How to Master Simple vs. Complex Sales Frameworks

Today on the podcast, we are going to wrap up the conversation that we started in the prior episode. So for those of you who've been listening, you will remember that in the former episode, we were talking about why you shouldn't think about how formal you should be in a sterling situation because thinking about being formal or informal is not a helpful way to think about it. But rather you should think about whether you are in a complex sales scenario or whether you are in a simple sales scenario.

Now, if you're listening to this podcast for the first time, then you know, just know that this is a two-part thing. So after you listen to this episode, go back, listen to the prior episode, and then you're going to get caught up to speed. But people who've been listening, they will remember that I said, instead of thinking of whether you should be formal or informal, think about whether you are in a simple sale scenario and whether you're in a complex sale scenario.

And whether you're in a simple sale scenario or a complex sale scenario is going to be determined by a number of things #1 the price of your item. Is it pricey or is it affordable? And of course, the more pricey it gets, the more complex it gets. And I think the example that I gave was with my neighbor who stepped into 2026 by buying a brand new Jaguar tear robber. Now you don't buy that kind of that kind of expensive machinery.

Obviously that is not a simple sales scenario. But then if you buy something like a chopping board, and of course, you know, I mentioned that we just got a brand new chopping board in the kitchen. You know, I'm impressed with the chopping board. Oh, by the way, I'm making today's recording also in the kitchen again because it's a full house and, you know, everybody's asleep. And I don't want people to come out seeing me with a microphone plugged into the phone.

And they wonder, like, what's this old man doing again? So I'm hiding in the kitchen just to make this recording. So yeah, so I'm proud of the chopping board. But my sister-in-law who is a professional chef isn't impressed. She's a cake Baker and a chef because you know, you can find chopping boards that are more expensive, bigger, made with better material. But the point I was trying to make in the last podcast episode was this.

If you sell pots, pans, chopping boards, what else, kettles, kitchen appliances, you are in a relatively simpler sales scenario than somebody who sells expensive cars like Jaguars, like Bentleys, like what else, Tesla, Cyber trucks. So the price is something to consider. Then the number of moving parts or complexity or the number of things that people have to consider before they purchase, that is also something that determines whether you're in a simple or in a complex sale scenario.

Then the length of the sales cycle. Some things are just sold much more quickly than other things traditionally. So somebody who's going to buy a chopping board is going to be in and out 3045 minutes sharp. They will come and buy chopping board, frying pan, you know, this, this, this electric kettle, blah, blah, blah. They will come and they will go. So excuse me, but then to buy a test like Cybertruck on the other hand, or to buy expensive machinery like cars, you know,

typically it's going to involve a couple of visits. You show up one time, then you show up with your brother-in-law, then you show up with your wife, then you show up with a mechanic, then you take a test drive, then you think about it for a couple of days. So to buy something as expensive as a brand new 2026 model of a Jaguar car as in tier robot probably takes you know, maybe 3 to 4 weeks. So the length of the sales cycle that also the number of parties that you have to talk to.

So these are the sorts of things that determine whether you're in a simple sales scenario or whether you are in a complex sales scenario. So if this is your first time listening to the podcast, skip back, listen to the previous episode and you're going to get the full, you're going to get a much more detailed or let's say, description of the treaties of how to to determine whether you're in a simple sales scenario or you're in a complex sales scenario.

By the way, if you love listening to this sort of stuff, if you're tired of all this, you know, generic podcasts that you hear about business or if you're tired of just content, then subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, on YouTube, on Apple or any player of your choice. And let's see what else. OK, then Tavish, that's my name. Sorry, excuse me, you know, I'm a town in Abuja. So it's that time of the year. So my name is Tavish Maidi.

I'm a former lawyer turned business consultant. If you'd love to connect with me, you can call, you can send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140. All right, now I'm OK, I'll do it now. OK, so we're done summarizing what we did the last time. So let's go straight into it now. I promised you guys, if I remember correctly, that now that we had looked at the difference between the simple sales scenario and the complex sales scenario, we're going to look for the implications of how that determines how you should sell.

Because remember, we started off the last podcast episode wondering whether we should be formal or informal in some kind of sales situations. And that's because lots of Nigerian business people are rightfully worried about how formal or informal you should be. So if you're selling to auntie, should you be formal or informal? If you're selling to the president, should you be formal or informal? If you're making a presentation at the office, should you be formal or informal?

If you're trying to sell something, maybe you sell insurance, you're trying to sell the group package, but you're selling it to the, you know, selling it at a village meeting, for instance. Should you be formal or informal? So basically what I was trying to say is it is not the situation, it's not how I put it, It's not the whether the setting is formal or informal that determines how you sell. It is whether you have a simple sales scenario or a complex sales scenario.

So when you have to go and see the president to sell something, you should be thinking simple sales process or complex sales scenario. That's what you should be thinking, simple, complex, simple, complex. And then once you clock it, OK, I'm in the complex sales scenario, you know, you blend accordingly. So don't be thinking in terms of formal, informal, think in terms of simple or complex. Now, these are the implications when you're in a simple sales scenario.

When it comes to price, feel free haggle, price it like your pricing Gray fish. Gratitude is take it or leave it because this is not a pricey something. It's a relatively affordable something. Your margins are small and quite frankly, you don't have the liberty to start removing plenty of money. So for those of us who sell more expensive items like consulting services, OK, let's say back to the media, because I still provide media coverage once in a while because after legal, I

became a wedding photographer. And that led me into doing other things, you know, portraits, documentaries, you know, stuff like that. So on the documentary front, now you have quite a bit of margin. So if you're pricing with somebody and you remove 200K here, 300 K here, it's not that much of a big deal. You still have room, you understand. But now if you sell chopping board, the margin is not much. Now how much are you making per one item?

It's not much. So if you start giving somebody 500 off, 1K off, like you're reducing your margin per single item. If you buy all these chopping boards in bulk and you bought the chopping, your buying price of buying the chopping board was 55K and you're trying to sell this thing for 8K. You're not helping yourself if you're removing 55011K on each item. So for simple sales scenarios, and yes, you can be haggling back and forth, but last, last,

the attitude is guy, take it or leave it. That's your attitude. Take it or leave it. That's the reason why when you go to the market to go and buy a Gucci and you're pricing in front of the woman, the woman will tell you straight off because the woman told me before she told me that, look, since you came here, you've been pricing back and forth. You haven't bought anything that she told me. The auger, if you're buying and buy, if not, go let somebody come and open my market.

She told me that I was blocking her destiny. That is fine because it's a simple sales scenario. I didn't go offended. I just laughed and I bought and then I left and me and the woman became very good friends. Now that kind of behavior is OK because you're in a simple sales scenario. On the other hand, if you're in a complex sales scenario, let's say you sell Jaguars or Bentley, it will be somehow for you to say, oh God, look, if you're buying by you're blocking my destiny.

Leave less somebody open market you was now somehow excuse me. So you can see now why I'm saying that you shouldn't be thinking, should I be formal or informal as a business person or as a sales person? It is a matter of is rather it's a matter of is this simple or is this complex? So that will determine how you play it on any number of these factors. Then if you're on a simple sales scenario, what you see is what you get.

No guarantees. So for the person who is selling shopping boards or for the person who is selling a go see, what you see is what you get. Madam, this is it. See it, sample it, feel it or God, this is it. Do you like it or you don't? If you like it, take it. If you're not comfortable, I have another one. I have different models, I have different design, I have different whatever. If you're not comfortable, leave it. Another person is going to come and buy it.

What you see is what you get. No guarantees. That is if you're in a simple sales scenario. But of course, if you're selling Bentley can be given somebody that kind of attitude then for simple sales scenarios, because this is a low price thing. Relationships are not important. Rapport is not necessary. If you like, you can build rapport with somebody, it will help you. But for people who decide not to build rapport, it's just one of those things.

That's the reason why when you go to go and buy a go see in the market, do mom might be friendly with you, she might not, but you know, it's not a big deal. It's a low price, something she depends on traffic passing through every day. But on the other hand, somebody who is selling Bentley or we selling Tesla, cyber truck relationships important because you want the chief who buys this cyber truck to refer you to another person who buy another cyber truck or buy another Bentley or buy another Jaguar.

If you're in a simple sales scenario, then it's OK to use pressure and to close fast. Like lady I told you about. After a while she had to put pressure on me. Now, look, guy, you've been here, you've been pricing since you're blocking my destiny. If you're not buying, leave. Let somebody come and open. My market shall apply pressure. What you're selling, Bentley, you can't be putting pressure on somebody like that. Now that look, Bros, are you buying or you're not buying?

You need some more finesse, then let's see. OK, what else then? In a simple sales scenario, you deal with the person who is in front of you as a business owner. That's because, you know, typically you're not dealing with too many parties. So if you sell chopping boards and a husband and wife show up as it deal with them. If it's only the wife that shows up, deal with her. If it's only the husband that shows up, deal with them.

But on the other hand, if you sell in complex hill scenarios, you're always trying to figure out who else do I need to bring into the picture? For those of you who listen to the podcast, you know, who've been listening for a while, you remember the story about the lawyer in one of my sessions when I was talking about these things, who gave her testimony. And the testimony was simple. She was talking with the wife. The wife had agreed the land belonged to the plot of wife,

and they had agreed on the price. The lawyer started preparing the paperwork only for, you know, 3-4 days later for Huma to say, you know, we had agreed my husband was out of the country, he's now back and blah, blah, blah. Essentially, the husband came and just torpedoed everything. Please, those of you who are feminists, don't come and argue with me. I'm not trying to say anything here or there. I'm just trying to say, look,

it's one of these things when you're in the complicated scenario like the sale of land, these things, you know, you can't just deal with the person who's in front of you. You know, once in a while you ask, OK Madam, what a vulgar of his auger, you ask of what of Madam. Or if you're buying in provincial places like in Makuti for instance, that's where I spend my holidays. This Christmas, you ask like, OK, normally this kind thing.

Sometimes they had all the families involved. So head of family, what has head of family said? You're asking because you don't want to now sell a piece of land after everything has finished. The head of the family will say this person that you transacted with has no authority to sell this land to you, that we, the larger so so and so family, are the rightful owners of this thing. In that case, you now have basic on your hand.

You have serious problem. So when it comes to complex health scenarios, you're always trying to figure out, OK, I'm talking to this person, but who else? And that is why in the episodes where we've been talking about people who are coming up with fintechs and startups and things like that. So let's say you're trying to sell a payment, another payment processing platform or something. You're trying to figure out who else.

If you're talking to head of procurement, you're trying to figure out who else should I be talking to people in IT? If I'm talking to procurement and IT, who else should I be talking to? MD. If I'm talking to MD procurement people in IT, who else should I be talking to? People in legal and compliant. You're always trying to figure out who else. So you can see that these are the considerations. These are the things you should be playing around with when you're trying to sell your product or service.

It's not a matter of simple formal dress up, dress down. No simple sales scenario or complex sales scenario. That is what will determine how you package yourself, how you gather yourself, how you move forward. So for the complex sales, now, complex sales scenarios, then the implications for how you sell are quite simple #1 when it comes to price, you keep your options open. You can't discuss ranges, but you keep options open.

So you say, Oh yeah, sure. We have Tesla Cybertrucks, different models, different whatever, and they go from anything between 230 million on the low end to about 480 million on the high end. Which particular year you're looking at or what models are you considering or what price range works for you? You're talking loose or talking in ranges. We have to keep our options open so that depending on where the guy is leaning to the left or to the right, we'll now know where we'll focus, where we'll play something up or we'll play something down.

So on the price thing, we keep our range open, we keep options open, we talk in ranges then because these things are expensive, because the level of risk involved is high in complex sale scenario, you know, whether it's for sale of land or sale of cars, risk mitigation is really, really important. Now we can't just say what you see is what you get. So I believe in the last episode I spoke about things like after sale service, you know, stuff like that, you know, so this guy that I was yapping on about I

think maybe like two or three months back, Sarki Motor, who is a, who's an auto dealer in Abuja, you know, Sarki Motor, you know, one of his things, if he likes to boost that he's the car dealer, that if you buy a car from him in the next one year, you don't have to go to mechanic. You know, all these things are now important because it's high price, lots of risk involved. So risk mitigation, these are the risks involved in this purchase.

That purchase, if you're doing business with me, this is how we take care of this risk. This is how we reduce that risk. If you do business with me, you are not going to have to be involved in this and this and that. This is our guarantee. This is our warranty. This is our, you know, blah, blah, blah. Risk mitigation now becomes important. If it's a simple sales scenario, what you see is what you get. Oh Madam, you want to buy water bottle for your children,

They're going back to school. This is the water bottle that I have. You show the woman she will look. What she sees is what she gets, the one she like, the one she will pick. You're not giving warranty, guarantee nothing. But then there's a piece of land now and on is different. This is the title that we have. This is how we have validated the title and we are indemnifying you against legal actions from third parties and blah blah blah.

So it's not just formality for the sake of formality sake. You're in a complex hill scenario. Level of risk is high. That's the reason why you're delving into all this risk mitigation. Now then, because it's also a complex hill scenario. We're also trying to demonstrate how competent we are, how credible we are because we're trying to inspire confidence in the other person who is before us. So back to the water bottle or something.

Now, the reason why I remember is because, you know, kids are going back to school soon and so wifey has been buying stuff, you know, socks, shoes, this and this and that and that. So it's a matter of water bottle like which kind competence, which can credibility Madam, he had bottles. She'll pick the one that she wants. What you see is what you get, full stop. But Tesla cyber truck sale of land, sale of insurance policy,

sale of, you know, all these other things on the complex end, you want to show that you're credible. You want to show that you're competent. You want to inspire some confidence in the other party. So while for simple sales scenarios, what you see is what you get and you can pressurize people, when it comes to complex sales, you guys to explain stuff, slow things down, be more consultative, ask people questions before you recommend.

So back to the Tesla Cybertruck example. Now you ask questions. Now, yes, we have different models from 2021 up until 2026. This power, this horsepower, this battery capacity, this whatever. They range anything between 230 million to 470 million. What year do you have in mind? You start asking them question or how much are you willing to reinvest in this sort of a purchase? You ask them question, are you going to be driving this just within the city or do you intend to travel home with these?

By the way, some people travel home with it. I was shocked. Well. Now when my sister-in-law was going for a wedding in Jos, she sent me picture, somebody was turboing from Abuja to Plateau State in Cybertruck. I say hey, and even in Benue state some people are driving Cybertruck. I say, OK, now you don't have one means Nigerians are making money, serious money that people are taking Cybertruck and driving from Abuja or from Lagos as far as Plateau State, Benue State.

And I ask myself, where do you charge these things? Those of you who drive BYBYD, that's build your dreams, the Chinese electric car, most of you who drive BYD, you drive Ford electric cars, you drive Tesla, cyber drugs and all that. Where are you guys charging these things? This massive charging point is everywhere. Where do you charge your vehicles and you come home at night and then you just plug your car to charge like you're charging your phone.

Please, if you drive one of these vehicles, reach out to me. Let me know. I'm curious. I don't have money now to buy one of these expensive cars, but eventually the money will be there. So anyway, just let me know. I give my phone number at the beginning and at the end of every single podcast episode. So reach out, educate your boy. So that mean when I upgrade, we can be flowing on the same level. So that means when I'm travelling home to see Mumsy, I

just pull up this hyper truck. Actually, I think it's a big mistake because we did kidnap people these days, even if you have that money, I beg keep it on it down low, just buy it low. Anyway, where was I, where was I? So now you be consultative, be asking people questions before you recommend something. Then rapport, relationship, very, very important. If it's a complex I'll scenario because the money to be made in complex scenarios are in what's it called again, customer lifetime value, The fact that somebody will come and buy again and again and again and the fact that somebody will refer somebody to you.

So when you sell the first cyber truck, the money you make on it is good, but the good money will come. When the man buys cyber truck for himself, maybe he see that the car is sweet. He will now buy for his wife. Together they see that everything is sweet. They will now refer their brother-in-law, the brother-in-law will see the art in his sweet. Then they will now refer to APC party chairman. That's where the money will come from.

So rapport relationship really, really important then because in complex sales scenarios, the sales cycle traditionally is longer because remember nobody goes to look at the plot of land today and we'll just drop 50 M like that. It's, you know, you come and visit, then you, you, you look at the site, you go back to the office, you talk to the realtor, you talk to your lawyer, you know, conversation back and forth, back and forth, back and forth before they drop money.

So because for complex sales scenarios, the sales cycle traditionally is longer. You're the seller, you're the business person. You have to be ready for plenty of meetings, meeting upon meeting, conversation upon conversation, phone call upon phone call, presentation plus presentation, lobbying back and forth. Be ready for all that. So you can see it's not just a simple, a simple thing of should I be formal or informal, simple versus complex.

Then of course, I already mentioned that in the complex hill scenario, never deal with just the person in front of you. Never, always trying to figure out who else. If this day says he wants a cyber truck, no problem. As you're talking with him, you ask, you know, what does Madame think? Or you ask him when he wants to come for a test drive and if he's coming for the test drive, would he like to come with someone else?

Whether he wants a second opinion. You're just trying to figure out who else is important in this conversation that I need to rope in. So my wedding photography days, that's one of the reasons why if I was talking to a groom only, I would always find out. I would say, you know, usually the bride is interested in photo and video, but you know, this one is just me, you and me with the young sings for like 3 weeks. Like how far now out of Madam?

When am I meeting Madam? I will ask. I can't just deal with the person who is in front of me because in complex health scenarios, it is common for you to focus on the person in front of you, only for another party to come and Speedo the whole thing. Just destroy the whole thing. So you're a business person, you're a seller in a complex hill scenario. Never only deal with the person in front of you or you should always try and be figuring out who else.

OK, so it's 30 minutes. Let me bring this way close. Now the summary of what I'm trying to say is this. Whether you're trying to sell, whether you're making a presentation at the UN United Nations General Assembly or whether you're trying to put across some agenda at the presidency, or whether you're making a proposal or a sales speech at family meeting. Or whether you're making a presentation in church or in mosque. Or if you're a member of Uboni,

you're a member of Secure Cult and you're trying to sell, you know, your goods and services inside there or you're trying to sell your goods and services in village meeting. Don't be thinking in terms of simple, sorry. Don't think in terms of formal or informal that all because it's UN, you know, you gas formalized and then because it's secret cult, you should be informal. No think simple or complex and then do it accordingly because yes, you might be talking to delegates from the United Nations, but it might be a simple sale.

You can relax. You could be talking to the presidency, but this is a simple sale scenario. You can relax, but then it can be village meeting or your Bony meeting. What is a complex sale scenario? In that case, you know, step your game up. So it's not just a meeting of where are you, which forum? It is beyond the forum. And that is the reason why I say all these people who are saying that, you know, you should it's important to be formally in selling, you know, like they're missing the mark.

Yes, formality is good, but it's not really formality in formal in and in formality. It's simple sales scenario, complex sales scenario. So if you're in a simple sale and you're talking to the president, no problem. Be sharp. But you can be informal. It's OK. It's a simple sale if you're you're at your village meeting or Albany meeting. But what people are doing now is something complex. Let's say you're selling group insurance packages.

Because even members of Albany or whatever secret court, I'm sure that they have to insure themselves too, That kind of one play the long game. You'll be switching between formal and informal as need be. But the way you package yourself in a complex sales scenario will be different from how you package yourself in a simple sales scenario. So for those of you who've been seeing content or you've been listening to people talk and people are telling you that step your game up, be formal, be formal and be formal, you'll calm down.

It's not formal or informal. It is simple scenario or complex scenario. And depending on the scenario where you are simple or complex, the dynamics are different. But first identify where do you stand? So that's the next assignment. Now if you're waiting photographer, ask yourself where do you stand? If you're a lawyer and you do charge your bill, ask yourself simple, complex, where do you stand if you're a lawyer? Now, what you do is you advise startups on how to raise, you know, investor finance.

Ask yourself, where do you stand simple sales scenario, complex sales scenario. If you're an architect, ask yourself, where do you stand simple versus complex? If you're a fashion designer or a tailor, ask yourself, where do you stand simple versus complex? If you have a sport shop, where do you stand simple versus complex? If you run the sport betting agency, ask yourself, where do you stand simple versus complex? Those are the things that will determine how you sell.

So don't just wake up and say you want to step your game up. Therefore, you should be formal. Now ask yourself, am I in the simple sales context? Am I in the simple sales scenario? Am I in the complex sales context? Am I in the complex sales scenario? Then that will determine how you sell. So since it's been 30 minutes, let me bring this to a close. Thank you very much for listening so far. Remember, if you'd love to get in touch, you can call, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140.

Also remember on the 12th of January to the 23rd sales training, it's going to be a paid program on how to sell effectively over the phone. So if you like what you hear and you want to find out the details of the program, how to get involved and the value that we might be able to bring to you, then reach out. Let's have a chat. I'd like to know about you. I'd like to know about your business. I'd like to know about the problems you're facing.

I'd like to know about your plans for 2026. And let's try and figure out if this training is going to be useful for you because I like money and I'd like to take your money, but I want to be sure I can help you first. If I don't think I can help you, I'll let you know that. You know what? I don't think this training is for you. And I've had to tell a couple of people that already. Now look, based on what it is you're trying to plan, this training is not going to be good for you.

You need something else or you need someone else. So yeah, that's it for today. Thanks for listening. I'll catch you at some other time.