The Secret to Spotting Real Buyers vs. Window Shoppers

Hello and welcome. I had a session about two weeks ago with the sales team and the members of the sales team complained that after they would give proposals or price quotations to potential customers that they would now ghost or they would start sounding unsure, start sounding not ready, start sounding confused and and one or two people said that they were weighing their options. Now this is perfectly normal. So if you're trying to sell, if you're trying to convince someone on something, yes, it's perfectly normal that you're going to run into people who are not ready, you're going to run into people who are confused and you're going to run into people who are weighing options.

The problem is lots of you don't have a process for figuring out these people before you give them a proposal. If somebody's not ready and you give them a price quote, what do you think is going to happen? They're going to ghost you. They're not ready. They've gotten the information that they need. They're not ready. If somebody's confused and then you give them a price quote, what is going to happen? They're not going to take action because they're confused.

And worse still, you're not even sure what it is that they are confused about. So you don't even know how to help. But you've already given them a quote and so, well, they're ghost. They're going to fade. If somebody is weighing options, would you've already given them a price quote. What do you think is going to happen? The person is not going to take action because they're wearing their options and you are in a bad state because you don't even know what is important to them.

So you can't even go ahead and advise them that. Luke Bros, you know, you suppose reason I'm like this or Madam, you know, you've said previously that this was important to you. So because of that, I recommend this. I recommend this. I recommend that. So don't be angry and don't be frustrated that when you're trying to sell your product or your service, you keep running into people who are not ready, people who are confused, or people who are weighing their options.

It's just part of the human condition. It's perfectly normal and you go through the same step yourself when you want to buy something. So don't be angry. So some of you are going to wonder, So what is our protection or how do we handle this? The way that we handle this is we need to come up with a way for figuring out who is who. We need to be able to sort out people who have serious intentions, people who are merely curious, you know, people who are worker pass.

We need to know who is who from the beginning so that we can treat them accordingly, so that we're only going to send a quotation, proposal or whatever to people who are ready, people who are clear and people who are ready to take action soon. Therefore, those people who are kind of curious, we're not going to invest too much time with them. We're going to put them in relationship building or relationship nurturing sequences.

We get in touch with them every once in a while. It's not as if they're red hot. It's not as if they're ready to to buy now and then For people who are work up us, there's no need really to go through all the trouble of giving them a price quote. You can just verbally tell them one or two things and then yeah, just put them in relationship building or relationship nurturing. So what we're going to do now as self-employed people, as Nigerian business owners, as Nigerian entrepreneurs is we're going to try and figure out a way for sorting out these people and we try and sort it out before we give them a quote.

Once you give people a quote, once you give people an invoice, once you give people a whatever, if they're not ready to take action, they will just go to you. Oh, by the way, apologies for the noise in the background. I'm making today's recording at home and it's a weekend, so the kids are home. By the way, if you'd love to connect with me, you can call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. If you're interested in the 15

minutes you'll audit WhatsApp me on the same number, 08064662140. And if you'd like to drop my WhatsApp channel, then send me a message on the same number and I'll hook you up, get you started. So traditionally in sales, the process of figuring out who is interested, who is serious, do they have money? Are they ready to buy? Are they ready to take action? Now that whole process is called qualification and discovery. So qualification and discovery is the stage where, excuse me,

we're trying to ask questions about the person, ask questions about the problem. We're trying to figure out a couple of things now, the definition of those terms itself, qualification and discovery, you know, it's open to some dispute. There's some people who quarrel and say qualification means this. There's some people who quarrel and say discovery means that. But when I'm in the middle of training the team, I try not to get involved in these sorts of squabbles.

So the approach that I've been taking and the approach that I'm going to take when I'm trying to help your own team to sell better is I will ask you, what does qualification and discovery mean to you? Now that I have explained what we're supposed to be doing at this stage in the beginning that we're talking to a potential customer, what does this mean to you? Whatever it is that you say is whatever it is that we're going to do.

So for this sales team that I was talking to now, let's call them Catherine and or let's say Kilichi. OK, so 2 ladies, Catherine and Kilichi. So I asked them what does qualification and discovery mean to you? And then one person said qualification and discovery means excuse me, we are trying to check in with these people. We're trying to say that there is a good fit, like we would like working with these people and they would like working with us.

I said very good. She also said that qualification and discovery is we're trying to figure out who is likely to buy because we know who is likely to buy, then we can now double down, spend time, invest time with that person. I should explain that likely to buy means we want to see whether they can afford this thing. We're trying to test whether they are serious. We're trying to test whether they're interested or we're trying to figure out whether not just inquiry.

They didn't enquire because there's some people like that. They call you up and they say how much is the XYZ? So, so, so, so some of you here, oh, how much? And you think, good, I have a buyer. No, the guy just didn't enquire. And the example I've given on the podcast was when I went into GACS headquarters in Abuja, that's Jiaomi Automobile, Jiaomi Automobile Company. I went to go and look at the GS8, not because I have 80

million naira, but just because I had finished the meeting at Rapid Broadcast Network. I was trying to get the TV show there. So I finished the meeting on Rapid Broadcast Network and as I was driving out of the studio I was like oh Guangzhou, so they are here and this my Jellopy keeps breaking down. Well, I enter, let me just go and see because after all my people say the fact that you don't have money doesn't stop you from looking.

So I wanted to go and look, but of course I had gotten ready for a business meeting. So I was looking the part. I was looking sweet, I was smelling fresh and I went to go and look at the GS8 at the time, a car that was close to like 80 million naira. So I looked like I had 80 millionaire, but I didn't. And even if I did, I, you know, clearly wasn't going to buy today. So me showing up on the floor, I was just making an inquiry.

Sometimes people just they inquire. That's all you need to know. Is this person just inquiring or is this a serious buyer? If it's just an an inquiry, then no problem. Answer the person's questions, maybe keep the person's collect the person's details and then every once in a while put the person on the newsletter. Once in a while you could send them WhatsApp messages, you know, stuff like that. Relationship building,

relationship nurturing, but not as if you'll be following the person that oh bro, so follow me, come by. When are you buying? Are you interested? This is the kind of car financing that we have and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You don't know if the person can afford it. You don't know if the person is serious. You don't know if the person is interested or if it's just an inquiry. And in my case, honestly speaking, I was just passing by,

finished a business meeting and I thought, oh, wouldn't it be nice if I can stop driving this jalopy, the GSA, It looks like it's a pretty good car. Let me go and see this thing up and close. So that is not one of the ladies said, remember, in this case we are what did I say? OK, Kelechi and Catherine, again, not their real names, but their real life sales team that I'm currently working with. So one person said qualification and discovery just means we're trying to check is this person a good fit?

Are they likely to buy? Can they afford? Are they serious? Are they interested or is this just an inquiry? And then I asked her, how are we going to do that? She said, we're going to do that by asking questions. And I said, perfect. I said, you are not far from the truth. The Kingdom of God is not far from you. We're going to figure out, is this a good fit? Are they likely to buy? Can they afford? Are we, are they serious?

Are they interested? Is this an inquiry? We're going to figure all this out by just asking them questions. So on to ask them questions that will tease answers to all these things. We should not be giving them a quote, going through the trouble of delivering a quote because for Kelechi and Catherine, they're involved in a business that the quoting process, you know, takes a bit of time. You get some information, you transfer the information to the engineers.

The engineers come up with a quote, you know, so it's something that could take maybe like 3-4 hours. Then I asked the second personnel in in the team, So what does qualification and discovery mean to you? She said. Qualification and discovery just means we're trying to figure out these people that we're talking to, which one of them is worthy of being pursued? I hope you guys are getting that. Which one of them are worthy of being pursued?

Because it's not everybody who comes to your to your shop, not everybody who slides into your DM that is worthy of pursuing. So back to the example of me walking into Guangzhou automobile, I'm looking at the GS8. While I was there, another gentleman came to look at the GS8. Your goal as a salesperson is to figure out which of these gentlemen is worth pursuing. You don't just assume that because they're standing next to the GS 8, because they are looking at the GS 8, because they are taking pictures or Googling the GS8, or because they're asking you questions of the about the GS8.

It doesn't mean that they are worth pursuing. So you ask the salesperson, you engage, you ask them questions as you're asking them questions, you're trying to figure out can these people of all these things, are they serious? Are they interested? Decisions and inquiry. So I told her, you're absolutely correct. We are trying to figure out who is worth pursuing here. I said, how do you do that? She said, well, I'm trying to figure out if they can afford.

I'm trying to figure out if they're the decision maker and I'm trying to figure out if there's any urgency. And I told her, very good. The Kingdom of God is not far from you. Yes, we're trying to figure out if they can afford, because what's the point of trying to sell an 80 million naira car to somebody if the person's budget is 11,000,000? What is the point then? She said she's trying to figure out if the person is the decision maker.

I said very good, because what is the point of trying to sell an 80 million naira car to somebody if at the end of the day, the person is just the driver? The salesperson didn't ask me any question about what it is that I do. News from drivers take pride in their appearance. I could have just been the driver who has executive presence. So trying to figure out the decision maker. That's absolutely good. And then she also said she'll try and figure out if there's a sense of urgency.

And I said fantastic. Urgency just means what are their timelines? Are they ready to take action now? Because what is the whole point of hassling someone who is looking at an 80 million naira car? The person can afford the 80 million naira car no problem. But The thing is, person doesn't want to take action now, and it doesn't look as if there's anything compelling the person to take action anytime soon. Now, for those of you who have heard it before, OK, you know what?

There's some people who aren't just listening to the podcast for the first time today. So let me repeat the whole story. I was there at Grand Automobiles and I was looking fresh and I was looking like a billion bucks. So the lady assumed that I can afford the 80 million naira car. While she was not there, I engaged the other gentleman in conversation. The other gentleman was not looking to how I put it wasn't look too sharp, but I engaged him in conversation.

He bought his wife a Mercedes-Benz Jeep and she had it totaled. He was going to fix the car, but he didn't think that the car, the price of fixing the car was worth it. So he was considering selling the Mercedes-Benz G class that he bought for his wife. He wanted to buy her something else brand new. So he was thinking that he'll buy the GS eight for his wife and then he will continue using the Mercedes-Benz that he uses.

And then he wanted to know from me if I knew people who are good at fixing cars or people who would just buy the car as is. And that's the conversation that we had. Now the lady came back and clearly she had made-up her mind. I looked fresh. I looked on point. So therefore I'm the one who's going to buy the car. Meanwhile, the gentleman who I was speaking with, the one who didn't look to put together, I suspect this one was closer to buying the car than we are.

If she had engaged him in conversation, should have been able to figure out that he clearly can't afford it because he had just bought his wife a Mercedes-Benz AG class Jeep. She totaled it. They wanted to fix it. The repairs are coming up to like close to 50 million. And it's like, what's the point of fixing the car with 50 M where you can go a brand, buy a brand new car are close to the price. So his biggest challenge now was, OK, is this a good car to buy?

And then he also needed to know who are people that can buy this car and then fix it so we sell or they would just buy it as it is and take this thing off my hand. But she didn't engage in conversations with either of us. She answered our questions. Oh, is he keyless entry? Is this this? Is this that? She didn't ask any other question. She didn't ask why we were there today. She didn't try and figure out what it is that we both do.

She didn't try and get a sense of whether we had a budget like absolutely nothing. She showed up and she answered every single question that we asked. So I know that the car has some fancy digital dials, it's keyless entry and you know, automatic braking system, blah blah, blah and on and on and on and on and on. But she didn't ask any question. So the reason why a lot of you salespeople and Nigerian business owners, the reason why you're frustrated is because you're talking to a whole bunch of people who are not ready, a whole bunch of people who are confused, a whole bunch of people who are weighing their options.

You're not asking any questions. Ask questions, dig deeper, engage in conversation. Sales is conversational, open-ended questions. open-ended questions just means the kind of question that you ask that somebody has to begin with the story. So if we showed up and she just said, oh, good morning, my name is Amaka. How can I help you today? That kind of question gives room for people to talk. So hello, how can I help you today?

Would have given room for the other gentleman to talk about all the things on his mind and for me or I've just answered. Oh, I just finished the meeting and I was passing through and I was curious. She will now know that. OK, Mr. curious more given flyer. Let me collect his phone number just in case. Then the other gentleman should now know that. Oh, OK, the guy kind of scruffy, but he'd be like saying, oh bar he'd be like say the guy get money should now focus on him.

So simple open-ended questions are the way that we go about doing qualification and discovery. I'm not going to give any examples here in today's podcast episode because it's something that I talk about a lot more on the podcast. But just know that one reason why you're currently angry and you're frustrated is because, excuse me, you're talking to a whole bunch of people who are not ready. They're confused, they're just weighing their options.

But you've gone ahead. You've told them prices, you've given them a quote. A lot of them are going to ghost you. There's nothing you can do to change that. Next time, be better prepared. Try and figure out from the beginning who is ready, who is not ready, who is confused, who is not confused now who they weigh options versus who is not weighing options. Who is getting ready to take action today? Then invest all your time in those people.

Now. Remember what I keep saying on the podcast, Nothing is 100% guaranteed. Even if you figure out the people that are red hot and close to getting ready to take action, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to close all of those deals. But we should just do the best that we can do to increase the odds in our favour, to increase the probabilities that we're going to be dealing with people who buy. So this is your first time listening to the podcast.

You know, keep listening because we keep talking about things like this almost every other day. But even if you're not going to bother subscribing to the podcast, please these two terms, qualification and then discovery, use those two terms and then go and start checking on YouTube. I look for material that you can learn that can help you and expose you to other conversational and other conversational frameworks for how you achieve qualification and discovery.

Or use your AI tools and say something like I'm a high end premium capital based in Abuja, Nigeria. I want to engage in qualification and discovery better with potential clients that I'm talking to. Give me examples of questions that I can ask or what sort of issue should I be paying attention to when having conversations with potential customers? That is a prompt. Send a prompt in an AI tool. And I'm telling you, if they give like example of 20

questions, you know, maybe like 15 might not make sense, but I'll show you the five that makes sense or the three that you think you can apply. If you start using them in conversations with potential customers and clients, you will start dealing less with people who are not ready. You'll be dealing less with people who are confused. You'll be dealing less with people who are weighing their options. They'll be dealing more with some serious folk.

So even if you don't start making more money immediately, you find that your Peace of Mind and your quality of life, at least we better for now. And then over over time, the money will begin the trickle in. Small, small, small. So remember, if you'd love to connect with me, you can call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Interested in the 15 minute sale audit? WhatsApp me on the same number 08064662140.

If you'd like to join my WhatsApp channel, just WhatsApp me on the same number. I'll hook you up. I'll get you started. So thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you all some other time.