Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / How I Stop Deals From Dying After the First Good Meeting

Transcript

How I Stop Deals From Dying After the First Good Meeting · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

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  Today on the podcast we are going to look at what to do
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  after building rapport in business conversations.
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  After building rapport in business relationships.
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  Sorry, excuse me. OK, how do I explain this?
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  OK, so rapport is the stage of a business relationship or a
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  business conversation where you are speaking with someone, the
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  person is sitting at the other end of the table, or it's a
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  phone call. You're on one end of the phone
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  call, the other person is on the other end of the phone call, or
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  it's an e-mail. You're on one side of the
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  keyboard, the other person is on the other side of the keyboard.
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  Or it's a WhatsApp message. You're on one side of the
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  WhatsApp message, the other person is on the other side of
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  the WhatsApp message. So at the stage of the
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  conversation or at the stage of the business relationship where
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  both of you start getting a sense of commonality, like, oh,
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  OK, I'm like this guy or, yeah, this girl is like me.
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  Like, we understand each other. There's some sameness.
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  We're now achieving some likeability in the relationship.
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  Like, I can see that this guy's a human being or I can see that
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  this baby's a human being. It might not be a bad relate, a
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  bad idea to do business with this person after all.
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  So all those feelings around commonality, around sameness,
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  around likeability, that is what we call rapport.
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  So you can see something that is really hard to define, but
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  basically rapport is like you guys are vibing, I'm with you,
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  you're with me, I feel you, you feel me.
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  That is rapport. So today on the podcast, we're
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  going to look at some ideas around what to do after we have
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  established rapport. Because on this podcast or other
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  podcasts you've come across, I'm sure you've heard a lot about
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  building rapport in business relationships.
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  But sometimes we make the mistake of not telling you guys
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  what comes next after building rapport.
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  And the reason why is because I've been having a chat with
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  someone who's a regular listener of the podcast.
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  In fact, my, I think my show is like #3 on her list for 2025.
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  And she has a real life situation where she has built
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  rapport with someone, but the conversation did not move
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  forward. They did not take the next step.
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  So if you're listening, I hope you understand me.
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  Like, you get to that stage where you and the other person,
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  you guys are cool. There's commonality.
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  I understand you. We're the same.
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  I like you with a vibe, with a flow, but then somehow the
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  business does not move to that next step because all of us is
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  money wire chasing. So what's the point of me
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  running around making friends up and down, building rapport with
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  50 people in a week, but at the end of the month, no money, my
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  bank account zero. I didn't close one single sale.
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  What's the point? So these are some of the things
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  that we're going to be talking about today on the podcast.
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  Now, if you like thinking about these things, if some of these
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  things are your concern, how do you establish rapport?
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  How do you build rapport? How do you build relationships?
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  How do you use that to close the sale?
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  Then subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes or any
• 3:42
  player of your choice because this is what I do here every
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  single week, every other day. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm
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  the host of the podcast. And if you'd love to connect
• 3:54
  with me, you can call send me a WhatsApp message or a text
• 3:58
  message on 08064662140. So let's continue now what to do
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  after we have built rapport in this business relationship, in
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  this particular conversation with this person that we're
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  currently talking to, doing video call with or sending
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  WhatsApp messages to after our poor, what comes next?
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  So like I said, today's episode is not theory.
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  This one is live. So podcast listener, let's call
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  her Usman down for you. Now, of course, some of you say
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  Usman down for you. Is that not a guy's name?
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  You're correct. It's a guy's name.
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  And for those of you who studied history, you should remember who
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  Usman down Photo is. However, I do not have
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  permission of the listener to use her real name, but her real
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  name rhymes with Usman down photo.
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  So I'm just going to keep on saying Usman down photo.
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  So if you're listening to the podcast and you're wondering,
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  ah, is it me? Yeah, it's you, especially if
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  you're female and your name rhymes with Usman down photo.
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  So every single time during this podcast episode, when I say
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  Usman down photo, I'm referring to a girl, not a guy.
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  So Guzman down for you. Now, the business that she's
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  involved in is she sells construction software.
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  And by the way, this is one of the reasons why I love the
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  podcast and I love my radio show because I reach out to Nigerians
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  from different walks of life. Sometimes the way the country is
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  going, everything seems bleak, but then people in my own
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  situation, people are reaching out to me from different walks
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  of life. I get to see how different
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  people are moving and shaking, how people are making money,
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  industries that are growing. And it's things like these that
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  keep me hopeful about Nigeria because I can see that even
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  though we're not happy with the politicians, I will not happy
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  with the way the country is on the ground.
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  Boys and girls are moving things, they're doing things.
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  Five years ago, before I started this podcast, if you had asked
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  me to talk about industries, businesses that are moving in
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  Nigeria, never would I have thought construction software,
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  it never would have crossed my mind.
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  So yes, there are people on ground like Guzman Danfodio who
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  are doing big things in the construction industry.
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  So my brothers and sisters, I know that Nigeria is hot right
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  now. Bob, continue to hustle, go to
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  make a way. Let's let's hang in there.
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  By the way, I'm I'm not saying don't Jack back.
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  If anybody wants to Jack by and the opportunity comes up, you
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  know, by by all means, you know, move on, move to the land of
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  milk and honey. By any which way, whether you
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  Jack back or whether you stay go to go to do it for you.
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  All right. So we have defined rapport now
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  as the stage in the conversation or the stage in the relationship
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  where we are vibing. There's a certain level of
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  commonality. The person thinks I'm a
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  reasonable somebody. I feel like they're reasonable
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  somebody. We feel like we're the same.
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  We like each other. So the conversation is, is, is,
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  is flowing. It's good.
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  Now we have to answer the question, is rapport essential
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  for closing deals? Because some people will say
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  rapport, you people are wasting time and here's a trick.
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  Rapport, is it essential? Maybe, maybe not.
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  But The thing is where there is rapport, it definitely
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  facilitates business relationships.
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  It helps to smooth things over. Think of rapport like like
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  cream. If you wake up in the morning,
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  you know Rob cream, even if it's Hammer tan, you know, is it
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  essential? Like if you know Rob cream, you
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  know, yeah, your skin will look ashes, but still you will move.
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  So rapport is like cream. Use it because you will
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  facilitate. It will make things go down
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  smooth with a business relationship or a boy is not a
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  waste of time. The reason why I'm putting this
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  is I'm saying this is because there are times when you try to
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  build rapport and you fail, but you still close the deal.
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  So when that happens, don't come and say rapport is not
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  important. It is because rapport is like
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  cream. It's like nice cream.
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  Or think of rapport like I'll let you know, think of rapport
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  like I'll describe it. Now let's say like Fanta.
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  Because yesterday or day before I said I spoke about Meshai
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  eating Indo Meshai. So if you go to a Meshai and
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  then you buy suya like 10K, then you buy Indo mie maybe 2 packs.
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  I'll be like, OK, maybe like that's three K.
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  Then you now buy eggs, you want them to fry the egg for you.
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  Let's say you buy like 8 eggs, let them fry out the whole 8
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  eggs and you now mix everything together, the suya plus the
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  indoor meat plus the fried egg. So as you're eating everything
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  now, you now want buy one or a bowl that's Fanta chilled bottle
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  of Fanta, one liter so that Fanta that you use to wash
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  everything down. That's rapport and let me move
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  on before I confuse some people. So anyway, where was I?
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  So rapport, yes, it facilitates business relationships and it
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  helps things to go down smooth, right?
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  But it's not as if you don't have rapport, the deal is not
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  going to work. But however, there are times
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  when if you don't achieve rapport, you can definitely slow
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  a deal down. So we should always be trying to
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  build rapport in conversations and business relationships.
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  So she'd always be trying to talk to the other person, find
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  out about the other person, make some small talk and then point
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  out areas of commonality. I said it yesterday on the
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  podcast that for me, I always use names and school because you
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  know, why Niger and at least in my own generation anyway, there
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  was this thing about which school you went to.
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  Did you go to UNILAC? Did you go to Abu?
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  Did you go to E Fair? Did you go to University of
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  Ibadan? Did you go to last Botech?
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  Did you You know we had that thing going on in my in my own
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  generation. So what's the thing?
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  And that's never failed that I enter into somebody's office and
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  I see that person went to owe you.
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  I just say great affair. The guy would look at me and
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  smile and then he would stretch his hand.
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  He would say great. And the next thing is you say
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  what set and they'll say, ah 2007.
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  The girl now laugh 2007, me a lefty fair in 1986, I said 1986
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  and then from there we'll start talking, you know, so it hasn't
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  filled me yet names and school. But I'm not saying that that's
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  what you guys should do. I'm not saying that that's my
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  own basic lazy approach. But either way, we should be
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  trying to achieve rapport and conversations.
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  So the context where we're discussing all these things is
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  there's a podcast listener, Usman Dhanfodio, she's been
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  chatting with the prospect and she has been able to build
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  rapport adequately because they spoke about life interests, her
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  life interests, the guy's life interest, very good.
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  They spoke about work stress, which is normal cause in
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  Nigeria, everybody is stressed. So the guy I talk about in work
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  stress, she might, she mentioned her own work stress, very good,
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  very normal. And the guy is interested in
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  power bikes and stuff like that. And, you know, they were
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  chatting and, you know, very good Joss, you know, everything
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  is smooth, just rapport. So she built good rapport.
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  However, remember I said at the beginning of the podcast episode
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  that sometimes we talk about rapport and we either overplayed
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  its significance or we don't properly teach you guys who are
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  listening how to best deploy rapport in business situations.
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  So it is nice that even though this is business, you're talking
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  to somebody about their life interests and maybe we'll talk
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  about work stress and we also talk about some of their hobbies
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  or something. But you'd always remember that
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  rapport is a dicey thing because sometimes you can get too much
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  rapport and be talking on a personal, personal level.
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  And then you guys lose sight of the fact that, you know, no
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  money. We define like this is business.
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  Like there's a whole point to this conversation, like I didn't
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  come here just to make friends. So everyone in the great affair
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  example that I just gave you, that was back when I was in my
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  wedding photography days. I was trying to close one deal
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  for total end of year party and I was able to get some
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  introductions according to the guy's office.
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  I think the guy was, I can't remember his his office.
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  Anyway, when I entered, I saw the placard and I say great
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  affair. The guy look at me, he smiled,
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  he stretched his hand, he said great.
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  And then we started talking. If after 45 minutes me and him
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  got lost in how is the faculty? Is Doctor Popola still there?
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  What are things going on? Is cultism still an issue, blah
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  blah blah. You know, if after 45 minutes
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  we're still on that whole level, we will lose track.
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  I as a sales professional have to be able to guide the
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  conversation. Like I'm not here to make a
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  friend. The money I defined so after
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  building rapport, I still have to bring it back to the business
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  solution that is on ground so that we can start discussing
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  this end of year party. So at some point in the
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  relationship in the conversation I have to be able to jump off
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  from great Eva and slide into oh Sir, it's been nice catching up
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  blah blah blah. You know this this this that
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  that that wish I not to waste your time.
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  You know, actually the main reason why I'm here is because
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  you know, for this end of year party, I've spoken to Bola, I've
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  spoken to Beaudo and I've spoken to Ola Gunju.
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  And actually the next step in the process is that you need to
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  be the one that will authorize the social.
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  And so and so that's the reason why I'm here to find out what
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  are the criteria that I need to meet so that we can push this
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  through. You see, so you build rapport,
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  but remember, rapport should not be unconnected to the business
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  solution, to the business proposition that you have on the
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  table. So if you sell construction
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  software and you're talking to somebody, you've spoken about
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  life, interests, work, stress, power bike, you need a
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  convenient jump off point so that you can hop off back to the
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  business solution to the business proposition that you
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  have on the table. Because if you overdo it, you
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  not get to that situation where you are that nice guy or you are
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  that nice girl and you are that friendly somebody and everybody
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  likes you, but this thing is going nowhere.
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  Or if there's a problem, they don't have the heart to tell
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  you. Or if they're not interested,
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  they don't have the liver to tell you because they don't want
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  to break your heart because you're a nice person.
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  So the way Tom Hopkins put it, Tom Hopkins is an American sales
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  trainer. He's been in game since like
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  1974 or so. Some of you say, ah, the guy
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  don't hold. Look, that that doesn't matter.
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  Most important thing is whether the principles still apply
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  today. Even today I heard somebody say
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  that, look, this is not 1984. Like, what does 1984 have to do
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  with anything? Does the business principle
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  still apply today in 2025 or not?
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  Let's stop getting carried away with this Outdated, outdated,
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  outdated. Like no sales marketing is a
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  system. The subject matter of the system
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  is human beings. Human beings are still the same
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  in 1974 or 1984 or 2025. Ain't nothing changed.
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  Yes, digital is now around. It just means we have more
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  options. It doesn't mean that anything
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  substantially has changed. So if your favorite guru, your
• 16:17
  favorite business book or your favorite source of information
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  or your favorite whatever around marketing and business and
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  sales, even if it is from 1964, continue to read this thing and
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  ask yourself, does the principle apply today or how can we apply
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  these principles today? Bam, that's all you need.
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  So the fact now that I'm quoting Tom Hopkins, who started this
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  thing in 1974, do not discount Tom Hopkins because he's been in
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  the game since 1974. There's nothing that says that
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  those of us who started in, you know, 1990 something are better
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  than those who started in 1970 something.
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  So please, let's remove this. Let's stop all this rubbish.
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  I see these debates happening online and I don't even know how
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  people engage in all these debates.
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  Does the principle apply today? How can we apply the principle
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  today? That's the only question you
• 17:11
  need to ask yourself, so long as we're talking about sales and
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  marketing. You were talking about medicine.
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  OK, And that's a different thing.
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  Medicine, surgical techniques have changed.
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  And, you know, on and on and on and on.
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  But I'm talking about for sales and marketing.
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  Don't worry about when the thing was written.
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  So what Tom Hopkins says is you just build rapport enough to
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  establish commonality, then move.
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  So for me, oh, interesting name, gritty, fair.
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  Oh, you have two kids as well? Oh, same here.
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  How old are yours? Wow, interesting.
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  OK, God bless. Also, may he grant us the grace
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  and give us permission so we can able to train our family.
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  And then I move on quickly bro, not to take your time.
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  This is the Coco. This is the main reason why I'm
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  here. And then straight to business.
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  So rapport should never be unconnected from the business
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  solution that we are discussing here today, the business
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  proposition. So establish rapport quickly and
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  then eventually move back to business, start doing
• 18:13
  qualification and discovery. Qualification and discovery is
• 18:15
  the stage of the business relationship where you ask
• 18:18
  questions about the person and questions about the problem.
• 18:21
  So for those of you who are involved in selling construction
• 18:24
  software, after you talk life interest, how is Madame Power
• 18:27
  by, you know, picking this, this, this that that that, you
• 18:30
  know, get straight down to business and then next thing is
• 18:36
  qualification and discovery. You now start flowing with the
• 18:38
  person. You know.
• 18:39
  What kind of construction projects do you guys have on
• 18:41
  time have on ground? Oh, I thought you guys
• 18:44
  specialize in this. Is that the case?
• 18:46
  OK, what kind of timelines do you guys work with?
• 18:49
  OK, which big projects you guys commonly have on ground?
• 18:53
  So to manage all these constructs yourself, what kind
• 18:55
  of software have you guys been using?
• 18:57
  OK, you're not using software now.
• 18:58
  Manuel Udiranam OK, explain how. OK, have a project manager.
• 19:02
  You are using charts and whatever and this system, is it
• 19:06
  working for you? Is it causing problem?
• 19:11
  No. Eventually get into the lapses
• 19:13
  that they have with the current problem.
• 19:15
  It is from there that in your mind you're now coming up with
• 19:18
  solutions. We are now coming up with
• 19:20
  packages that are OK, This guy now the silver package, rare
• 19:23
  good Salem or the Jubilee package or the golden package or
• 19:29
  the Level 3 package or do whatever.
• 19:31
  You understand what I'm saying? So it's from asking them all
• 19:34
  these questions, qualification and discovery questions about
• 19:37
  the person, questions about the problem, questions about the
• 19:40
  opportunity, questions about the vision, questions about the goal
• 19:44
  in your head. That's how you now start
• 19:45
  thinking OK, OK, OK, this is the solution this is the solution,
• 19:48
  this is the solution. So she did a good job because
• 19:54
  the next step now was that we're going to introduce her to the
• 19:57
  head of project. And then that was the problem.
• 19:58
  That's where everything just look because.
• 20:01
  She did good building rapport and they agreed that we suppose
• 20:07
  introduce you to head of project so they will continue this
• 20:09
  conversation. And then that's where the scene
• 20:12
  just went quiet. We didn't go forward, we didn't
• 20:17
  go backward, we didn't go to the left, we didn't go to the right.
• 20:19
  We're just quiet. Everything in limbo.
• 20:23
  And of course, I'm sure that this is something that
• 20:24
  salespeople are familiar with. No matter the business, whether
• 20:28
  it's events, whether it's construction, where there is
• 20:32
  architecture, we're all familiar with that feeling.
• 20:35
  You go in, everything is cool. You go back home, your wife
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  says, how's the meetings are? The meeting was wonderful.
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  I met a bunch of guys, you know, blah, blah, blah.
• 20:42
  If you're boys. So, so, so you know, our meeting
• 20:45
  was good. And then two weeks later I'm
• 20:47
  wondering like, what's happening now?
• 20:51
  Progress. I'm not making backward.
• 20:53
  I'm not going, where am I? I don't even know.
• 20:57
  So all familiar with it. So what we're supposed to do
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  next after rapport, we slide into qualification and
• 21:07
  discovery. We now the thing we're supposed
• 21:11
  to do next is we try and gain advancements.
• 21:15
  Advancements are when at the current meeting.
• 21:20
  Oh, sorry, I just set an alarm in case you heard the BB, it's
• 21:23
  20 minutes. I don't want this podcast to go
• 21:25
  too long. So at this current meeting, as
• 21:29
  you're currently sending WhatsApp message to this person
• 21:31
  back and forth, or if it's a phone call now that you're on
• 21:35
  the phone or if you're in the person's office, like when I was
• 21:38
  in totals office trying to get that end of year contract, by
• 21:41
  the way, the end of year contract.
• 21:43
  I think I didn't get you to, I don't believe the thing that
• 21:46
  killed the deal because when I came in there I was, you know,
• 21:50
  when you're young now you'll be feeling too.
• 21:53
  All I said you'll be feeling too proud.
• 21:56
  So I was feeling like, you know, fine boy, educated boy, because
• 21:58
  as I entered inside I saw that all of them great effect, great
• 22:01
  effect. So that's what I was doing
• 22:03
  healing everybody up and down. Great effect, great effect
• 22:06
  because all of them were a few people.
• 22:07
  I was making my way in the organization, but I was only
• 22:10
  talking to your guy, your orgasm.
• 22:13
  I didn't realize that there was one secretary who was very
• 22:15
  powerful, but because she was just a common secretary as
• 22:19
  normal at the end of the day, lo and behold, secretary, she was
• 22:25
  one that was in charge of planning committee.
• 22:26
  I say hey, say don't be well a day and of course she was
• 22:33
  waiting for me. She knew that see this guy, the
• 22:36
  four fine boy. I'll be great if I be greeting
• 22:39
  all the other people that are educated because me, I'm not
• 22:43
  educated. She was waiting for me after I
• 22:45
  finish all the organs. She's the 1 and I met in front.
• 22:48
  She's one that's now responsible for signing the check or more.
• 22:53
  She humbled me, she put me in my place.
• 22:56
  Another person collected that deliberate I need from that
• 23:01
  contract at all. After I had told all my guys
• 23:04
  that don't worry, this is a done deal.
• 23:06
  I've been to the office, I went to a headquarter, I've seen
• 23:11
  everybody. I'm cool with everybody.
• 23:13
  Don't worry, this one is a done deal.
• 23:14
  All of us are planning our Christmas on top of that money
• 23:18
  that woman showed me anyway. So now for me, that's a lesson
• 23:22
  in humility. That's when I learned that as
• 23:25
  I'm entering inside and I'm networking with people, I should
• 23:28
  be greeting everybody secretary. Now, if I see secretary, I will
• 23:33
  greet secretary. Well, if I see all guy who will
• 23:36
  do a great effort, whenever I see secretary, I also greet the
• 23:39
  secretary very well. Because sometimes you don't know
• 23:42
  who's holding your, you know, you don't know who's holding
• 23:45
  access to the bag. Where was I?
• 23:49
  So that's how I ended. I didn't I didn't get a
• 23:52
  contract, I didn't pay me due to date.
• 23:54
  It needs to reverse me online. So where was I?
• 23:58
  Now advancements. So in this current conversation,
• 24:04
  now you're talking to somebody. The person is here at the desk,
• 24:06
  you are here on the chair, you know, across the desk.
• 24:09
  You were talking. Advancement just means you
• 24:11
  secure a date or you secure an advance, a commitment.
• 24:15
  But The thing is, you secure it now, now, now as we are talking
• 24:19
  now, now, now or as we are typing now, now, now as we are
• 24:22
  on the phone now, now, now, secure that date, secure that
• 24:26
  commitment, secure that next meeting now.
• 24:29
  Because if you end this call and say you secure it later, very,
• 24:34
  very, I say on to the ghost mode.
• 24:39
  If the meeting finishes and the person says, oh, you give me a
• 24:43
  lot to think about, you know what, give me a couple of days.
• 24:46
  Let me think about it, I'll get back to you.
• 24:48
  Forget it. You enter ghost mode.
• 24:51
  If you do not secure and agree that this is all we're doing
• 24:54
  next, forget it. Chances are you entering into
• 24:57
  ghost mode. So after rapport, you calm down.
• 25:04
  Back to the business conversation we do qualification
• 25:07
  and discovery. Advancements is the next thing
• 25:12
  after advancements close, close is when you try to get the
• 25:16
  person to take action. So excuse me, I'm recovering
• 25:21
  from a code. So in this case, now
• 25:23
  construction software, you've been talking to this guy, you've
• 25:27
  built rapport, you've spoken about the business case, you
• 25:30
  have agreed that the next thing is for you to be introduced,
• 25:32
  introduced to the head of project securing advancement.
• 25:36
  Now in this date, in this way is you're trying to secure a date,
• 25:41
  you're trying to use questions just to narrow it down.
• 25:44
  So OK, Yeah, that's good. I'm excited.
• 25:47
  I'd love to talk to the head of projects.
• 25:49
  How soon do you think he would be available for a meeting?
• 25:54
  You have asked the question. How soon do you think could be
• 25:56
  available for a meeting? You're trying to use questions
• 25:59
  to narrow it down. If you leave that meeting, you
• 26:07
  say, Oh yes, tradition to the head of project and you say, oh,
• 26:10
  thank you very much. I'll be looking forward to that.
• 26:12
  I'll wait until I hear from you. You're going to ghost mode.
• 26:15
  The the other guy you're talking to, he has other priorities on
• 26:17
  his plate. It's not his job to help you
• 26:19
  make money. So he won't even if he wants to.
• 26:27
  You know, things happen now. You finish with the call.
• 26:30
  He receives a call from his wife.
• 26:31
  Two of them start to quarrel. Maybe the the child is sick or
• 26:34
  there's something else that is on his table that is tied
• 26:37
  directly to his seller or to his bonus.
• 26:39
  You know your own agenda will fall by the wayside.
• 26:41
  It's just normal. It's not like he's being wicked.
• 26:43
  It's just normal. He's just being human.
• 26:48
  So don't stand up and say I, I, I look forward to hearing from
• 26:51
  you. Don't.
• 26:53
  You can ask a question. How soon will your project be
• 26:57
  available? We say, oh, I'm not sure.
• 26:59
  I heard that they're currently in Lagos, they're doing the
• 27:03
  current AGM meeting, blah blah blah.
• 27:04
  He said oh OK, yeah, OK, AGM, OK, that means it's going to be
• 27:09
  unavailable for the next 3 or 4 weeks.
• 27:11
  Yeah, 4 weeks sounds about right.
• 27:13
  He said, oh OK, well it's currently 6th of December.
• 27:17
  OK, so does that mean I can call you in the new in the new year,
• 27:19
  maybe like by January 7th to find out how far the AGM meeting
• 27:23
  and whether the head of project is back?
• 27:26
  The guy will say, Oh yeah, sure. That sounds, that sounds, that
• 27:29
  sounds good. Sounds just about right.
• 27:31
  I know Hannah, no problem. Oh, by the way, can I have your
• 27:35
  phone number please so I can call or if you have the phone
• 27:39
  number because you need more options.
• 27:40
  OK, can I get your personal work e-mail just in case I try
• 27:45
  calling and I don't get through so I can send you an e-mail
• 27:47
  reminder. So in this case, excuse me, you
• 27:54
  have not gotten an advancement per SE, but you can see that you
• 27:57
  have tried to get advancement, you have tried to narrow things
• 28:03
  down because you asked one question, how soon will head of
• 28:06
  project be available? There's another approach.
• 28:12
  This is my own typical approach, but everybody likes it.
• 28:15
  For me, I like to take charge and suggest.
• 28:20
  So somebody says, OK, yeah, I think I can introduce you to
• 28:24
  Hedgerow Project. I'll say fantastic, I'm going to
• 28:28
  be back in Abuja next week Tuesday.
• 28:31
  I can swing by here at 10 AM. Does that work for you guys?
• 28:34
  So that's my own approach. I will suggest it.
• 28:38
  I don't like throwing things to other people because I mean who
• 28:40
  knows, you don't lose track of the whole process.
• 28:43
  So me, I prefer to suggest if I'm too forward, they will tap
• 28:46
  me down, they will slow me down. So for those of you who don't
• 28:50
  like to be too forward and how soon will project manager be
• 28:53
  available before me, I prefer to suggest I'm free next week
• 28:58
  Tuesday. Does that work for you?
• 29:01
  Another question to try and secure advancements.
• 29:03
  They say, OK, we're going to introduce you to head of
• 29:06
  project. Oh, fantastic, That's very good.
• 29:08
  What time frame do you have in mind?
• 29:10
  You throw it to the person, we're asking questions, we're
• 29:15
  using questions, we're trying to narrow things down.
• 29:18
  We're trying to secure a date. We're trying to secure a
• 29:20
  commitment so that by the time I leave here, we have agreed in
• 29:25
  principle that the next step is I'm coming back here on so so so
• 29:29
  date or I'm calling you at so so so date, or we are meeting at
• 29:35
  XYZ place at so so so date. But either way, I'm trying to
• 29:39
  narrow something down. Other questions.
• 29:45
  OK, we'll introduce you to the hydro project.
• 29:47
  Oh, fantastic. I'd like that.
• 29:49
  I'm looking forward to that. Are there any pressing projects
• 29:53
  you guys have around have on ground that we should be
• 29:55
  planning around? You can see that I'm asking
• 29:58
  questions around time frames because I'm trying to secure a
• 30:01
  date. I'm trying to secure a
• 30:02
  commitment. I'm trying to narrow things
• 30:04
  down. Do not leave that meeting.
• 30:07
  See, I'm repeating this thing because even though anyway,
• 30:13
  there's no need to offlog it. No need to offlog it.
• 30:18
  Just know that if you're here, I will be in touch.
• 30:21
  If you're here, I'll get back to you.
• 30:24
  If you're here, e-mail me a proposal or whatever.
• 30:27
  Don't be surprised that you enter into ghost mode and that
• 30:32
  even though you built good rapport talking about his life,
• 30:36
  talking about his power back, talking about his work stress,
• 30:38
  talking about his family issues, don't be surprised if the thing
• 30:41
  does not move forward for excuse me.
• 30:48
  So that is what we do after we build rapport in business from
• 30:54
  rapport, we step off back to the business solution, the business
• 31:02
  proposition on ground. We do qualification and
• 31:06
  discovery, then we agree on the next step.
• 31:11
  But we don't leave it hanging, try and narrow it down.
• 31:14
  We're trying to secure an advancement.
• 31:17
  We try to secure a date or commitment on the calendar.
• 31:23
  Excuse me, I'm recovering from a cold.
• 31:26
  That's why I'm sniffing up and down like this.
• 31:30
  All right, So even though this is what we do after we've
• 31:36
  established rapport, it now got me thinking because it's also a
• 31:40
  mistake that lots of people make.
• 31:42
  And Usman, Usman down for you. By the way, remember whenever I
• 31:47
  say Usman down for you, I'm talking about a lady.
• 31:51
  Her name is Usman down for you. So she's in the construction
• 31:54
  software space. So this episode is about her.
• 31:58
  So Usman, Usman down for you. There's something I've told you
• 32:01
  before about single threading because there's one time Usman
• 32:05
  Dhanfolio and I were talking and I wanted to see how you know her
• 32:09
  playbook. OK, so what's the plan?
• 32:12
  When you enter an account, what do you say?
• 32:14
  Who do you look for? Who do you talk to?
• 32:17
  Well, let's look at it live. Now this particular account, who
• 32:19
  are you talking to? And then she showed me
• 32:21
  everything, showed me the GAS profile on LinkedIn.
• 32:24
  But the problem was it was only one guy and I told her I was
• 32:28
  man, not be So what do you mean? I said no, be so.
• 32:33
  What you're doing is called single threading in sales,
• 32:39
  single threading. What we should be doing in sales
• 32:42
  is multi threading or those of you who are Americans, multi
• 32:46
  multi threading. We should not be doing single
• 32:49
  thread, single threading, multi threading.
• 32:52
  This is just what it means. It just means how many viable
• 32:55
  conversations are you having in that account?
• 32:58
  How many good relationships, how many options do you have in that
• 33:02
  account? How many different routes do you
• 33:04
  have in that account? You cannot be trying to sell to
• 33:09
  one business in a business, to business space and you only have
• 33:12
  one point of contact in a business.
• 33:14
  It is a cardinal sin as far as sales and marketing is
• 33:18
  concerned. If I'm trying to secure a deal
• 33:23
  with Dangote today, I cannot rest on the fact that it is only
• 33:26
  the PA's number that I have. I will get the PA's number.
• 33:30
  I will get down with his daughter's number.
• 33:32
  I will get down with his driver's number.
• 33:33
  I would look the number of the the amount of numbers I will
• 33:38
  get. It will surprise you because
• 33:41
  that's that's a good account. There's money on the line.
• 33:44
  I will not be single threaded when it comes to trying to
• 33:47
  collect money from that Gotti. Multiple opportunities, multi
• 33:51
  threading. You can't be selling into an
• 33:54
  account and you only have one viable conversation.
• 33:57
  It is a scene. When it comes to business, it is
• 34:00
  a scene. So Usman, now for you.
• 34:05
  I suspect this is also another one of these situations where
• 34:08
  you are also single threaded. We should be having multiple
• 34:13
  conversations going on at the same time.
• 34:18
  So it is good that you've gotten through to this guy.
• 34:20
  You build rapport. He says they're now going to
• 34:22
  talk to head of project. Apart from head of project, you
• 34:25
  should also be doing some runs to see how you can get connected
• 34:29
  to financial controller within this organization.
• 34:32
  Remember, she's into construction software.
• 34:36
  So I'm sticking to people who are in construction software in
• 34:39
  the construction space. Well, I'm guessing that these
• 34:43
  are the kind of people who are in construction space.
• 34:45
  So for those of you in construction, if I say a name
• 34:47
  that is not correct, you know, forgive me, but you understand
• 34:50
  the spirit of where I'm heading. I'm assuming that a construction
• 34:54
  company do have financial controller.
• 34:55
  So while you are pursuing this head of project, also have one
• 34:59
  or two runs inside the company. See how you can be gaining
• 35:02
  access to financial controller then since it is construction
• 35:06
  software now software where they sell, you should also have one
• 35:09
  or two connect so that you might be talking to the CTO, the chief
• 35:13
  technology officer, or you're introduced to the chief
• 35:15
  technology officer or chief tech officer or head of IT or
• 35:18
  whatever. Then these things also have
• 35:22
  implications for how the company is run.
• 35:24
  So I also think if you can talk to one or two people to see how
• 35:28
  you can be ushered into head of operations office is good.
• 35:31
  Then also if you have one or two contacts in procurement or
• 35:34
  accounting is also good if this connection head of project is
• 35:41
  the only thing that you're hanging on.
• 35:42
  Hi Guzman, you're in a dicey situation.
• 35:47
  Very, very dicey. So this is the reason why when
• 35:50
  it comes to sales and marketing, especially B to B, business to
• 35:54
  business, all these big, big deals where everything is
• 35:56
  1,000,000 millions, millions, you know, you close.
• 36:00
  In fact, that's the kind of sector I like.
• 36:02
  In the whole year, you only close 2 deals, but because each
• 36:05
  of the deals are worth, you know, several hundreds of
• 36:08
  millions and then your own Commission is 5% or something.
• 36:12
  By the time the commissioner hits your account, you smile.
• 36:15
  You go home. Your wife says, why are you such
• 36:17
  in a good mood? You open your banking app.
• 36:19
  You show her. All of you smile and say, babe,
• 36:25
  you know what? We haven't seen your brother in
• 36:27
  Washington, DC in a while. Let's start looking at tickets.
• 36:31
  So that's the kind of one that I like.
• 36:32
  Big, big money, good money. My children are asking me when
• 36:36
  are we going to travel? This uncle save it.
• 36:38
  That's my brother, He's in Coventry.
• 36:41
  I told him countdown first. I'm trying to make some money
• 36:43
  here. When the money is set, we'll
• 36:45
  travel, don't worry. And money never reached yet.
• 36:49
  So this is the kind of thing that I like.
• 36:51
  So when you're in this kind of situation, big, big, big, big,
• 36:54
  big. If we're doing hundreds and
• 36:56
  hundreds of millions or you're charging in dollars, you should
• 36:59
  not be single threaded, please. 2-3 people, 4-5 In fact, let me
• 37:05
  not give you a number, as many people as necessary.
• 37:08
  So back to my total example. I was multi threaded.
• 37:14
  I knew somebody in procurement, I knew somebody in accounting.
• 37:17
  The person that brought me in was one of my classmates.
• 37:20
  She was in legal and compliance. I knew many people.
• 37:27
  The place that I messed up is I didn't find out how they make
• 37:30
  decisions, whether there's a committee that is involved, how
• 37:36
  they select vendors. I didn't do any of that
• 37:38
  research. I just assumed he's my classmate
• 37:41
  that brought me in everybody's gratifier.
• 37:44
  I'm a correct guy, I'm a fine boy.
• 37:46
  I'm connecting up and down. I smell nice, I look good, skin
• 37:48
  is fresh, pot belly. Looking around, looking large,
• 37:52
  I'm in control. I didn't realize that I also had
• 37:57
  to be multi threaded to include secretary who is the head of the
• 38:04
  committee. So Usman down for you please.
• 38:10
  Please don't tell me you are single threaded on this one.
• 38:12
  I beg do not tell me you're single threaded if you're single
• 38:15
  threaded as much as you're now trying to revive the
• 38:18
  conversation with this guy to see how you can get introduced
• 38:20
  to the head of project, we also need to go back and come up with
• 38:23
  a plan for how will not be single threaded into this
• 38:26
  account. I've mentioned some people now,
• 38:28
  financial controller, CTO, chief technology officer or head of
• 38:32
  IT, head of operations, pure comment.
• 38:34
  There are other ways that we can enter this thing.
• 38:36
  Yoruba people say that there are many ways to the market.
• 38:39
  That is the idea. We're trying to get to the
• 38:41
  market and Yoruba people say there are many ways to the
• 38:43
  market. Let us try and keep as many of
• 38:47
  these conversations, many of these relationships, many of
• 38:51
  these routes. Let's try and keep as many of
• 38:53
  them as open as possible. That's the goal.
• 38:59
  So if we do this right, hopefully at the end of the year
• 39:03
  when the deal close, OK, we're already in December, so it's too
• 39:06
  late. This is the one all close this
• 39:07
  year. This one is now 2026 matter.
• 39:12
  So hopefully we do a good job and it's hundreds of millions.
• 39:18
  You collect your 10%, you go back home.
• 39:21
  Your husband says, ah, my dear, I will see you smile like this
• 39:24
  in a while. Why are you smiling?
• 39:25
  You show him the banking app. Your husband will smile too and
• 39:29
  everything will be all right. So that's it.
• 39:32
  That's what to do. That is what we're supposed to
• 39:35
  do after we build rapport in business conversations and after
• 39:42
  we build rapport in business relationships.
• 39:44
  So if you're listening to this and you're in the bind, just
• 39:48
  like Guzman down for you, here are some ideas.
• 39:51
  Take them, apply them, do some more research and please reach
• 39:54
  out to me. That's why I give my contact
• 39:56
  details at the beginning and at the end of every episode.
• 39:59
  You can find me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayedi, I'm
• 40:01
  the host of the podcast. If you want to connect question
• 40:04
  query or you want us to collaborate because me, I'm all
• 40:07
  about that money. Anything that you're doing,
• 40:09
  there's money that's involved. You want to bring me on board,
• 40:12
  We can make this money. Call your boy.
• 40:15
  I told you my children are asking me when are we going to
• 40:17
  show on Crusivia and I told them calm down, money never reach.
• 40:21
  Hook your boy up so that me too, I can travel.
• 40:24
  Is it fair that you listen to this podcast and you're
• 40:26
  traveling to Seychelles, San Tropez, Washington DC,
• 40:31
  Australia, just the tore up and down and then your boy that is
• 40:35
  helping you. I'm still here in Abuja, not
• 40:38
  traveling anywhere. Is it fair call your boy, hook
• 40:42
  me up. The phone number is 08064662140,
• 40:51
  so reach out. And yeah, that's it for today.
• 40:56
  So thanks for listening. I'll catch you all some other
• 40:58
  time.