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Hello and welcome to the show. Today is going to be a noisy episode because I'm out and about, although it looks like a relatively quiet place, you know where I'm parked, but you never know, somebody might just walk by or drive by. So today we're going to look at effective prospecting. We're not going to cover all that today because I figured it's about time I did one of those longer narratives where I take one case study and, you know, I use one case study and then use it to just flesh out a couple of ideas.
OK, I think I've already done one. I think the last one I did was in December. I can't remember what it was about exactly. But now what I'm going to do is we're going to look at how you can prospect effectively. And if you're new to the show, prospecting just means looking for people who might be interested in your product or your service. And it is the first step to making sure that you get better at sales and you improve your your business revenue.
Now, of course, there's one more thing. OK, well, it's still part of prospecting anyway. That is where you figure out your ICP. That is your ideal customer profile because you know, it's all part of the same search. If you're going to go out and look for people who might be interested in your product or your service, then tied into that question is we're trying to figure out who the right customer is, excuse me, who the right person is in the 1st place.
So over the next couple of days, hopefully we're going to learn how to identify potential customers. We're going to learn how to qualify potential customers. What that means is we're going to learn how to start conversations with them. You know, conversations from hello up until you know, they transfer the money into your account. We're going to learn how to build target lists. We're going to learn how to prioritize leads because that's also something people don't do very well.
And remember, a lead is someone who has raised their hands to say they might be interested in your product or service. So back to that age-old example that I give over here on the podcast of somebody who was handing out Flyers outside my son's schools. So if he handed out 200 Flyers and out of the 200, let's say 50 people responded. And out of the 50 people, let's say 30 people sent DMS on Instagram. And let's say 10 called in.
And let's say the final ten went into the shop. So those 50 people, those are leads because they have done something that shows that they might be interested in the product or the service. Because 30 people sent Instagram DMS to say, hey, oh boy, how far do you have mathematics textbook level 5. And a couple of other people might have sent another DM saying, oh boy, how far I saw your, I saw your Flyers. Do you have a SpongeBob SquarePants school bag or you know, whatever.
Sure. So those are leads now because 50 people hit you up from the campaign that you did doesn't mean all of them are equal. We have to learn how to prioritize them. And in fact, all things being equal, I would assume that the person who drove into your store should be given higher priority than the others. So it's not as if you want to attend to everybody, you will. But if I'm pinging back and forth with you over the DMS and then somebody walks into the store, you know, I would recommend that you prioritize the person who walked into the store.
Now, of course, you can just drop a small message. What do they do nowadays? BRB and be right back. So you just do a BRBI turn to this guy sharply, you know, collect your money and then go back to the DMS. So these are the sorts of things that we're going to try and learn over the next couple of days. How do we prospect effectively? How do we look for people who might be interested in our product or service? How do I identify the right people that we're supposed to chase after when we found those people, how do we start conversations with them?
How do we build up target lists so that we stay on point? Because if you're trying to prospect and running everything from your, your mind, from your head, you'll forget. You're better off taking your daughter and writing it down 12345678 and write down 8 names. Or you know, getting your phone and type it out 12345678 or however it is you want to do it. Even if you're going to be doing Google Calendar and then you put two names on Monday, 2 names on Wednesday, 2 names on Thursday,
2 names on Friday. However, sure, you're better off running this thing from a list that you've written rather than trying to run it from memory. And then of course, privatize leads. So those are the things that we're going to do. Now, if you'd love to connect with me, the phone number is 08064662140. The country code is +234. If you are not Nigerian and then connect with me on LinkedIn as well, the name to look for establishment IED.
You'll also find me on YouTube. So these episodes are going to be up there as well. Now, I'm going to be using a new case study this time because I've used all kinds of case studies in the past. I've used crayfish, I've used wedding photographers, I've done architect, I've done engineer, I've done Carpenter, I've done what else? I think I've even done swimming coach. But today we're going to use the case that we're going to use is a young female lawyer.
I figured, let me go a bit more highbrow, you know, because I've done services, but I want to do services, services, services as a very high kind of service. So the case study we're going to use for all of this is we're going to use a young female Nigerian lawyer who wants to start up a practice for securities compliance. Now securities compliance just means she's just trying to make sure that for companies who want to sell their shares on the stock market or who want to list their shares on the stock market or who want to bring new kinds of investment products into the Nigerian market, you know, to sell to Nigerian people.
He just wants to make sure that all these people are dealing with all the regulations that they need to comply with so that they don't run into trouble and also so that they don't package rubbish products and then end up defrauding Nigerians like the Wonder Banks. Maybe like five years ago there was his bank, I can't remember what the bank was called. So I'm not really a bank per say, what people just called it the Wonder Bank.
And what they were doing was, I think what they were saying was I think like you would drop maybe like 50K and then after like 10 days you can withdraw 100K or something like that. And you know, people are just piling in and turn out to be just a Ponzi scheme. So young female lawyers who are in the compliance space, they're pretty much just there to make sure that all these kinds of things, you know, don't happen. So if you're coming out with a new investment product, they want to make sure, oh, good thing I warned you guys.
Looks like somebody's here and driving out. So if they if they put together investment products just to make sure that the investment products are above board. And if they're trying to do something unknowingly, because sometimes people come up with business ideas and you don't realize that your business idea is illegal. So if you're one of these people who's thinking of setting up one of these wonder bank things, a compliance lawyer like this young female lawyer, that's our job to say, OK, I know you think it's a good business idea.
But actually under section, this is this of section that, that, that what you're trying to do is absolutely wrong, is absolutely illegal. You could go to jail. So that is what people, that's what compliance lawyers do. So this young female lawyer, let's give her a name. OK, Let me just call her Cami Adenica. Yeah, let's call her Cami Adenica. Let me write that down because this is going to be a long running series. I don't want to forget the name,
so let me just write it down. Cami Adenica, If there is a real live person named Cami Adenica listening to this show right now, apologies, this is not you, but would really be interesting if there's a Cami Adenica listening to the show right now, who also happens to be a young female lawyer and who is also in the securities and compliance space. So let me put out my disclaimer. This is a work of fiction, and any likeness resembling anybody is purely coincidental.
So yeah, I just made that name up, Cami Adenica. So let's call her Cami. Now, remember, now what we're trying to do is we're trying to do effective prospecting, and prospecting is looking for anybody who might be interested in your product or your service. So you're a fresh graduate. Came here, Danica. And OK, no, let's not make her fresh. If she's fresh, it will be hard to break into the market. So let's say she's been doing this for a while, maybe like 10
years. So came here, Danica. Now you want to become a compliance lawyer. And yeah, you're ready to break out on your own. Now, the first thing that we need to do, before we even talk about prospecting, looking for who might be interested in a product or service, the first thing we have to sort out is subject matter expertise. Let me say that one more time. The first thing we need to sort out is subject matter expertise.
Now, what does this mean? It means obviously that if you're going to be doing something, there's going to be a subject matter behind it. You want to make sure that you're the expert. So let me go back to wedding photography. I started off as a wedding photographer and OK, no, I didn't start off as a wedding photographer. Well, I started off as a lawyer, but the first, like me trying to make money on my own was wedding photography.
So subject matter expertise means that when it comes to handling camera, when it comes to editing, when it comes to posing, when it comes to lighting, when it comes to whatever, you have better be the expert. Now, subject matter expertise, it's something that Brian Tracy says is foundational. If you listen to, I think it's called psychology of selling or something. That's one very old cassette that Brian Tracy released.
I didn't have the cassette because, you know, I have some pirates in my family. SO1 Pirate in particular, my younger brother, he was able to get the cassettes on CDs and he ripped off the MP threes and then sent them to me. So yeah, that's how I got that by Tracy one, it's because I happened to live with the pirate at the time. Oh well. Or because I'm I was related. I am related to a pirate. So that's how I got it. But I think it's called psychology of sales or something like that.
So by Tracy says that subject matter expertise is absolutely foundational to being good at sales. And this is the reason why if you are not the subject matter expert, it will affect your credibility. People will look at you, they'll look at Cammy and be like this babe relaxation. No to I don't know, I don't know and people will be looking at you one kind. So if you're not the subject matter expert, it goes straight to the credibility and it goes straight to the competence.
You won't appear credible and people will think you are competent. Now, another reason why subject master expertise is important and the main reason why Brian Tracy was talking about this sort of thing is because it affects your personal confidence, because you and I listening or OK, well me, I'm talking you, you're listening. So you and I were normal people. We're not psychopaths. We cannot sell something that we do not believe in.
There are people that can sell stuff that I don't believe in, like they sell something that says the best thing since sliced bread and blah, blah, blah. But you know that The thing is rubbish. Most people are psychopaths or psycho, something as insured, they have mental problems. That's what I'm trying to say more than people like you and I. We don't have that skill. If what we are selling is useless. There's a way that we'll be trying to speak with food,
chairs and confidence and everything, but so will be able to people be able to feel like something is not quite right. Like I can't put my finger on it, but there's something that's not quite right here. And that's because the ordinary person does not know how to sell crap. So it is important that you are not selling crap to begin with. So that's why subject matter expertise is important and it's the cornerstone of sales.
You better make sure that you're the expert. Now, of course, people are going to ask, you know, what level of expertise. And you know, all of that is relative. Now, I'll put it this way, expertise is relative. Yes, let me put it that way because like I've said time and time again on the podcast, I'm here because I can teach you guys a thing, a thing or two about sales and selling and about business, but I probably can't teach Dangote a whole lot about certain kinds of businesses.
So that's what I mean when I say that expertise is relative. So based on where you are and based on where I am right now, I'm the expert. So that's also something you have to bear in mind because some people also, they will hear this whole thing of you have to be the subject matter expert. And so because of that, they will feel as if they have to be perfect before they begin. So Khemi Adenike, of course, made-up, not a real person.
So if you're someone in the situation or Khemi Adenike, you're a young Nigerian female lawyer and you want to set up practice for securities compliance in Niger, don't feel as if you need to know all the law. You don't have to know all the law. You don't have to have graduated first class because remember, like I said, expertise is relative. So for people who are just coming into the market new, maybe this is their first time trying to set up an investment firm or something like that, if you have enough expertise relative to them, it is going to be fine.
So now let's flush out a few things. So let's say Kemi Adenica, what did we say? So we said 10 years. I'm just picking 10 years because if you're trying to come and start this kind of business is your first time out of law school, I won't lie, it will, it will hurt you. It will be very hard because there are going to be some of your senior colleagues that have been doing it five years, three years, 10 years, 15 years, 20
years and you want to come year one. It's I mean, let's, let's just be realistic. I mean, it can happen, but I'm just saying let's be realistic here. When people have been in the game like 1520 years, you can't just come year one and say from nowhere, you now come and be the expert and then capture market share just like that. So let's be, let's be realistic. So that's why I say, let's say she's been practicing law for 10
years in Lagos. And let's say that in that her firm that she's worked, worked at in Lagos, she has worked, she was part of a team that has successfully brought 4 investment products to the Nigerian market. So let's say Uba was trying to launch some investment something, they went to her law firm. You know, she was on the committee. Then maybe another bank or another whatever. I was trying to bring out something. She was now the head of the committee, another one.
She was the secretary of the committee. You know, Bosha, anyhow, Shash has done like, you know, four of these big, big case, big, big investment products being launched in Nigerian market. You know, the kind of thing that you see on NTA and on channels, TV and maybe on this day newspaper. And so because of that, she feels as if like, like, you know, I'm something now I've been doing this 10 years and I'm related to these 4 campaigns.
You know, I'm, I must be legit. I must be the shit. So let me try and launch my own, my own law firm and our own thing is just that. We'll just be doing securities compliance. So subject matter expertise, absolutely essential. It is important so that when people see you, like in this case, when they say Cammy, I didn't care, I mean, should have been practicing for 10 years. So that means she got her LLB, that's her bachelor's in laws.
She must have done master's and then she's been working for 10 years. So for her to have done master's and she's working for 10 years and that means maybe she has been called to the bar for like 1215 years. So basically she's not a baby lawyer. This is a lawyer that has done like 15 years. In fact, the very fact that, you know, you graduated and you've been working for like 15 years, there's a way you carry yourself that people know that, OK, this,
this is not just a baby lawyer. So, yeah, subject matter expertise, really, really important. So she has gone to the right schools, she has gotten the right qualifications. She has done the work and she can trace her, well, let's say her experience back to, you know, four or five things that you know, even you that are here having a conversation with her that you can remember like, oh, OK, so that you be a product. OK, You are part of that team.
Oh, OK, I see, I see. What was your role in it? You will talk back and forth and everything. You know, that is you now flexing and showing that credibility and building up that competence. And also you can see how it will give you the confidence to sell yourself effectively because you know that you are not making stuff up. If Kemi Identicare was to come at this like fresh, let's say she just graduated law school January 2025 and then March 2025, she's now trying to start her firm.
And then somebody comes, you know, there's a way that her mouth will not be strong because even she she will know that look, I just finished three months ago. I have not done gang. I've not done Shishi. I have done nothing in this space and make it difficult for her to sell herself. So any summary of all this, all this long story that I've been saying so far is, is justice. And if we're going to go about prospecting, want to find people who might be interested in our product or service, the first thing we need to make sure is that we have taken care of ourselves in house.
We need to make sure that we have some subject matter expertise because it will affect the way that people view us. And it will also affect the amount of confidence that we have to talk about ourselves, to boast about ourselves and to pitch ourselves successfully. So it doesn't matter what business that you're in. Like right now I'm talking to somebody who's on or re or reflame beauty and skin care specialist. So if Oriflame is your business,
I think Oriflame, I think that's like a skin care thing based out of sheer butter. So if you're an Oriflame person, you better make sure that you're you're you're subject matter expert. Make sure that you have gone to Oriflame. Sorry, excuse me, Oriflame, like the mother company, make sure you have studied all their courses. You've taken all their courses, you've taken all their certifications. Make sure that you have it because that's a, it's a multi level marketing thing.
So I'm assuming that not only do they give you products to sell, sure that they must, they must also certify you as well to know that you know all the ingredients, you know all the products. So if you're an Oriflame person, make sure that you're the specialist. Make sure you've taken all the courses, make sure you know all the product lines. That's without looking at the brochure. You know, there's some people that if somebody's talking to them, they'll say, and you can use this product or you can use that product, but they're looking at the brochure.
You know this thing back to front, front to back, so that from the back of your skull you'll just be talking. You know, you can say this, we can try this, or there's this product or there's this, or there's that. Maybe you might bring out the brochure just to show the custom audience you're talking about, but you have to be the specialist. So whether it's Oriflame skin care or whether it's a wedding photography or whether it is,
you're starting off as a baby, OK, No, not baby lawyer because she's 10 years. You're starting off your own firm as a 10 year old lawyer and you want to sell securities compliance. You have to make sure that you're the subject matter expert. So we'll wrap it up here today because we've taken 1 main idea subject matter expertise and we've stretched it out quite a bit. So next we're going to try and identify who the potential customers are, who the ICP is.
That's the ideal. I, I, I be ICP, What is it called again, ideal customer profile, The ideal customer profile. The potential person that came here didn't care is supposed to be running after. This is important because if you do not figure out who you're supposed to pursue, you are going to waste time, you're going to waste resources chasing persons or chasing people rather who mind you might not be able to close the deal at all.
So all of this is part of prospecting. So that is what we're going to do in the next episode. So again, if you'd love to connect, the phone number is 08064662140. Country code is lost 234. That's my also up number as well and then connect with me on LinkedIn, the name to look for establishing my IED. I'm also available on what's I think called on YouTube. Yes, on YouTube. So you'll find these episodes as well. So thank you very much for your time and attention.
I'll catch you guys at the next episode.