How to Run Effective Client Meetings

Hello and welcome to the show today. I'm not in the audio booth, so apologies for any noise that is going to come in through the background. I've been talking about over here on the podcast about how it's a good idea to watch business shows, watch movies, not even business shows self. I mean, like watch anything on TV and then always keep an eye out for how people are conducting themselves, you know, on air because you know, whether in movies or regular programming, you see business people, other people who are trying to run their businesses,

other people who are trying to move market, other people trying to negotiate, other people trying to network, other people trying to do things. And sometimes you can get good ideas from TV about what to do and sometimes what not to do. So one of the popular examples that I've been talking about over here on the podcast is Dragons then. And I think for those of you based in America or who have that kind of programming, I

think it's called Shark Tank, where people go and make a pitch to an investment board, not because we need investment for our businesses, but because in the conversations that happen, you know, the back and forth, you know, you say something, this is me, this is my business, blah, blah, blah. You know, the investors, them, you know, they will fire you to fire one question or fire another question. So from now back and forth, you know, they fire you question,

you respond, you know, all that back and forth, you now begin to learn that, oh, OK, when it comes to business, these are the kind of things that investors are looking for. These are the kind of things that make a business healthy. These are the kind of things that make a business grow, you know, stuff like that. So I always recommend that for those of us who are self-employed, we run businesses, you know, we have SME, we have nano business,

micro business, whatever it is that you're trying to do, whatever you're hustle, always be watching film, watching TV, just keeping an eye out. OK, this guy did this, this babe did that. Why did they do this? OK, maybe I should do this. Maybe I should try that. It's a good way to learn how to promote your business. Now, the reason why I'm remembering all these things today is because over the weekend, actually it was on Thursday, my wife was watching Real Housewives of Atlanta.

That was before NEPA. I decided to show her Shaggy because I have moved from my old house into the new house. And one of the reasons why I left the old place, apart from the fact that the landlord, you know, the usual now you know, I want my property, we're going to double your house rent, blah, blah, blah. One of the reasons why I left was because NEPA used to show us serious Shaggy, you know, 'cause like vandals came, like the van of Transformer in the old house had been vandalized.

I think it's like like twice. The last one was serious vandalization. Like we didn't have life after like 2 weeks. So as I was leaving the old house now, I was thinking, you know, thank you Jesus, I'm free from Napa. No, no more suffering, no more sorrow or chilling in the new house. You know, light is OK. We're blasting AC watching Real Housewives of Atlanta and then next team pure Napa took Light and lo and behold, you don't believe.

But as I'm talking to you now, I've been without light for three days and I'm thinking what kind of rubbish is this even not for the inventor. Like what kind of what kind of life is this anyway? Just one of those things, you know, you can't avoid the Nigerian state, You know, if you successfully evade NEPA, you know what about to go and jam you in front. So just one of those things anyway, forget about my NEPA woes. What I'm just trying to say is this.

Before NEPA did a strong thing and took our life for the last three days, my wife was watching Real Housewives of Atlanta. For those of you guys listening to this podcast now, I know that 90% of you have never heard of this show before. You know, don't be alarmed. Even though for my wife, to be honest, I wouldn't know these kind of shows at all as well 'cause my wife likes the Real Housewives of Atlanta. What again? Real Housewives of Lagos, Real Housewives of Bottlomac Real Housewives of something.

I I know Shia that do you have wives? You know them plenty, Shashi. She likes watching those kind of shows and you know, just to boost intimacy in the marriage. Now, you know, once in a while she's watching something which I'll sit down now, you know, put my idea to watch as well. You know, it helps the marriage to grow. So those of you who are in new relationships or in new marriages, you know, these are ways that you can boost intimacy.

So let's say you don't like football, but your husband is UEFA, UEFA, UEFA. Once in a while Mayu is playing, just sit down, you know, put I just watch, you know, just small, maybe 20 minutes. Then you stand up and go just be doing it like that. Whenever he's watching match, just do it two or three times a week, you know, helps build intimacy. The same thing your husband, you don't care about Real Housewives whether they're in Lagos or Washington DC, but your wife likes that kind of thing.

Once in a while, just sit down, you know, put I, you know, watch one or two things, you know, it helps intimacy, it helps conversation, helps relationships grow. So this is how it ties to this business thing that I was saying in the beginning. Now there's this character on the show. Her name is Portia. Portia is all fine babe as incorrect babe, very, very fine. But she is Akata as in Akata as hell, serious Akata babe, but she fine.

Excuse me? As in I admit Portia is a fine babe. This real house has a photo mark. So Portia now has Carrie Bella for this guy, can't remember his name. Is it PJ or something 'cause he's a, he's a big boy. He, he owns a franchise. He owns a franchise chain in America. All they do is I think they do steaks and things like that, you know, steaks, you know, like roasted meats, you know, like oil bosu, yeah, that kind of thing.

So now it's his business and he's a big boy called Farm. So now Porsche has Carrie Belle, she's about to give birth. The already planning baby reveal, you know where you invite your friends and your family and then you reveal the gender of the baby. So they called a a party planner. Now I saw her come come and make do presentation for us. Now as per Porsche now because she wants this thing to be large, wants this thing to be live.

She was now telling the guy that look we'll do everything. The guy said, what about clowns say yes, so we'll have clowns OK, what about the castle and we'll have bouncy castle. Look, what about small shops and we'll do small shops Now what about this? We'll do this. What about fire breathers? We could do fire breathers. We'll do this, we'll do this. As if Porsche was just saying every every everything. The camera was showing P JS

face. P JS face was stiff PJ the bone. I understand. I understand that feeling. I understand that feeling very well because even I don't like spending money. So as Porsche was saying we'll do this, we'll do this, we'll do this. PJ was just money anyway, So when they finished everything now, and This is why I want you guys to pay attention. The party planner, he and his team member, they now he now asks Portia, So what is the budget like?

And then Portia responded, you know, like a typical I got, I said, I don't know. That's why she responded, I don't know. And you can't you can't blame her because you know, this is her first Billy. This is going to be the first baby. So truly, truly like most of your customers, how is she supposed to know what the budget is going to be? So she responded, I don't know. They look at PJ. Of course, PJ was born in because every time Porsche says small shops will be there,

bouncy castle will be there, fire breather will be there, alcohol will be there, people on stilts will be there, animal petting will be there. You know, of course, in his head he's just seen dollars upon dollars upon dollars. So that guy just said, OK, no problem, I've got all your information, I'll put together a proposal, I'll e-mail you later, and I'll be right back. And then they left. As much as I'm telling you guys that you should be watching TV

and be learning from how people run their businesses, this is one thing you must absolutely not do in your business. Lots of people complain about ghosting. OK, I went to a customer's house. We had a wonderful meeting, a deep presentation. The babe was saying, yes, she likes this. She likes that. She, in fact, she was even happy. She was excited with all the ideas we left. I sent them e-mail. They never responded to me.

The babe now, I mean, she's ghosting me. This is one of the first ways that you enter into this, you know, voicemail ghosting trap. If you leave that meeting without getting a soft commitment about what the budget is, whether they're interested and what the next step could be, you could easily fall into this whole thing of e-mail my secretary. OK, that sounds interesting. I'll get back to you. Let me discuss with Porsche.

After all, Porsche is the one who's interested. I'll get back to you. Porsche. I was. OK, Let me discuss with PJ. We'll get back to you. You know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You know, that kind of thing. That's how you you've entered voicemail. People are now ghosting you. So never leave the meeting, this kind of meeting, if you're in the event space or whatever business you have, where do people have told you exactly what is that they need?

And then you just say, I will e-mail you a proposal. What you need to do is, OK, let me look at it this way. Now what the guy was trying to do, because everything Porsche was saying, I like it, I like it, I like it. Add this one, add this one, add that one. He had the reasonable concern, which is look, Madam, all this one you're adding, adding, adding. Do you guys have Pepe? Can you pay? That's the main thing on his mind, right?

OK, Now of course, this will be the main thing on your mind, but this is how you do it next time you don't now ask what is your budget? Because if you ask what's your budget, she will look at you to say, I don't know. And of course, what do you, what do you expect her to say? She's not a professional party planner. How is she supposed to know that if you want a party with bouncy castle, with a pet tiger, with a pet donkey and a horse, with bouncy castle and small shops plus alcohol and people walking on stilts, how much is a Bush to know how much it costs?

It is you who are the party planner. Who knows now, OK, if we are renting tiger, tiger cost so, so, so if we are renting horse, horse cost so, so, so, so if we're renting stick walkers, stick walkers come so, so and so. Fire breathers charge so, so, so and so. Small shops would be this naira per plate or this dollar per plate, you know, since then Atlanta. So this is what I'm asking. What's the budget? And then she say, I don't know what you say is for clients that we've worked with in the past who have had a similar, who have explored these similar ideas,

the typical budget have been anything between $20,000 and $28,000. Does that sound about right? And you keep quiet and you hear what they have to say. That is how you will now be able to know whether these people have bar or not, whether they can afford your services or not. And it's a way that you're going to be able to get feedback about whether this is somebody you should be pursuing or you should leave it. Because if you say between 20 to $20,000 and then Porsche says,

Oh yeah, cool, you know, I'm happy, yes, that kind of thing. And you know, PJ is still frowny, face small. You know that there's room because, OK, the wife thinks that this thing is cool. The husband in a very small, maybe there's hope. Well, you said 20 to $28,000. And then Porsche says for what are you a thief? And then maybe the husband, PJ now laughs and shakes his head. You know that. OK, these people, this thing that we're discussing, it is too much.

There's no point in following up. We can't close this thing. You know their their vision is hard and their pocket. You will now know whether this are people that need to invest time in nurturing the relationship and trying to carry on the trying to see if we can get business from this. So these are ways that you can use questions to figure out what it is that is going on. But The thing is you must never leave a meeting without a next clear step.

So even in this case that you've called the 20,000 to 28,000 and Porsche has said yeah, and PJ has not said anything. You think it might work in this case? You can either propose the next step or you can ask them what would you like us to do next. You might be able to propose and say, OK, In this situation, typically our happiest customers to move forward, what we do is we need a 50% deposit in the amount of so, so, so, and so, so that we can confirm your XYZ

date. That can be the next step. So that's something you can propose. But The thing is we're not going to leave this meeting only to e-mail them something and to here let me get back to you. We're going to propose the next step so that when we leave, the three of us, the four of us will be clear. Me, the party planner and my assistant and then Portia and her husband were very clear that OK, as we have finished this meeting today, this is the next clear step.

So that follow up we're much more straightforward so that when I call PJ, it's not as if I'm harassing him is because look, he was there, his wife was there. This is what we agreed. So you know how far or you can ask them. So Portia, I'm really, really glad that you don't want agreement on blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So what would you like to do next? The most important thing is this. We're trying to get a sense of what the next thing is to do so that we can move the business forward step by step by step.

If Porsche says I'm absolutely excited, I can't wait to start. The first thing I would like to do is I would like to see the I'd like to work on the small shops menu. Then now that you leave that meeting, the next time you call them to follow up, you have something specific that you're following up on. You're calling to say Boss PG. How far now? Remember that last meeting? Porsche said that we'll see next week. We'll see this week.

I will start on the small chops menu. How far are you guys free? See, that's a different conversation than you just calling aimlessly or just calling to say, hey boss, PJI, just seem I agree to you. I've not heard from you guys. That's not how you follow up. So as much as we can watch TV and learn from what's going on on TV, sometimes we'll watch TV and we'll learn things that we absolutely should not do. If you're in a meeting with someone, do not leave that meeting without two things.

OK, that's it. Was it 2 things I can't remember in the bottom line, don't leave that meeting without having a clear sense of this is what we're going to do next. And please do not leave a meeting. And the meeting, the resolution of the meeting was I will send you a proposal. I will send you an e-mail. I will send you no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I will send you a proposal. I will send you a summary. I will send you whatever.

That is not a good way to end the meeting. End the meeting with a very clear step about what it is that we are going to do next. When it comes to traditional sales, we call these advancements. We finish this meeting, we need to have an advancement so that we're moving forward. If we don't have an advancement, what we have is continuation. Continuation just means I'm following up. For the sake of following up, I'm following up.

I'm not quite sure where I'm following up or I'm following up. I know where I'm following up. But the other people, Portia and her husband, they don't know why it is. And me, I'm buzzing them so as not to enter into this ghost mode thing. They're just ignoring me. They also need to know that look, this is the reason why I'm following up. So Bros PJ sister Portia, the reason why I'm calling you today is because last week we agreed that is what we're going to do.

So this week we said we're going to agree on small chops menu. So how far are you guys free? Should I come to the house or should be you guys who come to my studio? Sorry, you guys come to my office. So I was like, anyway, summary, you have a boyfriend, you have a girlfriend. You want to get to know them better watching their TV shows. Nice way to connect. So let's do that. Apart from building wonderful businesses, let's also build super intimate, super cozy relationships and super cozy marriages as well as we're watching, try and keep an eye out.

Learn a couple of things about how to conduct your business. See mistakes that people make. Make sure you never repeat that mistake. This is one of those mistakes. Always leave a meeting with an advancement. An advancement is the next clear step about what it is that we're going to do. If you do not know how to get an advancement, it's very simple. Ask the people, OK, we're in agreement, what would you like to do next?

Or you propose the typical next step and say, OK, for most of my clients, this is typically what we do next. Are you good with that? If they say yes, good, you're making progress. If they say no, then ask OK, what would you like to do next? Then when it comes to the money thing, do not ask somebody what is your budget, Because if you ask budget, most people are going to say I don't know and you can't blame them because they are not the pro, you are the pro.

Give them a range as they're talking in their head, be doing the mathematics. She said OK, she wants more chops. She said there'll be 40 people. Be doing that mathematics in your head. OK, Small shops. From what you have said, the small shops will be like 2000 naira a plate. 50 people 2000 * 50. That's also another reason why I say have a pen and paper ready. So you're writing these things down because it's hard to do this matter math on your head.

If you're there with your assistant, your assistant is the one who should be writing it down. Small shops, 2000 naira per head at 50 people should write it. Do the math. People walking on stilts. You now know that. OK, we have those people. The last time we rented them, we rented them at 10,000 naira per person. She said she wants 4, so 10 * 4 is 40,000. Write it down. She says she also wants a horse there or petting zoo.

The last time you had to rent a horse, you rented the horse at 150,000 naira. Write it down. You're writing all these things down so that at the end of everything, instead of asking them, what's your budget? And then Porsche will say, I don't know, you say, OK, Madam, from all the things we've discussed so far is looking like it can fall anywhere between that kind 5 M and 5.4. What do you think about that? And then you hear what they have to say.

Is this something you're willing to invest in? Is this something that you can raise? How soon you'll be ready to make a deposit, you know, some sort of question to get a commitment. So that is how you try and source out. You try and figure out these people that I'm talking to now, you know, do we have the same money expectations? Are we within the same range? Are they the kind of people I should waste my time following up with?

Or are they the kind of people that I should just drop that? OK, they have, they want the whole world, but they don't have money to back it up. So these are the reasons these are helped. So Real Housewives of Atlanta, is this something I recommend you watch? If your wife is into those things, watch it. But for those of you who are feminists, I really think you guys should lobby to get that show off the air because it only shows the worst of of women.

It's just women, you know, Beijing arguing, being jealous, fighting, backstabbing. And I really, really think that there's more to womanhood than that, especially since I was raised by a single mom. And I know that lots of you women are actually doing your thing. Very difficult circumstances, trying to take care of a home, trying to raise children, trying to build businesses, trying to build careers. So I think that there's a lot that we can do to present the struggles of women in a much more positive light.

So left to me, we should actually ban Real Housewives of Atlanta or make it a different kind of show. But my wife laughs at me and my wife says, look, my husband, it shows that you don't understand entertainment, that if we ban this kind of things, what else will people watch? And in a sense, my life is right. If you make a show about successful business women and how, you know the travails of building the business and all what not, yeah, people won't watch it.

But if you make a show where Portia has gotten pregnant for PJ and PJ is having an affair with other three women on the back, but Portia doesn't know. Her friends are trying to tell her that she's now fighting with everybody and quarreling with everybody. And they squirrel up and down and Katakata and, you know, chaos and everything. Yeah, That's the kind of thing people will watch. But anyway, I've just gone off on the rant.

Look, if you'd love to connect for a strategy session, the business audit, audit or you have a couple of questions you'd like me to answer, then connect. The phone number is 08064662140. Country code is +234. For those of you who are not Nigerian, ask my WhatsApp number as well. Then connect with me on LinkedIn. The name to look for Establishima Agede then OK Also have good stuff on YouTube as well. So thank you very much for your time and attention.

I'll catch you guys in the next episode. Until then, have fun watching TV with your spouse, with your partner. And I hope you learn one or two things about what to do in business and also what not to do when it comes to business.