How to Stand Out in Nigeria: How to be the most trusted business person in your market.

Today I want us to talk about solution selling. The reason why I wanted to talk about solution selling is because there are lots of you who are professional salespeople who sell on behalf of an organization, you sell on behalf of your employer, and you don't have the proper idea about what solution selling means. And two days ago, I was currently helping one of my clients interview candidates for a sales role because he's trying to build up his sales team.

And somebody on the panel, actually two people on the panel said that they do solution selling. But then after asking them what solution selling was, was clear that they don't understand. In fact, one candidate just said solution selling is SAS. And then he kept quiet. And so I said SAS and then he assumed I didn't know what it mean, what the term meant. And so he just said software as a service and then he kept quiet.

So that's the reason why I'm going to make today's podcast just so that if there's if there are other of you who are listening to the podcast right now, you're trying to improve your sales and you think you're doing solution selling just because you're selling SAS, which is software as a service. Let's just say I'm making today's episode just to educate more of you who are out there. What is solution selling? What exactly goes into solution selling?

Why is solution selling good? What is SAS? What is software as a service? And then how can solution selling be used to make you a better person if you are selling SAS software as a service? So for those of you who are my regular listeners and who are not used to me making very technical episodes, I beg, don't be upset for today, but just keep listening because some of the things we're going to talk about will be useful to helping you sell well in your own in your own business.

OK, so let's just get straight to it now, solution selling. So to properly understand solution selling, especially in the Niger context, I want you to imagine something in the good old days. OK, maybe not the good old days, but if you think a couple of generations back, you know, 3456 generations back when people were trying to sell, the focus was always on the product that they're trying to sell. So if somebody was trying to sell Eugene Cheng Okada, the person was focusing on the Okada.

If somebody was trying to sell you a photocopier, the person was focusing on the photocopier. And then for those of us who watch, you know, regular Nigerian TV, this is advert by this guy. Babyface tell you Babyface. Yeah, Babyface Coleman cables, Loma durable. So, so, so, so you know, and then they're singing and that dancing. The focus is on the cable. Buy this cable because this cable is the best, The cable is the strongest, the cable is the longest.

The cable is made in Nigeria. The cable is the cable. See, the focus is on the product. So in Nigeria, lots of times that people are trying to sell, they're focusing on the product. A wedding photographer who is trying to toast the bride will be focusing on the product. My photo is the best, my camera is the best, my this is the best, the brightest, the newest, the fanciest, the longest, the oldest, the newest, the fastest,

the, you know, whatever the focus is on the product. Now that kind of selling is not bad, but ultimately that is all what not what makes you a good salesperson because people are not buying everything, but people are buying a result. So the bride who is talking to a wedding photographer is not buying the fact that you have the newest camera. You can use that to wow her, but ultimately she's buying your services not just because of your camera.

Now people who use Coleman cables, the one that tells you baby faces advertising, if they use it, it's because Coleman cables will help them solve a problem. Not because Coleman cable is the best or because it's the longest or because it's the fastest or because it is Nigeria based. It is homegrown. They're buying it to solve a solution. Now that is exactly what solution selling is. Solution selling just means when we're in front of somebody,

we're trying to figure out what is this person's problem, what is the solution that they're looking for. Then when we find out what the problem is, we can now see this is how my product or service solves your problem. Therefore you should buy. So it's a much more superior way of selling. So if you sell cars and somebody comes to your car lot and you say we have Honda Civic 2028 model tier robber, we have Chrysler, Chrysler so so so and so 2026 model brand new.

We have Mitsubishi Mitsubishi this dot dot dot dot dot 2030 version. See the thing here brand new straight direct from factory. If that is how you're trying to sell, buy this car because it is brand new. It has five seats, it has six seats. It has superior AC. It has satellite GS navigation, automatic brake lock, something you know all those fancy, fancy stuff. If that's what you're doing, you're doing product selling.

It's not bad. It's just that to increase the chances of you getting a sale, you actually need to figure out who this person is, what's come on to the car lot, what the problem is that they're facing. Then you will not be able to recommend the correct car. So somebody comes on to the car lot. You say welcome to so, so, so and so motors. How can I help you today? You keep quiet. The person will say I'm looking for a car, so I no problem.

As you can see, Sir, we have over 2000 cars on this my brand lot. But before I start showing you one or two things, I need to ask you a couple of questions. To know your taste in car or to know your style in car or to know exactly what's going on. Then we'll know how we're going to recommend work. I will show you so size that. OK. The person will say yes, OK, no problem. Then the first question was is OK, Sir, this car they are buying, is it for you or is for Madam?

And you start the conversation that way. The person says, oh, the car is above Madam. In this case, you'll be asking him questions about him. You'll be asking him questions about what Madam likes or the kind of car he would like, you know, for Madam to have. Or if he says no, it's not for me, it's not for Madam, it's for Mumsy. You know the conversation will switch entirely. But you can see that by asking the person now how can I help you today?

Or is the car for you, Abby's for another person. You're already on the right track because if the person comes, you look at the guy up and down, you think the guy is a big boy. You know, like me for instance, because I look fresh and I'm a fine boy. So when people see me, they assume that I'm a big boy. So automatically, you know, they see me, they say big boy, they will be carrying me to show Jeep. Meanwhile, if I'm trying to buy the car for wifey, and of course my wife doesn't like Jeeps because she's kind of on the small side, you will see that I

will stay on the parking lot for 45 minutes. You show me different kinds of cars, I will leave. But honestly speaking, you never had a chance of closing the sale because you had absolutely no idea what I was thinking about. None. You had zero idea what I was thinking about. Solution selling just means let's figure out who this person is. What's the problem that they're facing. Now that I know the problem, how can we use our product or service to give this person a solution?

So the focus is not on my car, the focus is not on what I'm selling. The focus is what is the problem and then you now see can I fix it? If the answer is yes, you will not show the person, say boss, this is how we can fix your problem. You will do 1 like this should go down like that. And if you want 1 like this, you'll use this product. If you want one like that, you will use this product. If you want 1 like this, you will use this service.

If you want one like that, you will use that service. That is solution selling. So Nigerian salespeople who sell software and who work for other people, all of you running around saying that you're doing solution selling just because you sell SAS is no guarantee. It's not a guarantee that you're doing solution selling. Because a lot of you who say you're doing solution selling, what do you actually do? You say buy my company's ERP

because the ER, ERP is, sorry, enterprise resource planning solution. So basically it's a group of I will say now softwares or applications that companies can use to make their businesses run better. So they can buy human resource solutions so that they can, you know, train people, hire people, fire people. They can buy accounting solutions so that they can track expenditure, track profit, track this, track that you know, they can hire, they can use CRM

solutions, that's customer relationship management tools so that they can keep data on their customers, things like that. You know, different kinds of things. They, you know, ERP. So those of you who are selling SAS, for instance, who are trying to sell ERP, you say you're doing solution selling, but I say what you do is you walk up the customer and you say buy from me because I'm the Best Buy from me because I'm the brightest.

Buy from me because I'm the cheapest, buy from me because I'm the fastest, buy from me because that is not solution selling. You're making everything about you and you're making everything about the product. That is not solution selling at all at all at all at all. So to do solution selling when you show up or when somebody show up to your shop, to your websites, to your Instagram DM, to your WhatsApp handle or to whatever, what you're trying to do is you are trying to diagnose.

That's the reason why I say to sell effectively, we have to pretend to be a medical doctor. The first thing you're trying to do is try and diagnose. Is there a problem? What is the problem? Sorry about the noise in the background. I'm making today's recording just outside church because my kids have catechism. So yeah, first we're trying to do is to diagnose. Now there are certain elements that are involved in solution selling.

Number one is discovery. Discovery is when you are asking questions about the problem, you're really trying to figure out what the problem is. I'm sorry, questions about the person or about the problem. So you don't start by saying it. You don't say bye from me because I'm the best. You start with questions because you're trying to understand this person, this person's business environment, this person's personal problems, this person's business goals, their personal goals, you know all this.

You're trying to get to the heart of the issue. So if somebody comes to the car park, it's not just a matter of so I say car park your car lot. It's not just a matter of saying our Bros come here. Let me show you this Toyota 4 Runner 2026 model, correct, straight from the factory from Japan, AC tight. You ask questions first because sometimes a guy comes to the car park. So your car lot, you want to show him Toyota 4 Runner 2026

model straight from Japan. That's what you want to show him. But what if the guy is a BMW boy? Because you know, our butcher boys are like that. You know, that's how much our boys are BMW boys. That's all that makes these best boys. So if somebody comes to your your your car lot, the person is the miss this boy or the person is a BMW boy, but you're showing him Toyota 4 Runner 2026 model because it's brand new because of why?

And you think you're going to sell the car. No solution selling, please solution selling. Who is this person? We start with discovery. What's going on? Is it that their car spoiled? So they want a brand new car No problems. It's a Bros which can't call you the control before that's what you're asking. So if the guy said that normally normally in the move master vehicle, you know Mazda, Mitsubishi, you know that kind of car.

Why are you showing him Toyota? Why are you showing him as this? If normal, normal, the guy they pull messed these beds, you know, but he's here to talk about a car for his wife. You know, she's a baby girl, you know, so she likes all these brand new, soft, soft, soft Honda Civic, you know, sweet, sweet ones, you know, 2025 model, 2026 model. You know all those very clean, clean, cute, cute cars, very cute cars. You know that's the problem that they're trying to solve.

Then why are you showing this guy messed these beds? Why? So discovery, That's what you do. It doesn't matter whether you're an architect or you sell cars or you sell software or you sell whatever. Discovery is step one, somebody slide into your DM Discovery. Somebody enter into your shop, Discovery. You enter inside the person's office. Discovery, the person comes to your office, Discovery. Anyhow, you jam the person.

Discovery, you will meet inside the marketplace for the first time, discovery, You will jam at the PTA meeting. The person says, oh, I'm looking for a fashion designer and you a fashion designer. You don't say, oh, let me show you my catalog. No, first thing is discovery. Who is this person? What are their personal problems? What are their business problems? What are their personal goals? What are their business goals?

What is any K leg? What is any commander they're facing in their life right now? You find that information out first. Then after that, you will now know what it is that you recommend. It is after they can now say check my catalog. Or else you'd be in a situation where you'd be showing somebody picture of skinny jeans like me, for instance. You know, skinny jeans, they rain now, you know, I don't see how skinny jeans is raining amongst guys because that thing is just absurd.

You know, especially guys my size and I'd be wearing skinny jeans like what the hell, Like why? That's not how God designed us. Why should a man be wearing skinny jeans? But anyway, so somebody will say, oh God, come and see design. Do now be showing me skinny jeans. Do I look like a skinny jeans guy to you? Ask me what I like first. What if he's Boo Boo? I like to wear, you know, all these big, big, big something. And by the way, yes, that's why I like to wear loose clothes.

Ask, well, I go to some places, people be showing, showing me a senatorial. Why are you? Why are you showing me senatorial something? Did I tell you I want to look senatorial? You ask a person what it is that they like first, then you now start showing them. These are the things that make it possible for us to close the deal no matter what it is that we do. So if you're a fashion stylist and you're struggling, that's the reason why is because you like senatorial.

So every single man that comes into your shop, you are showing them senatorial and you're trying to collect 500 Q to sew 1 senatorial for them. Meanwhile, the person you're talking to, maybe the guy just likes kaftan, so you should have been sending him Kaftan right from the get. But The thing is, you've made-up your mind. Senatorial is the best. Therefore anybody that enters into your shop. Senator, Senator. Senator.

No, some people like Kaftan, some people like, what's this one called? Is it Guinea? Guinea? Some I can't remember. Anyway, I think the thing looks nice and quite frankly, I like it. I used to wear a lot as a teenager. But The thing is, you know, nowadays I say no, this is what our people say. No, that is old school, you know, it's just that you don't have to be an obedient husband. Now, I can't wear the kind of thing that my wife would like,

you understand? Where was I? So discovery, that's the first thing you do. Now we're trying to identify their problems. All right. Then also the because we're trying to solve a problem for them, essentially what we're going to be talking about over time will just be value, value, value value value value, value. No price value just means the benefits or the results or the whatever that somebody gets from using your own product or service.

So OK, let me use DSTV because somebody asked me one time that we DSTV package. Do you have I called it, the guy said in this economy. Then the person started talking about his own solutions, how he uses Netflix for him and his wife, and I can't remember what else. But you see, at the end of the day, it's not about price, his value. Some people buy DSTV of a certain package because as far as I concerned, the value is worth it.

My wife will watch on this bouquet, but you don't watch on this bouquet. Me, I'll watch on this bouquet value. Another person will say what how much on top DSTV when we can do is just buy data bundle this amount, buy Netflix this amount, buy that, that this amount. And yes, it makes sense. But honestly, the problem that I have with that kind of modular watching Netflix and everything is number one. I have no control over the children are watching and me,

I'm not the kind of person that likes to allow my children just be free on the Internet anyhow, supervised time. I'd like to know what my kids are watching. So the TV is there. All of us are here. You want to watch what put it on the TV. We will watch this thing together. Let me see what my children are watching. So for some other person, DSTV so so so amount waste of money. But for some other people know they're getting value.

But if you're trying to sell home entertainment services or whatever, like you won't know until you start asking people what it is that they value. So sorry, let me check the time. How how much time have we been recording? Oh, 16 minutes. OK, let me try and bring this into a close. Let's not be here for for too long. So solution selling. Yeah. You're not focusing on your product, You're not focusing on your price, you're not focusing on your specs, you're not focusing on your whatever.

The focus will always be. What is the pain point for the customer? What are they suffering or what are they enjoying? What do they want to enjoy or what do they want to stop suffering? That will always be the focus of the conversation and that is how we'll determine what it is that we'll sell. And one of the candidates for the interview, that is where she shown well because she comes from the background where she was selling computer accessories and stuff.

So I told her, OK, no problem, your customer pretend that I enter into your DM and I say give me JBL speakers. And she handled the conversation well. She handled it well. She started off by saying that Olga, we have JBL of different of different cost, different size, we have the JBL. So, so, so down is 90K, we have the JBL, blah blah, blah, blah, blah. Down is about 250K. But Olga before I give you recommendation which one should buy, I need to know yourself.

What are you using this speaker for? What do you even use speaker for? You see where she started the conversation? I say I'm a customer. I started to your DM. I say give me JBL speaker and she started off by saying JBL speaker day. We get the one way, you know, we get the one that is, you know 90,000. We have the one that is 200 and you know 70 something thousand. But before I make a recommendation for you, I need to know who is using the speaker.

Is it you? What do you want to use the speaker for? Bam, very good. By giving a price range in the beginning, you know the way my body language will now know who she's dealing with. If she said 90K and I begin to shake she will now under OK this one is not my customer. But if she say between 90K270K I'm still standing there. She will know the OK there's room. Then she now goes into discovery. Now who they use the speaker?

Is he you? Because sometimes people go into shops not to buy speakers for their teenage sons or their teenage daughters. Or maybe, Madam, say, go and buy me speaker from there. You will now start asking questions. Oh, it is not you. Oh, it's for your children. What do your children do? Oh, your son is a gamer. OK. He likes to hook it up to games. OK, What kind of system does he play? He plays PlayStation something. So they, this JBL will not connect well with PlayStation 4.

The one that will connect well with PlayStation is this particular line. Can you see the focus is now on solving a somebody's problem. From there, you'll be guiding somebody accordingly. You say that Oga, even though you came here looking for JBL based on what you want to do, you want to make your teenage son happy. The guy likes to play game. JBL no, go solve that problem. So a guy we should be looking at this line. You'll see now how or guy will be looking at you or guy will be looking at you as a very specialist, as a very professional somebody that is how in the future if there's any problem, anything speaker related or guy will say, call this babe.

She will sort you out. That is how you get a reputation for being a professional Nigerian salespeople. Those of you who sell for other people, please be letting you know this is how you make yourself stand out as a professional. Excuse me it's not by saying buy my JBL. My JBL is the best is the newest is the fastest from Japan is American use. These ideas are that no solution selling. The focus is not on the product. The focus is on the customer's pain point.

You are a trusted advisor. You are a consultant from today, henceforth, anybody listening to this podcast now tell yourself beat yourself on the chest, tap yourself on the chest. Bam bam bam. Tell yourself I am a consultant, I'm a trusted advisor, I'm a consultant. I am not a peddler. There's nobody who is listening to this podcast now who should be a peddler. You should not be peddling anything. You are a consultant no matter what it is you sell.

Even if you sell bleaching soap, bleaching cream, you are a consultant. Somebody should not come into your shop, slide into your DM and they say buy this carrot soap, buy this purple soap is the best to bring out your true color, your true color. Instead of just saying buy this purple soap, you bring out your true color. Ask the lady first Thank you for coming to chair makers beauty secrets Something something something yes, we have purple soap and different all kinds of brands available.

But before I make a recommendation for you, I beg I need to ask you some questions. So I know that I recommend the correct cream for you because my sister this purple soap is very good. But there are some people that they use this purple soap their skin will just born. They go born. They will do them like acid. The girl say really? You say yes. So I need to know your skin tone. I need to know your skin type. I need to know what you're looking for.

I need to know you know. So if I assist, I hope you don't mind. Let's just do video call now. Let me even see you first and then we'll now do the something. Say hey, I must do video call and assist. I will help if I see your skin. So OK, no problem. Now switch to video call. That is how you sell. You're not a bedler. It's not a matter of buy this purple cream, it is the best. Buy this tomato cream. It is the Best Buy this carrot cream, it is the best.

No, you're a consultant, please now, the reason why this matters is because nowadays char GPT day Google day everything day, Google Gemini day everything. If the person just needs information, we'll just go on the Internet and search. That's it. If somebody sliding to your DMI say, oh, this JBL something something is the greatest is from Japan is something something water exist and blah blah. If it's just on that level, the person will say, OK, thank you.

Let me think about it. They will go on Google Now and start searching JBL speaker, how much JBL speaker price versus specifications. They will start searching. Is it easier now that we have AI tools? The person will just go to Google Gemini and type in how much is a JBL speaker in Nigeria and then from there continue scrolling, scrolling and learning. So that's why this matters today. People can find the information any which way that they want.

People come to us because I have a problem and we're going to help them solve that problem. We're going to give them a solution. So that's the reason why I keep talking a lot about spin selling on this podcast. So excuse me. You have to ask questions to understand the current state. You have to ask questions to get to the pain point. You have to ask questions to figure out the implications or the consequences. Now look, we don't solve this problem by social sound.

So is it a problem, OK, if I'm not able to hit this target, how will you stop you from doing this? Like you need to figure out whether this is a serious problem because people only pay money for serious problems. Anyway, Let us say that. OK, let me just kill it here because I've been talking for too long. Like what I said on top of the episode, SAS just stands for software as a service. So if you're selling software as a service, it doesn't mean necessarily that you're doing,

see you're doing a solution selling. Now for those of you who don't understand, so excuse me, recovering from the gold. So for those of you who don't understand software as a service just means, OK, Now when I saw my first computer when I was about 18, let's say 7/17/18, family friend, Father Francis, a priest, he had this Toshiba, Toshiba, some I can't remember the Toshiba core computer. Then he was going to be posted abroad.

His religious order was sending him abroad for, for further studies, I think for masters or PhD or something like that. And so he was like, oh, they're going to buy me a new computer. And I was like, oh, OK, can I have this? And the guy said yes. And I was happy. So you never know ask you might receive and that's it. So 1718, that's when I saw my first computer. Now back in those days, if we wanted to do anything, you had to go to Ikeja Computer Village on that bridge.

You now go and buy CD. You will now take that CD-ROM, you now put it inside. You don't take that CD, put it inside your CD-ROM in the side of your computer, you just press 1 button to open. You now put the CD inside, press the button, it will close. The thing will now start to run. It will now load up then from that CD, you now download the software and start using. Some of you don't have absolutely no idea what I'm saying.

I understand perfectly. You know, it was, it was a while ago, but go and ask your older brother or go and ask your dad. You know he will tell you that back then in Niger, when we needed to do something, if you wanted to watch him, you'll go to Computer Village, you go and buy the CD. You plug it into your, you put it into CD-ROM and they start watching film. If you wanted to download, if I wanted to use Photoshop and Photoshop, for instance, you take bus, go to computer village on that bridge, Ikeja.

You now go and buy the physical CD and then you now put it there. You'll now discover that the CD of course is pirated because I mean, who sells original software in Niger, at least back in those days? Next, you now start looking for somebody who has the code, the code to to to to what do they call this in again, you find somebody shot that has a code to unlock. Is it unlocking to unlock the software? So there was a time when everything we had to do was physical.

Physical you go and buy physical CD or you want by like my first soft software that I used to learn how to type. It came on a floppy disk. Floppy disk. In fact, some of you, I've never seen it. See if I'm saying all these things, you've never heard of it before, just go and Google it or go and use video YouTube so they can see what these things look like. So that's how you used to be back in the day. So that's how I learned how to type.

I got a program on a floppy disk I plugged into my Toshiba, downloaded the software and that's how I started learning how to type. So that's the old way. The old way was everything was physical, physical. Now, nowadays to use software, what you do is you download the theme straight from the Internet. Essentially it's like you are renting the software, then every single year you'll be paying them license renewal fee or you know, whatever it is.

Shall I be paying them something? So SAS is like Netflix, you hear me? So in the old days, remember I said if you wanted to watch theme, you go to computer Village, you buy physical CD, then you slot it into your DVD player or you put it into your computer, you put into your DVD ROM, you now watch theme. Nowadays you want to watch theme. What you do is you go online, you download Netflix, you pay them, you know, 5K7K monthly or whatever.

You now start watching theme. At the end of the month, you give them another 5K, give them another 5K, give them another 5K. For some products, it is at the end of 365 days. You now pay again, that is software as a service. We're not doing anything physical anymore. We're paying. We're paying monthly fees or paying quarterly fees or annual fees or whatever so that we can use certain things. So SAS just means we're using computers, we're using software to solve our problems.

But now instead of downloading on your computer, it's now cloud based. Cloud based just means it's not stored on your computer, it's stored on the server someplace else. And then it's a subscription model. So that means you're paying a monthly fee on annual fee. If you stop paying, you won't get access to those things. So for those of us that used to fool around and you know, make music or edit photos or things like that.

So back then, if you wanted Adobe Photoshop, you will go to Computer Village in a catcher on that bridge and you ask around. Eventually you find somebody who has Photoshop, you pay you, you pay him, you collect the CD, you go home reloading your system. Good. You now start to edit your software. But now for my kids, what they say is, oh, we want Adobe software, we have to go online, you know, download the thing, you know, pay and then now they have access to the software.

No need to go and start looking for physical or something any sorry for taking a lot of time. But I guess what I wanted to say was this, there are a lot of you Nigerian business, I'm sorry, sales people, you sell on behalf of a company, not half of your employer. You think you're doing solution selling, You're actually not doing solution selling. Yes, you're selling software, but what you're doing actually is product selling because you're telling people buy my software, it is faster than the competitor.

Buy my software, it is cheaper than the competitor. Buy my software, it is, it gives you 5 users. Well, my competitor, my competitors only gives you 3 users. What you're doing is you're pitching a product, you're peddling, you're still doing product selling. You are not doing solution selling. If you are doing solution selling, you will tell the personnel, Oh yes, we have all kinds of software that solves these kinds of problems.

But before I make a recommendation, I need to know exactly what is going on with you, Sir. So you're asking about ARP. What kinds of problems are you facing in your business, Sir? Oh, OK, You're facing this problem. This problem, which one they took you? Which one is really urgent? Which one they cogent? Oh, this one is causing you to lose like 200 million every single year. Hey, Sir, you don't mean it. That's a lot of money.

How did the problem start? OK, like this, OK, Because it's the problem, because it's the problem. By the time you ask all these questions, you can now say, Sir, based on what you have said and based on the fact that we are losing 200 M annual, this is what I recommend. Sir, you go use this software. It will help you like this, like this, like this or option B. You will use this software. You do it like this, like this,

like this. Option C, you will use this software, You do it like this, like this, like this. Option A, that will cost you for you and your people. You say that 50 employees you get happy and no problem problem, just annual subscription that will cost you just, you know, $2000 Option C for all of you that will cost you like $1000. The one that is in between now will cost you $1200. So Sir, based on all these options now option A, option B,

option C, you know which one? Which one are you feeling that is solution selling? So please, because you sell software, no, run around saying you're doing solution selling, You're not. For those of you who don't sell software, I hope you've learned what solution selling is, why it's applicable, how it's applicable to your business, why it's going to be useful. And that's the reason why I tried to use lots of examples today.

So whether you're into fashion, whether you're an architect, whether you're a lawyer, whether you're a wedding photographer, whether you're a consultant, whether you're a doctor, whether you're whatever solution selling, please. But please, if you're listening to this podcast right now, please promise me you will not think of yourself as a peddler. You are a consultant, Please. All right. So tap yourself on the chest.

Tap your chest three times as you're listening. Tap your chest now and then repeat after me. Say I am a consultant. Say it again, I am a consultant. So if you sell pimple removing cream, if you sell bleaching soap, you are not a peddler. It is not soap you're selling. You're selling the solution. Tell yourself I am a consultant. So the first thing you do is if somebody sizes your DM and say, do you have acne removing cream,

you will just say, yes, we have acne removing cream. We have Mary Kay, we have this. We have Kim Kardashian cream. You know, this one costs $2000. This one costs 500 naira, this one costs this. Which one do you want? You say, sure, we have different kinds of acne cream. But Madam, before I make a recommendation, I need to know exactly what's going on with your with your skin. How bad is this acne? If I can, we do video call.

But the times you put on the camera, you look at it, you see that she's not acne. She has eczema you have you tell her. Ah, Madam, no Vexo, this one you have is not acne. It's something that's matter. This one is actually eczema for this one man, there's no amount of cream will solve the problem. But now go and see a doctor. That is how you make yourself stand apart as a professional so that next time the woman needs a plug, she needs bleaching cream,

she needs acne removal, or maybe a matani is drying her skin, she needs moisturizer or something. She will think of you first because every other person that she has tried to talk to that she's leading to their DM, every other person was trying to peddle stuff to her. You are the only one who sounded like a credible professional and who tried to solve a problem. So solution selling please. That's what we should all be doing.

If you want to see how you can apply solution selling to your business, just give me a call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Apart from that, I have a WhatsApp channel that I just started newly. So if you want to be a part of the WhatsApp channel so that regularly you see updates from me, you know, stuff like that, then call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.