Fit into Their Flow: How to Adapt to Client Processes and Close More Deals

Hello and welcome to the show. Before we begin, apologies because I'm out on the road, so expect to hear interruptions in the background. So with that, let's get straight into the meat of the show for today. Now we are still on the, We're still on the Whole Conversation series where we've been talking about the different kinds of objections that you face in business. You know, trying to close the business, whatever agenda you have that you're trying to move through at the office or whatever.

And we've run through a couple off the top of my head. There are two or three I can't remember right now. We've dealt with what to do when people say your product is too expensive, you're too expensive, your product is not useful. Let's see what else. I can't remember anyway, but this is your first time of listening to the show. Then after you're done listening to this episode, skip back a couple of episodes 4-5, maybe 6.

You get caught up to speed and you'll you'll get intimated on the other objections that we've dealt with so far. Now, this one is an objection that some of us have faced when trying to sell into companies much more complex sales scenarios. OK, well, OK, let me skip back, let me go back a little bit into my history. For those of you who have been listening to the podcast for a while, you know that I started off as a wedding photographer A

decade and a half ago. Now that kind of sale is, it has some complexity, but it's relatively straightforward. You're talking to the bride, you're talking to the groom. You know this is family. You can sort things out in two or three weeks, simple conversations and you can be in control of the whole process from beginning to end, relatively speaking. But then when you start trying to sell to companies, you're dealing with multiple stakeholders you may have to talk to, you know, Madam, MD,

Madam Managing Director. Like you know the example I came up with yesterday, talk to Madam Managing Director IT, you know, blah blah blah, no, what? Not OK Well in the photography context, you know what that meant was trying to start working with corporations. Now let's say the you're trying to put a pitch for end of year parties. You're providing media coverage for an end of year party. Now I'll be talking to someone who is in charge of the team,

you know, the planning committee or whatever. I'd also have to last with somebody who is in charge of the Finance Committee or the Treasury committee or whatever. I might have to talk to people in procurement. Let's see. And then also might have to be in touch with someone in protocol department because eventually you have to talk to someone when it comes to moving camera equipment in setting cables here and they're placing cameras, things like that.

So you have to talk to lots of people. Now, when you move from a simple sales environment and you start getting into much more complicated, sorry, much more complex scenarios, you do, you now bump into another objection where people say, oh, we have a different process for XY and Z. Now, this doesn't necessarily have to be an objection. It's just that for most people you hear we have a different process for XY and Z. It happens a couple couple of times and then you lose heart and become dispirited in like,

whoa, like, I'm tired of this crap. And then you leave what could otherwise be profitable, A profitable business venture for you or a profitable niche for you to explore. So it's not really an objection per SE, but it's one of these reasons, one of these things that people put forward that can kind of slow down the traction that we would hope to get when we're trying to close the deal and do business with certain companies.

So these kind of things come up in typical scenarios where, like I said, you're dealing with companies, much more complex sales scenarios and where companies will have their internal bureaucracies. Now, bureaucracy sounds like a bad word, and sometimes it can be, especially for those of us in the Nigerian context. If you've ever had to go to Ministry of Lands or you're trying to chase something at Ministry of Commerce or Ministry of Health, now you know exactly what it is.

And I'm talking about Gocom. This person is not on seats. Put this file. You didn't pay this fee, you paid the fee, but you didn't get stamped. You stamped this, but you should have stamped another thing before. And so yes, in the Nigerian context, bureaucracy just sounds like a bad word. But The thing is, bureaucracies are just rules and systems, processes, procedures that businesses and companies put in place just to make sure that everything is done correctly.

You know, everything is. What's the expression? You know when they say you dot all the IS and cross all the TS just to make sure that things are done correctly. So bureaucracy is not all a bad word. So yes, you're going to be dealing with some companies where you will have to talk to procurement and procurement are going to have rules about how you get things done. For me, that was one of the big shockers. When I think the first corporate gig that I did was for a British councillor.

For me, that was kind of like the first shocker when I sent in an invoice. And then they told me, no, this is not how we handle invoicing here. Your invoice should be like this, should be in this format, should include this information, reduce, remove that information, do this, do this, do that. Yeah. So for me that was a big shocker because dealing with private clients in the wedding space, that was never an issue. You know, invoice is invoice,

you just send it, you send it. And people are not particular about font size, the information that was on the invoice and where the information was placed. You know, so long as information was correct, name was correct, price was correct, deliverables were correct. But you know, the British Council, they had their own way about how invoices are supposed to be submitted. And I found that dealing with other organizations, it's it's just a thing.

It's to be expected. And so I've incorporated that to be a part of my sales process. And it's some of the things that we'll discuss later on towards the end of the episode, how you know, you even start anticipating some of these things. You have a good conversation and then you ask, you know, upfront. So what format do you guys like your invoicing in? Do you guys have a template? Can I have a look? You know those sorts of things.

So you'll be talking to procurement, You have to do whatever procurement says. You have to talk to finance. You have to do whatever finance says in the manner that finance wants it to be done. Depending on what business you do, you might have to talk to the legal department and you'll have to comply with legal issues. How legal department says it should be complied with, not how you want it to be complied with. OK, yes.

That's also another thing. My first experience with OK, no, that was not bring this council. I can't remember the organization anyway, but they had their fixed terms of engagements and with the contracts and you know, there was nothing that can be varied. So at the end of the day was like, look, these are the terms. These are the terms. Take it or leave it. I spoke to the boys. We didn't think it was too much of a big deal, so we took it.

So it's one of those things. Then you also might have to talk to technical. And of course technical is going to have their own process for doing things as well. Let's see what else? OK, I've already spoken about rules around how you send in a quote, how you send in an invoice, how you secure approvals. And then of course, organisations have their different ways for vetting vendors before they do business with them. So these are the sorts of scenarios where you're going to run into someone who says, Oh no, we have a different process for this.

Oh no, we have a different process for that. It is not necessarily an objection, but I'm including it here because it does slow down the pace of business because you you're thinking the children are going back to school in March. This deal is going to bring in 600K school fees. I'm really owing like 200 K will be nice if this thing clicks in the next 5 days. So yeah, it does seem like a bummer when somebody says no, we have a process for this.

We have a process for that. And you are thinking of collecting your money in three or four days, but now it's looking like the money might come in in two weeks or three weeks. So I understand, you know why, Niger, we we all go through it. That's for those of us who have kids anyway. So it's not really an objection per SE. In fact, sometimes I think it's a good thing because if you're still having a conversation, if you guys are still yearning, you guys are still relating, it's a good thing.

It means you're not dead yet. They haven't thrown you out. So I think it's a good thing. Now how to deal with these sorts of stalls or objections or setbacks or whatever it is we want to call in. Let's First off, like I have always been saying the past couple of episodes we've done on objections, acknowledge, empathize, empathize, whatever it is you want to call it so. Because nobody wants to seem like they're fool or like an idiot or they're coming up with arbitrary rules.

So we say, OK, back to the invoice. You think like, oh, oh, I'm sorry, forgive me. Yes. Actually, it does make sense that you guys would have your own internal processes then since you guys are now in a conversation, ask questions, gather details and ask clarifying questions. You're trying to figure out more about the approval process, more about the decision makers and more about timelines and critical decision points.

The reason why you're asking these questions is because you want to know ahead of time what to comply with and how to comply with it and in what time manner. So let's say the invoicing thing, the lady says, no, we do our invoices differently. So you acknowledge, you empathize. So say, oh, forgive me, yeah, it's true. It makes sense. You guys would have your processes, right? No, no problem. So for the invoice, how is it going to be?

Do you guys have a template that should look at what kind of information should be on it? OK, all right, no problem. And apart from the invoicing stage, you know from here, who else would I? Who is the invoice going to be addressed to? Who else needs to sign off on it? What is the next step? OK, when do we talk to procurement? Are we going to get the PO number? The PO number is purchase order number. Is there going to be a purchase order number?

Will you guys require delivery notes after this? At what time? When all the paperwork is in? When will payments start being processed? What time do you need this process done? What time do you need that process done? Ask all of these questions. It makes you prepared. It gives you all the information you need so that there's none of these back and forth. And it makes it easier for you to, you know, hurry up and then get paid because like I said,

school fees. School is resuming in March. Right now it's February. Something you know. It would help for you to speed things up and collect your money in four or five days instead of collecting it in one month. So that's the process. Acknowledge, empathize, continue the conversation. Be cool. Just flow with how you flow in your own, your own style, your own context. And like I said, these kind of conversations don't necessarily have to be in English.

If you're a Yoruba person and the lady you're talking to is a Yoruba person and you guys are flowing on that thing by team by team level, then by all means enter Yoruba. You know, but the structure of the conversation is still the same. Acknowledge, emphasize, ask questions and and yeah, get more clarifying information. Figure out what's the approval process, who is involved in making what decisions, what else needs to be done, what are the timelines, what are the critical decision points.

In fact, very, very important if you're dealing with government power status in Nigeria, this whole critical decision points thing because something you might need to pay for something and stamp something and then you pay and then stamp and then you get to the desk only to realize that before you paid and stamped, there was all that approval that you needed to get. So this payment and stamping that you have gotten is now invalid.

So you don't have to go back to the start and get another process and then pay for another stamping. And yeah, I know it seems like a hassle, but it's one of these things. So just be prepared if you're pursuing any contracts through National Orientation Agency or through Ministry of Finance or Ministry of Commerce or whatever you're dealing with. So acknowledge. Empathize. Especially if you're dealing with the desk officer.

This is the perfect person to talk to. You're dealing with a desk officer, an admin officer, a receptionist, or whatever. Be cool with that person. Be respectful. Have this conversation. If the person is a human being, you know they'll give you all the information that you need. If the person is a grouch, then tough luck. Just keep trying. Eventually you run into someone who's a human being. Then let's see what else. And the whole point of all these conversations is you're trying to show that you can be integrated into their processes,

into their procedures and into their own timelines. Also try and offer some references. The way that I do is I don't say, oh, do you need a reference? I can give you or Gachukudi's phone number. You know, I don't do that. What I do is I refer to a project that I've been involved in in the past, the kind of project that they should know, and I bring it up in the conversation. OK oh, do you know, you remember the social so and so event.

You were at that event, right? Yes. We were the ones who handled it. Those video guys. That, that was my crew. The the, the screen. Those are my people. Did this, did that. You know, those are my whole crew. Yeah. So we're responsible for that, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So this is just a casual. It's not a reference per SE, because references, you hand over a phone number, you hand over contact details for them to contact.

But putting it this way, it just helps boost your credibility. The person can relax like, oh OK, you know the jam bite. This is not the the first time that you've done this thing, so you're familiar with the processes so they can let their hair down. Sorry, let me check the time. OK, over 10 minutes, So I think I can continue. Then, with all this information that you have so far, now what you do is you now customize your processes, your proposals, your presentation, your invoice, your whatever, Customize it to their own needs.

Don't complain no matter how silly it might seem like. For delivery notes, I was submitted a delivery note to one organization and they told me to take the sum out and I just thought, how can you remove the amount of money that was paid on the delivery notes? Didn't make sense to me but I just complied. They say I should remove the final amount. I said OK no I removed it. The amount is on invoice so no big deal. So customize your processes to fit theirs.

Then also another thing, try and facilitate open communication. Whoever it is that you're talking to, whether it's a desk officer, secretary, admin officer or whoever, or chairman or chair lady of the planning committee or the Treasury committee, just let the person know. Give the impression that you're willing to talk to other stakeholders and to answer any questions you know. You let them know that you know there's there's no big deal.

We've done this before. We've handled that project. In fact, if Madam MD wants to ask me particular questions about this and that, no problem. I'm I'm available. When is Madam MD free. OK. She's free on Friday. What time? No allow drive by the office, no big deal. So be open, be willing to facilitate communications, willing to talk to other stakeholders. Now, the goal of all these that I'm saying right here is you're just trying to show that you're a willing partner in their own progress, in their own scheme,

in their events, in their agenda, in their whatever it is that they're trying to do. And along the way you're trying to build trust and rapport and credibility. The whole point of doing all this legwork is this. If you finish this job and you do a good deal, because front desk secretary now knows you, chairperson planning committee now knows you, Treasury person now knows you. Madam MD now knows you. Ogakunde in payment or procurement, now knows you.

The next time there's another job, everything will just flow smooth because you walk into the building and they'll be like, oh, OK, is that ATV boy or OK is that a EBO girl? And everything will just flow because you're part of the family now, you know that's how I don't think of you. And then also, if there's a need where you're trying to pursue something with another department, with another agency, with another, whatever, these are people that you can talk to to give you tips or give you recommendations or introductions to help you move things along.

So that's the whole point of this approach. So yeah, that's it. Pretty much. Acknowledge, empathize, ask more questions, get all the information, Who are the decision makers, What's the approval process? What are the timelines And then comply, be willing to have more conversations to any other stakeholders. Yeah. So that's it pretty much. And OK, 15 minutes. So, yeah, let's bring it to a close. So thanks for your time and attention.

Let's see. Yeah, you'd like to connect with me. I'm available on WhatsApp. The phone number is 08064662140. The country code is +234 for those of you who are not Nigerian. Oh sorry. Let me just repeat the phone number again. I got distracted for a brief second. In case I gave the wrong phone number, it's 08064662140. Country code +234. Then connect with me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm the host of the show.

You can confirm the spelling of my name from the link. We're currently listening to this episode, so thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next recording and hopefully at next recording. I shouldn't be in such a noisy environment, so I'll catch you guys on the next one.