Unleashing Africa's Tech Potential: Why Sales Training is the Missing Piece 🧩

Hello and welcome to the show. I'm sure today some of you are going to wonder, why is Tara Shima going on about startups and tech and stuff like that? It's because I spent a lot of time on LinkedIn these days, like I mentioned, and there's lots of chatter on LinkedIn about these kinds of topics. And then also, these are the sorts of topics that are kind of trendy in news from other Nigerian podcasts or other African podcasts.

For instance, I listen to, I think it's called Afro ability. Then I think there's the NESG something something podcast. I can't remember what it is. Just Google or you know, whatever player that you use, just type in this key term, you should be able to find it. So NESG, I can't remember if that's the Nigerian Economic Summit Group or something like that. And there's also the Tech Point podcast. So NESG, OK, affordability is Africa, NESGI think is Nigeria,

then Tech Point, that one's is that one's definitely a Nigerian podcast. A bunch of really smart, you know, correct guys and girls based in Lagos. So I listen to all these podcasts and then African tech startups and fintechs and you know, this kind of, you know, the whole tech thing, It's all the rage right now. And people are talking about how hubs are necessary, how financing is necessary, how government enabled ecosystems are necessary to promote the movement.

But there is one essential ingredient that is missing in my own opinion. And that's why I've been on a bit of a rant just a couple of days about the importance of sales. Because in my own opinion, if we want to unleash Africa's tech potential, then the missing ingredient, the missing essential ingredient that we have to bring to the table is sales training. So the tech hubs, yes, the tech hubs are important and they're crucial, you know, when it comes to nurturing bright minds,

because lots of people are coming to this space and they don't know anything about creating a valuable product. You know, coming up with an MVP, you know, blah, blah, blah, all of that, how to raise finance, you know, all those sorts of things. So hubs, absolutely essential. So the fact that we have dozens of hubs in Abuja, tech hubs in Abuja or business incubators in Abuja, same in Lagos. I hear that in the east a couple of them are beginning to pop off eastern part of the country.

I mean just for context, Eastern part of Nigeria because we have a global audience over here. I'm happy to hear that. You know lots of you from other nationalities, but you know when I say NE or east or South or West, you know, I'm speaking relatively in Nigerian terms. So hubs, the growth of hubs, yes, very good. We should applaud that. But one thing that these hubs are missing and I know because I'm talking to loads of them,

trying to see how we can collaborate, trying to see things that we can, you know, business deals that we can run together. So one thing that is missing is a lot of them don't have sales training in their curriculum and sales training is a must have and should be a must do and should be a must. You know, you get the point in their curriculum. Now the reason why is because if there is no sales, then there's going to be no survival for the startup.

Because no matter how innovative the idea is, the idea is going to need customers, it is going to need traction, it is going to need adoption. And sales people are the lifeblood of any organization. They are the people who are going to bring the revenue or the traction or the adoption and so sales skills are going to be responsible for the start-ups growth. So for those of you who are going to go into the capital raising route because there are some people who start businesses, let's say like Facebook for instance,

businesses like that. What they needed was traction, they needed users 1st and then we're going to worry about monetizing later. So if you have one of those ideas that depends on you having millions of people or hundreds of thousands of people before you can start worrying about the path to profit, you're still going to need traction or adoption. So that's what I was talking about. Now it is people who have sales skills or sales experience that are going to give you the level of traction or the adoption that you need, which in turn is going to seduce the wallets of the investors so that they can keep dropping all that money.

Now some of you are not convinced. All you have to do is just listen to any of these podcasts that I've spoken about, listen to Tech Point, listen to our probability, listen to NESG, just keep paying attention on Tech Twitter or whatever. You know, the news is always the same, you know. And this year it's not going to be any different. They're going to hear that social also raised X number of millions and everybody's going to be happy.

Everybody's going to praise him. And then next year, we're going to hear that this guy or this girl who had this revolutionary idea, was able to raise millions of dollars, is going to go out of business because they could not achieve traction, the bond rate was too high, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. They're going to give any number of reasons. Oh, sorry about that. That's the allow on my watch. OK, 5 minutes.

Not too long. All right. Still have time. OK. What was that? Yeah. So you're going to hear all manner of reasons why the thing doesn't work, but it still boils down to a couple of things. Number one though, I'm not able to achieve sales or #2, they are not able to achieve the level of traction that they needed or they are not able to achieve product market fit. Now product, market fit is the whole idea of there's a need or a desire or demand for your product or for your service.

So you can sit in your nice Co working space in Abuja or in Lagos and come up with all kinds of interesting ideas because you have your computer skills, your coding skills and you know put all sorts of things out. But you raise all the millions, you put it out, nobody uses it. You guys are dead and you are going to die no matter how many millions of naira naira that you have raised or dollars. Or by the way, when I say you're going to die or you're dead, you know, I mean the business entity.

I don't mean the people behind these business entities. So these businesses, they die because they can hit their numbers. And who are the people? Who is the hit squad that is responsible for getting numbers? It's sales people because that is what we leave. That's what we leave and breathe. What's the goal? Who are we chasing? How many units do I have to sell to get my Commission? You know, blah, blah, blah. That's the language we speak.

So sales are responsible for that. So yeah, apart from that, Africa's tech scene seems to be thriving. You know, what's CNN? What's it called? Is it something Africa, focus, focus in Africa or something? You know, every two or three weeks there's a new tech founder tech idea there, you know, stuff like that. So yeah, the scene is thriving, but sales often lag. So we need to equip founders with sales skills so that they can overcome this hurdle hurdle.

And that's the reason why I think it should be an essential part of the curriculum in all these hubs that we have in Lagos, in Abuja and those that are springing up in the East. Oh by the way, if you're listening to the show and you hear that hubs are springing up in the north as well, you know, please let me know. You know I'm just one man here. You know I don't know everything so I don't know what's going on on on all corners of the country.

So sales skills I needed to build a sustainable business. So if hubs sorry, excuse me. So if hubs are able to integrate sales training so excuse me after effects of the sore throat. So how was that? Yeah. So if they're able to integrate sales into the curriculum, then they can empower founders to build businesses that only have great products. But then they know how to get them into the hand of the customers. Because like I hinted, it's one thing to say, you know, Python,

you know this code. You know that code, You know this, this, this, you know how to do Web Three. In fact, that's another one. Yeah. Every time, you know, it's a business conference or something in Abuja. Well, not every time. But you, you see them once in a while, maybe every three or four months, you know, boys and girls putting together Web 3 conference, you know, so everything is Web three now. So yeah, it's good to be.

It's good to know your, you know, Fortran is is dead. People haven't done Fortran since in the last 20 years, I think. I know. You get the point. I'm not a tech person. So you know your Python code, you know your Discord, you know your Web 3. It's enough to design that, yes. But getting into the hands of everyday people like me, my brothers and sisters or, you know, friends, Co workers, you know, stuff like that, that's another skill.

I'm all together. Let's see. OK, so sales skills are not just for sales people. I'm hoping that if you've been listening to me ranting this last three or four days, I hope you've been able to appreciate, especially if you're part of the tech ecosystem, that sales people can benefit from sales training. Founders will benefit from sales training because they have to pitch to investors. Developers are also going to benefit from sales training because they are the ones in the beginning anyway before you get a full-fledged sales team who have to explain the products to potential customers.

And this is something that you people in the tech space really, really need because people follow me, I follow back, I engage them in a conversation and I'm trying to understand exactly what these people do and they talk about web three, this, that, that, that, that, that, that. Like I don't know what Web Three is and you know ask two or three questions and then next thing they send me a a PDF that has even more you know plenty tech lingo in it.

Like I didn't understand the simple conversation we're having. How am I supposed to understand this PDF? I'm an everyday ordinary guy. I don't know what Web Three is. So if you're going to approach people in the market and you're going to be talking about backward integration, this Python code, that Web three, this that, that, that, that. I mean, how you going to get people to use your products? So developers, they really,

really need this training. They need to be able to figure out what people find valuable, the problem that they're trying to solve. And they also need to, OK, second alarm, 10 minutes. OK. So they also need to be able to communicate in terms of, you know, what everyday people have. So yes, Tech Three, yeah, it's important you guys are doing, sorry, not Tech 3, Web 3, but you need to be able to understand what people value the problem that that Web 3 is going to solve and then speak in terms of the problem that is being solved, not in terms of the tech that you are touting.

So yes, I understand Web 3, it's cutting edge. It's 2024, it's modern and you should be proud of that. So my Nigerian brothers and sisters, yes, you guys should be proud that you are currently using tech software lingo. You know everything that is up to date. But when it comes to making sure that people use those products or services, not everybody's as caught up to speed as you are. And I'm a reasonably educated guy.

I think by Nigerian standards, I'm a reasonably educated guy. But The thing is when you guys start talking Web three and in terms of all that technical, when you're talking to people like me or my mom and I'll say we're reasonably educated or my wife, you know, you just lose us. So we need to learn to speak in terms of benefits and what people value and things like that. So sales skills will help you have much more effective conversations and the effective conversation is purely ones that happens on the other person's term.

So if you're the founder, you're speaking to investors, you're speaking in terms that they understand their values, the kind of returns that they are looking for. You know, things like that, developers, you're talking to, potential customers, you're going to be able to talk in terms of things that are valuable to the client and not using the jargon of the trade. So sales training also hones essential skills. What's that word?

What do they call them? Yeah, soft skills. So soft skills like communication, negotiation, resilience. These are valuable assets for any kind of entrepreneur, whether you sell chickens or whether you sell cement blocks or whether you're in the tech ecosystem or not. Now before I sign off, contrary to what you guys believe, you guys and girls, but mostly guys anyway, when I talk about these sorts of things. So contrary to what you guys and girls believe, in the tech world, great products don't sell themselves.

Stop believing that because this thing is top notch. It's the greatest tech in the world is blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It's revolutionary. That doesn't mean that this thing, whatever you're working on, is going to sell itself and stop using the excuse of the iPhone. The iPhone needed salesmanship from the stage. That is what what's his name Jobs was doing on the stage. That is salesmanship from the stage. So I talk about sales in terms of personal selling.

And so you're having one to one communications, but then there are different aspects of the sale. There are people who sell exclusively using copy. So you're sending emails, you're sending emails or crafting text or advertisements and then stuff like that. So salesman is exercised across a variety of media. And then there's also selling from the stage, which is what Jobs was doing, and other Jobs is no more. That is also what his his predecessor, I can't remember his name.

The dude with the glass. OK, well, they both wore glasses well. And if if you're familiar with this space, you know who I'm talking about, That is what they're doing. Salesmanship from the stage. So stop talking about iPhone, please. The iPhone did not sell itself. People did. And people who are versed in sales or certain aspect of salesmanship for saleswomanship, if that's not politically correct these days. So if we want to drive Africa's tech revolution forward, we need sales.

It is true that we need to recruit all the bright, enterprising young men and women of the continent to achieve the vision. You guys remember the time when I spoke about how I was talking to this undergrad from affair, Baba Baba Lola University, who are studying what was it called? Mechatronics. Yes, studied mechatronics and yes, lots of bright people coming into this space. But recruiting these bright young men and women is the beginning but is not the end.

We also have the equipment with everything that they need. So they need the ecosystem and it's good that the government is going to be able to create an enabling environment and they need to be able, they need the tech skills so that they can create these wonderful ideas that they're working on. But then ultimately they're also going to need training and sales. So for those of you who are responsible for shaping the policy environment, maybe because you're in big business or you're in government or for those of you who are, are closer to to the ground coming up with the hubs and stuff like that.

Do not forget sales training when it comes to yes and all that you're putting forward. So thank you very much for your time and attention. Let me wrap it up now because I've been ranting for 15 minutes now. Please follow on, follow and connect with me on what's that thing called? LinkedIn. Yes, so connect with me on LinkedIn. My name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm the host of the show. You can confirm the spelling of my name and the e-mail address from the link where you're currently listening to this episode.

Also connect with me on WhatsApp. My number is O 806-466-2140. The country code is +234 for those of you who are hitting me up outside the shores of Nigeria. So thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next recording. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten that we had a series of questions that I still haven't addressed. Let me just get these runs out of the way. Then I'll go back to the regular list of questions for the average Joe or the average Jane,

who is not SO concerned about things from a macroeconomic point of view. So thanks for time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.