, Depending on the number of trucks that you want
24:13
to buy, then the subject matter itself is complex.
24:17
The trucks that he's selling, some of them are good for
24:19
construction, some of them are good for mining, some of them
24:24
are good for oil and gas. All of them have different
24:27
purposes. The ones are for construction,
24:31
some of them are good for digging, some of them are good
24:33
for levelling, some of them are good for compacting.
24:36
You can see there is now a technical, technical something.
24:41
It's not the kind of thing that an ordinary guy like me can go
24:43
on price and go and buy. And if I try, I'll make a
24:47
mistake. I'll go and buy one truck by the
24:49
time I leave it to deliver it to my engineer.
24:52
Let's say I'm doing government contract, my engineer.
24:54
OK, what you come by OK, nobody is 1 and the inquiry will start
25:00
because I bought the wrong thing.
25:02
So these things are complex. The person that is selling it,
25:07
you have to know these things inside and out.
25:09
The person that is buying it, the person needs to know some of
25:12
these things inside and out. Because the thing, maybe The
25:15
thing is complex and if you mess up, you will waste a lot of
25:21
money now because the level of risk and complexity that
25:26
involved is high. People use relationship building
25:28
as a means of de risking. You talk to somebody, you get to
25:33
feel him out. You know, you go and see the
25:36
office, you know, things like that.
25:38
It's not because they're being nice, it's not because they like
25:40
you. They're just trying to figure
25:42
you out. Are you a trustworthy person?
25:44
Will you sell them a rubbish truck if anything goes bad and
25:47
they need to call police or they need to call military?
25:50
Which office can they send the military to or would they send
25:54
EFCC to? For those that come and visit
25:57
you in the house, it's not because they're being nice.
26:01
It's because if this thing goes sideways, they want to be able
26:04
to come with a truck of soldiers at 1:00 AM at night.
26:09
I come and bond to you and your wife straight to the cell if
26:14
this thing goes sideways. So this is the reason why
26:17
relationship building is key de risking.
26:20
So I can keep going on and on. And I've made lots of podcast
26:24
episodes about this. But you can understand now when
26:28
we say complex sales scenario, because not all sales scenarios
26:31
are the same. Buying Ankara and buying Diga is
26:36
not the same thing. Then Abdul and I discussed some
26:41
other issues. But you know, and that's the
26:45
beauty of dealing in Niger. Sometimes we forget cultural and
26:50
religious implications because we're discussing finance and
26:55
finance product financing is a very important thing to consider
26:59
for those of you who sell high value items because that's one
27:02
way that we can overcome money objections.
27:06
When you're selling Ankara now, as somebody says, too expensive,
27:10
you see that you have options that you can play with.
27:13
You can say that seven or five is for six yards.
27:17
If money no day, then buy 3 yards instead.
27:21
And then let me remove 2K. You see that you have options.
27:24
You can be bouncing back and forth when people say you're too
27:27
expensive. I know get money.
27:30
I found it here cheaper the options.
27:34
But then when you're selling high ticket items, there's no,
27:39
you know, you can't let's say the truck is 40 M.
27:41
You can't tell somebody, you know, bring 35 and take 60% of
27:45
the truck. That can happen.
27:48
So one way that people finance deals when it comes to high
27:52
value items, especially machines is when they're able to arrange
27:55
financing that OK, no problem, you don't have the money down,
27:58
no problem. We're a partnership with social
28:00
so and so organization, talk to this other organization.
28:04
They will allow you to pay 70% of the cost.
28:07
Now the remaining 20%, you can pay it off over the next four
28:11
months. And I made a broadcast episode
28:13
about that, about I can't remember what it's called in
28:17
Abuja. I can't remember what it's
28:19
called in Abuja and in the east and in Lagos.
28:21
But there's this practice now for people who sell mobile
28:23
phones where that is like standard practice now.
28:27
Now I didn't know it until last year.
28:30
I was just, you know, you know how sometimes now you just say,
28:34
you know, my people, team, people, they say that yes,
28:37
somebody can be poor, but it doesn't stop you from looking.
28:40
So was around that time now that Samsung default had come out
28:46
brand new back then, that was before Ford had reached like one
28:50
M So I went into one shop. Now I say I don't have money
28:55
Bali, I can look and I already knew then that Ford was like I
29:01
think like 809100K. So I'd even go and look at Ford.
29:04
I went to Xiaomi Redmi section. I saw some tablets, I saw Techno
29:09
Fold. I started asking some prices.
29:12
Then those one tablet I like, he looked very, very, very sweet.
29:17
And then since it's a Xiaomi, the thing would have paired with
29:20
my own phone very well. So as the sales revenue as the
29:25
lady, how much? She said 500 Ki said 500 Ki put
29:29
the thing down As I was about to leave.
29:31
She said no, don't worry, I'm not so fast now.
29:33
OK, why you do fear? I said how would I fear?
29:36
You're telling me 500 K? She said that's not a problem.
29:39
Then she now slid a sheet of paper to me and she said that if
29:44
you're really interested, these are partners and through them we
29:49
can finance the product. Instead of 500 K, you'll be able
29:55
to pay. What does she say again?
29:57
Plus, if 300, I'll be 320. And then the remaining balance,
30:01
you'll be able to net it off over three months or something
30:03
like that, paying monthly payments.
30:05
I said. She said yes.
30:07
I said OK. She said no, you can't take the
30:10
paper. I said OK, no problem.
30:11
I took the paper and then I left.
30:15
But of course, you know, I didn't come back again because,
30:17
you know, 500K tablet for what am I mad?
30:21
But anyway, maybe not now. So that was then I started
30:26
hearing about these sorts of things years ago and I found out
30:29
that now it's standard practice. That's how lots of people buy
30:33
these things. Then on the radio show now when
30:35
I was talking about it, I was even I just said the casual like
30:38
I ever wonder how they enforce like on top mobile phone.
30:41
Then that's how somebody called in.
30:43
The guy was based in the East normally, but also in Abuja.
30:45
I said that, yeah, that the people that finance, excuse me,
30:49
that is a way that they install something on the phone so that
30:52
if somebody is missing the payment, they remotely switch
30:56
off the phone, turn off features from the phone so that you can't
31:01
use the phone. So that way people have to go
31:04
ahead and pay because there's no point in having this phone that
31:08
you paid for that you can't use. And I was like, oh, OK, in that
31:11
case it makes a lot of sense because now I was thinking, if
31:16
there's no security, I can just take this tablet and just Jack
31:19
back. You can't catch me.
31:21
You can't recover your money. But anyway, so yeah, there's
31:23
security then. So anyway, quite a Long story
31:26
short. So Abdul and I were discussing
31:28
finance, then Abdul, of course, you guys have noticed that his
31:32
name is Abdul Abdul. Say, you know, so my customers
31:37
now how's our people? Muslims immediately said Muslim
31:42
as like, oh, I understand, I understand interest.
31:44
I be you say yes, anything that involve interests.
31:47
Some Muslims who say no, I don't want to do.
31:50
And I was like, oh, OK, then we now started discussing other
31:53
options. But yeah, you know, it's one of
31:55
those things, you know, we forget cultural practices,
31:59
religious implications, you know, things like that, that
32:04
affect the kind of strategies that are available in the local
32:07
market. So in this case, you know, I
32:09
guess financing is not an option if you are talking to Muslim
32:14
buyers. Well, then if you're talking to,
32:16
you know, an IBO contractor who is doing business in Lagos or
32:21
Abuja, Yeah, sure, no problem. So we also have to take into
32:24
practice, I'll say, I'll say take into practice, take into
32:27
consideration some of these practices and beliefs and
32:31
cultures and norms, you know, when we're doing our business.
32:34
So that was the part when we discussed finance then, OK, we
32:41
also discussed risk mitigation. That's something that we also
32:45
have to use in that we use in sales.
32:48
So risk mitigation basically is when you are trying to show the
32:51
person outlook dealing with me actually is a less risky
32:55
alternative than if you go and do AB or C.
32:59
So in his own case, we have to deliberately tease out
33:02
strategies for de risking. So in this case, Abdul is in
33:06
China. So it's a simple matter of
33:08
pointing at, look, I am already on ground here where these
33:13
trucks are. If you want to buy it yourself,
33:16
you will get ticket. You think of hotel, you don't
33:19
know the lay of the land. But me, I am here on ground.
33:23
So going through me actually less risk.
33:28
That's the risking strategy there.
33:33
Then let's see what else. He also has a business partner
33:37
in Nigeria, which is also very good because it helps that, OK,
33:41
I'm talking to you today overseas, but at least there's
33:44
one guy in Lagos or in Abuja that I can go and see.
33:47
Because remember, risk mitigation, relationship
33:50
building, people want to know that this thing goes S, that
33:53
there's somebody in Abuja that I can go and hold his trouser and
33:58
bundle him straight to police station in case anything goes
34:02
South. So he's on ground abroad.
34:09
There's somebody here in Nigeria, someone local then plus
34:13
they also have inventory already on ground.
34:14
So you can travel straight to Lagos, look at some of these
34:17
things, inspect it before you buy without having to travel to
34:20
China. So those are some of the risk
34:21
mitigation strategies that are evolved precisely because you
34:25
know how Nigerians can be. Somebody will say Nobi truck,
34:28
Nobi China, I can buy ticket now, Now, now, now, now, 72
34:32
hours, I'm in China. I'll see this name myself and
34:34
I'll buy it. That's how do we use them out
34:36
for you. You too.
34:38
You give them out back, say yeah, of course, now of course,
34:42
but me, I'm ready. In China, if you come here, you
34:46
add ticket, you add hotel. And then plus when you land on
34:49
ground, you're meeting people that you don't, you're meeting
34:52
people you know. You don't know them from, you
34:57
don't know them from your left, from your right.
34:58
You don't know who it is. You're going to go and see where
35:00
they're carrying you. You don't know what you're
35:03
looking at. You don't know when you leave
35:04
and go back to Nigeria what they will deliver for you.
35:06
You don't know if there's problem, what will you do?
35:08
You take flight again and run to China to go and start tracking
35:11
now who to go and start chasing who.
35:13
So as they give you you too, you give them de risking.
35:20
Excuse me then. OK.
35:23
Another issue that we discussed that I think some of you should
35:26
be able to benefit from was this.
35:29
I noticed that he's conducting his business by chatting back
35:33
and forth. I had to tell him that look,
35:35
when we're dealing with high ticket items, you have to hop on
35:38
a phone call with people. At least face to face visit can
35:43
help. But at the very least you have
35:44
to hop on the phone call because there's no Ankara.
35:47
If there's Ankara, you can ping back and forth and sell you
35:50
Ankara. But a high ticket, something
35:53
people don't just drop 30-M50M100M because they have
35:57
been pinging somebody back and forth.
35:59
It's not like that even ordinary motor car.
36:04
Think about it. How many people buy motor car?
36:06
Just pinging back and forth. You ping first, then you call,
36:10
then you say where's your stand, where's your shop?
36:13
You drive to the person's shop. You look at one or two things,
36:15
you come back with your mechanic, you test drive the
36:17
car. You know, something like that.
36:20
So I told him he had to open a call.
36:22
For those of you who sell expensive items, please stop
36:25
pinging. Well, not like you stop pinging,
36:29
but as you're pinging, schedule time for a call, open a phone
36:33
call with somebody. This thing helps.
36:37
Very few people buy expensive items over chat.
36:40
Then it is also hard to build rapport and to build
36:44
relationships through chatting. Because the problem with
36:50
chatting is this, looking at text messages, it is hard to get
36:52
non verbal cues to see if people are interested or they're not
36:55
interested, whether you're making progress or not.
36:58
So phone call, as we're talking over the phone, the way your
37:03
voice will be strong or the way your voice is shaking, I will
37:06
now know that OK, I'm making sense or this guy is not feeling
37:09
me or face to face actual meeting based on the way body
37:13
language, the way people are sitting, the way people are, you
37:16
know, moving, you can engage that man.
37:19
This guy is not feeling me or this babe really doesn't trust
37:23
me that this thing doesn't make sense.
37:26
So for high ticket items, we need to set aside time, schedule
37:30
a call, schedule a visit when possible.
37:35
Then of course, there was a question of when to hop on a
37:38
call. Because if you just call every
37:42
single person, you spend all your time on the phone making
37:45
calls, wasting money, but not making money.
37:47
So the time to hop on a call basically is when you're pinging
37:50
with somebody back and forth and it looks like they have a need,
37:53
they have a clear want or they're clearly interested.
37:57
Make sure you give them a budget range 1st and tell the person,
38:00
oh, OK, Alhaji, based on what we've discussed, it looks like
38:07
model of this model of this model of that could take care of
38:11
these your construction needs. But Alhaji, each of these
38:15
options go for anything between 80 to 120 million per unit.
38:21
How does that sound that you hear what Alhaji has to say?
38:25
Some people say 80 to 120. It sounds fair, no problem.
38:29
The person who says it sounds fair.
38:32
This is the kind of person you can continue talking with and
38:34
try and schedule a call. But the person that shouts and
38:37
say EH80I was thinking maybe 55. Now in your mind, since you've
38:42
been in the business for a while, you already know what the
38:44
realistic prices are. And you know that anybody who is
38:47
saying 55, you know that that person is a jam bite.
38:50
The person is a novice. You now know that this is the
38:53
person you know to waste time with.
38:57
Then also make sure they have a project on hand so we can get a
39:02
sense of the timelines. Yeah, sure, Alhaji, no problem.
39:05
Model this. That prices between 80 to 120.
39:09
What do you think? Sounds doable, but we'll still
39:13
negotiate. Open to negotiation now.
39:15
Sure, that's not a problem, Alhaji.
39:16
Oh, by the way, Alhaji, is there a particular project you guys
39:19
are working on now? They say yes.
39:20
They awarded us the contract for Lagos Benin Expressway and the
39:25
government wants us to complete it by first quarter 2028.
39:30
You see, as he's talking now, you're getting a sense of
39:32
timeline. You will now know whether this
39:35
person is serious or not because you can also ask any particular
39:39
project at hand. You say no, you know, I'm just
39:42
thinking, I was talking with my wife.
39:44
My wife say construction is a good business so we can enter
39:48
the government contracting space.
39:49
So I say I'm just doing research before we enter that kind of
39:53
person. There's really no need to hop on
39:56
the call with the person because the person is just curious that
39:58
those doing research. So these are the questions that
40:00
you ask before you now determine who do you hop on the call with
40:05
or not. So is there a need?
40:07
Is there a want? Are they interested?
40:09
Have you guys discussed budget range, not exact money, Just
40:12
give them a range between this and this.
40:15
Gauge their body language. If they're still interested,
40:21
yeah, no problem. Do they have a project on hand?
40:24
If they have a project on hand, OK, you can also.
40:28
OK, Aji, you know what, at this point, I think it's best if we
40:32
schedule a Zoom meeting or open a phone call, let me know
40:35
exactly what project you're doing, the stage that you people
40:40
are at, the kind of equipment that you need.
40:42
So that between these options that we discussed, option A,
40:45
option B, option C, let's narrow down to a specific range or
40:49
specific model of trucks or digger or excavator or compactor
40:54
or whatever that will help you with this job.
40:57
Oh, by the way, those of you in this space, I'm sure you look, I
41:00
mean, this is not my own field. So I'm sure I'm calling some
41:03
things that don't apply like compactor because I don't know
41:05
if you use compactor in construction, but you get my
41:08
drift. So that's how you know how to
41:11
hop on the call. And it's been 41 minutes so far.
41:14
So let me bring this podcast recordings very close, but
41:18
basically shout out to Abdul. Thanks for reaching out.
41:23
I've been making these jokes on the podcast.
41:26
It's part joke and it's also part truth that it looks as if
41:29
people where they use their phone like they all pass like
41:33
they have money. Because I've noticed that all
41:35
the Apple people, when they reach out to me, you know, it's
41:38
big, big industry, solar, government contract
41:42
construction, heavy duty machines, oil and gas dredging,
41:48
you know, big, big business. Then people who are Spotify use
41:51
listeners when they reach out to me, you know, Ankara mobile
41:55
phone painting, you know what else?
42:00
Don't mind me, I'm just taking a job.
42:02
But anyway, was nice to hear from Abdul and it's also nice to
42:07
hear from people who are on the higher end of the spectrum.
42:10
So if you're listening and you're wondering, is it possible
42:15
they even know these guys always talking SME.
42:18
But me, I'm in the big, big space.
42:20
Is it possible that there's anything that this guy is
42:22
talking about that applies to my industry, applies to my sector?
42:26
Trust me, there is. Just try me.
42:29
Like I said, I'd like to give value to every single person
42:32
that I come across, whether they pay me money or not.
42:36
Hit me up. That's the reason why I leave my
42:37
phone number at the beginning and at the end of every single
42:41
episode. Just hit me up.
42:43
A trial will convince you and not confuse you.
42:47
But all jokes aside, are you iPhone people and Samsung
42:51
people? I'd like to hear from you guys,
42:53
you know, hit me up, reach out. So remember, if you'd love to
42:58
connect, the phone number is 08064662140.
43:04
You can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message.
43:08
And if you love all the things that we've been talking about so
43:11
far and keep on listening because wherever you're
43:14
listening now, wherever you're subscribed now, whether it's at
43:19
Apple iTunes, whether it's Stitcher, whether it's Spotify,
43:24
whether it's YouTube, whether it's Pod Beans, whether it's
43:27
whatever, continue to scroll and you will see that there are over
43:31
1200 episodes here where this is all we talk about solving
43:36
business problems, especially problems related to sales and
43:38
marketing. How will I find customers?
43:41
Am I talking to the right customers?
43:42
Now that I'm talking to them? How will I be toasting them?
43:45
How will I move this conversation forward?
43:49
So listen, like I've been saying the last couple of weeks, as
43:52
you're listening pen and paper, please write things down.
43:55
Like Abdul was writing things down, write things down.
44:00
The whole point of writing things down is so that you can
44:02
apply the one that makes sense, the one that makes sense to you
44:06
when you try it out. Hit me up.
44:09
Did it work? Let me know it didn't work.
44:12
Let me know. Were you confused?
44:14
Let me know you disagree. Let me know.
44:17
So that's it. That's all.
44:19
Thanks. I'll catch you guys some other
44:20
time.