Who's Really in Charge? The Hidden Power Players in Sales

Hello and welcome to the show. I'm your host Tava Shima Aidi. Today I'm not in the audio booth so I expect this to be a noisy episode. If you'd love an opportunity to connect or meet up and see what opportunities to explore, then call me. On 08064662140. The country code is was 234 if you're not Nigerian and that's my WhatsApp number. Also, if you're looking for me on social media, you can connect with me on LinkedIn.

Today on the show, we're going to look at how I can build, or sorry, rather, how you, or rather we all can build strong relationships with key decision makers. The reason why we're looking at this is because it's not everyone that you talk to who is important when it comes to closing the sale. So when you're in the simple sale, you have to deal with whoever is in front of you. But if you're in a complex sale, your job is to figure out more information about the deal First off, and then you need to figure out who you should be talking to.

And that's because anybody can say no to the deal, but not everyone can say yes to the deal. Now let's look at definition of a simple sale. That's for those of you who are new to the show. You're in a simple sales scenario or a simple sales context. If you're dealing with something that is an affordable product or that is easy to explain, or maybe you only have to talk to one or two people to close the deal. And in these situations, nobody cares if you guys have a relationship or not.

That's the reason why on the podcast I talk a lot about selling a Gucci because a Gucci is the perfect example of a simple sales scenario. Your wife tells you go to the market or you think to yourself, let me make some food for my boyfriend or for the family and you go to the market and you go and buy a Gucci. That is a simple sales scenario. The product is affordable. OK, well things are expensive in Nigeria right now.

I think the last time I had to buy anyway, I think a couple of a Gucci was almost like about 3K or so. So it's kind of affordable. Even though it's kind of expensive now, it's relatively affordable. A Gucci is easy to explain. You know if it's good, you know if it's bad just by looking at it or running your fingers through it. And you only have to talk to one person to close the deal. And that's the person who came to your market shop to come and price a Gucci.

And then nobody cares if you guys have a relationship. What you care is that this person buys a Gucci and then the person leaves so that someone else can come and buy a Gucci. Although if you're a smart trader, you try and build a relationship with the person so that the person comes back to your store, you know, tomorrow, next week, next month or whatever. But really, you're not here to make friends. You're just here to sell a Gucci.

It's the same if somebody wants to sell a Bible, for instance, or a Quran. Let's say you own a bookstore. Somebody walks into your store. That is a perfect example of a simple sale. Now for complex sales, on the other hand, which is where a whole lot of us are going to fall into because I suspect that we don't have lots of Agusi sellers over here on the podcast. And I suspect that even though you sell Bibles and Qurans or make up or whatever, I suspect that not all of your time is going to be spent in a single sales situation.

Now you're in a complex sales situation if you have a complicated product, if things are a little bit hard to explain, if you need some more time and if there's plenty of talk involved before you close the deal. And also, these are situations where you have to be talking to several people, sometimes talking to several people at the same time. Like I've been telling you guys about my adventures of trying to put something together on radio,

and I've been talking to several people at the same time. So I'm talking to head of operations, I'm also talking to head of programming, I'm also talking to head of admin, and I'm also talking to head of marketing. So these are the kinds of discussions that I required in my own situation where I'm trying to put something on the air. These are the kinds of people that I'm having to talk to at the same time. So if you're in a complex sales scenario, you'll find that you're juggling these sorts of conversations at the same time.

Now, in these sorts of situations where there's plenty of talk needed and you have to talk to several people, you will find that relationship building is essential to making sure that you close the deal. The toasting stage is long. The toasting that is required is plenty. So if I want to get a show on the air, I can't just talk to one person. I'll be cool with him. Sorry. One moment. OK. Sorry about that. I'm back. My end of year resolution is to make sure that I stop coughing into the microphone.

So I you know, it's unprofessional. So let me try and push things up over here on the broadcast. Where was I? Yeah. So how? My tongue. The usual things. So I lost my train of thought. OK. Yeah. So I was saying that the level of toasting that is required is plenty. So like in my own stage, I can't be cool with one person, may be cool with head of operations, but then I don't give a hoot when I'm talking to head of marketing.

I have to be on good levels with everybody and toast everyone to make sure that this deal gets closed. So that is the difference between a simple sales scenario and a complex sales scenario. Now some of you might be confused and think that it is limited to the particular thing that you're selling, but it is all contextual. So let me give you an example. In the first example, I spoke about selling a Gucci one-on-one. You have the store, the man comes, it's just both of you.

Or the old man comes, you're the person who owns the store, and then it's just both of you. So in that case, it's a simple sales scenario. Or somebody wants to buy a Bible or a Quran or a geography textbook, they come into your store. It's just you and the other person. That's a simple sales scenario. But now think about this, if you're in a Gucci dealer but now you're trying to sell a truck load or several truck loads or to become a permanent supplier of egusi to the major markets in Abuja.

You know, maybe like Utako market, where else, the marketing zone 5, you know all those places. Now, if you want to become a major marketer to those, if that's the level that you're dealing at, then you can see that even though now technically speaking, egusi is a commodity and it's a simple product, things have become a little bit much more complex because you will have to talk to lots of people. You will need plenty of time to talk.

You will have to build trust with several people and with before you can close the deal. It's not just as simple as selling 1 cup of a Gucci when you talk about selling a truckload. And it's the same thing with the Bibles and the Qurans or the geographic textbook. If you're in your store and somebody walks in, that simple. But if you're trying to sell the Bible or the Quran or the geography textbook to major schools in Abuja and Lagos as part of our approved curriculums, then you can see that now things have become a little bit complex.

So don't just say I sell Lugosi, therefore everything I will do will always be a simple sale. It's not the case. I don't just say I sell books or I sell makeup. So everything I'm doing will always be a simple sale. So it's not that simple. So the difference sometimes between the simple sale and the complex sale depends on the context and depends on the scale of what is it that you are trying to do. Now back to what I said in the beginning of the show, that the reason why we have to pay attention to who we're talking to and to try and find the decision maker is because anybody can tell you no, but not everybody can tell you yes.

So let's look at the example of someone who is selling to schools. Anybody can tell you no. The security guy can tell you no, You're not entering into the school, and that's what would destroy your sale. The security guard might let you through, and then the receptionist will tell you no. And then that's the end. You can go forward. The receptionist might let you through, but then the head of the nursery section might tell you no.

The head of the primary section can tell you no. The head teacher can tell you no. The vice principal academics can tell you no. The vice principal socials can tell you no. The principal can tell you no. So you can see that there are lots of people here who can tell you no. But let's look at this whole chain. Is it everybody who can say yes? Ultimately the person who can say yes to the deal. OK, I don't sell to schools, but this is my guess.

My guess is if you're selling to schools, maybe the principal, maybe vice principal academic. I'm not sure if vice principal socials will have a say, but to sell Bibles, Qurans and geography textbooks to the school, my guess is you probably should be talking to vice principal academic, talking to principal or talking to head teacher, you know, So it depends. So that's the reason why it's important who it is that you are talking to.

So now the main question for the show is, sorry, excuse me, how do we get to the person ultimately who can say yes? The first thing I'd like to point out is that we should respect everyone we meet because it's a mistake that all of us make. And believe me, everybody makes this mistake. So if you make the mistake, don't feel bad, I've made the mistake as well because you think somebody on the inside is more important. You don't pay too much attention to the people that you meet along the way.

So the first thing actually is to respect everyone that you meet. Because if you're rude to the security guard, it's going to be hard to enter the building. If you're rude to the receptionist, it'll be hard to go past the front desk. So you really have to be nice to everybody. You really have to be polite to everyone. Doesn't mean you have to to grovel, but you have to be polite. And on the broadcast I've spoken about how I got into an oil and gas company.

This was for what's it called end of year party. Is it end of year party? I can't remember. End of year an awards ceremony and all of our cool jazz were talking photography and video and the budget was looking nice and was looking sweet. I liked the number of zeros that were on the invoice. And then at the end of the day, the reason why everything scattered is because there was a secretary there who I don't like and she doesn't like me.

Apparently, when it comes to events, she's the one who OK's every single vendor. And that's how everything fell apart. I was able to get into the organization because I went to school with someone there. So, you know, check. The person put me on good terms with the head of accounting, and it turned out that the head of accounting also went to my school above him at Willow Wall University. So check then who else? I can't remember the other people, but basically there were like four or five workers and all of us were on good terms.

And so I assumed that this was a done deal. And I told all the boys that you guys should be ready for so, so, so and so date. This thing is going to click. I'm going to see if they can pay us on so, so, so and so date. And then at the end of the day, it was a secretary that scattered the whole deal. But then again, I was younger and I was stupid, but now I know my lesson. So I tried to be respectful to everyone, even if I don't like you and you don't like me, I

will be respectful and I will be cautious. So if you want to get to the person who can say yes and who can approve your deal, make sure you respect every single person you meet. Then it also helps if you do some research ahead of time and you ask for someone specifically by name. So if you're going into a building, an office and you're hoping to meet with XYZ person who is responsible for approving this budget or approving that program or approving this or that, try and do some research before you get to the building.

Because if you get to the building and from the gate, you say, oh, I'm here to see James Okichuku in accounting department. It's a lot easier to stroll into the building that way if that is how you approach the security guard and that's how you approach the receptionist. You know, you head there, you're confident, you're dressed up, you look good. It looks as if you know what you're doing. And it most importantly, since you've asked for the person by name, that kinda is an assumption that you know the person.

So you find that in most places in Nigeria, heading to the building and saying, I'm here to see James Okudujuku in accounting is enough to get you past the security guard. You might not get past the receptionist with that because you want to know, do you guys have an appointment? Is he expecting you, blah, blah, blah. But that's a topic for another episode. But at least if you have a name, you have a department, it's a lot easier to get into the building.

Now how are you going to do your research, the opportunities available? You can look on LinkedIn, look at the the organization you some organizations have LinkedIn pages. You click on that and, and from there you're going to see employees. You click on employees and then you can see who and who works there, what they're responsible for, those sorts of things. You can also do some research on social media. You can check the company website because sometimes the company website has who is responsible for what.

If you don't believe me, recently I was thinking of calling up banks to discuss certain programs. And so I need to do some research on GT and I'll surprise the amount of information that I could find there. So I could find people's names. OK, Well, unfortunately, I couldn't find phone numbers, but I could find names and departments. Excuse me. And in some cases, I could even find branches. So it is possible for you to go online and do some research.

Then the last form of research you can do is to ask around people you know. So excuse me so you can call up your friend. Like I say, Emeka Alfano, you work with Access Bank AB I've been trying to talk to, so I want to approve this program, blah, blah, blah. Who do you think I should be talking to or who's responsible for XYZ? And if Emeka or whoever it is that you're talking to knows, he or she most likely will tell you, then you can.

Now on Monday, wake up, bath, brush your teeth, put on your suit, on suit and suit, put on your tie, and then head straight to the building. And then just do like I advise you have somebody's name specifically that you're asking to see in social and social department. And that's how you'll be led to the person that you are going to see. Sometimes all the research you do does not get you anywhere, but somehow you're inside the building or you're talking to someone who is close enough to the situation that you're trying to resolve.

And it's OK to ask the person, OK, who's responsible for XYZ and asked to be introduced to that person. You'll find that in most cases it's a reasonable request and you'll be handed over to the person. Although when I was a wedding photographer, this is one thing I used to do because usually I ended up dealing with the bride, but sometimes it would be sister of the bride, cousin of the bride or the groom who we get in touch.

So I always had to find ways of stylishly bringing the bride into the conversation. So if you check lots of sales resources online, you would find typical advice that you should say something like this, that usually we should be talking to XYZ to decide on this, how soon can we make them a part of the conversation? So that kind of scope is what I used to bring the bride into the picture. So by the time I met with the groom one or two times, I would say how far we've met like twice.

I haven't seen Madam, like, what's up? And I'll leave it like that. And then I'll now hear from him and he might say, oh, OK, she's about to round up her masters. They're doing exams. She's coming into the country next month. So at least now I know the reason why I've not been seeing the bride is because the bride is still in school, but she has a flight. She's going to be here next month. And then in my mind, I can start crafting plans for how to get her into the conversation.

Because verily, verily, I say on TV, if you're not talking to the right person, it is very easy to seal the deal and conclude money. And then when it gets to the point of pain, the important party comes in and says, I don't like this. And then everything scatters. We've all been in that situation. Before you finish, you finalize the room, says I'm going to pay on Monday. Now on Monday, you call him up to say how far, and then he says, you know, I was talking to Cami and then she said there's this other photographer that she likes or something, something,

something. And that's it. You're out of the deal. And the reason why out of the deal is because you didn't involve Cami, the bride, in the conversation earlier. So that's the reason why we should be paying attention to all these decision dynamics and trying to look for the person who can say yes, because anybody can say no. But the best example of this sort of thing that I got years ago was when I was addressing the group and the lawyer decided to give her testimony.

And this was her testimony. She was discussing with someone for the sale of land. And the person she was discussing with was wifey Madame, and the property was in Madame's name. So she assumed like most people would do in Niger because my background was in law. I mean, if if it's wifey's name on the city or vote, then you just assume that OK, we're good to go. So they agreed on how much the money was supposed to be and they say payment was supposed to be next week Monday.

And then the lawyer started the paperwork because after all, I'm talking with Madam. So we're good to go. She has given me the go ahead money transfer on Monday. That's the only thing that remain. Then Monday morning, the husband arrived because he had been out of town. And then only God knows what happens, but that's how the deal scattered. So excuse me. And sometimes it happens the other way around. You're dealing with the husband and then you conclude, but then the wife comes and says, look, I

don't like it or I'm not comfortable about it. And then everything will scatter. So figuring out all these decision dynamics helps you to be better prepared and helps you to figure out who you need to pull into the conversation early on to make sure that your prospects of closing the deal go up. So somebody might ask, what are you supposed to do in these sorts of situations? Keep it simple, keep it conversational so you can say something like, OK, Madam, I'm glad we're good to go.

Is there anybody else that we're expecting to weigh in on the matter? Your lawyer, your husband, and then you wait and see what it is that the person has to say. Now, some of you might be offended with what I've just said. You know, female advocates, like, are we trying to say a woman is not capable of conducting business, excuse me, business over her own plot of land, you know, over her own property? And believe me, especially as someone who has been raised,

excuse me, especially as someone who's been raised by a single mom, you know, I am not advocating for any of these things. And I'm not saying that we should take womankind back to the snow and ages. I'm just saying that let's get real. As somebody who is selling land or somebody who's a lawyer, all I know is that at the end of the day, I want like 50M in my pocket at the end of the day. What is the best way I can go about to make sure that this deal closes?

That's all I'm saying. I'm not making any comment on social matters. So if Madam is the owner of the property, but it's significant that her lawyer weighs in or that her husband weighs in, you're better off finding now than in two weeks for the lawyer or the husband to come in and then torpedo the whole thing. So ask and then if it's the other scenario where you're talking to the guy, it's a reasonable thing. In fact, there's an agent who has asked me that before.

The agent said, Olga, I'm glad you like the house, but what about Madam? Will she come and see the house? And the reason why he was asking is because it makes a lot of sense because you can meet with the man and the man says, no problem, this is the house we'll take. We'll come and pay the rent. We'll pay on Monday. But then on Saturday you show up with Madam. Madam looks and then Madam says, I don't like the kitchen or there's nowhere here that is good enough to be the children's room.

And then that's how everything will scatter. And of course, if you had told all the agents, assuming you're the one who is trying to sell the house, if you had told all the agents that, OK, this one is going to close, blah, blah, blah, everybody's happy. They're all waiting for their own 2% or 5% or however much, you know, a whole bunch of people are going to be disappointed. And so that's why the guy asked me that question.

It was out of experience. So, Olga, I'm glad you liked the house. Behalf of Madam, won't she come and see the house? So it's absolutely important. And then there is a scenario where there's scenarios like this where lawyers, for instance, can say normally in these kinds of land transactions, the family head usually gives consent or permission. Has the family met? Has the family discussed? This is a question I've been asked before because where the piece of land is an inheritance,

sometimes clients don't consider these cultural nuances. So for lawyers who are handling these kinds of transactions, you know, these are the sorts of things that they can you can say. But bottom line, what I'm trying to say is this, you need to be asking these sorts of questions to be able to figure out who is the right person to be talking to. If family head has to be a part of this discussion, you need to figure out now and bring the person into this conversation.

So we can go on for hours and hours and looking at different examples about how do we figure out who the decision maker is, who is important in the decision making matrix? How do we get people into this conversation? And we can go on and on and on and on. But ultimately we'd have to look at these situations on a case by case basis. But bottom line, I hope you guys are with me on this one and you've been able to figure out and apply and see.

Now when it comes to your business, sometimes talking only to the person who is in front of you might be a bad idea. You need to figure out who else should I be talking to? Who is responsible for saying yes or who are the people responsible for saying yes? Who are the decision making committee that is responsible for saying yes? And how can I make sure that I'm talking to all of these people? Because sometimes you might be spending time talking to someone who is too low down the decision making ladder.

If that's the case, figure it out quickly and then move a step up. And the closer you are to the decision maker or to the decision making committee, the better your chances for closing the deal. So that's all for today. Thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode. Or I forgot to share what I've been listening to on Spotify. Last night I was listening to King Maddie. She's correct, babe, as in songs are real nice.

I like the way she spells. Her name is Qing King Maddie. Then there was also some stuff from Young John, who was one of the producers of her songs. And then she did something with Benson. She also did something with Kiss Daniel. You know, real correct music. The only problem I have with that kind of music is everything is love, love, love, love, love. So if you're not married and you're not in a relationship and you're listening to this kind of music, you would just die of frustration.

So if you know King Maddie, tell her that the love songs are nice as a real nice. But I beg tell us you should try and sing some other stuff as well so that single people won't die of frustration. Because anyway, I've made my point on that one. Then what is good music to listen to? Just be warned that if you are in a relationship or if you are married and you're listening to lots of King Maddie and stuff like that, you might mess around and get pregnant because it's real good stuff.

Just makes you want to cuddle and love up. Then I also listen to Pusha T that was this morning. Pusha T he used to be with this group clips and there used to be boys of what's this guy Pharrell Williams. So Pharrell Williams boys, that whole crew and now some good hip hop right there. But you know, these these these things are world apart. So King Maddie, that's love you love, you love yourself. Pusha T, it's more like grimy hip hop, not the kind of thing you hear on the radio.

So if you're a hip hop head, try out some Pusha T If not, listen to some King Maddie. Except if you are single. If you are single, don't listen to King Maddie because you will die of frustration. You'd be like oh love, love, love, love, love. Why am I not in love? Why am I not married? Why am I not in a relationship? So that's it. Thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you guys at the next episode.