Quick, Quick, Quick: The Competitive Advantage of Recency in Nigerian Sales

Today on the podcast, we're going to continue with a listener question. And today's question is how to follow up with a contact. I repeat today's question, how to follow up with a contact. And I know we tackled something similar yesterday. I think in the real estate space, I think that was from Lucia in Abuja. But today we're going to be Abdul from China. He's based in China and he sells trucks. I believe. I've already spoken about his business in the past and even though I've tackled some questions from him, I'm not sure I've tackled this one.

So let me just go ahead and do this real quick. Even if I have tackled it before, don't worry, there's going to be some different perspectives so you will learn something new. So how to follow up with a contact? And in this case we are no longer talking about real estate, we are talking about truck sales. So tractor heads, trucks, tractor beds, you know those sorts of things. You know people who are selling big, big things, making big, big money.

Because the smallest amounts that any of these people are collecting is you know, 20M30M big, big money. These are the people that would like to hang out with. So if you like you know, thinking about these sorts of issues, how do we make money? How do we collecting 2020M5050M100100M from people? Then this is the podcast for you. So subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple or any player of your choice. And if you'd like to connect with me, you can call send me a text message via WhatsApp message on 08064662140.

Just like Abdul did and just like Lucia did. And yeah, let's see what we can make happen. Oh, by the way, my name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm the host of the show. Forgive me, I have a cold, just recovering. So like I said, now the question for today, how to follow up with a contact. Now some things to note for those of you who listened to yesterday's podcast, you already know that I've stressed the difference between follow up and follow through.

So actually, his question should have been phrased follow through, but you don't let that one pass, you know, because he's a listener, a new listener, only started listening to the podcast not long ago. And then it's going to take a while for we Niger people to stop saying follow up and they say follow through. However, the difference is not just semantical. It's not just words for word's sake. When you're following up, excuse me, even you can't testify it yourself.

Is it really pointless? You're just calling, no answer. You call for the sake of calling and then you call again. Maybe the guy picks and then you guys talk, but then the deal is not closing and then you're calling again. So that is what Neil Rackham in spin selling. I think I made reference to that book in yesterday's podcast episode. That is what Neil Rackham calls continuations. You're calling, you're talking, you know, as if you're friends,

but you know, you're OK, you're pleasant, but this deal is not going forward. So you have 20 conversations with somebody. You know your wife is asking you how far because you know now if 20 million lands inside the house account is a good thing though. So your wife is asking how far? But in all honesty, yeah, all honesty, you've had 20 conversations with the person but you don't know whether you're making progress or you're stagnant.

Now following through on the other hand is when is more focused is when you're talking to someone. Both of you agree this is the next step so that when you call, you're calling to say bro, how far? Now we agreed that the next stages, you and me was supposed to go to Umua here and go and do side visit. So how far are we travelling or not? When are we moving? Is he 8 or is he 10? That is follow through. Now follow through.

On the other hand, when you're able to achieve a concrete follow through call, everybody's happy. Your wife will be happy because even though 20 million has not entered the house account, she can see that there's light at the end of the tunnel that one day the 20 M we do bring him inside the account. So that's the difference between follow up and follow through. Follow up is pointless. That's the reason why you're frustrated.

That's the reason why Abdul is asking this question. That's the reason why Jackson asked me that question. The real estate professional who called on the radio show, and that's also the reason why Lucia asked me this question, because we're all frustrated. It was the call for the sake of calling. Are we going forward? We don't know. Are we going backward? You don't know. You check your call list. Last week you called the person 6 times.

This week you've already called the person 7 times. Where are we going? We don't know. That's follow up. Follow through is focused. At the last call, we agreed this is the next step. The reason why I'm calling you now is to pursue this next step. If you don't answer, excuse me. Sorry, Excuse me. So if a person doesn't answer, I will now drop a text message and the flow of the text message will be simple, You know? Mr. Chukudi, what's up?

Try calling number Busy. We agreed that we're supposed to move on Wednesday. So how far are we still good to go? That kind of thing. Besajukudu will respond. OK, well, we can't force anybody to respond, but Besajukudu will be likely to respond to that kind of thing. Ah, Bros. No Vex. Forgive me. My daughter is getting married. I totally forgot. I beg give me like 2 weeks. Let me arrange myself. So that kind of thing, it doesn't mean you will get the deal but you can see at least the next step forward.

You can see you now know that you're going to enter into your CRM or enter into your calendar that OK bro Chukudi, Mazi Chukudi daughter is getting married. He asked for two weeks. You now schedule that. You call him back in three weeks time. You know what the next step is? Mazi Chukudi knows what the next step is. That is what we call advancements. So Nigerians, let us stop playing this follow up game. You're frustrating yourself and you are annoying that person.

In fact, the other person, after a while, the person feeling I'll block you straight, three weeks, you're buzzing somebody, the person is not answering. What do you think? At some point the person will block you. Now when the person blocks you, it's even worse for you because now your number will now be registering on Truecaller and what else? You know all the telephone networks, you know, as if you're as if you're spam.

That's the thing that leads to the situation where you call somebody and then they say 7 people reported you as ma'am. Look, this thing happens. It's live. I know you should say it as a joke before on the podcast, but I've seen it happen. This year I was working with someone in the solar space. Person was brand new. After one month of calling, he decided to call his younger sister. This is a Saha. What's happening to say was and what do you mean they said the number you're calling from it says seven people have reported as spam.

That is what happens. So let's stop playing this follow up game. Let us make sure we're securing advancements. People, either people who answer are more likely to answer us. Even if they want to ignore us, at the very least they won't mark us as spam. They won't do blocking. So that's first thing for Abdul. No follow up. In this podcasting family, we only follow through. All things I've agreed of before. Agreed about before.

Now let's look at some best practices when it comes to follow up or follow through to keep things simple. You know what, let me never say follow up at all. So let's look at best practices for following through #1 speed to lead, Speed to lead. Yeah. What this means is how will I put it all? I put this thing now. OK boys, while listening, remember how when we're in secondary school, you see a girl that you like a boss a day and then your friend Cooley also likes a boss a day.

You know the competition is on at the end of the day, you know is who's going to make a first impression. It's a competition. So Cooley normally is your friend, but our boss a day is a correct babe, and you won't have to be your babe. That's what speed to lead means. Quick, quick, quick, quick, quick. The first man wins. That is what speed the lead means. When we have a contact, we're trying to see who is the fastest person to reach out and initiate contact with that person.

The same in relationships, also the same in business. What did they say? The oh, they say the patient dog is the fattest bone. That's not true. It's a lie. You have to be a sharp dog, whether in romance or whether in business, you have to be sharp quick. Now, since I'm not a relationship coach, I can't tell you why it works in relationships, but This is why it works in business. There's a dynamic that is called peak interest.

Peak interest just means whenever people are thinking about something, you know, there's a time when the desire is high. After a while, the desire just cools off. So remember last episode I was talking about how I've been looking at this beast, Tesla Cybertruck beast of a car 200 M between 175,000,000 and 200 million. That's the that's the cost. So right now that thing is shaking me is in my blood now peak interest is high now.

But first, I don't have money, but just assume that you know, I had money and maybe there are two or three dealers in Abuja that have Tesla cyber truck, the person that is on the case on the ball. Quick, quick. Is the person who is most likely to close the deal because of this dynamic of peak interest because now body day hot body is hot cyber truck that's not want to drive all of you be driving Toyota and they are just pull up in a futuristic looking car.

AC tight tinted as hell. You can't see my face electric very quiet zero to 100 in like 2 seconds. You can't catch me on the road. Once I press the throttle you won't hear anything. I just pressed the couch. Just do I'll just be driving like that. You see me moving like hot butter slicing through a knife as if I'm just flying you now being your Toyota looking at me be saying ha God when that's what we call peak interest body they hot now now now, now now the person is interested.

That is what peak interest means. Now unfortunately peak interest it goes down over time. So let's assume now that I have cash 200 M and I'm ready to buy this car. But then let's say my younger daughter is about to get married and then my wife says, look, babe, instead of wasting 200 M on this car, let's focus on our daughter's wedding. And I say, my dear, you know what? You actually are correct. You know, it makes sense.

You can see now that from peak interest, the desire is beginning to go down. The desire is waning. This is what happens in business context. This peak interest over time it goes down if you respond. Quick, quick. You stand the chance of catching the person and keeping the priority on course and closing the deal. So if I have 200 M lying around now and there are five dealers of Teslas in Abuja, 2 of them are responding quick, quick and they're on my case, they stand a higher chance of keeping this a priority.

And then for my daughter's wedding, the 200 million I need, I'll say, you know what? I'll find it another way. By the way, I don't have 200 million, so none of you should come out and ask me for money. If I have 200 them, I'll be making this podcast. So where was I? So that is one of the dynamics when it comes to speed to lead. So I never checked the time. Yeah. Because I have to be out of here soon. Where was I? So that's one of the best practices when it comes to follow up speed to lead.

Quick, quick, quick. One of the dynamics is peak interest. Peak interest goes down over time. Now, another reason why it's a good idea to call people sharp, sharp is because when people reach out to you online or send you Adm or they come to the shop, you know the interaction is still fresh in their mind and it makes it easy for you to carry on the conversation. Picture this back to the Tesla something the person who calls me, let's say in one hour, let's say I go to one shop.

I look at the Tesla, I sit inside, I Rev it and I say I don't like you quiet and I put it on noise more directly. Boom, boom, boom. I say, you know, I feel in the car and then I say I want to buy. Where's your gas or guys not around. I say, what's the price? You know, we talk blah, blah blah. And I say, OK, you know what, I'll come back. I just leave. Now, of course, if the salesperson is shop, they'll collect my phone number and keep so that when our guy comes back,

they'll say, ah, OK. There was one guy that came, fine boy, skin looking smooth, Potbelly, you know, guy looks large, looks as if the guy has money. OK, let's call this guy. I think this guy's ready to buy. So if the dealer now calls me and says hello, my name is Conley, He just left the Coley automobile and I'll be saying Coley, Coley, Coley. Yeah, 5 minutes ago you just came to try the Tesla say, Oh yes, I heard that Tesla shopping would say to Abby.

So yes, yes, Sir. You see how that conversation goes? Because he called me within like 5 minutes and let's pretend he calls back in two months. Say hello, this is Kole. Kole who Kole Automobiles based in Abuja, based anywhere. I've never had that company before. You came and tried out the Tesla. Is it me? I tried out Tesla. Yes Sir, you did. And I said oh OK. Well you know, a few months ago I tried out some Teslas, but I

think I tried it like four or five, I can't really remember which one. Which of those companies are you? Can you see that the conversation is starting off on a not too good note? So that's also another reason why I speed the lead. It's important. Sharp, sharp. The memory is still there. You can pick up the conversation on a very good note and say, hey, this is so, so and so You came by my store. You went by my website 2 days ago concerning blah, blah, blah.

Do you remember? Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes, I do. So concerning this that that that we have a meeting. Can I come over to your shop? Would you like to look at samples, the conversation with your flow because speed to lead. Quick, quick, quick. Then speed lead, it also gives you a competitive advantage. You know, because of all these dynamics, the person who calls 5 minutes, remember the Tesla example, and then the person who calls two months, who do you think has the advantage?

The guy that called 5 minutes, The guy is still fresh, fresh in mind. The one that called after two months. I mean, you guys reason it now. So there's also another reason why when it comes to following through. Quick, quick, quick. Speed to lead is giving you a competitive advantage. This is dynamic. That is called recency as in the one that happened recently, you remember. So for those of you who have boyfriend and girlfriend or wife, if I ask you was the query you had with your wife last week, you can remember.

Was the query you had with your wife two years ago, you have absolutely no idea because now I don't pass. But the recent one, you remember the slap I give you today, you remember it. The slap that I gave you six months ago, you won't remember. It is one of those things accepted one I gave you 6 months ago as a destiny changing slap. Yeah. Then you remember that one. By the way, on this podcast, we don't slap anybody. We're all gentlemen here.

So it gives you a competitive advantage when you do speed to lead because of recency. And The funny thing is for people who respond quick, quick, especially since we're in Nigeria, people who respond quick, they just say, ah, this guy, they're responsive, they're reliable, they are professional. So, especially in the Nigerian context, I beg. Quick, quick. Quick, people will think you are professional. Now some of you want to quarrel.

I'm ready for you. For those of you who disagree, let's look at some statistics and then I will stop here because I really got to leave. My wife will call me now because, yeah, I was supposed to go somewhere in the West, you know, North America, UK, you know, different people. But this is just some averages. Anyway, verify this information by yourself. So these are the stats in the West. They say that people who respond within 5 minutes are 21% more likely to make the final cut.

I repeat, if you call within 5 minutes, you're 21% more likely to make the final cut. This is what it means, especially in Niger. Anybody who calls you is talking to two or three people. If I'm ready to buy Tesla Cybertruck, I can assure you I'm not just going to go and buy the first Cybertruck that I see. How am I mad? I will contact two or three dealers, maybe even four or five and be doing my research and be playing them off against each other by the end of the day.

When the time now comes for me to transfer that 200 M, you know, I'll have a court. I'll, you know, there'll be like 2-2 people that I'll be looking at like, you know, these are the top contenders. So to enter that top contender list is usually people who call within the 1st 5 minutes. For those of you who still want to quarrel, well, you can go ahead and quarrel, but you know, that's, that's at your own peril. We're talking about human behavior here.

Unfortunately, this is just how it works. Back to that example that I gave in the beginning, you like Abbasidi. Kelly likes a boss a day whether you like it or not. If you sleep on it and Kelly moves 1st and Kelly is more persistent, they will invite you for their wedding and you'll be crying and you'll be saying but I'm a better guy than Kelly. How will a boss a day know? She didn't know that Kelly is the one that expressed interest.

He's the one that moved quickly. He's the one that stayed on the case. He will marry her. Do we even call you to come and do godfather for one of the children inside you? You'll be crying, you'll be saying hi, this could have been my kids. Excuse me. All right, so another statistic. Remember, please verify these statistics. Don't just take it because you know I said it as gospel truth. And also remember that these are statistics in the West.

Unfortunately, in Niger, we don't keep statistics on anything. So up to 78% of people buy from this first responder. So this is what it means. So let's say there are 100 of us in Abuja right now, the half 200 M are ready to buy Cybertruck. The truth of the matter is this, 78% of us who end up buying that Cybertruck will buy from the first person who responds. So if there are five dealers in Abuja, dealer ABCD but dealer A

IS. Quick, quick, quick. The guy they move sharp sharp, 78% of these deals are going to him. I don't have to be a prophet to tell you, that's just how it works. But if delay A is sleeping and delay E is the one who wouldn't move quick, quick, quick, sharp, sharp, sharp, 78% of those deals will go to him. So this is the difference that speed to lead makes. So if you will please stop sleeping, stop sleeping. If a contact comes within your purview today, within your sight today, please be on the ball move.

If you're a car dealer, you come back. Your second said while you are away, 10 people came. You say I'm coming at the comp, go and buy fufu for me. Let me eat first. Don't eat that fufu. Let them buy the fufu and put it in the microwave. What you do is first of all, you tell your second that thank you very much, you're a very good sales associate and God bless you. Then you collect those numbers. You start calling those people back immediately as soon as you get in, after you've made those calls, you cannot wash your hand, IE fufu.

So that's it. Like I said, I have to run because my wife and I have to go somewhere. So I will try and make a follow up episode later on in the day because there's still other things that we need to talk about for Abdul's question on how best to follow up or follow through with a contact. So if you've been having fun, you like these sorts of things, you like these sorts of issues, Remember, subscribe, Spotify, YouTube, Apple, I'm your host,

Tavishy Mahagiri. To get in touch with me, call, send me a text message via WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Let me and my wife go and do our pearls. When we get back, I'll see if I can record one more episode today. Excuse me, so that we can finish answering Abdul's question. And hopefully no matter what it is that you sell, whether you sell Teslas or you sell truck heads or you sell real estate or you sell Ankara or you're waiting photographer or you do video or you're an export,

hopefully you learn one or two things to move your business forward. So thanks for listening. I'll catch you guys soon.