Reflecting & Renewing: Client Focus, 2025 Dreams, & A Thank You to You

Hello, and welcome to the show. Today's podcast recording is not going to be a lengthy one. It's just to let you know a couple of things that are going to be coming up over here on the podcast in a couple of days. So my market day trip is coming to a close and, you know, we all have to go back home because work is going to resume pretty soon and we're going to be heading into 2025. So yeah, get back wifey, Get ready for work, kids, get ready for school.

And but still in a few days, I'm going to share with you one more case study that we did because I think in this holiday period, I think I've shared 3 case studies on my interactions with businesses back here Makudi. So there's going to be one more and we're going to look at how qualification can help you close more deals. Qualification is just the part in the sales conversation. Sorry. One moment. Sorry about that. Yeah, I got toothpick stuck in my teeth.

You know how it is now you just meet, meet, meet, meet, meet all day. So I have to keep the teeth clean. Yeah. So qualification, how Qualification can help you close more deals. Now, qualification is just that part in the sales conversation or the business relationship where you're trying to figure out what problems does this person have? Can I even solve these problems? What are the alternative ways of solving these problems?

How bad? How bad is the problem? Because sometimes some people think they have a problem, but it's not the kind of problem that is worth spending money on. Now, qualification is that stage of the conversation where you handle all these things, because the way you handle qualification is going to determine the kind of proposal that you can give. If you do your qualification process real well and you have a firm understanding of what the problem is, that's all.

Determine what you can prescribe. So it's like when you show up to the doctor. Oh, yeah, let me give you the example that I gave a while ago. So you show up to the doctor and you say, oh, my leg is paining me. Now. For you, you might think your leg is paining you just take a paracetamol. But depending on the questions that the doctor asks you, we might be able to figure out if the problem is that your left leg is paining you because you have a cardiovascular issue or maybe you have a brain issue.

Now, of course, this is rather outlandish scenario but I'm just trying to show you how sometimes people think they have one problem but you are the business specialist, you're the one that is a specialist. By the time you ask a couple of questions, you know what problem it is that you can solve. It's like in Abuja, before we took off, one of wifey's friends saw something that she liked and she took it to 1 tailor and the tailor said Madam, I'm not sure if I can sew this thing.

She took it to another tailor and the tailor said, Madam, there's no way we can sew this thing. I took it to another tailor and the tailor said, Madam, there's no way this thing can be sown because this thing is AI generated. And when you generate AI, it can look wonderful and it can look, you know, whatever. But Madam, there's no practical way that sitting down we can show this thing. So your consumer, your customer,

your clientele, they might want this sort of thing, but you are the specialist and you're the one who'll be able to look at it and know that there's no way, given the technology that we have now that we can solve this problem or we can achieve this so we can achieve that. So that is the reason why qualification is important. What problem do they have? What problem are they trying to solve? What vision are they trying to work towards?

What are the possible ways of getting towards it? And of course, this now determines the kind of presentations or the kind of proposals that you're going to make. So qualification is a very important part of the sales process. And it's not something that people in this part of the world in Nigeria, BU, Makudi or Lagos or I don't know which town is in the east, one more here or whatever. It's just something that we just don't do.

So we're going to have a podcast episode in a couple of days where I overheard a, a businesswoman also Abuja based, who also happened to be back home in Macro Day as well. She was conducting some business over the phone. And I just thought, man, this is a perfect example. I wish I could record this thing and then put it on the podcast so that you guys can hear because I keep talking to you guys about how good sales skills are necessary to move the business forward.

And sometimes some people are doing good sales skills, they just don't know how they're doing it or why it is important. And this is one of those cases, I just think that when the lady learnt the business, because she's in the industrial cleaning space, I think the person who trained her, trained her well, not just in the business of this is how you do industrial cleanup, clean the floor like this, use alkaline here, use acid here.

This is how you get rid of cement. But the person also told them, this is taught her, this is how you have conversations with the customer. This is how you cost the job, this is how you book appointments, all these sorts of things. So we'll talk about it in a couple of days. So that is one of the case studies that we can look forward to with our time in Makudi. And I'm hoping that you guys can also see that even when we take holidays and we take time off.

So you're going back to pH to be with your family or going back to Borneo to be with your family. I mean, there's business going on all around you. So there's always an Ave. to learn from other people's experiences, whether you know them personally or whether you just happen to be chilling and you're overhearing your conversation. You can hear ways about how you can move your business forward and tips and tricks that you can apply to your business.

So even though we take holidays, you know, always keep an open ear. Yeah, be present with your family, but just keep an open ear because you might learn a couple of things. So that's one thing that we're going to look forward to in a couple of days. Then I'm also going to do my first book review over here on the podcast, and that's going to be by Jeremy Horowitz. I hope I'm pronouncing it correctly. Jeremy Horowitz And that's How to Sell Like a Spy.

The title is long, but let me just say the full thing. How to Sell Like a spy, The art of persuasion from the world of espionage. And the book was written August 27th, 2024. So it's a brand new book. One of my juniors who is a practicing lawyer right now did a review of the book and I figured, let me just hop online and look at the book and see what wonderful ideas that we can we can discuss over here on the podcast. So I'm going to be doing my first book review.

Sorry about the noise in the background, you know, still at home, kids here, you know, so it's a full house, cousins, everybody. So this is the best place I can find to record, but you still hear the kids in the background. So that's going to be my first book review. Now the main thesis of the what this guy is trying to say in the book is this the guy is trying to say that there are some things that intelligence operatives do, you know, spies,

you know, James Bond, you know, all those people know there's some things that they do that also apply when it comes to sales and business relationships and client relationships. Information gathering. When you're a James Bond, you need to gather information. Although for James Bond, you know, gathering information always means sleeping with beautiful women. But unfortunately we don't have that luxury in real life. So but we have to do information gathering then understanding human behaviour.

So whether you're a James Bond or you are a, let me see who else I don't know. It's only James Bond I can think of at the moment. So whether you're James Bond or whether you're a real life spy, you need to understand human behavior. It's also something that we have to do when it comes to sales and client relationship and then building rapport. If you're James Bond, James Bond obviously has to build rapport so that he can get to the bad guy and then kill the guy and then save the day.

Real life spies also need to build rapport. So if you work as part of the diplomatic corps, if you're part of the diplomatic corps in Nigeria and maybe you've been attached to Washington DC or whatever, you'd have to be very good at building rapport with politicians over there in America. So whether you're attached to Washington DC or whether they hook you up in Mexico or whether they send you to, let me see, Libya. So if you're a diplomat in Libya, it's all the same.

You're trying to build rapport, trying to know who's who, what the politicians I need to know on ground to protect Nigerian interests, to build bilateral relationships and all these sorts of things. So what this guy is saying, Jeremy Hirowitz, how to sell like a spy, he's just trying to say that these core skills, gathering information, understanding human behaviour and building rapport apply both for diplomats and spies, also applies to sales and client relationships and business people.

So that is going to be something that we're going to explore as well. Then one more thing that we're going to explore, particularly in the new year, because I told you guys about how one of my consulting clients scored a really big development project. And one of the students in particular, who's an employee of the company, reached out to me to tell me about his role in securing the deal. So excuse me. So excuse me eating too much.

So I'm just full of gas. Where was I? Yeah, so I'm going to use that as an example to, I'm not just going to talk about how, you know, my, the ideas that we explored with the company, the name of the company is Crimson Energy. They're in the alternative energy space. So solar panels, inverters, batteries, power as a service, what's it called? Mini grids, you know, where you powerful communities, all these sorts of things.

So I'm not just going to be discussing general ideas, what we talked about in training sessions, but I'm going to talk about some small testimony about how this guy who's a member of the team, how he learnt certain things that he thought was instrumental and pivotal to him closing XYZ number of deals after I've stopped working with them. So that should give you a sense of what it is that is possible. When you call in people to come and talk to your, to your team,

to your employees, we'll let you know, give you a sense of what kind of multiples are possible. And then it'll also set the right kind of expectations because it's something I keep saying time and time again, but some people don't understand that unfortunately. Sales training, you know, it's not like mathematics. It's not like 1 + 1 = 2. You know, sometimes it takes a while and there's a ramp up period. So we need to have realistic expectations because for me,

when I come into your organization or if I'm working with you in particular, what I'm trying to effect is behaviour change. I'm trying to get you to stop doing some bad stuff and to start doing some good stuff. And of course, if you're already doing some good stuff, my goal is to get you to even double down more on the good stuff that you've been doing. Like let's say prospecting, reaching out to people every day. If before you've been reaching out only reaching out to only one person every day and your business is good, then by getting you to reach out to two people every day or maybe even three if you can handle it.

You know, those are ways that we can start seeing growth in the business. So #1 when I come in, not just me, any sales trainer or coach who is worth his salt will be looking at behavior change. Now there's some people who like to show up and just, you know, collect your money, you know, hundreds of thousands of naira and just talk for one hour and then leave. There's some people who do that and to be honest, I don't blame them because it's easier to do that, to just show up one day,

collect hundreds of thousands and then just leave. And the rest is, look, you're on your own. But I prefer to see behaviour change and to midwife behaviour change because it really tickles my belly and makes me happy when people hit me up four, 5-6 months later on to say, hey bro, how are you doing now? Nothing you talked about, I tried it, this is what happened. Because of that, this deal that we're looking at that was supposed to be 800 K by the time I did like this, I did like this, we're able to collect 1.3.

You know, that kind of thing makes me very, very happy. So we're going to be exploring one of those case studies in 2025, then also in 2025 to look forward to. Looks like one of my ideas is finally going to be on the air. Looks like my radio show is finally going to get on the air. But I'll keep you guys posted on that, let you know the radio station also so that if you want to talk to me live, for those of you who are in Abuja anyway, you can call up when I'm on the air and then we can discuss live and direct.

I'm really looking forward to that because I always look for avenues to show people how. Well, First off, to give a sense that every single business problem has a solution. There are some personal problems that don't have solution, you know, unfortunately, and there are some things that are life and death, you know, no one, there's no solution. But when it comes to business, every single business problem has a solution.

Especially for those of us who are in the SME space, small and medium scale, micro scale, nano scale, there is no business problem that doesn't have a solution. So I'm looking forward to talking with people live, whether it's you or not, but talking to people live and figuring out problems on the spot and giving people hope to show them that you can solve this problem. It might be difficult, but by considering one or two ideas,

looking at one or two resources, by thinking hard on a couple of things, we can figure out the way to move things forward. So when the radio show gets on air, I'll let you guys know. If the TV thing clicks and I end up on TV, I'll also let you guys know as well. Unfortunately, the media partners that I'm talking to at the moment, you know, they have other priorities, you know, heading into the end of the year, reviewing accounts, what else?

Reviewing strategy, you know, all kinds of things. So the TV thing, yeah, maybe not, but radio, looks like that one is going to pop off in January of 2025. And I'll keep you guys posted. So that's it pretty much. These are just some of the ideas to look forward to in the next couple of days. I should be heading back to Abuja either tomorrow or the day after. So if you don't hear from me for another one or two days, it's,

you know, because of that, you know, seeing relatives saying bye bye, travelling back to get with the farm. Let me see what else stuff like that. But anyway, we have lots of good stuff that we're going to start off 2025 with. And I want to say thank you to those of you who've been listening to me, especially from the beginning because I started this before COVID was the thing. I think it was like towards the end of Good luck Jonathan's era and I started this.

So for those of you who've been with me, you know, like this, this is like what now five years, five years. Thank you very much for listening. I really, really, really appreciate the support and I'm hoping that as a rounding up 2023 and heading into 2024, my biggest goal or desire is to keep on providing value to you guys over here. And as I provide value to you, expand your worldview of what's possible when it comes to sales and business development.

Please share this resource with other people who you think might be able to learn from it as well because I'm helping you guys grow your business and you guys are paying me absolutely nothing. That's the only way you can pay me. Just by spreading the gospel and saying that, hey, this podcast is the bomb, giving it to people and sharing the link. Speaking of sharing the link, let me shout out to Milky. Mikey left a comment on Spotify and he said that my podcast episodes are always on point.

Thank you very much Mikey for your comments. Please share the podcast with other people so that they can derive some goodness from this always on point Ness of the show. So that's it. If you'd love to connect and explore opportunities with me. The phone number to call or SMS is 08064662140. The country code is +234. For those of you who are not Nigerian, that's the WhatsApp number. Then connect with me on LinkedIn. That's the only socials that I

have at the moment. And the name to look for is Tave Shima Ayede. Thank you very much for your time and attention. This is the OK, this is 29th as a recording. This is the 29th of December, so 30 days are September, April, June and November. All the rest are 31. OK, so December has 31 days, so 293031. OK. So we'll be rounding up this year in another two days. Looking forward to spending much more time with you guys. And please, the reason why I

dropped my phone number is because I really like hearing from you guys, really love meeting you guys. Whether we end up doing business together or not, whether you become a client or not, it's always nice to meet you guys. Know what you guys are working about. Sorry, working on. And then that helps to determine the flow of the podcast and the things that we talk about in the coming weeks, months and years. So thanks for your time and attention.

I'll catch you guys at the next episode. And I hope you guys are getting ready to wind up the year in a blast and starting off 2025 on a hopeful note. So I'll catch you guys at the next episode.