Why Only Talking to One Person is Killing Your Deals

Hello and welcome to the podcast. It's been a while since we had a hardcore business and sales episode, so let's just head straight into it now. Today, what I want us to look at, so excuse me, what I want us to look at today is what to do when you're talking to someone, you're trying to close the deal, you're trying to move an agenda forward, you're trying to build a relationship, you're trying to pursue one or two things in business.

And then the person says, let me run it by my boss. What do you do in that kind of situation? This is something that I actually wanted us to talk about since the 3rd of March, but you know how it is now. You know, things happen and I just kind of forgot. So I saw my notes today. Oh, by the way, apologies. Making today's recording out and about the parking lot. And so I expect to hear some noise in the background. In fact, somebody's weeping right next to me.

So hold on, let me just wind up the windows. OK, Sorry about that. Like I said, I'm out and about. I'm in the parking lot and one of the cleaners was cleaning on the left side of the car. So I said let me just wind up that window so she doesn't become too much of A, you know, of a distraction. But anyway, like I said, I'm out and about. So you're going to hear people talking, cars driving by, you know, that sort of thing.

Oh, and then there's a crash nearby just in case you happen to hear kids running about. OK, so like I said, what we're talking about today is what to do when you're trying to close a deal. You're talking to somebody, you're toasting the person, you think you're making progress. Everything is going smooth, everything is going OK Conversation, they appear soft. Everything is, you know, you're making progress, you're making progress.

You're getting close to the time when you now want to tell the person that we are transferred 2.5 M into my account. Let's get this thing going, let's get this thing going. And then the guy or the woman will look at you and say, oh, this sounds fantastic. Let me run it by my boss. Let me talk to my old guy. Oh, thank you. Let me show my Olga. Now, for those of you who have been in that situation, I do not need to tell you that, you know,

this is a kind, this is like this kind of brake lights that comes from nowhere because actually for you are making progress. Then they say, let me talk to my Olga. There's a way that I think kinds of, you know, there's way kinds of you put a damper, you put a slow down, you know, you slow down the tempo, that kind of thing. And of course, that's not what we're looking for when we're talking to somebody. And we're hoping that, you know,

at least by Wednesday next week, they will transfers 2.5, you know, into the account so that we can pay one or two bills, you know, get some things going. So today we're going to look at what kind of statement is this when somebody says, let me run it by my boss, what kind of statement is this? Then what are the kind of things that lead to this situation where you're talking to somebody and you think everything is cool?

I think everything is going on OK there. From nowhere, the person will now say, and let me tell my old guy, how can we prevent this kind of situation that we're talking to somebody, we are thinking that the next thing is that they should transfer us deposit and they'll say, let me talk to Madam. Then if you are in that situation where somebody says let me run to my boss, let me talk to my guy, let me talk to my Adam say wait, Chairman Ode,

you know, I suppose their chairman first, when you're in that kind of situation now, how do you deal with it? Now? First off, this kind of thing, this is what we call an objection in sales. An objection just means that you're trying to pursue an agenda, you're trying to close a deal. There's something that you're trying to work towards and somebody is talking with you. The person, they follow you, Jan, you guys are, you know,

you, they communicate. Then all of a sudden from nowhere, the person starts saying one or two things, you know, as if they say no, they go forward again, you know, so you guys are already used to the most common objections, which are money objections. You know, you're too expensive, you're too cheap. Yes, by the way, I've heard that one before. You actually can lose a deal because you are too cheap the, the oh, anyway, you happen to some of you don't understand what I'm talking about.

I have been in that situation where I called with person later on and you know, luckily I built good rapport. So I was like, Rabbi, how far now you guys, you guys want me to pay school fees? You know, Sheila and I should say, well, you know, the committee sat, we looked at the the tenders and by the time we're done, we could tell that you are not going to execute this thing by yourself. I said yes, that I was worried about costs.

So because of that, I decided to outsource to some boys who are local who come and do the thing in Kano and I'll stay here in Abuja and then I'll be running you from here. And then Rabbi goes, not her real name by the way. Rabbi goes on to tell me that that's precisely the reason why you lost the deal, that you actually were the cheapest. But then we knew that you were not going to be on site to pull this thing through.

I was shocked I said so money was not an issue. She said no, that money is is always an issue. Now they can get a good service for a low price no problem. But honestly speaking, my bid was the cheapest and because of that they knew that you know quality No go follow the whole thing. You understand so you actually can I'm telling you I'm telling you using my own life experience this one, no big no big theory. I'm telling you practice.

You can lose a deal because you're the cheapest. Although most of us used to losing business or having issues because somebody says we're too expensive. So those are objections. You're too cheap or you're too expensive or you know what else? Anyway, that's the most common one, money. But that is not the only thing that somebody can say that can throw AK leg, throw a question mark, throw a comma into this conversation, into this setup,

into this relationship that we're having. One of those things is let me tell my Olga, let me tell my boss to come. Chairman is coming back on Friday. Oh, Madam has traveled when Madam come back and all those kind of things, all those that is also an objection. We thought we were making progress. We thought the proposal is cool. We thought the next stage is transfer money out of nowhere. You now say all guys coming back on Friday.

Let me talk to Olga first. So any question mark, any K leg, any unforeseen detour in the conversation, that is what we call an objection in sales. Now some people don't like objection. See first of all, who likes nobody likes objections. If I'm talking to somebody and I'm thinking correct, correct, correct, making progress, making progress, correct, OK, by next week do transfer 20 million. If I'm talking to somebody and in my head I'm saying 20,000,020

million, 20 million and then something comes up and then we have to match break. Believe me, I'm not happy either. So nobody's happy when you get objections. But what you have to understand is that objections are a normal state of life. Normal because sometimes, well, people object for a number of reasons. But sometimes the reason why people object is because they have legitimate concerns that need to be addressed. They have legitimate questions that they need answers.

They have things that they're trying to understand that they don't quite understand yet. So they're just trying to slow it down, let them catch their breath, let them understand before they transferred 20 million to you. And then you know something happens next week and you're nowhere to be found. Or you say it's not covered in the terms of reference you get. And then sometimes it's just a shrug off. They're just trying to get you off.

So people object for different reasons. It's a normal part of life. So don't be angry anymore. If you're new in business, yes, the first couple of objections you will get will annoy you, especially the money objections. You're too expensive, you're too expensive, you're too expensive. You will now be angry that people are pricing you like groundnut now you now be angry at the competition that how dare they? Why are they pricing their things so, so cheap that I give people a bad time.

So when it down is normal is normal. But after a while, you just need to own up to the fact that objections will always happen. So don't feel bad, don't feel bad. But then honestly speaking is the truth. If somebody they give you objection, at least when I see the yarn, at least you're talking, at least you can see the person, at least the person see they pick up. It is better than when they ghost you, right? So if somebody they give you objection is good, at least we're still talking.

You pass in a ghost you. That's where the real problem is. Because by the time you think, yes, the ghosting level you do not like, you don't know how you can possibly rectify the situation. Sorry. One moment the sleeper started again. Let me just wind up on this side. OK, I'm back. Sorry about that. You know, this is the beauty of creating content live. You know, when you create content on the move, you always, you always have to adapt what's going on.

So it's just one of these things I bet more on an ovex. So even though you know, there's production delays and noise coming in the background and everything, always trying to make sure that on this podcast we talk about real cogent, constructive issues. So even if production value is not high, at least you know that you're receiving good, good, good, good, good content over here. So just bear with me. So where was I? So I say, look, ghosting is normal.

Don't be angry then if you're receiving, I say no ghosting objections. Objections are normal. Don't be angry then if somebody is objecting to you, it is better than ghosting because ghosting the person is going quiet, they're not picking call you suspect that they've blocked you. If you go to the office, receptionist will say our guy is not on seat, even though you can see from the window the orgas Mercedes-Benz is parked outside,

but they say our guy is not on seat by the time he gets to ghosting level. You cannot resuscitate this thing. So if objections is all you're receiving, it's good. It's good. At least we're still in the conversation. So, yeah, so that's what an objection is. Any comma, any K leg, any excuse, any reason why they don't want to buy or why they don't want to continue the conversation. Now, if somebody's trying to shrug you off my own opinion,

people have different ways of handling my own opinion. By the time don't reach did not reach like shrug off level, just, you know, go. If they're trying to shrug you off, get the message, get the hint. Go try and secure a referral. Do you know anybody else who might be interested in XYZ? If if they do. Get the phone number. Leave them alone if they don't. Thank you very much for your time. Just in case you change your mind.

Here's my business card. Here's my flyer. Here's my website. Here's my podcast. Here's my niece. Here's my dad. You know that If they didn't shrug you off, then, you know, take the hint. Leave. I'm going to look for somebody else who you should talk to. Now, all these objections that have to do with OGA, let me talk to my boss. Let me talk to Madame Chairman is in Dubai, he's coming back. He's in Paris. He went for Paris Accord, you know, on and on and on.

All these kind of things, all these OGA objections. Let me talk to my boss. It usually happens because we failed to ask some very simple questions in the beginning of the conversation. So when somebody says let me talk to my boss, our guy is in Mecca, he has gone for small hatch, all these things. It is because you didn't ask questions about the decision matrix. Decision matrix is a fancy term that people use in construction because in construction projects, the people who sell construction projects, they know that it's not just one person who is responsible for closing the deal.

So anybody who is selling a construction project knows that they have to be talking to Orga CEO or MD. That's the person that will pay the money. They also need to know that they'll be talking to the people in in procurement, they'll be talking to the people in finance, they'll be talking to the people in what else you know, they'll be talking to different stakeholders to close the deal. So in the construction industry,

at least in America, there's this idea of the decision making matrix. You need to know from the beginning that look, if we are going to sell this construction project, who and who and who are we supposed to talk to? So in the older podcast episode where I spoke about this senior brother, well, not my brother, but you know, senior brother as well. I used to be a lawyer. I can't remember the guy's name, but I think the construction outfit is Establioni.

I think I can't remember because it was a long time ago back when I was in law school. So the guy was a senior advocate is rumored that he wanted to be in engineering, but his father said on top my dead body, I'm a lawyer, you must be a lawyer. And the boy said I must be a lawyer. He said yes, I don't know this for sure. This was a gist that we used to hear back in the day. So the guy went ahead and he became a lawyer, but he never stopped the construction thing.

He did the construction thing. I decided. So the guy eventually became senior advocate of Nigeria and he also would have a construction company that would go on to do MMM 2. That's Muttala Mohammed, you know, now the airport in Lagos, MMM 2 And then I think also the secretariat in the secretariat in Abuja, the modern secretariat in Abuja. So I, I think it's his own company that fronted that did those ones, by the way, go and verify all these things.

Because remember, I was small then, I was still, you know, university into law school, you know, So it's just gist, it's not verified. So anyway, somebody like Establioni, now they know that if we're going to get this deal done, Muttalam Mohammed, right, We should be in touch with the Lagos State governor. But of course, no, because Lagos State governor alone, we need to have somebody in the presidency that we should be chasing.

Then we also need somebody in Lagos State Ministry of Works. Then we also need to have one or two connects in maybe like Federal Ministry of Works. Then we also, if we know one or two senators, you know, go bad, then if we know a few people in the State House of Rep, you know, now we'll be good. Then who again, you understand, you see to get that kind deal, good money, dollars, dollars, dollars, millions of dollars, decision making matrix, who are the players that are involved?

We need to know them so that we'll get to 1 stage and the person says, oh, the president has travelled to Paris. If you get to that stage where they tell you that, oh, chairman has gone for Hajj, you're the one that made the mistake. You did not know that chairman is a significant part of the equation to begin with. You should have been asking those questions. You should be trying to figure out who and who and who is involved in saying yes to this thing or when it comes to implementing these things, who and who and who have a say or who and who have any implications when it comes to implementing these things.

You need to know the people involved so that you get them along for the conversation. So when somebody pulls his orgathan on, you say, oh, Madame went for pilgrimage, she's coming back in two months. Let me talk to my boss. You know, chairman, they come, he's not see in all those things you fail to ask the questions concerning how people make decisions. You need to know the decision matrix. You need to know how clients make decisions within the organization or within their family or within their whatever.

You need to figure it out. Figure out who is going to say yes, What are the people required to hear yes, or what are the people who have a stake in how people implement this thing. If somebody says chairman is on Hajj, he's coming back next month, if that's the objection. The problem is you have been talking to the wrong person all along. OK, maybe not the wrong person, but you should have included somebody else. And clearly Chairman is somebody that you should have been included in the conversation.

Now, usually when this kind of thing happens, you know, chairman is, you know, he had, you know, Madam has gone for pilgrimage, Madam's daughter is getting married, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Typically you're only talking to one person and that is wrong. That is called single threading. You are trying to get into any account. You have a complex sale. You're in a complex sale situation. You're only talking to one person.

You're wrong. Single threading is wrong. You should be multi threading or multi threading depending on how you want to pronounce it. You should be talking to 23456 different people in the accounts depending on the industry, depending on the context. So you can see how I said with Star Leone for instance. By the way, I am guessing, I am guessing. My assumption is that before they close that deal, they had connects in the presidency, they had connects in governor office,

they have connects in House of Reps, they have connects in Senate, they have connects in Ministry of works, they have connects in Lagos State works. You know, they have connects in FAN, connects in fan. Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria, you guys have connects in Federal Aviation Authority. Maybe you know, one or two people serve in the minister's office, Minister of Aviation, do you understand those kind of deals don't just drop like that?

So people in the construction space, they know now look, if we're going to get this thing and we're going to be getting dollar, dollar, dollar, charging good money, we cannot be talking to only one person. That's a mistake that lots of you make. That's the reason why you'll be surprised that somebody will say, let me run it by my boss. So these are the reasons why it happens. So now obviously, what can we do to prevent it?

Very simple, very simple. Start asking questions about how people make decisions so that you are not surprised by anything. Also so that you will know who to involve in the discussions. Then once you know who to involve in discussions, you will now know how to teleguide the conversation. So if from the beginning you know that Orga is a key player that is involved, and maybe by now you have Orga the P as phone number or Madam's phone number.

I know that Madam has gone on pilgrimage. You know, there's a way that you can be orchestrating the meeting around when August should be back from Hajj, or Madam is back from pilgrimage, or Madam has returned from her son's graduation, you know, in Washington, DC. You now know how you can be moving all these transactions around, all these key, key people, key key events. You get, well, you have to be asking questions about how people make these decisions knowing I've listed out some,

some sample questions that we can run through knowing only if you're hanging. So Please remember I said that this applies for people who are in the complex hill. A complex hill is any situation where you're selling a product or your service, right? And then multiple decision makers are involved or multiple stakeholders are involved. They're different people that are involved. I'm currently working with a client right now who is in the ad tech space.

That's the advertising technology space and it's one of the sessions that we had last week. I told them, look for your product to be used and to be implemented. You cannot sell into the organization if you're only talking to one person. There are some people that we need to talk to and then we sat down and then we teased it out. These are the people that you I should be talking to. If I am selling advertising technology to Nigerian businesses, these are the people that I should be talking to.

Sorry, advertising, digital technology, these are people I should be talking to then. And I told them that look, this is how you think about the problem. It's not just about the office per SE, but it's about the category, the classes of people that you should be talking to. And also so that tomorrow, because you know how startup they be now today your startup is here and you're doing this thing tomorrow when I will pivot.

So in the event that you will pivot in the future, this is how you think about it. You look at your product, you look at your service, and then you think about things from a management perspective. Who are the people that. Are. Involved in making the decisions or who are the people that that will be affected from a management perspective. So it's not just about the title. You're selling advertising software, you're coming into an organization.

You now start thinking who in senior management might be affected by this my software. Then you also think about technical users, the class of people. You'll now be thinking, OK, from a technical background, who is going to be responsible for implementing this software? When somebody implement the software, who is going to be responsible for generating the reports from the software so that the business can decide whether it was a good decision or a bad decision?

Then there are also financial stakeholders. Financial stakeholders are people who control the pause, who will be responsible for issuing the check, for making the transfer, Who do I know in finance, Who do I know in procurement? So that's the way to think about it. As you are approaching the organization and you're involved in the complex hill, that is the level that you think of it. This is not the complete way to think about it.

I'm not saying that this is your starting base. Who in management is involved on the technical end, the desk officer, who is involved? Then on the financial end, when it comes time to authorize the money, who is involved? So when you start thinking about it in those times, you'll find that you'll find the right people in the mix so that at the end of the day, somebody will not say, oh, you know what, oh, I'm sorry, the head of procurement just got transferred.

We're waiting for them to send a new MD for procurement. The board has not passed the resolution yet, so we have to wait until they hire a new chair of procurement. If you did not take this approach earlier and if you did not know that financial controller, I'll be chief accountant or head of procurement or whatever, if you do not know that we're a significant part of the equation, you wouldn't you wouldn't have known how to play this whole thing.

If you know that we're a significant part of the equation and he knew that maybe their tenure is up in December and we're currently in March, of course, you now know that this is the time to put fire on the throttle because if you're making progress now, this person's tenure is ending in December, you're not able to get this thing to close by December. You're on your own. A new chief of procurement will come, and then guess what, back to square 1.

So you're on a complex hill. You really need to know all of these things involve all of these people early. Don't be surprised by nothing and then start planning the conversation based on all these things that you're knowing. OK, who are the key players? OK, are these the ones? OK, OK, what's that movement? What's their priorities? What's important to them? Then you not be planning your sales motions around those people.

So let's look at some sample questions now, one easy question that you can use without offending anybody because to to go and talk to somebody and then say I want to talk to your guy. You know, it's kind of like an insult. We'll be like, oh, really, I'm too small for you to talk to Abby. You would want to talk to my Agar Abby, No problem. Give me your file when our guy is on seat. I will let you know. You know what usually these things in Nigeria and of course you know by the time you get somebody on that kind levels and the person has your file, Oh,

your file will sit at the bottom of the pile from now until Jesus comes or guy will not see your file. So you can't just walk up to somebody and say, let me talk to you Orga, relax. You need to use some some maturity. Yeah, so you just ask someone. Oh, OK, apart from you when it comes to implementing this and this and this. You know who else who else is normally involved in this kind of something? You know that kind of he's not a direct affront.

It's not you telling the person that, look, you're too small, I can't talk to you give me access to you Orga. You know, apart from you, who else is involved in social. And so as I say, well, you know, there's me and normally Madam Rabbi's department, they do something, something, you know, by someone asking people like that. And two or three people say in Madam Rabbi's department, surely you know that you need to try and find a way to get Madam Rabbi's phone number or one day when you're in the office, you just pass by say, Madam Rabbi, I

just say, may I agree to you? From asking these kind of questions, you've gotten an idea that Madam Rabbi is significant in the equation. By all means trying to fall find the conversation. It's better you do it now. Then you continue and somebody says, oh, Madam Rabbi is not on seat. And then your mother will now hang. Let me talk to my boss, Madam Rabbi. Then another sample question. I started this as a wedding photographer because I noticed that normally for weddings it's normally brides that is in the suite brides who you know be carrying the matter on their head.

So I just noticed that whenever I'm talking to a couple and is as if every time it's only the groom that is showing up. It's only the groom I'm talking to. I just realized that more it's not, it's not pure. It's not pure at all because normally not the bride suppose they vibrate. But this one is the groom that I'm seeing around. So I started asking boys now it was a groom. No first meeting only the groom. Second meeting only the groom,

third meeting only the groom after I said how far? Now the guy, you know, normally in a bride's day where they carry this in for airpass. But this one that is only you that I'm saying like what's going on? I mean she's not interested. I will ask. And there are times when the things save me say, well, you know, actually I prefer you, but she prefers another photographer. Oh, at least now I know what the issue is, that the guy likes me,

but the babe like somebody else, that kind of thing. I won't be surprised when it's time to transfer. And he says, you know what, let me talk to Chemi. I won't be surprised because at least from the beginning I knew that, OK, only the guy likes me, Chemi, like somebody else. At least I'm not surprised. No heartbreak there. So that's when I started asking those kinds of questions. He can ask questions like that. You're with somebody, you say,

what do you think GM will think about this kind of thing? And the person says, oh, GMGM know the concern itself with this camera at all at all at all. In fact, there's no one GM you should be you should be worried about is ahead of human resources Najid a true pass when it comes to this kind of thing. You ask the question and now you know that oh, OK, for this organization, there's no point in talking to Cao. CEO. Even though CEO has the title,

you will now know that the person on ground person to talk to is the head of human resources. And for those of you who've been listening to the podcast for a while, you heard the the episode I spoke about last week. You know how I'm trying to get on another TV station, you know, and I was talking to GM, but by the time conversations were going, I just realized that HA is as if this head of program is also a strong person.

So I talked to my guys. How far now should I show? Let me come and see. Head of programming against, you know, don't we help? Honestly, we help. And then by the time I had the conversation, I realized that the head of programming, that woman is in control of her domain. She's large and in charge. So some of you, you're talking to GM and you think, oh, GM is in control of everything. Therefore this is a closed deal. You know, you don't realize.

You don't realize that. OK, well, this one is not a matter of worker because GM is on top. Head of program is under. You all know that downstairs there's somebody who is in charge of the domain and if she does not say pass, you cannot go. OK, what's the different scenario? But anyway, still the same thing. Ask these questions so that you know who is important, who is making the decisions so that nobody will come and say, oh,

OK, no problem. This is a brilliant proposal. You know what? Our head of programming is currently on annual leave. We need to wait for head of programming to call back, ask so that you won't be surprised, you won't be blindsided. So he asked, what does GM think about this? What of the chief technical officer? What does he think about this? Oh, the boys in technical department, do they have any criteria that we should meet,

you know, for this, our solution? Oh, what about MD? The last company that I sold to MD had a few things to say about this and this and this. What about your own company? Is it normally the same thing? Does MD normally you can inside this matter. Inside this matter, you ask? Oh, Madam, Oh, I'm glad that we're making progress, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Sorry, man, no Vex. But you know, now Niger, we did so for some families, you know,

the cultures are different. But like in your situation, does your husband get involved in these sorts of things? You ask? You ask, oh, Sir, blah, blah, blah. I'm glad that you like the house and this and this and that and that. I'm glad that we're making progress. But Sir, normally for most couples that have closed the deal with, you know, usually we see, Madam, that Madam, OK, one or two things about the house, you know, like the children's room and the kitchen and stuff like that, you know.

So how far, Sir? When are we seeing mommy, you ask? Right, so you ask what also so and so think about this. This kind of person is normally involved. Are we going to be here from this person? Oh, I'm glad that we reached this stage. Typically at this stage, this is the stage where we now involve the lawyer. Would you like me to send these documents to your lawyer? OK, good. Can I have his contact details? You ask instead of you continue discussion.

Then the person now says, oh, thank you very much. Let me send this into lawyer then. This is the first time you're hearing lawyer. You don't know the lawyer's name. You don't know the lawyer's contact details. How you can, I mean, it's too late, But if you have brought these things up earlier and you're ahead of Barrister Chuko and Mecca, eventually you get Barrister Chuko and Mecca. And then you orchestrate it so that accidentally you happen to be in the neighborhood in Barrister Chuko and Mecca's office, and then you go and greet him, you know, So by the time reaches that level of, oh,

let me talk to my boss, let me talk to my superior, let me talk to my lawyer, let me talk to my accountant, and it's not a problem. You already made the connect. You'll be able to push it through. So these are some sample questions. Normally, we would also be talking to car BSE. Normally we'll be talking to Olga. Normally at this stage, we'll be talking to supervisor or Senator. Normally at this stage, we'll be talking to line manager.

Normally at this stage we'll be talking to blah blah blah. So before we take the next step, when do you think Car BSE will be available for a meeting? When do you think Line Manager will be available for a meeting? When do you think Sugaba will be available for a meeting? When do you think Overson will be available for a meeting? When do you think Marzi will be available for a meeting, you ask? Right, you never know. And remember our First Lady, our former First Lady.

Good luck, Jonathan's wife. Remember when she asked? Not only you waka com, you can ask too now. And only you waka com you know. Based on how they respond, you now know whether oh OK, these are the decision makers or other people are supposed to be involved. Oh, by the way, I'm just kidding. Don't walk into an official meeting and say hey, not only you, I come. And besides, that time has passed. You know, good old Jonathan is no longer in office, so the joke is now dry.

So summary, we need to be asking questions to be able to tease out who else should be involved in this matter. When we figure out who the players are, we come up with a plan and we're going to be multi threaded. Now let's say you didn't do all this background work and you know it has already happened. You have hook. OK, how are we going to deal with it in the moment? Because the question mark has now entered the formula that I've been telling you guys in the last, let's say the last month.

The formula still applies. We're going to agree and we're going to empathize. Then we're going to ask some questions. Then we're going to put a new proposal on the table where possible. And if that's not possible, we're going to secure an advancement, right? And advancement just means, OK, there's no proposal on the table, but at least both of us jointly we agree to what the next step is going to be. So I agree with them.

If somebody says, let me talk to my boss, you say, oh, yeah, this makes perfect sense. Even though you you're surprised and you've been saying counting 20 million in your head and you, you know, you don't like this comma, but still keep your calm, keep your composure, keep it cool, keep it cool. You say, Oh yes, yes, yes, this makes a lot of sense. Normally we suppose involve a guy at this stage because honestly, speaking in my own company is the kind of thing I

will do at this stage. Now when you say that kind of thing, you agree with them. They say, let me talk to my boss. I say, Oh yeah, it makes sense. We. Suppose involve a guy, the person who you know, they'll feel heard. If you listen to, they will calm down. They'll now know that Oh no, be fight. The conversation will continue. Because if somebody says, oh, let me run it by my boss, I now say. I thought you're the one who's responsible for making decisions on this matter.

Is an is a personal affront? Did he not become adversarial? You're attacking somebody. You know, tension is up, barriers are high. And in sales, we don't want any walls up. Want the walls down. Want want to be able to talk to somebody. So long as we're talking, we're still in play. When we're not talking, you never know. So we agree. Let me talk to my boss. Oh, that makes perfect sense. At this stage, I would have evolve my boss.

In fact, I was even thinking, so when are we going to evolve chairman in this thing makes a lot of sense. Then from there you slide into questions. So bro, no beg, I beg. Oga is the one that's responsible for this and this and this. Abhi, you ask the person and then you hear we're just trying to stay in conversation. The person will talk a bit. OK, So what kinds of things does Oga like to see in this kind of matters? You ask the person because the person has said he wants to talk to Oga.

No problem, you've even recommended it. It is not a bad idea to figure out what it is that Orga likes and what Orga doesn't like so that if you're able to secure a next meeting. You will be prepared to face Orga. Do some research. So, oh, yeah, makes sense. You should talk to your boss. I was wondering how soon we're even going to involve evolve your boss. I know. I'll. No problem. I'll take my leave. Ah, no, Vex. Hey, I forgot.

So your boss, what are the kinds of things they're responsible for? What does a guy like? What does a guy doesn't like? Oh, if a guy was here now, for instance, based on this proposal that is on ground, what do you think Oga would be most concerned about? You know the person will talk. The thing is, you're just trying to get some info. You're trying to get some emotional temperature. You're trying to get some extra. Data.

You know, you never know. You never know. Now, based on all the things that the person will tell you, you will not be able to put a new proposal on the table. That is the issue. You'll be able to say, you know what, this makes perfect sense. But you know, Mr. Chukwudi, this proposal that I dropped for you, I don't think it's going to be adequate anymore. Can I amend this proposal and include XYZ and ABC so that when you give it to Orca, when you give it to management, they have all the information that they need to consider.

You see, you're not trying to put a new proposal on the table, right? Or maybe the new proposal is OK, No problem. Based on the conversation you've had now, you now know that there might be some things that our guy is concerned about that are not captured in the document. You know, the new proposal can now be OK. I brought you know what? Yeah, this makes sense. I'll leave this proposal here, but based on the things that we've said or that might have one or two questions or so, what do you think?

Should I come back so, so and so date, at least let me be there. So I want to ask questions. I'm there to answer this thing live, you know, just to reduce the back and forth. That can be another proposal you're putting on the table. But if you're not able to put any proposal on the table, then you're trying to secure an advancement. An advancement just means you're trying to jointly agree on what the next step is going to be.

So let's say you're able to successfully retrieve. The the. Proposal. Excuse me, Let's say you were able to retrieve the. Proposal that you drop with August, you could be the first time then an announcement can now be oh, if I have this new proposal ready by August 7th, can I come with you to go and see Olga just in case of questions or would August 7th be OK or you know. Anything sure that we can narrow it down to a date or to a time or to a week or three, whatever,

where we both agree that this is what the next step is. Going to be if I have the next proposal, if I have the new proposal ready before the next board meeting, do you think we could get a response maybe by June 12th? We're just trying to get an advancement. We're trying to move these things forward. We're trying to get some timelines. We're trying to establish a reasonable basis for follow up. How good to follow up with this thing you get but whenever you get an objection spiritually?

This is the process. Agree and empathize. After that, ask questions. If you can put a new proposal on the table, good. Put a new proposal on the table if you can't secure an advancement. That is the process for how we deal with objections. But the best thing to do? Is to be proactive. And to prevent objections from happening in the 1st place and this kind of objection, let me talk to my boss, let me run in by my boss.

My boss is not around, Madam has gone on Hajj, Madam's son got married. You know, the best way to avoid this thing is we need to be asking questions about the decision making structure within the company, within the family, within the whatever so that we are not blindsided and we are not surprised by any of these things. That's the best thing to do so summary. You should never be in a sales situation and you are surprised by some new information.

It is OK in the beginning, people will cut you off guard down is normal. That's how we the land work is normal. You're fresh. You don't know all the things that involved. You will miss one or two things is normal. But we're trying to reduce the number of circumstances where I am in a selling situation and I'm hearing something for the very first time. You're a sales professional, you're a business professional. You should not be caught off guard.

Even if they catch you off guard, at least you should have been getting some hints, you know before then, OK, this might be an issue. This might not be an issue. And then you go to plan for plan for it. You get So don't be surprised by any new information. And remember, you are the one who's supposed to be in the driver's seat. That means you're the one that should be telegraphing this thing. If all the time you are reacting, it's it's not a good sign.

It's not a good sign when there's other people that are setting the agenda for you. There's a limit to how fast you can move things along because after all, if Madam Son is getting married in Washington, DC, Madam Son is getting married, there's nothing you can get her to change wedding date. What I'm just saying is that if you knew that Madam is an important part of the equation and you kind of sense that she has some personal issues going on and that for the purposes of for the period of June, July,

August, she won't be around because she don't travel. There's a way that you can Telegraph the process to suit you, whether you can cover some ground before she travel in July or whether. You will shift. Some things till around, you know, August, November or whatever it is that she's going to come back. But sure, you are the one as a sales professional. You are the one as a business professional who should be in the driving seat.

If always you're feeling as if Nadem they drive, you know that one's driving the car. You you're just a passenger. You are wrong. We just to be more proactive. In fact, if you don't learn any lesson today, this is the only lesson I want Nigerian business owners to learn. Nigerian salespeople, too many of us are reactive. I'm here at your pleasure. I'm a, I'm a houseboy. I'm your servant. Whatever you say, I will do. Yes, Sir.

Yes, Sir. No, you're a professional. Have a hand in this process. Drive this process forward. Take some control over your career. Take some control over your financial destiny. Anyway, let me bring it to a close because my meeting is for 11. It's now 1038, so let me just copy it here. Let me go and prepare. Go and freshen up. I need to bite you along somewhere, just in case my mouth dismount. You see, when you're going for a meeting, you know, prepare,

freshen up. Look good? Smell good? At least today above and wear perfume. All right, So thank you very much for your time and attention. If you'd love to connect with me, you can call send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on the 08/06. 4. 662140 If you're having problems with your sales process, you're getting too many objections, you need some help. You want somebody to look over some things. Call me 08064662140 if you think I sound expensive, don't worry,

I'm reasonably priced. But even on that, I'm going to answer one question for free. So reach out. Just think really hard and fast about what the question is going to be. And you might be surprised that even my free advice is very, very, very, very useful. But if we need to sit down and start looking at your sales process, looking at your selling framework, need to figure out issues where you get stuck, figure out how we can prevent some of these things, figure out how we can unhook you, unstuck you, then we need to have a proper consulting session.

Because I'm going to invest my time and I'm going to invest my mental resources and I should be compensated accordingly. But anyway, don't be afraid to reach out. So that's it. And that is all for today. Oh, and by the way, wish me luck on the interview, the meeting that I'm going to have. Well, actually, to be honest, it's not the meeting, it's the TV show. The TV show that I've been talking about telling you guys today is the day.

So I'm actually outside the studio. It's going to be on DSTV channel 365 and that is Global TV. It's also on Start Time, so I can't remember the channel that Start Times is on. So if you're just listening to this podcast now, the TV interview has already happened, but if you want to watch it, just go to YouTube. Just go to Global TV. I'll be global TVNG or something like that. Search that. You'll find the YouTube channel.

Now, once you find the YouTube channel, you will see my interview segment there. Now, the name of the show to look out for is Wealth Creation. So it's Wealth creation with wealth creation with Ambassador Tina Kenichiku, that's the host. And then the topic we are talking about is personal brand. Yeah, personal branding as a financial asset. So that's what we're talking about. So yeah, that's it. So I'll catch you guys some other time.

Let me run and let me freshen up and get ready for my TV debut. So I'll catch you guys some other time.