Latest / Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint / The Lost Sales Opportunity: Transforming Customer Service into a Sales Engine

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The Lost Sales Opportunity: Transforming Customer Service into a Sales Engine · Closing Sales in Nigeria - Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

0:00
Hello and welcome to the show. I'm chilling at home.
0:04
Actually I'm at the Home Office and the kids are home from
0:08
holidays so expect to hear some noise in the background.
0:13
Now today I'd like to tackle 2 separate items.
0:17
So let me consult my notes. OK, so today I'd like to tackle
0:22
tackle 2 separate things. First off, there's some ways I
0:27
think businesses can improve their customer service, customer
0:33
relations, you know, all these sorts of things, some training
0:36
that you can give the people who man the phone because people who
0:39
man the phone or people who man or woman the phone.
0:41
I mean, however, we say these days, but whoever is attending
0:44
to the phone today can be a very useful resource in adding
0:50
revenue to your business or the person can be a conduit through
0:55
you are losing possible sales. So in other words, that's one
1:00
thing I want to tackle today. I just want to point out that
1:03
for those of you who just put anybody on the phone to answer
1:06
customer service calls or to answer regular DMS or SMS or
1:11
WhatsApp messages or things like that, the person could really
1:14
help the best the business or the person could actually be
1:17
hampering your business. So it's something we should be
1:18
paying attention to. Just don't put anybody on the
1:21
phones without some kind of training.
1:23
Then the second thing that I would like to tackle is this
1:26
whole debate about, you know, can money bring happiness and
1:29
blah, blah, blah, because I've been seeing some of that stuff
1:31
going around today. So I want to give a useful
1:34
perspective to most of you listening to this podcast that
1:37
the average person does not hear because it's not a very
1:40
considered opinion. So those are the things we're
1:43
going to do today and hopefully we'll do it in a short period of
1:47
time. OK, so I had an experience
1:50
dealing with customer service people today and that's the
1:53
reason why I am making this particular episode now.
1:58
OK, you guys remember how I have been complaining about these
2:02
guys that owe me some money, You know, a couple of Ms. nothing
2:04
big, nothing life changing. But of course, you know, every
2:07
single couple helps. So whenever money comes in, you
2:10
know, we're happy. Allows us to do a couple of
2:12
things. No wifey had been complaining,
2:15
you know, any small thing wifey would say, oh, if only I had a
2:17
fridge. If only I had a fridge, you
2:19
know, only in my mind I'm thinking, you know, since the
2:22
last fridge packed up and we threw it away, we've been living
2:25
with the deep freezer and there's no problem in my own
2:27
opinion. But then my wife would say, oh,
2:29
we've only, we had a fridge be able to eat right.
2:33
I don't have to freeze everything.
2:35
You can just defrost some things easily, you know, blah, blah
2:37
blah. And you know, I'm listening to
2:38
her. But in my mind I'm also
2:40
thinking, well, we've been surviving with a defreezer and
2:43
we're OK because left to me, there's no point in buying the
2:46
fridge. But The thing is, wifey has been
2:48
going on. If only I had a fridge, if only
2:50
I had a fridge, if only I had a fridge.
2:52
So you guys know now those of you who've been listening that
2:55
last week I went to go and drag those people to tell them that
2:58
look, give me my money, you guys are stressing my life.
3:01
And luckily the money entered a few days after that.
3:04
So I was very happy. So I said, OK, you know what,
3:07
Madam has been going on and on about a fridge, fridge.
3:09
I say Charlotte's go and buy this fridge now.
3:11
So when Momsy was building her house now, the place that we got
3:18
Momsy's fridge was from Fuani Brothers.
3:20
That's FOUANI. Oh, by the way, I'm not
3:23
endorsing them. I'm just telling you guys that
3:25
that's where we bought Momsy's fridge because I can't remember
3:29
who, like one of us bought something from them.
3:32
Then when was time when Momsy was building her house, Momsy's
3:35
fridge, Momsey's TV, what they get, Momsy's deep freeze that we
3:37
got from there. So that a few people in the
3:40
family that have bought from Fuani brothers and then plus
3:43
Fuani brothers, like they've been in Nigeria for a while.
3:46
It's a Lebanese thing. But then they've been in Nigeria
3:48
for a while and then they have offices, you know, Lagos, Abuja,
3:51
Kano, you know, so they're around, they won't have a
3:54
distribution centre in marketing of all places, you know, in
3:57
Bangui State. So because of that, you know,
4:00
it's like a safe outfit to go and do business with.
4:04
So that's our common seafood. So I just checked my phone and I
4:08
saw that OK, I have their customer service number.
4:10
So I said let me just call them. Let me find out what time that
4:12
they close. Because I'm not just going to go
4:15
and buy any fridge because I mean, those of you who've been
4:18
listening, you guys know the kind of person I am because left
4:20
to me, I'll just go there and I'll just tell them, hey, for
4:23
any Bros, are you guys there now?
4:24
All right, cool. Just bring the cheapest fridge.
4:27
Just bring it and let me be going.
4:29
That's why that's how I'll select the fridge.
4:31
It was left to me. Of course I know if I do that me
4:33
and my wife will now start quarrel as the quarrel will now
4:35
enter Part 2. So I want to make sure there's a
4:37
fridge that she likes and wifey is studying for her exams.
4:42
You know she did CFA power level 1 and level 2 she passed it
4:47
flying colours. My wife is a very sharp girl,
4:49
very good numbers so just Level 3 now that she is preparing for
4:53
so I want her to finish her lessons and then we'll now go so
4:56
I said let me just find out what time the store closes.
4:59
So I now try calling customer care, but of course, my mobile
5:05
has really, really, really, really been giving me headache.
5:07
As in sometimes service just disappears.
5:09
I can't call people things like that.
5:11
So I just send a WhatsApp message.
5:13
So I send a message to four new brothers, the customer care,
5:16
just to find out what time they close.
5:20
So you don't believe this is their response.
5:23
I send a message saying hopefully what time do you open?
5:26
And I gave the particular store that I want because in Abuja
5:30
they have like two stores in Gwarimpa, like one more store
5:34
around NAF Centre, that's National Abbey, National Air
5:39
Force and in NAF Centre, they have one place there.
5:43
And I think they have maybe like one place in, is it like Area 11
5:46
or so. So they have 4 particular 4
5:47
stores in Abuja and I asked for the closing time for one
5:51
particular store, which is the store that I took Mumsy to.
5:54
And I think one of my cousins, you know, like that's just the
5:58
place we go because they have a warehouse and everything is
6:00
there. The TV's, all the TV's are
6:02
there, all the fridge is there, all the deep freezer is there,
6:05
generator is there, AC is there, radio is there, blender is there
6:10
what again, microwave has everything massive shop.
6:14
So for me, that's why it does make sense that OK, if it's
6:17
electronics, let me just go there Sha and in one place you
6:20
go and check all the brands because they host like different
6:25
kinds of brands. If it's been at home, is there
6:27
Skylark is there, loner is there as in all of them?
6:29
Sure. I just prefer and let me just go
6:31
to one place, walk around, we select one thing and then we go
6:36
because I don't like that whole thing of we go here, get the
6:38
price, go there, get another price, go here, go here, go
6:41
here. So I asked for I need them
6:45
customer care. What time does the store close?
6:47
You will not believe the response.
6:48
The person just responded. This is Lagos full stop.
6:52
That was the only response I got.
6:55
So I now typed in again. OK, can you give me the Abuja
7:01
number for that store? Then you won't believe.
7:05
Oh, this is what the person responded.
7:07
Check Google call and ask them. That was the response.
7:11
Let me repeat, I wanted to get in touch with the customer
7:15
service line to find out when the particular store would be
7:19
open. And the customer care line just
7:22
responded, this is Lagos, full stop.
7:25
And I responded OK, please give me the number for the Abuja
7:29
store. And then they responded check
7:31
Google, call them and ask them. Then they left it like that and
7:34
I said OK, thanks. Now, because I've always been
7:38
picking up stuff from Fuani and because I trust them, as in from
7:43
my Carnot days, I've been seeing them and then up till now we've
7:46
done some business with them. So I'm not going to let this
7:49
kind of thing stop me, you know, I'll go ahead.
7:52
But you know that there's some people be like these guys are
7:55
rude and some people will not like the negative customer
7:58
service experience. And there's some people that
8:00
genuinely, just because of this small thing might move on to
8:03
another place. So that is the problem with this
8:06
approach. Number one, it's impolite and do
8:10
not catch us. So it's not good for the brand
8:13
impression and it's not a good customer experience.
8:18
It's not a good customer experience, user experience,
8:20
customer service experience, whatever it is you want to call
8:22
it, that is not a good experience.
8:25
Now, the biggest problem with her approach is that because
8:30
this person was not willing to apply any initiative, I was not
8:34
willing to assume any responsibility for the
8:37
conversation. They didn't do any qualification
8:39
and discovery so they didn't engage me in a conversation to
8:43
try and figure out who am I, why I was reaching out and whether
8:46
there is a possible order. Because sometimes it is nice to
8:51
know who is on the phone, why is this person calling?
8:54
Is this person at work up US or are they ready to spend money
8:57
and buy something? But you will not know if your
9:00
response is this is Lagos and then your second response is
9:04
check Google and call them. If you have been put on the
9:10
responsibility of manning the phone or your customer service
9:13
Rep have no, don't deceive yourself about this whole thing.
9:20
You have a responsibility for sales as well.
9:23
Even if you don't have a quota, you have responsibility for
9:26
sales and the way that you answer the phone and the way
9:28
that you respond messages can I can either make sales go up or
9:32
make sales go down. So you should be polite, you
9:37
should be cautious, and you should be willing to take the
9:40
initiative on certain kinds of things, and you should have a
9:43
certain level of proactiveness about you.
9:47
Now, some of you will be asking, OK, well, I've heard you.
9:49
He was impolite, and he or she was impolite.
9:54
So what are you saying? They should have done what I
9:56
think they could have done better.
9:57
In fact, some of you will say that, look, really, what this
10:00
guy did was nothing wrong because after all, can't you
10:03
check Google? And yeah, it is true.
10:05
I can check Google. And maybe the reasonable thing
10:09
to do is I should have checked Google before calling the
10:12
number. And I mean, you never know.
10:14
But let's just take it for the for the sake of argument that
10:18
default is my own. But from your own end, as a
10:23
salesperson or as a customer service person, we always try to
10:26
do the best to remove friction whenever we're interacting with
10:30
the customer. Part of reducing friction means
10:33
we remove the number of steps that people have to go through
10:37
in order to do business with us. So if there's anything that we
10:40
can do that will just remove two or three steps, we do it.
10:43
Now. Let me run through some
10:45
alternative scenarios how I would have handled it or how I
10:49
would like to train people to handle it in this kind of
10:52
situation. Somebody sends you a number
10:54
saying what time does this particular store close?
10:58
They're asking you for an Abuja address, but maybe you you're in
11:01
the Cross Rivers section. The proper thing to do, in my
11:04
own opinion, is not to respond. This is Cross River full stop.
11:08
And then send, no, you go and call Cross River people and say,
11:15
I beg, what time do you people close?
11:19
And then you get it. And you can even say I beg what
11:23
time people will close. They'll get you the information.
11:26
And then you can now call, you can now text the person back and
11:28
say this particular store closes at so, so, so and so full stop.
11:33
You can now give that number to the Cross River people and say
11:36
Cross River, I beg more. When I follow up, this guy was
11:38
reaching out to me. That is one approach.
11:43
Another approach is somebody reaches out, what time do you
11:47
close? They're asking for Abuja office
11:49
but you, you are Cross River office.
11:53
You now call Abuja office or check Google and get all the
11:58
relevant information and you now reply back to the person and you
12:02
say, Sir, the store closes at 6:00 PM and you can call this
12:08
number if you need anything from that store, you now paste the
12:15
the Abuja number there because you your Cross River or you your
12:22
Lagos Lego store. So with these two responses that
12:27
I have seen, now you can see that this is a little bit more
12:29
polite and either of these processes reduces friction,
12:34
assuming that the person wants to buy something in option #1
12:40
where you give the information and then you now tell Cross
12:45
River people, Abuja people, Abuja people, I beg more.
12:48
Now follow up with this guy. This guy reached out and wanted
12:51
to know what time it closed. You see that you have cut out
12:53
some steps in the process. You're reducing friction, you're
12:56
taking some initiative, you're bringing people closer to a
12:58
close sale because really you don't even know why this person
13:01
is reaching out. And then in the second option,
13:05
you have done the same. You didn't tell them go to
13:07
Google because this thing about go to Google, you guys forget
13:11
that if somebody goes to Google, you don't know that when they
13:14
enter the Google thing, you don't know that on the left side
13:16
of the page. If they're using desktop on the
13:20
if I, it's even worse. If it's mobile phone, when they
13:22
do it, you don't know that. Even though they Google you, you
13:25
don't know that your competition will show up underneath.
13:30
So this whole thing of sending people to Google, it's not a
13:33
very smart idea because you're letting people know that your
13:36
competition exists. I will be told you if your
13:39
competition has gone to do Google ads on a special
13:44
something, and maybe the person wants to buy a gas cooker, you
13:47
say go to Google. They go to Google.
13:49
But then as your number shows up and the address on top of it,
13:53
you see the banner flashing, oh, 25% off on gas cookers or
13:58
something, something, something. You have now LED somebody who
14:02
was calling to you. You have now shown them to the
14:05
competition and this go and share Google thing is is common.
14:10
It's happened to my wife too a few times.
14:12
It's not a very smart move to do.
14:14
I know you people think everybody should be sharp and
14:17
they should use Google, but no problem.
14:19
I assume that the customer is it don't provide them the
14:22
information in the channel that they have asked sending them to
14:26
Google. You're sending them to no man's
14:31
land. You're opening them, you're
14:34
opening them up to your competition.
14:37
So those are some scenarios that I've just given out about how
14:40
they could have handled it differently and taken some
14:43
initiative, reduce some friction in the sales process and
14:47
provided the customer with the information that they needed in
14:51
the channel. Now if you remember I said a
14:54
problem with this is that they didn't even do qualification and
14:56
discovery. This is how you can do
14:58
qualification and discovery. Let's do option 2.
15:01
Let's say the person provide checked Google and got all the
15:04
relevant information and then I responded to me.
15:07
So we close at 6:00 PM, but you can call this number if you need
15:10
anything from that store. And then now they ask the
15:13
question, is there anything else I can help you with that is that
15:20
could be the beginning of a sales conversation.
15:25
Let's say that they asked another question.
15:29
Are you coming for an order pickup question mark?
15:33
That could be the beginning of a sales conversation.
15:36
Like Oh no, I'm not coming from other pickup.
15:39
I've actually been considering to buy fridges for a while.
15:43
I just want to know what time you close so that me and my wife
15:45
can come have a look. It can lead to a conversation
15:49
that can go any number of ways. OK, what time does your wife get
15:52
off work? 6:30 Oh, sorry, by 6:30 the
15:56
store would be closed. Would you like me to send you
15:59
some models with some pricing information that you and your
16:03
wife can look at today? And then I call you back 9:00
16:07
tomorrow to see how we can book an appointment for you to come
16:09
into the store. You see how the conversation can
16:13
begin to flow and you're moving things small, small, small just
16:16
because you are asking small qualification or discovery
16:20
question. Now this is your first time
16:23
listening to the podcast Qualification or Discovery.
16:25
It's just where you're trying to ask questions and engage the
16:28
person in conversation because you're trying to figure out who
16:31
is this guy or who is this babe? Why are they calling me?
16:35
Is there possibly money here to be made?
16:38
That is what qualification and discovery is about.
16:41
So I've looked at two questions now, is there anything I can
16:43
help you with? Listen, I say, Oh yes, please.
16:46
I'm coming to pick up an order. Something, something, something
16:48
or well, I've been thinking about buying fridges and this
16:51
and you see, the conversation can go anywhere.
16:53
So anything I can help you with? Are you coming to pick up an
16:56
order? Then you can also ask another
16:59
question. You can be assumptive like me.
17:01
I always like to assume that there's money to be made.
17:04
So for me, I would have asked the person, do you need help
17:07
with picking out any items in particular?
17:10
That is also one question and it can lead to the to a
17:13
conversation that Oh yes, I would like to look at models or
17:17
fridges, but I really would like my wife to be there.
17:20
That's the reason why I was asking about closing time.
17:22
And then, of course, be a human being and engage the person in
17:24
conversation. OK, since I'm a man, yeah, I'll
17:27
say, ah, Sir, I understand how I understand how it can be.
17:31
It's the same thing too in my own house.
17:33
If I buy this kind of thing, I can know and I don't consult my
17:35
wife. This kind of thing would be
17:36
wahala. The person will laugh and say,
17:38
ah, women. I say, I'm my brother and I saw
17:40
AB. And then you continue with the
17:42
conversation from there to try and figure out, you know, how
17:47
far are they from the location or the price ranges that they
17:50
have in mind or whether you can send them models or whether you
17:53
can book an appointment so that they can call somebody up
17:56
specifically in the Abuja store. Because to go and say that they
17:59
should just enter Abuja store like that.
18:02
Well, it's good. It can work.
18:04
But it would be much more helpful if you know that there's
18:07
somebody in Abuja store who is a correct sales Rep and then you
18:10
give them a specific name. Go to Abuja store tomorrow,
18:14
9:00. I've already spoken to our guy
18:17
there, Abubakar. He's very helpful.
18:19
He'll be expecting you. That is a different, you know,
18:24
when you're handing off, that is a much more stronger hand off.
18:28
Go to Abuja office. That's OK.
18:30
It's not a bad hand off. But go to Abuja office.
18:33
I've spoken to Abubakar. He'll be expecting you and your
18:36
wife for 9:00 AM. Much stronger hand off Abubakar.
18:41
You've called him, you've given him the back story.
18:43
He is now prepared. When they walk in, it's not just
18:47
total strangers who'll be like, oh, Mr. Ida, I've been expecting
18:50
you. And then the conversation will
18:51
begin to flow from there. Oh Madam, I've heard so much
18:54
about you and the troubles that you've been having about not
18:58
having the fridge. Very sorry, Ma, but today's your
19:01
lucky day. We have so many brands available
19:03
in store. We have everything from Binatone
19:07
to blah blah, blah, blah blah. And don't worry ma, I'll make
19:10
sure that you won't leave the store today without being
19:13
without being sorted. So is there any particular brand
19:15
you had in mind or should I show you what some of the more
19:18
popular options are that we have in store?
19:21
You can see that you set this thing up right?
19:25
You're moving people closer to a sale instead of this whole
19:28
Nigerian nonchalant thing of go and check Google or enter the
19:33
Abuja store. No, there are better ways that
19:37
we finesse these things and we do a nice hand off.
19:40
We'll move friction in the process.
19:44
We give a good customer experience and we bring people
19:47
closer to a sale. You see how, or rather you see
19:51
why I say that lots of businesses in Nigeria can
19:55
double, some businesses even triple their output without
19:58
spending a single cover on Instagram ads.
20:01
Because some of these changes that I'm talking about is just
20:04
small, small things that you're training people on how to answer
20:07
the phone. Without spending a single couple
20:09
on billboard or Instagram ad, this is how Nigerian businesses
20:14
will increase their business because this whole thing of go
20:17
and check Google, you'd be surprised for me this first time
20:20
that's happened to me about my wife, you know, because of what
20:23
I do, you know, whenever it happens, you know she shows me
20:25
people do it all the time. Go and check Google any no
20:28
problem. You don't only hear what
20:29
continue sending people that should go and check Google.
20:31
You're sending away your profits.
20:32
You don't know. So I've now looked at three
20:35
different kinds of questions that you could have used to go
20:38
into qualification and discovery and to start conversations that
20:41
could have led to a selling conversation.
20:44
There's also another one that you can ask if you don't want to
20:47
be assumptive, because I like to assume worst case scenario is I
20:50
assume wrong, the customer will put me in check.
20:53
I say, Oh no, no, no, it's not about this.
20:54
It's about that. You can ask, are you calling for
20:57
yourself? Are you calling on behalf of
21:00
someone else? Even that can be the beginning
21:03
of a sales conversation. Oh yes, I'm calling for myself.
21:08
I want me and my wife to come and have a look at fridges and
21:11
then the conversation will continue from there.
21:14
Now let me compare this with another customer service
21:18
experience that I experienced today.
21:20
Today, 9 Mobile, 9 Mobile, they've decided that my business
21:29
should fail. That's what they've decided
21:32
because my number disappears for days at an end.
21:38
But luckily, you know, there's WhatsApp.
21:40
So some people say, oh bro, I've not been able to reach you.
21:43
And then they they send a WhatsApp message, allow me to
21:47
port now don't allow me to port. Even glow 2 disappears.
21:53
So basically because of that, there are times that the whole
21:57
day me no Internet access because glow has disappeared.
22:02
It is latter disappeared. And then the same thing with
22:05
Wi-Fi as well because Wi-Fi is also glow and it is alert.
22:11
Sorry, 9 mobile, but she went to go and buy MTN last week.
22:15
I mean, I'm trying to hang on to this number because I always
22:17
give my phone number everywhere. Oh yeah.
22:19
And if you'd like to reach out to me, the number is 08064662140
22:24
country code +234. Also my WhatsApp number.
22:27
So you can reach out to me if you have any questions regarding
22:29
sales and improving your businesses, getting your
22:32
business to grow. So because of all this rubbish,
22:35
now I was tired. I said, well, let me call
22:37
Spectranet because Spectranet was my first love.
22:40
When I was in Lagos, the Internet used to go but just
22:43
like that. So when I moved to Abuja, I told
22:45
my wife that look babe, there's this thing I was doing in Lagos,
22:48
they're the ultimate. And we used Spectranet for so
22:50
many years or to be moved to our pool and service in our pool was
22:55
terrible, really, really terrible.
23:00
As you have Internet is constantly one bar or two bar.
23:03
You can't get things done. So we called engineer, we
23:06
changed the router, we changed position of the router, we use
23:10
booster signal, all kinds of things.
23:11
The thing did not work and that's how we ended up with
23:13
glow. So it's not as if I like glow.
23:15
But you know how sometimes you're chasing 1 babe, the babe
23:18
didn't agree for you, but you know her friend agrees for you
23:20
and then you decide to settle. You know, I'm not saying that's
23:22
what I did. I'm not saying that you know,
23:24
some boys have been known to do that.
23:25
Some girls have been known to do that too, like you like Kunle.
23:29
Kunle is your guy. You went at him but Kunle didn't
23:31
notice you. But then you know Kunle's friend
23:33
Sadiku is OK. So Sadiku just said you.
23:36
You agreed for Sadiku. So it's one of those things.
23:38
So that's how I just agreed for glue and I now entered into this
23:41
abusive relationship. So I said let me call Spectranet
23:43
now my first love. So I called the engineer.
23:47
Say engineer. How far now he couldn't Remember
23:50
Me, but no problem. I said well, I'm the guy that
23:52
you came to APO, you know we were having problems.
23:55
Is that so? Is it social?
23:56
Social house? Oh yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
23:57
How are you? OK, I'm OK, not bad because of
24:01
all those issues, you know, we left one hour on globe, but
24:03
things are terrible. So but I wanted to know.
24:06
We have moved house. We're no longer in APO.
24:08
We're now in this place is also around Gudu, not far from
24:12
Durumi, but somewhere between, you know, Durumi Gudu, you know,
24:16
Gadua that that kind of said, how is Spectranet service there?
24:20
And then the engineer answered honestly that Sir, to be honest,
24:23
the best that I know the service is OK, but I don't think it's
24:27
that great. I said, I said, yes, Sir, that's
24:30
my honest opinion. I said, OK, no problem.
24:33
And you know, regards to the family.
24:35
That's how that conversation ended by the time I got home
24:39
because when I I made this call, you know how like I just stop
24:41
and record the podcast, you know, Bob, So that's how you
24:44
know, I stopped. I made a couple of calls.
24:46
By the time I got home, I received an e-mail from
24:49
Spectranet Customer Care. They're now trying to toast me
24:53
back onto the network. And it's obvious what happened.
24:58
I called the engineer. The engineer obviously called
25:01
people in customer care. They say, listen, you know,
25:04
there's this guy that has to be our customer before he left.
25:06
He's thinking of coming back via customer care.
25:09
Over to you. But is where customer care
25:11
dropped the ball. What they did was they just sent
25:12
me an e-mail and the e-mail said, you know, here, I revised
25:16
the plans. So that's where they F top.
25:19
They actually should have picked up the phone because remember,
25:22
when it comes to closing the deal, picking up the phone is
25:24
the easiest way to go. Somebody actually should have
25:27
picked up the phone and called me.
25:31
I started doing what qualification and discovery to
25:36
narrow things down because you never know, you might have a
25:41
conversation with the person, get an exact address and say OK,
25:45
you know what, to be on the safe side, let us send out another
25:48
engineer to come and check the signal strength in the area.
25:51
And that could be the beginning of getting someone like me back
25:55
on Spectranet. So you see how some small, small
26:00
trainings, they can be given to people who are doing customer
26:03
service and who are mining the phones can be increasing your
26:05
profits. But anyway, customer service
26:08
people, they did the lazy thing, which is what any Nigerian would
26:11
do, which is just send an e-mail as far as they're concerned,
26:14
engineer from the field gave them feedback, they sent an
26:16
e-mail. So job done, they'll now take it
26:19
on the sheet and they'll show their manager that, Sir, I sent
26:23
200 emails this week actioning customer service, you know, and
26:28
then they'll pat themselves on the, on the back.
26:30
They think that they've done work.
26:31
Which kind of work have you done?
26:36
The goal here is not to be doing activity for activity sake.
26:39
We're trying to do what could be the most effective thing to
26:42
engage somebody in a sales conversation and that would lead
26:45
to us closing some deals. But either way, Sir, after class
26:50
for Spectranet, because they handled it better than the
26:55
people from 4 New Brothers because at least the engineer
26:59
got in touch with customer care and customer care got in touch
27:01
through e-mail to now try and see how they can get me back
27:04
into the system. But anyway, I just hope that
27:07
especially those of you who have employees, even if you only have
27:12
maybe four or five sales people and then maybe one person is
27:17
managing Instagram and WhatsApp or something, believe me, this
27:22
makes a big difference. So there's some things to
27:27
consider for those of you who have employees.
27:29
So that's the first thing. OK, we're already at 30 minutes.
27:31
I've wasted too much time, sorry.
27:33
Let me see, Let me check my notes.
27:35
The second thing I wanted us to look at so come money buy
27:39
happiness because every year people start this whole debate
27:43
come money buy happiness. Now this is what this
27:46
perspective I want to bring to the question.
27:47
You people who keep arguing about this thing online, come
27:50
money bring come money buy happiness, you guys are asking
27:52
the wrong questions and you guys are being preoccupied with the
27:55
wrong things. Happiness is as a result of
27:58
growth and fulfillment when people are approaching their
28:03
ultimate ends. OK, that sounds kind of big, but
28:06
basically let me let me put it this way.
28:09
When somebody has a certain goal in mind and they're achieving
28:13
the goal, small, small, that is what leads to happiness,
28:16
regardless of how much money that they have, which is the
28:19
reason why your child starts crawling.
28:21
And the first time they managed to walk 3 or 4 steps, even if
28:24
they fall, they laugh and they're happy as hell even
28:28
though they failed, but because they made small progress.
28:33
So so long as you're growing and achieving fulfilment and
28:36
approaching your ultimate ends, you're on the track for
28:39
happiness, regardless of how much money you have.
28:43
So if you are chasing the transcendentals and if you're
28:47
making some work in achieving the transcendentals, the
28:50
transcendentals are just how I describe them in ancient Greek
28:56
and in ancient Christian thought, there's this idea of
28:58
transcendentals. Transcendentals are those things
29:01
that are, how do I put this, those things that are above
29:05
everything else in this material world, Things like truth, things
29:10
like beauty, things like goodness, things like unity,
29:14
things like open oneness. So if you're chasing truth,
29:17
beauty, or rather if you're achieving truth, beauty,
29:20
goodness, unity, or oneness, then you will be happy.
29:25
Remember, this is ancient Greek thought and then ancient ancient
29:31
Christian thought as well. So in fact, that's the reason
29:34
why for most Aquinas and Saint Augustine have the idea that the
29:39
only thing that will truly bring happiness is when you learn how
29:43
to walk with God and you're chasing God because God is the
29:46
highest good. So that way, growing in those
29:52
terms, growing in chasing the transcendentals or growing in
30:03
achieving your own personal ends, you will find that this
30:06
way people are happy regardless of their personal circumstances.
30:14
Happiness is not joy or elation. That's what people get the
30:17
confusion over. People think happiness is when
30:19
I'm feeling good and I'm feeling all right with myself or I'm
30:22
elated. No, that's not it.
30:24
Joy and elation are temporary. Happiness is a different kind of
30:28
quality that lasts, and that's the reason why you can't find
30:32
wealthy people, people who are rich as hell, who are happy, and
30:37
people who are rich as hell and who are poor sorry, and who are
30:41
sad. It's not about the money, it's
30:44
not about the poverty. So you can find happy rich
30:47
people. You can also find happy poor
30:50
people. You can find sad rich people.
30:54
You can also find sad poor people.
30:58
So the money is not the main thing.
31:02
The thing that is causing the happiness is the people, whether
31:04
they're rich or they're poor, do they feel like they are growing?
31:08
Do they feel like they are achieving?
31:09
Do they feel like they are stagnant or are they chasing
31:12
after the higher goods in life? Truth, beauty, goodness,
31:17
oneness, unity, that is what determines whether people are
31:22
happy or not. So this whole thing of does
31:27
money, can money buy happiness? Look, it is the wrong question
31:30
and we should stop being preoccupied by all these things.
31:32
In fact, don't join anybody who is engaging in this useless
31:35
debate online. It's just a waste of time.
31:39
So how does money factor into the conversation?
31:42
Very simple. Money is just a medium of
31:44
exchange, full stop, nothing else.
31:47
It doesn't buy a unit of happiness or it doesn't buy a
31:49
unit of sadness. It's just a medium of exchange.
31:54
So to acquire wealth, you just need to make sure that there's
31:58
some sort of value exchange. If you're a music teacher,
32:02
there's value exchange and you will get wealth.
32:04
Because I, I'm thinking of what the children do for the
32:08
holidays. I like to get them a music
32:09
teacher, somebody who knows how to teach music.
32:13
You can see that there's an exchange of value here, value to
32:17
me, and then money flows out. Money is a medium of exchange,
32:22
exchange value. You will acquire the medium of
32:25
exchange and you will get some wealth.
32:27
So if you're a music teacher, this is the beginning of how
32:30
you're going to acquire some wealth.
32:32
You get one client, you get return clients, you get somebody
32:36
to partner with you. Then you have some tutors under
32:39
you. Before you know it, in 10 years,
32:41
you have your music school. Money is a medium of exchange.
32:47
If you exchange value, you will get that medium of exchange,
32:51
which is the money. It's the same thing if you're a
32:54
crypto trader. There are lots of Nigerian boys
32:56
now that are infatuated with crypto.
33:00
They want some crypto, They want some place where they can trade
33:03
crypto or use crypto to transfer money or use crypto to do this,
33:07
to do that. If you happen to create a crypto
33:11
exchange that can facilitate all these, all these transactions,
33:16
you are putting out value to the market.
33:19
There's something people want to do.
33:20
You provided something that can help them do that.
33:23
There's value being provided to the market.
33:26
Money is a medium of exchange. Value is being exchanged.
33:30
You will get some money. It's the same thing.
33:33
Even if you want to take something as banal as being a
33:36
beauty queen, there's still value exchange being a beauty
33:38
queen because beauty Queens attract branding and
33:41
sponsorships and you know, stuff like that.
33:43
So there is value that is being exchanged because the publicity
33:47
and the branding and all that is a value that the sponsors want
33:52
to get so that their brand can be everywhere.
33:54
So if you do a good job as Miss Nigeria or Miss Lagos or Miss
33:57
Sokoto or Miss Universe or whatever of putting your
34:00
sponsors in, in the right light, they'll say, OK, this babe is
34:03
not just fine. She actually is a very pure
34:06
babe. Money will follow the whole
34:08
thing because they can see that you bring the right kind of
34:10
attention and you're the right kind of diplomat, you know, for
34:13
them. So even if you're just being a
34:15
beauty queen, even their value is being exchanged and through
34:19
that you can acquire wealth. So money was not about happiness
34:23
or sadness. It's a medium of exchange.
34:25
So stop being angry with money or stop loving money as the
34:31
ultimate end because it's not. And then finally, money gives
34:35
options. Remember when those guys were
34:39
owning me and I went to go and Jack them that they should pay
34:41
me my money? Before then, I didn't have the
34:44
option of your fridge. So if you don't have money and
34:47
your wife is saying every day, oh if I had a fridge, you're out
34:50
of options, you're out of luck. Money gives options.
34:55
Should I have a fridge or not? Should I rely on my deep freezer
34:59
or not? What kind of fridge should I
35:01
buy? Should it be 150 litres or 250
35:04
litres? Should it be the one that can
35:06
make ice cubes or should it be the one that can blend
35:09
smoothies? Or is it the fridge that is
35:11
connected to the Internet? Internet of Things so it can be
35:14
ordering from Amazon? Money is just giving you
35:18
options. How many more options do you
35:20
want? It's that simple.
35:22
Where should we live? Money gives options.
35:26
There's some people who want to live in Abuja but they look at
35:28
the the rent in the city and they say hi, at this rate, let's
35:32
move to Maraba. Your wife might frown but he
35:35
said, my dear, don't worry, we'll cope with the traffic.
35:38
It's because you do not have the option.
35:41
And it's the same thing with Lagos, those of you who live in
35:45
Lagos but you go and get houses that are right at the outskirts
35:49
of Ogun and then because of that, you have to wake up at
35:53
3:00 so you can leave the house at 4:00 AM.
35:57
You don't have options. Money gives options.
36:00
That's what allows you to decide where are we going to live, when
36:04
can I retire? Money will give you that option.
36:07
I want to help people in the village and I want my
36:11
grandmother's, uncles, children in the village to go to school.
36:14
How much money should I send them?
36:16
Money gives you options. Should I drive an SLK or should
36:21
I drive Toyota? And money gives you the option?
36:24
Should my kids be eating their bar or should my children eat
36:27
tapioca? Money gives you options.
36:29
That's all it is. Money is a minimum of exchange
36:33
and money gives options. And the whole thing of chasing
36:36
money is not because we are chasing happiness, it's just
36:38
because we are chasing options. So my own opinion, make money
36:47
and give yourself options. But remember that happiness
36:51
comes from whether you feel if you are stagnant or whether you
36:58
are making progress in your goals or in your ends.
37:03
But the ultimate goals are the transcendentals, truth, beauty,
37:09
goodness, unity, oneness. If you talk to the older
37:15
Christian sects, you know, the Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox,
37:18
the Oriental Orthodox, the Coptics, you know, they will say
37:22
that, look, yes, all these things, but ultimately, if
37:25
you're not chasing God, you will not be happy.
37:27
But either way, you can see that this thing has very little to do
37:30
with money. Now, for those of you who are
37:33
sad and who are depressed, I don't think money will cure you.
37:35
I have some bad news. Money is not going to cure you
37:38
because if you're sad and depressed and you feel like
37:41
you're stagnant, the money's not going to do anything for you,
37:45
really, because you're searching for something.
37:50
You're searching for elation when actually you should be
37:53
searching for, you know, personal fulfillment.
37:55
Am I growing? Or whether you should be chasing
37:58
the transcendentals? What will make you happy is
38:04
expanding your horizon. Pay attention to some wisdom
38:07
literature. Change the books you read or
38:10
change the kind of crowds that you hang out with.
38:12
If you guys just finish every day, you sit down at the bar and
38:15
you will drinking alcohol and engaging in idle gossip.
38:19
I mean, there's nothing wrong with that.
38:21
It's a nice way to have fun. I'm just saying that if that's
38:23
your life, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
38:25
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I can see how
38:28
you get stuck in the whole thing.
38:29
Like, OK, if you are richer, you'd be happier.
38:33
So look for some wiser friends. Read wisdom literature, start
38:39
listening to podcasts around these sorts of things.
38:43
If you talk to Thomas Aquinas and the Saint Augustine, they'll
38:46
tell you pray, engage in contemplation.
38:52
It's also good that we have good physical health.
38:55
That helps as well. And then for some people,
38:58
medical interventions are necessary.
39:00
There are some people who actually have to go to the
39:02
doctor because you are clinically depressed.
39:06
If you're clinically clinically depressed, no amount of changing
39:10
your friends, reading wisdom literature and prayer and
39:13
contemplation will help. I mean prayer and contemplation
39:18
is good, but The thing is if somebody is sick mentally, the
39:20
person, the person actually is not well mentally and the person
39:24
needs to seek medical help. But either way, in my own
39:28
opinion, make all the money you want because money just gives
39:32
options, full stop. You've had it.
39:36
In my own practical scenario, at least I have the option of
39:40
whether to buy a fridge or to not.
39:42
So if I want to tell my wife that look, you know what, a
39:44
fridge is not important. We're not buying the fridge.
39:46
It gives me the option. If we go ahead and we'll buy the
39:49
fridge and we want to buy 150 liters, at least I have the
39:52
option. 250 liters at least I have the option if it's a fridge
39:56
that also has an inbuilt vacuum cleaner and the fridge has AI
40:00
and can. Tight and cook or whatever, at
40:04
least we have the option. So that's just it.
40:07
Money is a medium of exchange, has nothing to do with your
40:09
happiness or your sadness. And then it gives options.
40:12
So you owe it up to yourself to give yourself and your kids the
40:15
most options available. And that's the reason why I
40:18
think we should all change money, full stop.
40:20
But either way, stop getting involved with all these people
40:22
who say money can't buy happiness because the the
40:27
discussion never ends. You can point to somebody who
40:30
used to be sad when they were poor and now that they're rich,
40:32
they're very happy. Yes, you will also be able to
40:35
point to somebody who was very happy when they were poor, but
40:37
now that they're rich, they're very sad.
40:39
So any which way you want to check it, you'll find those
40:41
examples. So that is the perspective that
40:44
I suspect that most of you have not heard before.
40:47
But please connect with me and let's have business
40:50
conversations about how to move our businesses forward, how to
40:53
improve our customer service processes or if you have
40:56
problems in your business, I mean get in touch.
40:58
Let's see how many of these, how many of these things we can sort
41:01
out. So the number to reach out to me
41:02
on is 08064662140. The country code is +234.
41:10
That is my WhatsApp number. You can connect with me on
41:12
LinkedIn. The name to look for is
41:14
Tavishima IED, my YouTube channel.
41:16
Tavishima IED, over 1000 free resources there for you.
41:20
Or you can just search sales for the Nigerian business person and
41:25
the podcast will pop up on YouTube.
41:28
But please, those of you who are going to reach out on WhatsApp,
41:31
please send me a text message first or a WhatsApp message
41:35
first before you try calling. There are lots of fraudsters in
41:38
Niger, so I don't answer WhatsApp calls anyhow.
41:43
And then for some of you who want to reach out, even if
41:46
you're going to call, please call at reasonable hours.
41:51
Somebody tried to hit me up yesterday, like around 10
41:56
something, you know, I mean, like, why Nigeria?
42:00
And I would like you should understand some of these things
42:02
now, you know, if if you've been listening to the podcast, like,
42:07
you know, I'm a married man now. So like, anyway, just use your
42:11
common sense. That's just what I'm trying to
42:12
say. Trying to hit somebody up at 11
42:15
or at 12 at night when the person is a stranger like that
42:18
is a no, no. But if any of my guys or my
42:21
brother or my mum or my father-in-law calls me at 11
42:24
because I don't sleep early, it's not a problem.
42:25
I'll answer. Oh, hello, Sir, You're still,
42:28
you're still awake. I thought you'd have gone to
42:29
bed. You know, we discuss, we, we
42:33
talk and you know, whatever it is, we're getting handled.
42:36
But you, you're a stranger like nothing easy to write to start
42:40
buzzing people at 11:00 at night.
42:45
Anyway, let me stop there. So thank you very much for your
42:48
time and attention. Please reach out.
42:49
I really like hearing from you guys.
42:52
And yeah, so that's it pretty much.
42:55
I'll catch you guys at the next episode.