Hooked on You: Keeping Clients Engaged and Coming Back for More

Hello and welcome to the show. Today we're going to be talking about how to keep your customers attention until a deal is closed. Apologies for the background noise because I'm not in the audio booth today and because it's a full house. Now, this question, how to keep a customer's attention until a deal is closed is also another question that came from NECA the Pretty separate, not her real name, but I'm just using that because I didn't take up permission to.

Yeah, I didn't take her permission to use that. So Neca the Pretty Serpent is a beauty and skin care specialist who lives and works out of Inugu and who is a member of a community of professionals who do the same thing. And this is one question that came up. How do you keep a customer's attention until you close the deal? And that's because before the deal closes, you know, lots of things happened. You run out of ideas, you enter into voicemail, the customer goes into ghost mode.

You know, like all kinds of things. But the way I'd like to look at it is we can just paraphrase this question to, to be how do we follow up or how do we stay in touch until we can close the sale? Because there are some businesses where in simple sales scenarios, you just walk up and you can close the deal in 5 minutes. Now, the example that I give over and over again on the podcast is for the sale of Agusi. You can close an Agusi sale in 2

minutes or three minutes because it's, you know, straightforward. Everybody knows good Agusi. You get there, you're either personable or not. The price is either good or not. We're either good to go or not. The guy is either going to buy or he's not going to buy. And in some cases I've seen where market traders, we won't tell the person that look, you've been here, we've been talking 20 minutes, you haven't bought anything.

Can you please leave my front so that somebody else can come out open market for me, please. You know, kind of insinuating that you're there bringing bad luck and that's the reason why the person is not making any business. So in simple sales situations, you can't close the deal sharply minutes. But then there are situations where people who are involved in beauty and skin care, you can't always close the deal shop shop like that.

Somebody might have used the product before they know what's up. So they just come to the store and they say, look, do you have this beauty pop or cream SPV 45 that is made by Mary Kay, by the way. I don't know if Mary Kay makes any products like that. I'm just freestyling here. So basically come and ask for that particular thing. Do you have it or you don't or you have it? How much it is 65? I thought it was actually 59.

OK, OK, no problem. Give me two bottles and then they go. But it's not always the case that it's going to be that way. So some of them you win them quick, some of them you don't win them so quick. So what are you going to do to keep the customer's attention until the deal is closed? If you'd love opportunities to connect, call me on 08064662140, that's my WhatsApp number as well. And then connect with me on socials, especially on LinkedIn,

the name to look for establishing my IED. I'm closing down Facebook and the other places, so please don't follow me there. Just LinkedIn only. So like I said, we're going to paraphrase the question, how do you follow up? How do you stay in touch? In fact, some people might even say why is follow up necessary? Because we know in the Nigerian context, we have this thing of if they like it, they will buy, If they need it, they'll come and buy.

If they're serious, they will buy. If they don't like it, let them go. So yeah, we have the attitude and yes, you can build a business with that attitude. Well, The thing is when you do that, you're only dealing with how will I put it? Let's just say your business will grow a whole lot more if you have the attitude of look, if you like it though, by if you don't like it, let them go. So follow up is necessary because some situations are complex sales situations.

And in complex sales situations, we actually need to follow up because things are just going to take a little bit of time because they're complex. Now, a complex sales situation, for those of you who are newbies to the show, you haven't listened to any previous episodes. A complex situation is just where the product or the service that we're dealing with is expensive. Most of the time complex sales are expensive. So it's expensive.

Usually we have two or three parties to deal with. Usually the product itself is complex. Now when I say something is complex, a product or service is complex, what we mean is that the value proposition is plenty. You have to stack two or three things together. Like take for instance the skin thing. The value proposition is not just that your skin is hydrated, but it could be your skin is hydrated, your skin is smooth,

you don't break out. And then also maybe some social signaling that if you use these sorts of things, then you're part of the in crowd or something like that. So you can see that the value proposition is complex and then sometimes it is that the product itself is complex. So if you want to buy a jet plane, I mean that's a complex purchase. You know, what is the seat? What's the size of cabin, local flight or international?

What are the regulatory requirements for Nigeria, for UK, for Dubai, you know, all these sorts of things. So yeah, that's an example of how complexity comes in. So the value proposition might be complex or the product or the service itself might be complex. And then of course, skin care. Yeah, it is complex because I've been to those shops where I like my wife wants to get her stuff. And then we go to Urbano. Urbano is a shop in Abuja.

It's, it's like a mall. Yeah, let me say it's a mall, but basically the guy just owns the whole mall. So I think that in the east, definitely in Lagos and two locations in Abuja. So Ebano, they sell some, they have a nice makeup department, their wigs and things like that. So everywhere Mumsy is in town, Mumsy goes there to go and look at skin stuff. And whenever we go there, I just feel annoyed like we're going to go and waste money because as far as I'm concerned, Vaseline is fine.

Please, ladies, just buy Vaseline and let's get this over with Vaseline and lip gloss. You're good to go. Anyway, today's episode is not about me. So Ebano. So they have all those things there. So these products are complex because you go and look, you need to make sure that whether the base is oil or the base is water. And then whether The thing is is smooth or The thing is viscose or whether The thing is purple based or whether it is carrot based or tomato based or that was the other one that people used to use in the old days but they don't use again.

Was this thing called sheer butter? Sheer butter based? And then and like on and on and on and on. Does it have sunscreen? Does it do this? Does it do this? I'm like really complex. So I mean, you're going there instead of just going to go and pick up Vaseline and leaving in 5 minutes. You go there and then you're standing and then mumsy and wifey, not just them, but other women are there and while staring out bottles and reading instructions and reading this and reading that and reading and reading and reading, I mean,

like 15 minutes just to select one cream. Anyway, I was like, yeah, so this cream stuff, Yeah, very complex. Then another thing that makes some sales last long is because complex sales, sometimes it's necessary to maintain a certain level of relationship. Not always, but these are the sorts of things that make a sale complex. The thing that we're buying is it expensive. If you're going to go and buy there, and if you're going to go there and buy Vaseline, you know, Sharp sharp 1 bottle 2005,

you know, that's not particularly complex. But if you're going to go there and buy a purple based cream that is used by Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey and it costs, you know, 165K for 30ML, you know, then OK, now this is looking a bit complex. So the cost is expensive, the product itself is complex. Let's see what else. Anyway, that's why something just take time, Sha. And I think that this is one of the situations where the thing takes time.

Some people might say skin care, that's not complex. Now skin care is simple. It depends. Now, when it comes to these things of complex sale versus simple sale, let's not just think of it as binary, that something is either simple or complex. Sometimes there is a scale of simplicity or a scale of complexity. My professional background started off in law. Now that is obviously, well, I would say it's obviously complex, but some people say that, look, law is straightforward.

We're trying to figure out did the guys steal it or didn't steal it? Did the quarrel? Did he inquire with the landlord or he did inquire with the landlord? Is he justified to end the lease or not? Or who owes who, who owes who money and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So some people think it's that straight, that simple, but that engineering now is complex, you know, So what are the technical specifications? What was the overall budget?

Where were the timelines that were agreed for completion, you know, on and on and on and on. So yeah, in a sense, you know, some things are simple, some things are complex, but just think of it in terms of a scale. And so it's not binary. So wedding photography, which is what I did next, I would say it's a complex sale. But then if you compare wedding photography to buying insurance, then or of course then wedding photography seems a whole lot simpler.

So it's a sliding scale, it's not binary. So in that sense, we can say that skin care and beauty has some complexity needed. So the time element, the reason why the time element is really, really important when it comes to skin care and beauty and things like that is because you need time to do a needs assessment. If you've done business with somebody before. And she knows that based on her skin type and what she likes and everything, every time she comes here, she's going to buy Tomato Blend 65, the one that is used by Beyoncé and Oprah Winfrey.

If she knows, she knows. I mean, when she shows up, it's a matter of oh, sister Hannah Ivy day long time, blah, blah, blah. How's your husband? Is that that OK? The regular Abbey, we only have 3 bottles in store. Is that going to be OK for you? OK, you want five? OK, no problem. Pay for the five. Now take these three next week we'll send you the remaining 2. Is that OK, Mark? OK, no problem. That would be, is it POS or OPA

or is it bank transfer or something, something. And then you wrap it up. If it is a first time client, you need time to do your job properly and need to do a skin, sorry, a needs assessment because when it comes to these kinds of thing, I mean, left to me, I would just tell everybody Vaseline and then close shop and be on my way. But The thing is people are trying to achieve different kinds of things. There are some people that want their natural color to show that's where my wife, that's where she likes to abuse me.

She says that me, I'm black, that my natural color is not showing that I need to, you know, I need to do some stuff so that my real color will come out. So some people are trying to get their real color to come out. And then there are some people who don't give a hoot about real color. Their own is just that they have pimple on their face and they want these pimple to stop. And then there are some people who before they were pregnant,

their skin was oily as hell, but now that they've given birth, their skin is dry, as you know. And but only what I'm just trying to say is this thing is different people have different skin, different needs, different goals. You need to take your time. You need to build a relationship with somebody. You need to understand what's going on here and you need to understand what they're trying to achieve. And then when it comes to beauty and skin care, sometimes it's a psychological play as well.

No, maybe Madame is going through a rough patch in a marriage or something like that. Or maybe it's that Yurua thing. You know how Yurua boys, when they make money next and they will start bleaching? I have never understood that sort of thing. In fact, this particular Nigerian musician that I know, I saw pictures of him and the guy just getting yellow and yellow. And I'm wondering like, like guy, how far like we know you from 15 years back, you know,

you were black like charcoal and now you're getting. Anyway, let me stop. I'm no insults people, especially somebody who has more money than me. Let me just give it. So yeah, I need time to do a needs assessment so they can recommend the right cream to the right person. Because for the person who just wants her natural color in quotes to come out, if you sell out Vaseline, she's going to be very upset with you because she'll come to you in January.

And then by February, people are saying, ah, sister, your skin is looking darker. You would have lost the customer. So you need to be able to know what kind of thing you're recommending for the people who is for the person who is coming to you because she's tired of pimples. If you recommend her the wrong thing. And next time she comes back, her face looks like a pineapple. I mean, that's that's not going to help. And if it is that you're a Rob boy who has made money and he thinks that now excuse me, he needs to start, you know,

bleaching like Jude Kosoko and the others before him who made it and started rubbing cream. You know, if you give him the wrong stuff and his real caller doesn't come out, he's going to be upset with you. So you need to take time, build a relationship, figure out a need assessment, figure out what it is that is going on. So you need that time. It's not something you can do in a 2 minute conversation. You also need to build a relationship in this kind of business.

It's not like buying petrol that any filling station will do. You need a certain kind. You want to be the plug for your customers. That OK, when it comes to hair cream that this is the babe I will call or when it comes to hand cream, this is the person that I will call. Or when it comes to stretch mark, this is the person that I will call. You need to be that plug. You need to build a relationship and then also you also need to give your customers time to think it over because like I

said, some of these products are expensive, especially with how forex has been going and things like that. You know, it's not like it's Vaseline again. I mean, some of these things I've seen like 75 K for 100. MMM, I've seen 75K for 100 MMM, I've seen like I've seen all kinds of things. If at one time I was angry with mom saying I'm like, why can't you just get regular, you know, blah, blah, blah. And she said, look, that you don't even know that me.

I'm I'm trying that are some people that this soap alone is 80 K for one bar. I was shocked. I think soap, one bar of soap, 80K as a medium. I'm already complaining that with the way the economy has has gone now when I'm buying soap for, you know, me and the kids, I'm really looking at, OK, do do or so how much is do, do or so is like, you know, close to 1000 per bar. And then I'm doing in my head that OK, if it's almost 1000 a bar and you know, for all of us,

I have to buy like maybe 12. Like I'm thinking, oh God, how can I spend so much on soap? And some people are spending like 80 K just for one bar of soap. Wow. And if you know any of these people, please introduce, introduce me to them. I'd like to flow in those circles because that's that's some good money. Because know how you're only going to be using one bottle of soap in the month. What was I? So because these things are expensive, like these people need to take time to think it over.

Except for people who just have lots of money. They're not just going to come and they just drop, you know, 65K for 100 MMM or drop 80K on one bottle of soap, you know, like that. They need time to think it over. So we need time in the sales process if you're involved in this sort of business. So now here's the crux of the question. How are you going to stay in touch? First off, you need to map up, map out your sales process and then slow things down.

When I say map out the sales processes, you need to figure out the stages that people go through. This is an example that I've given time and time again on the podcast from my wedding photography days. OK, let me go back to even before the lawyer days. The person doesn't just show up and then he's OK. We need to go to court. No, you welcome the person to the office. So, yeah, sit down. Nice to have you here. Oh, sorry, we couldn't make last last week's meeting, blah, blah,

blah, blah, blah. So tell me, what can I do for you? And then the person will not give you the life story about how he quarreled with the landlord and about how their stepmothers know each other and how this person is wicked and this person goes to this society and something something. And Christians are this and Muslims are that and blah, blah, blah. And if not because of God and this and this, you know, the person will tell the whole story.

So you as a lawyer, from listening to that whole story, you will now get a sense of what it is that you might need to do, the possible outcomes. And from there you'll be able to start making proposals. So for someone who is still involved in legal practice, the first step actually might be phone conversation. Get to know each other a bit and get to figure out who is doing the referral. And then stage 2 is, Chief, why don't you come to my office?

Let's have a meeting, let's talk some more. So that is step one, phone call, build some rapport. Step 2, office for client consultation and then step three, that's where you adjourn. I think about possible alternatives. And then Step 4 is when you call them again to say, hey chief, I'll be thinking about what you said. And based on what you said, I think we should explore option A, Option B, Option C, All of them should be able to achieve this kind of outcomes.

When are you free? I'm going to be on Lagos mainland like around that current 10:00. Will you be in the office? OK, no problem, I'll pass through the office. Let's talk some more than step four. That is you going to his office and you do a presentation. Then let's see. OK, after presentation, you try and close the deal. That is where you get him to commit to a specific line of action. And then step 6, if my account is correct, is the person transfers the deposit and then you know you're good to go.

So and then the following steps on and on and on. Now this is just a rough sketch. Every business has this kind of sales process. Every business has it. So for wedding photography for me, because mine was bridal shows. So step one, bridal show, they come to the table. That's good. I've gotten them to come to the table. Step 2 is get contact details. Step three, call them up for meeting. Step four, look at samples. Step 5, standard proposal.

Step 6, you know, on and on and on. Everybody has that kind of steps, so you need to figure out what the steps are for your business. So for makeup and beauty sales, you need to sit down and then map it out. Write it out. If you haven't written it out, write it out now. In the beginning, when we're walking through things, it helps if you write these things out first. Later on, we internalize it and we don't have to write things over and over again.

But for now, write it out. Now when you wrap write it out, you now know how to slow down the sales process and take things methodically from one step to another because sometimes some of you are trying to do too much. This is the first time that the person is meeting you and the soap you're selling is 80 K per bar. I mean, what makes you think that you will just be able to get the person to buy 10 bars or soap from you immediately like this on day one?

You guys have never met before. You need to slow things down. Figure out what the sales process is, the typical sales process. Talk to other people who are in your who are in your space. I mean, talk to them. Figure out what the sales process is. And then now start planning things accordingly. And then you slow things down, slow things down and then give the customer some breathing room. Don't rush people try to rush complex sales so much.

You, you can rush these things take time. Let's say you're selling cars, OK, I don't know how much cars cost now I've been found. I haven't even asked about car sales with the way the economy has gone recently with hyperinflation. But let's just assume now that now a brand new Toyota G wagon, something, this is me just guessing. I don't know. I'm just guessing. I don't know, so don't quote me. So let's say now a ran UG wagon is maybe 80 million.

You can't rush somebody to buy something that costs 80 million. You just can't rush. You can't. You take things slow, give somebody space. Then when you have figured out what your sales process is, you now know how to schedule, or what I call it, schedule advancements. At every single stage. What an advancement is, is when you get somebody to take the next small step that is required to close the deal. You're going to close this thing in one small step after another small step after another small step.

So if you do it this way. And you spread things out and you're trying to close one small step after another small step. Then you'll see that you're constantly in touch, you're constantly top of mind, and you're constantly moving things forward. Now, in between, we also need to figure out value ways of following up that add value to the person's life. One of those things that I recommend over here is insights. While the person is thinking things over, it's not a bad idea for you to be sending the person articles, tips, tricks, videos or whatever tips on different skin types or material that recommends different skin regimens.

So let's say you're talking to the lady and the problem was that during pregnancy, before pregnancy her skin was dry. Nowadays after pregnancy, her skin is excessively oily and now she now has stretch marks. So while she's considering like the last presentation, let's say you give her two products, one is tomato based and then the other one is sheer butter based. So while she's considering both of them, oh, by the way, I'm not a specialist, so I'm just making stuff up here.

So you're considering two options now, tomato based versus sheer butter based. Which one will make the skin less oily and which one will reduce stretch marks. So it's not a problem to be sending her videos or tutorials or something about how you apply the tomato based one, the benefit of the tomato based one and the perfect regimen for the tomato based one, the perfect regimen for the sheer bottle based one, how you apply the sheer bottle based one or the advantage of the sheer bottle one over tomato and vice versa.

So it is nothing that stops you from sending those things. In the meantime, when you send it, it is value add. It is not you saying Madam, make up your mind and pay me. Which one are you picking? It is you being a valuable resource person and giving her some more things to consider based on the two options that we're looking at. You can also be sending her information from time and time, you know about promos or discounts or you know, things like that.

You can also give curated product recommendations. So even though she's considering only this and this tomato based and sharewater based, wouldn't be a bad idea to now show, OK, no, that might be a problem if she's considering tomato base and she's shared with her base and they are now showing other products that work well with those. OK, no, that's you're better off doing that as part of an upsell or a cross sell. So maybe after she pays you will now show all those other options.

But any you get what I'm trying to say basically. So you're trying to follow up in a way that is adding value to the situation and value add. Doing that by adding insights always helps, always makes you seem like a valuable resource. Then there's also the typical one that I keep talking about over here on the podcast, which is where you follow up around birthdays and anniversaries and work developments. So make sure you followed her on her Instagram and on her TikTok and everything.

You know, that's how you know that, oh, the baby just turned 6 months or that the baby just turned one year and they're doing birthday party and you send a message, you know, to congratulate. So that's how you know that she's been promoted at work or let's see what else when you get the point. So personal developments, work developments, anniversaries, birthdays, you know, all these sorts of things. Those are also good opportunities for keeping in touch as well, especially for things like these that are kind of on the personal, personal front, you know, beauty and skin care.

When I started early talking to people about personnel and stuff, there are some people in the corporate space who used to say, look, we can't do personal because you you're wedding photographers. So that and it makes sense. I mean, it's not creepy if you call somebody and say, hey, what's up now? I saw that your daughter just turned 6 years old. Congratulations. Some people used to say that in the in corporate space, that would be kind of creepy.

I don't think so. I think it can be done adequately in a way that doesn't seem as if you are stalking them. It can be done. So these are different follow up ideas, but basically start off with trying to add value to the situation. Try and give insights, try and give tips, try and give recommendations. Let them know promos, discounts, stuff like that. Give like creative product recommendations. Happy birthday, happy anniversary, how's the husband,

how's the children blah blah blah. What else? Sorry, let me check my notes. Let me see if I wrote anything that when I was considering this. I think that's all that I have pretty much for now, but this is how you can stay top of mind with potential customers if you're in the beauty and in the king care skin care space. But the main thing that I just want to let you guys know is don't rush. Sometimes you're dealing with very, very expensive items.

If the person comes and says give me 5 jars of Vaseline, that's different, 5 jars of Vaseline, you can close that deal, you know, sharp, sharp in 5 minutes because you either have it or you don't because for some reason Vaseline is scarce. I don't know why. So either have it or you don't either have it at the price that they want or you don't. You either going to haggle or you will not and then you close the deal. But if it's something that is a bit more complicated that hello,

my name is Ineka. I just gave birth to twins right now. I got your number from Injedeka and she said that you really helped her. She had stretch marks after the surgery and she had scar tissue where they did the CES me to a house. Scar tissue, you know. So that one is a different conversation. Take things easy, step things down, pipe things low, calm down, hear her out, stretch it out, have a long drawn conversation. Try and map out the sales process, take things step by step.

Maybe that first phone call if it's late at night, you can say, oh, oh, sorry, my late where I am right now. Can I call you back tomorrow like around 9:00 so that you know, when I get to the office, let me sit down my diary and in fact, let's do Zoom call. Let me even see some of what we're dealing with and you know, blah, blah, blah. You know, so that's the next step. Just stretch things out, slow things down, map out the sales process.

Take it from one step to another. Remember that you're trying to close the deal in small increments. You're trying to get advancements. So step one, Step 2, step three-step 4IN between where people are thinking things over and things like that, you need to find ways of being value add. So like in this case, you've discussed the horrors of the CES and you've made your recommendation if you find videos that shows that these are the top five ways that Nigerian women deal with postpartum stretch Marks and something.

So if you send out that kind of video, it's not bad, shows that you're thinking about how you're still top of mind and it's not something that says Madam, make up your mind. I've given you two options. Which one are you picking? Option A, option B or option C. So you do that and that is how you keep customers. You keep a customer's attention until the deal is closed. And then please, let's have realistic expectations.

You are not going to close 100% of the deals that you 100% of the customers that you talk to. Sometimes we have unnecessarily high expectation. Now, what is the typical closing rate in the beauty and the skin care space? I have no idea. You have to talk to people in the business, keep your records and then you get a sense of what seems realistic, but 100% is unrealistic. So sometimes you win some, you lose some. I know it's easier.

I said that I'm done, but you don't get depressed when you lose every single thing. So it's 30 minutes. Let me just bring you to a close on this one. And that's all for today. So if you're ready to get actionable strategies to grow your business, you can book a low cost business audit by calling me or messaging me on 08064662140. The country code is +234. For those of you who are not Nigerian or connect with me on socials on LinkedIn, the name to look for establishment.

Ayed, thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys in the next episode.