Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / The Human Touch: Selling Services Beyond the Price Tag

Transcript

The Human Touch: Selling Services Beyond the Price Tag · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to the show. Apologies for the noise in the
• 0:04
  background as usual. OK, so recently my friend's
• 0:09
  mother passed on and because of my previous experience with
• 0:13
  event photography and video, she reached out to me and she said I
• 0:18
  should help her find some folks who help, you know, cover the
• 0:21
  photo and the video. Now it's both in Abuja and also
• 0:24
  in the east. So I'll put out a couple of
• 0:27
  messages to people in my network looking for photographers and
• 0:31
  video people based in IMO states who could provide drone and live
• 0:35
  streaming services. Now my advice to her and you
• 0:39
  know, of course, by extension to other families was, you know, I
• 0:42
  haven't been in the business for a while.
• 0:44
  So, you know, just just from random geisha, I just told them,
• 0:49
  look, you guys be prepared or just hold like 700 kids and 900K
• 0:54
  to cover for the four services that we had discussed.
• 0:59
  That was just me giving her a random, you know, a random
• 1:02
  figure. Let her just hold her, you know,
• 1:04
  'cause like I said, I'm no longer in the business.
• 1:06
  So I'm not sure what boys are charging these days.
• 1:08
  But I figured for the emo and that's for live streaming for
• 1:15
  photo for video with with what's it called photo book and a
• 1:21
  couple of other things. I just figured 700K now Andre
• 1:24
  Keisha anyway, so she came back later on saying that look, bro,
• 1:33
  to be honest, my budget was 350. You know, me too.
• 1:35
  I told her like, like, babe, it's you know, it's been a while
• 1:38
  now. It's been a long time since I
• 1:42
  heard that people were charging 350.
• 1:43
  So I think that budget is unrealistic, you know, given the
• 1:48
  state of the economy and the market.
• 1:49
  I know some of you are wondering where is all this story heading?
• 1:51
  You know, I'll get there in a little bit.
• 1:53
  I'll get there in a little bit. Just just just follow me.
• 1:58
  But I promise we're going to get into we're going to get into or
• 2:04
  rather I'm going to show how all this ties into how we handle our
• 2:10
  sales processes and how we can make effective presentations.
• 2:17
  Let me just put it that way. So anyway, Shar, so I told her
• 2:20
  that it's been a while now, 350. I don't think it will work.
• 2:23
  You know how the economy is you self, you've entered the market
• 2:26
  and you've been hearing what people have been saying, but
• 2:28
  sharp. So let me just let people know
• 2:31
  that I've been talking with. So before then I've been talking
• 2:35
  with four people. So the other people, when I told
• 2:38
  them that, look, this one, my friend is saying two people,
• 2:40
  they just faded sharp from the conversation.
• 2:43
  Now, by the way, I hope you guys can see that this is the reason
• 2:46
  why when you're in a sales situation, it helps to bring up
• 2:50
  bracketing or budgeting early. It's a way of qualifying people
• 2:54
  so that you know who it is that you're dealing with and whether
• 2:57
  you ought to invest time and resources and, you know, trying
• 3:03
  to build a relationship with this person.
• 3:05
  So I gave her a bracket, just hold like 700 to 900.
• 3:09
  Based on the conversation I was having with other people and
• 3:11
  based on my gut feel, I figured 700 to 900 will cut it.
• 3:16
  Once I told the other people that look, oh, this is what she
• 3:18
  said, immediately throw them feed because they know that
• 3:21
  look, this thing is not worth our while.
• 3:24
  Because if your lowest package is 700 grand and somebody's
• 3:28
  saying that they are 350, you know, that's half.
• 3:30
  To take somebody from 3:50 up to 700 is too much.
• 3:33
  Long story. And in my own experience, it's
• 3:36
  not possible. It's just not possible.
• 3:38
  If somebody has added their 350K person, I don't think that the
• 3:42
  money is justifiable. There's no how you can get them
• 3:46
  to double their budget. So two of them faded.
• 3:48
  And this is the reason why, please, when you're having
• 3:51
  conversations with people, bring money up early and use a range
• 3:56
  or use a bracket so you don't have to commit yourself.
• 3:59
  But the most important thing is based on the way that they
• 4:01
  respond, you know, OK, this is what I'm dealing with.
• 4:04
  So if you say 700 to 900 and the person says 700, kite that thing
• 4:08
  in Haisha, Are you sure I don't be able to collect like 606
• 4:12
  fifty? Now that kind of place, that
• 4:14
  kind of scenario, you now, you now know that there's room
• 4:19
  because the gap between 600 and 700 is just 100K.
• 4:22
  You might be able to get somebody to move up and down,
• 4:25
  you know, 50K80K30K, you know, that kind of thing.
• 4:29
  So always give a range, always bracket.
• 4:32
  It is not a bad way to start the conversation.
• 4:34
  It also gives you a sense of who it is that you're dealing with.
• 4:37
  So I guess that's business lesson number one.
• 4:41
  So the remaining two people that I was talking to now, because
• 4:45
  remember I said I was talking to four people based in emo.
• 4:48
  Then the other two people say, well, you know what?
• 4:51
  If you can get them to move from now 350 up to 500 K and then we
• 4:56
  remove live streaming. Let's see if we can make
• 4:59
  something happen. Says OK, no, I'll ask.
• 5:01
  So no, I go back to my friend. I told her, OK, look, the people
• 5:03
  that I'm talking to in the east is what they're saying, you
• 5:05
  know, live streaming, let's remove live streaming and the
• 5:09
  remaining one photo video and the manager, the book will be
• 5:13
  maybe like 10 inches, a 10 inch book.
• 5:17
  You know, let's, if you can come up, let's see what proposals
• 5:22
  they can come up with. So the remaining two people,
• 5:25
  that's what they said so and I told them that look, please
• 5:30
  shoot me a proposal based on this 500K that you guys are
• 5:34
  saying, let you and me, let's look at this thing.
• 5:37
  Let's see what are they think can work.
• 5:39
  Because, you know, since I have some experience, I used to be in
• 5:41
  the business, you know, I know what's a good deal.
• 5:44
  I mean, what's doable from from a technical standpoint, I know
• 5:46
  what's doable and what's not doable.
• 5:48
  You know, like there's some people who say, oh, I just hired
• 5:50
  a video guy is only going to be 1 video guy, only one camera.
• 5:54
  But you know, since I used to be in the business, I can't say ha,
• 5:58
  the event is going to be in so, so, so and so.
• 6:00
  And you want this guy to show up with only one camera and you
• 6:02
  think that this is going to be a good job, You know, so from my
• 6:04
  technical background, I know what kind of job, you know, is
• 6:07
  A1 camera shoot or A3 camera shoot or A5 camera shoot.
• 6:11
  You know, it depends. So I just wanted to see the
• 6:14
  proposal and I told him that once between you and me, the
• 6:19
  proposal is OK and I'll connect you direct to this, my friend.
• 6:22
  So you guys will be talking with the family and you guys will
• 6:27
  handle it from there. So that's what I did.
• 6:32
  Now, one person sent me a standard price list.
• 6:34
  He didn't send me something that is tailor made.
• 6:37
  Because remember, what we're talking about now is not
• 6:39
  something that is a standard something.
• 6:42
  We're talking about tailor making a package.
• 6:47
  Yeah, let me just put it that way.
• 6:47
  So he didn't send me something tailor made.
• 6:49
  He sent me a standard something. And no, I am not advocating that
• 6:57
  you guys should abandoned your pricing policy because
• 7:01
  definitely we all guys have a pricing policy in our
• 7:04
  businesses. Now look, if I'm going to
• 7:07
  deliver, OK, like for caterers for instance, it was going to be
• 7:11
  continental something you know, rice and shrimps and this and
• 7:14
  this and that and that. It has to be between 1005 per
• 7:17
  plate and 2005 per plate. If it is local, continental
• 7:22
  something, something, you know, so we all need to have that kind
• 7:25
  of thing. So definitely, I'm not saying we
• 7:28
  should abandon it. And I would never, ever, ever
• 7:32
  advocate that you lower your standard for customers or lower
• 7:36
  your price for customers because it can end up being a hassle and
• 7:40
  sometimes the prices are not going to be worth it.
• 7:43
  But what I've recommended on the podcast time and time again is
• 7:46
  that you know, you're negotiating with someone and you
• 7:49
  know they want you to drop the price low.
• 7:51
  I've always recommended that, look, we don't make unprincipled
• 7:53
  concessions because we're professional salespeople on
• 7:56
  principal concession just means somebody asks you to do
• 7:58
  something to drop for them. They now just drop like that.
• 8:01
  No, no, no. If you're dropping something on
• 8:03
  your own end, you also guys get the person to drop something on
• 8:06
  the other end. So that's how it works.
• 8:08
  So like in this case, when we went from 700 to 9, between 700
• 8:16
  and 900 and dropped to 500, the principal concession in this
• 8:21
  case was, well, no problem, if we're moving live streaming,
• 8:25
  let's see what we can work with at 500.
• 8:27
  So that's how it works. So I'm not saying that
• 8:31
  abandoning your pricing policies.
• 8:37
  But the thing that I wanted to point out because working with
• 8:39
  these people have just made me realize another reason why I set
• 8:42
  up this podcast because a lot of people in my constituency, you
• 8:46
  know, photo people, video people, cake makers, caterers,
• 8:52
  you know, because I came from the events background.
• 8:54
  So a lot of people, my constituency, they don't realize
• 8:57
  the importance of having a sales process.
• 9:00
  A lot of them just have pricing sheets, you know, all these
• 9:04
  sorts of things that the design is nice.
• 9:06
  As in, if you really want to see how pricing seems to be
• 9:10
  designed, come and check people in the event industry,
• 9:13
  especially people in Lagos and Abuja.
• 9:14
  You know, very good packaging design the PDF very well, comma
• 9:19
  use costume use, embossing use, you know, all the GISBAO price
• 9:23
  list, price list as looking very sweet.
• 9:28
  Also, a lot of people expect these wonderfully prepared
• 9:31
  documents to do the selling for them.
• 9:33
  So any small thing you just, you just send the price list.
• 9:38
  And that's the reason why I'm making this episode because if
• 9:44
  you're going to get people to do business with you, So just
• 9:47
  rewind, come and see the angle me I'm coming from the angle I'm
• 9:50
  coming from is OK between you and me, the vendor.
• 9:53
  Let's look at this and let me see what can work.
• 9:56
  If I think it can work, I will not plug you direct with this
• 9:59
  babe. So that both of you now you guys
• 10:01
  will be having the conversation from there.
• 10:03
  You now see the deal. So that's the angle me I'm
• 10:05
  coming from. Let me hook you guys up phone
• 10:07
  call to phone call, WhatsApp to WhatsApp.
• 10:10
  You guys now just carry the conversation and be going.
• 10:13
  Of course, you know, since you're like coming through me,
• 10:15
  you'll be kind of like an endorsement, sort of a referral
• 10:21
  by recommendation. So for me as kind of what I was
• 10:24
  recommending was conversation 1st.
• 10:27
  And This is why if you want someone to do business with you,
• 10:32
  whether you're going to do it on your custom terms.
• 10:34
  In this case, the guy has silver, bronze, so I can't
• 10:38
  remember, was it gold, gold, silver and bronze package or
• 10:40
  platinum package? You know, something like that.
• 10:42
  So whether it's your standard terms or whether you're going to
• 10:44
  get someone to do business with you on custom terms, so you take
• 10:47
  your price list and you remove something, you add something,
• 10:49
  that sort of thing, getting people to do business with you
• 10:53
  requires that people should know you, should like you, and should
• 10:56
  trust you. If you've been hanging around on
• 10:59
  social media for the last 5-10 years, it's something you've had
• 11:02
  over and over again. Let's just call it know, like,
• 11:05
  and trust. People should know you.
• 11:08
  They should like you. They should trust you.
• 11:10
  Now let me ask you one question. You dear listener listening to
• 11:14
  the podcast right now. You just reason it.
• 11:18
  If you're just sending a price list, can a price list get
• 11:21
  somebody to know you? Can a price list get somebody to
• 11:26
  like you? Can a price list get someone to
• 11:30
  trust you? Think about it.
• 11:34
  Sending over that wonderfully prepared, beautiful, exquisite
• 11:39
  PDF that has been designed with all the colours and all the
• 11:43
  everything. Can nothing get someone to know
• 11:47
  you, to like you or to trust you?
• 11:50
  The answer is no. The packaging is wonderful and
• 11:54
  the packaging is brilliant. But that is not going to allow
• 11:57
  this price list or this term sheet or this, whatever it is
• 12:00
  you call it. It's not going to allow this
• 12:02
  thing to sell on your behalf. No, it gives a good impression.
• 12:07
  Don't get me wrong. If you prepare your price list,
• 12:10
  you just go to Business Centre, you print it on normal A4 paper
• 12:14
  and you do single line spacing, that kind of thing.
• 12:17
  But then somebody else comes and it's designed wonderfully in
• 12:20
  Corel Draw and they print it and they laminate it and they emboss
• 12:25
  it and they everything. Yes, looking at the two
• 12:27
  proposals, it definitely does make an impression, especially
• 12:33
  in the Nigerian context. People look at those things and
• 12:36
  say this person is more professional even though you
• 12:39
  might be better. But The thing is, let us stop
• 12:42
  relying on the document to do the selling for us.
• 12:46
  A document cannot get somebody to know me as a professional, to
• 12:50
  like me as a person, or to trust me that I am competent and I
• 12:55
  have the skills to handle the situation.
• 12:59
  That is the reason why I always recommend conversation 1st and
• 13:03
  that is the reason why I'm always trying to hook somebody
• 13:05
  up for anything. I always try to plug this thing,
• 13:10
  conversation first. Unfortunately, Nigerians have
• 13:15
  this habit of priceless, priceless, priceless price list.
• 13:18
  By the way, it's not bad anyway. So this is the reason why I
• 13:21
  recommend conversation first. Conversation first allows you to
• 13:25
  feel the person out because not everybody that your spirit will
• 13:29
  flow with. There are some people that the
• 13:31
  moment you open their mouth, they open their mouth.
• 13:33
  You will know that, OK, this believer, she's yawning, I know
• 13:38
  that there will be problem so that you can escape it.
• 13:40
  Now instead of collecting money, so let's say you charged, you
• 13:46
  said 709 hundred, you end up paying one M, you know, but yes,
• 13:51
  you collect that one M, but then that one M, you're going to work
• 13:54
  blood, sweat and tears to justify that one M.
• 13:58
  So there's some situations where you know, you feel the person
• 14:02
  out, the person comes to your studio, you go to their house or
• 14:06
  you pick up the phone. You know that Kai, this won't be
• 14:09
  a problem. Let me just flash it
• 14:13
  conversation first. You'll be able to feel the
• 14:15
  person out. You know who the customer is,
• 14:17
  you know what vision they have, you know what problem it is that
• 14:19
  they're trying to solve. Because this whole thing of
• 14:21
  sending price sheets, because I mean, think about it, you send
• 14:24
  price sheets, 900 K, it's OK, 900K, no problem.
• 14:28
  Then they transfer 900 to you. They now carry yourself to Imo
• 14:34
  State and then, OK, now I was talking to people who are
• 14:37
  already in emo. So you now show up in the villa
• 14:40
  and then, you know, one or two things start materializing They
• 14:43
  didn't quite plan for. So maybe in our 900K now you
• 14:47
  didn't factor any red carpet, but then they decided they're
• 14:50
  going to have red carpet. But maybe you only came with a
• 14:52
  crew of two people. So for that red carpet, you
• 14:58
  might need the third person on your own end.
• 15:00
  Now that's extra costs because of course you have to, you know,
• 15:05
  call your boys in the capital that look, man, this is what
• 15:10
  we've seen now. So I beg, just catch the next
• 15:13
  bus or take an Uber come down. So, so, so village quick, quick,
• 15:16
  quick, quick. We need you in this whole thing
• 15:20
  of sending price list and proposal and stuff like that.
• 15:23
  These are the small, small things that we miss in a
• 15:26
  conversation. You can tease out these things
• 15:28
  very easily. So excuse me because in a simple
• 15:31
  conversation, you can tell her that oh, OK, so the plan is on
• 15:35
  Friday morning, we'll come. Excuse me then from here to
• 15:38
  here. We'll do this, we'll do this,
• 15:40
  we'll do that. It's something that will come up
• 15:42
  easily. Or what about red carpet?
• 15:44
  And you say, oh, would that be red carpet?
• 15:46
  And say yes, Now, of course it'll be red carpet.
• 15:47
  Oh, OK, sure, no problem. Red carpet, we can handle that.
• 15:50
  But it's going to cost you extra because we'll have to bring one
• 15:54
  more person. We'll have to hire an umbrella
• 15:56
  and get one more camera. You can see that when is
• 15:59
  conversation, you can see how these things just come up easy,
• 16:03
  unlike when you want to just send the doc, send the price
• 16:08
  list, let them look, let them select, and then they now
• 16:11
  transfer money to you. Have the conversation first,
• 16:14
  fill them out, figure them out. Who is this person?
• 16:17
  What's the vision? What's the problem?
• 16:19
  Where are they going to figure out their priorities?
• 16:25
  Some people just want physical memento from the burial that
• 16:31
  shot anyhow, sure somebody showed up and we have one book
• 16:34
  lost. Some people that's all they
• 16:35
  want. Other people want a wow factor
• 16:38
  for the burial. Now look, my father was this
• 16:42
  this and that and that that. So we need to have like 10
• 16:46
  photographers, you know, paroling the premises, each of
• 16:49
  them carrying umbrella. We have to make photo book for
• 16:53
  each branches of the family. So that would be like 7 photo
• 16:56
  books. You know, we have drone who have
• 17:01
  LED screen. You know who have every you
• 17:04
  know, my father was a this my father was a that the first
• 17:07
  level chief. This has to be a wow something.
• 17:12
  You're not going to know this if you just send the price list
• 17:15
  like that. You're only going to be able to
• 17:19
  figure this thing out. If you're having a conversation
• 17:22
  with the person based on what the baby is saying or what the
• 17:25
  guy is saying, you'll now be able to know that.
• 17:26
  Oh, OK, I was like, is Ebow 1? And then forgive me, you know,
• 17:33
  my ebow is atrocious. Although I try and speak Ebow
• 17:36
  because my mother-in-law is Ebow.
• 17:37
  So I like to impress her once in a while.
• 17:39
  I just show up and say something like, you know, I'm learning,
• 17:42
  I'm learning. So that's how you know that.
• 17:46
  OK, this is a situation. It's from having a conversation.
• 17:51
  You just send in price list. You're not going to be able to
• 17:53
  know what these sorts of things are.
• 17:55
  There are some people who for them, the main thing is they
• 17:59
  want to participation from friends and family because you
• 18:03
  know, you know how these things are now, you know, all of us
• 18:07
  like our families are scattered and even you listen to this
• 18:10
  podcast, I'm sure your family is scattered.
• 18:12
  You know, you might be here in Abuja, somebody's Maiduguri,
• 18:17
  maybe 5 or 6 other people have jackpot, you know, that kind of
• 18:20
  thing. So now everybody's going to be
• 18:22
  able to come home for the burial.
• 18:23
  So for some people, that's what they're trying to prioritize.
• 18:26
  When are we going to, you know, are we going to live stream the
• 18:29
  thing? How soon can we have the video
• 18:33
  so we can upload the link, let everybody see what's going down,
• 18:36
  that sort of thing. But The thing is, you will not
• 18:38
  know all of this stuff if all you do is first you send the
• 18:42
  price list and then the person looks at the menu and then picks
• 18:45
  what they think works. That's the reason why I say
• 18:48
  conversation first. Now even though I am using
• 18:54
  wedding photography, sorry not wedding, I say wedding burial.
• 18:58
  Even though I'm using burial or event photo and video as the
• 19:01
  example. It is the same in your business
• 19:05
  whether you register businesses. For people with CAC it is the
• 19:10
  same. Pick up the phone and call the
• 19:13
  person. Hello, I got your number from
• 19:16
  Nkechi. Nkechi said you want to register
• 19:20
  business. She thinks I'm going to be of
• 19:22
  help. That's the reason why I'm
• 19:23
  calling. Is this a good time to talk or
• 19:26
  you want me to call you back later?
• 19:28
  OK, no problem. What line of business do you do?
• 19:33
  What kind of business are you setting up?
• 19:36
  Have you given some thought about legal structures, blah
• 19:38
  blah blah. As in you have a conversation,
• 19:41
  don't just get the number from Mkechi.
• 19:43
  And they now just send the person a WhatsApp message with
• 19:46
  price list that if used to register business name, 400K
• 19:50
  register business name plus this 800K business name plus this
• 19:54
  plus this plus that 1.5 M. What do you think?
• 19:58
  Of course the person is going to look and say which is the
• 20:00
  cheapest option that I can get away with.
• 20:03
  But calm down first pick up the phone or pick up your WhatsApp
• 20:07
  chat. The person engage in a
• 20:09
  conversation and try and figure out what's going on.
• 20:12
  It is after you have done all that, that you can now be
• 20:15
  sending price list. I'm not saying we shouldn't be
• 20:18
  using price list though. I'm just saying, all these fancy
• 20:21
  things that we prepare, it should not be the start of the
• 20:24
  process. We should send it either in the
• 20:26
  middle or send it at the end. That's what I'm saying.
• 20:31
  We have a conversation now based on the information that you
• 20:35
  gather. That is how you're able to now
• 20:36
  make a convincing presentation or a convincing argument on
• 20:40
  which package would be appropriate.
• 20:42
  Think about it, after you have had this conversation and you
• 20:45
  now know exactly what it is that they're looking for, you can now
• 20:48
  open up your folder, open up your binder and put the thing in
• 20:51
  front of them and say, based on everything that we've been
• 20:53
  saying, this Platinum package, this is what we'll do.
• 20:57
  And This is why. Because that time you are saying
• 20:59
  this and saying this and saying this, this part of the Platinum
• 21:03
  package covers it. The red carpet and this and this
• 21:06
  and the that. This part of the Platinum
• 21:08
  package covers it. When you are saying this and
• 21:11
  this and that and that, this covers this covers that.
• 21:14
  And I really think based on what we've discussed that this is
• 21:17
  going to be the best package for you.
• 21:21
  You see how you're going to be able to make a convincing
• 21:22
  proposal because, excuse me, you called 1st and had conversation
• 21:29
  or you went to the office 1st and had conversation, or you
• 21:32
  ping back and forth and you had a conversation instead of just
• 21:35
  sending the price list first. So have a conversation, that's
• 21:42
  where you get all the information that would allow you
• 21:44
  to make a convincing argument or a convincing presentation.
• 21:49
  And if you're going to customize one of your packages, this I'm
• 21:52
  having the conversation that you will know how you customize this
• 21:54
  thing. Now, most importantly, remember
• 21:59
  what I said in the beginning about know, like and trust now
• 22:02
  for someone to do business with you, especially for those of us
• 22:05
  who are service professionals. So I'm not talking to people now
• 22:08
  who sell human hair, for instance.
• 22:10
  Well, if you're selling human hair, you know, packaging is
• 22:12
  important. But how would I put it if it is
• 22:16
  Mauritian human hair that you're selling 57 inches, you know, you
• 22:22
  know, I guess 57 inches is 57 inches.
• 22:25
  Mauritian human hair is Mauritian human hair.
• 22:28
  By the way, I don't know if babies buy human hair for
• 22:30
  Mauritius. I'm just freestyling hair.
• 22:34
  So I'm not saying for those of you who sell goods, maybe this
• 22:36
  thing doesn't apply, but for we service professionals, the last
• 22:41
  episode I was talking about someone who is in the business
• 22:43
  of registering businesses with CAC.
• 22:45
  If you're a lawyer, you register businesses with CAC, you're an
• 22:49
  accountant, you do people's taxes, you're a photographer,
• 22:52
  you go and shoot weddings, you're an artist, you go and
• 22:55
  paint people, you're a business consultant.
• 22:59
  You help people boost their sales.
• 23:03
  If you're a service based person, conversation first
• 23:08
  because this will allow the client to get a sense of you and
• 23:11
  your personality. You guys think about this.
• 23:15
  You've been listening to the podcast for better or for worse.
• 23:18
  You guys have certain ideas about me so that some of you
• 23:20
  that will listen to the podcast and you say, God forbid I will
• 23:22
  never work with someone like this.
• 23:25
  I mean, it's cool. That's part of the idea of the
• 23:27
  podcast, so that people who don't feel me, let them fade,
• 23:32
  let nobody come and give me a headache so that anybody who's
• 23:35
  listening to the podcast and besides they hit me up.
• 23:37
  The person knows exactly what it is that they're getting into
• 23:40
  because they have a sense of me, my expertise and my personality.
• 23:46
  So if you're a service professional, another reason why
• 23:49
  I say conversation first, people will get a sense of your
• 23:52
  personality, They'll get a sense of your professionalism.
• 23:55
  They'll be able to size you up, know how much knowledge you
• 24:00
  have, know how much expertise you have.
• 24:05
  It's from the conversation that you're going to be able to give
• 24:07
  these people vibes. Now, OK, I can trust this guy or
• 24:10
  I can trust this babe, or this is my kind of person or this
• 24:16
  babe, this accountant, she's the very babe or this lawyer,
• 24:20
  correct lawyer. You'll be able to get the right
• 24:25
  kind of cues from them and they will also be able to get the
• 24:27
  right kind of cues from you so that both of you can decide
• 24:31
  should we even be doing business with each other or not.
• 24:36
  OK, this is 30 minutes. I've spoken too much.
• 24:39
  Basically what I'm trying to say is this.
• 24:41
  The main point is never start this process by sending your
• 24:44
  standardized price list. Create the price list, make it
• 24:48
  look nice, but never start of the conversation by sending that
• 24:51
  your standard price list and your packages should come either
• 24:53
  in the middle of the conversation or at the end of
• 24:56
  the conversation. My own personal preference.
• 24:59
  Some of you won't believe this. I only send in written material
• 25:02
  after we have finished talking. Every every.
• 25:05
  That is when I send proposal or invoice or something.
• 25:08
  I only send it when it is a done deal.
• 25:11
  So I'm sending it as per formality.
• 25:13
  Shall I have this thing for your records?
• 25:15
  Let this thing be in writing. That's how I prefer to do it.
• 25:18
  In fact, some clients send me the money 1st and some you know,
• 25:23
  and some people I send the invoice, you know, 2-3 days
• 25:26
  later. So for me, the paperwork is the
• 25:29
  last thing and I will start off with the paperwork.
• 25:33
  Should you have set price terms? So that's what something you
• 25:36
  say. Are you saying that you should
• 25:37
  get rid of price terms? No, I'm not saying that yes, you
• 25:40
  should have, you should set your price terms, but that you should
• 25:45
  use that to guide the conversation with the potential
• 25:47
  client. Just make sure it's not the
• 25:50
  first thing that you send. So please, the people that are
• 25:52
  supposed to take note of this are service based professionals.
• 25:56
  Photographer pay attention, video people pay attention,
• 25:59
  caterers pay attention, MC pay attention, accountants pay
• 26:03
  attention, architect pay attention, engineers pay
• 26:07
  attention. So basically that's just what
• 26:16
  I'm going to say. Or rather that's just what I
• 26:18
  wanted to say for today's episode.
• 26:19
  Let me just do small role play just so that you guys can hear
• 26:25
  me out properly in case there's some people who are still not
• 26:26
  convinced. So this is the kind of
• 26:29
  conversation that usually happens.
• 26:30
  The potential customer will reach out to the client or
• 26:33
  potential client reach out and say, hi, I got your number from
• 26:36
  Chinaza. Are you available for December
• 26:38
  13th? The vendor will now say, yes, I
• 26:40
  am. The client will now say, how
• 26:42
  much do you charge? The vendor will now send price
• 26:44
  list and then the customer will say, OK, let me think about it,
• 26:47
  I'll get back to you and that's our conversation ends.
• 26:51
  If I'm saying something that is a lie, let me know.
• 26:54
  But usually that's how it happens, at least in the event
• 26:57
  space. Hello.
• 27:00
  I got your number from Chinaza. Are you available December 13th?
• 27:04
  Oh yes, I'm available. How much do you charge?
• 27:06
  I send you price list. OK, let me think about it.
• 27:08
  I'll get back to you. You now complain that you're in
• 27:10
  ghost mode. What should people do instead?
• 27:14
  This is what you should do. Customer reaches out.
• 27:17
  Hi, I got your number from Chinaza.
• 27:19
  Are you available for December 13th?
• 27:21
  You respond, hi, thank you for reaching out which Chinaza is it
• 27:26
  Chinaza aquarium Madu or Chinaza here natural and then she will
• 27:30
  respond is the hen is Chinaza here natural?
• 27:33
  And he respond ah Chinaza she's my very person.
• 27:37
  How is she now is oh she's fine or she's my cousin you know so
• 27:41
  ah correct. We have family already.
• 27:43
  You're my sister now so my sister how can I help you?
• 27:48
  You can see that if you guys are having a conversation, you can
• 27:50
  see how you can be building the vibe and building the rapport.
• 27:53
  If all you do is just send price list, is this kind of
• 27:55
  conversation possible? You've already gotten some Intel
• 27:59
  now. Anyway, we'll continue.
• 28:05
  So she will now ask, are you available December 13th?
• 28:10
  In this case, you respond. You have to play up whatever
• 28:13
  connections you find. Say sure, even if I have
• 28:16
  something on December 13th, your Chinaz, your Chinazo sister, no
• 28:20
  problem, I'll show up for you. Then you now start asking
• 28:23
  questions. So how many people are we
• 28:25
  planning for now or what are we doing?
• 28:27
  What are we doing? What about this, What about
• 28:29
  this, what about that? So you can see that when we
• 28:32
  start things out this way and you now send price lists in the
• 28:35
  middle or in the end, if nothing else, they remember you in the
• 28:40
  first scenario where you just send price lists just like that.
• 28:45
  Because trust me, if you do that, I know that three or four
• 28:48
  people have already done it. At the end of the day, she's
• 28:50
  just looking at all the price lists as you just pick the
• 28:54
  person that is the cheapest or as you look at the price list
• 28:57
  and determine on, you know, based on which one has the
• 29:01
  better packaging, even though you might be the most qualified
• 29:08
  to serve them and even though you might be the best.
• 29:11
  So I made this podcast episode not to say we should abandoned
• 29:16
  our prices. Please stick to your prices.
• 29:20
  I do not even like discounting. I always preach against
• 29:23
  discounting. But please do not start your
• 29:29
  process by sending the price list.
• 29:34
  Price list should come in the middle or price list should come
• 29:37
  at the end. In fact, for me, I do not even
• 29:40
  remember the last time I even had a price list.
• 29:44
  I have not sent anybody a price list in, I don't know, I don't
• 29:50
  know how many years. So those documents, I don't even
• 29:53
  have those documents. So we have the conversations as
• 29:56
  soon as I think it's a done deal, yes, then I now send
• 29:58
  something in writing so that at least the terms are clear.
• 30:03
  And then you know, I don't know some security well.
• 30:08
  And then also just to be sure that majorly, just to be sure
• 30:11
  that the terms of reference are clear exactly what it is that
• 30:14
  we're going to do. So that's you pretty much.
• 30:18
  If you'd love to connect with me for a strategy session for a
• 30:20
  business audit or you have some questions, the WhatsApp number
• 30:24
  to reach me on is 08064662140. Country code is +234.
• 30:31
  You can also call me on the number, but send a text message
• 30:34
  first or rather send a text message after you try calling.
• 30:37
  If I don't answer, then connect with me on LinkedIn, the name to
• 30:42
  look for establishing my IED. I also have a YouTube channel
• 30:45
  the same name. Thanks for your time and
• 30:47
  attention. I'll catch you guys at the next
• 30:49
  episode.