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Hello and welcome to the podcast. Apologies because today's recording is being made at home and as usual, there's no light and all my neighbors are blasting their generators. So expect some noise to come in through the background. Apart from that, everybody's home. It's a public holiday, so there will be interruptions. Now, today, OK, now most Nigerians assume that you have to be selling to the orga, the very orga at the top.
You have to be selling to the big boss or you have to be selling to senior people in the organization. That is if you are in AB to B space. So that is what I want to look at today, whether that is indeed the fact that if you are in B to B sales, B to B sales just means you're not doing any personal selling. What you're doing is you're not selling one-on-one to individual people, but you're trying to sell to a business, you're trying to sell to a corporation as a whole.
So let's say I know the branch manager of Zenith Bank in my locale, in my city, I'll be in my ward. How will I put it off? And you understand what I mean? Let's say there's a Zenith Bank close to me and I know the branch manager. Now, if I'm a fashion designer and I go there and I'm trying to talk to him, I'm trying to talk to her and I'm trying to sell her on one or two pieces, you know, let her buy, you know, suit and suit or whether she should buy a gown or something like that.
That's not business to business. This is business to consumer. This is me, a business person trying to sell her, the branch manager on a piece, a suit, you know, a gown that will look nice for her. But if I come as still as a fashion diner or whatever, but this time what I'm trying to sell is I want to be the one who's going to provide the official uniforms for everybody in the whole building. Now that's different. That is business to business because I'm a business person and I'm trying to sell this time not to the branch manager as a person, but I'm trying to sell to the whole business gone, gone as in the Zenith Zenith Bank,
that particular branch, I'm trying to sell to the whole business. So that is what we mean when we talk about business to business sales. Now, there are lots of Nigerians who assume that if it's business to business, right? And you're not talking to the main auger. So let's say Zenith Bank, you're not talking to CEO, you're not talking to MD, you're not talking to somebody at the top, they're wasting your time. Now, the reason why This is why,
sorry, the reason why this is what we're looking at today is because I saw something on LinkedIn where somebody was talking about how they were trying to sell something. You know, it's a long time ago I saw the post so I can't remember the details, Basha. Eventually the guy connected with your guy at the top and the person was able to close the deal, Sharp sharp. And the guy wrote that his that this experience has taught him a very hard truth in B2B sales in Nigeria that if you're not talking to the senior leader,
then you are not getting the right perspective. And so that's the reason why I'm making today's podcast episode. So like I said, bTB sales is when you are selling to a business or to a corporation as a whole. So ordinarily I would agree with the guy to say you know you should be talking to somebody senior, somebody at the top. But those are not the only things that we have to consider The other dynamics that are at play now for you to properly understand all the things that are going on, you have to 1st understand that when you are in AB to B scenario that is you as a business person, you are selling to another business.
Remember the example that I gave in one scenario, you the business owner, you know, you're a stylish, you're a fashionista, you're a clothier, you are, you know, whatever. But you go and you talk to the branch manager, but you want the branch manager to buy 1 three piece suit from you. That is business to consumer. All right, You're selling only to one person. But then you go to talk to the branch manager and you're trying to get the branch manager to sign the contract so that everybody's uniform, everybody's three piece suit, everybody's,
you know, whatever is going to come from you as a business person, then that is business to business. Now by by how will I put it now? Now whenever you're selling business to business, you are already in a complex sales scenario. You're no longer in a simple sales scenario. The first, the first situation where you walk to Zenith Bank and you're trying to sell to the Zenith Bank branch manager. You know, that's a personal something.
That's the simple sales scenario, all right? It's very personal, but trying to get her to buy for the whole business, for everybody in the whole branch, that is a complex sale scenario. Now, the reason why is because, well, First off, when we say complex sale scenarios, we're usually talking about expensive solutions, expensive offerings, you know, things like that. So let's say your suit and suit 1 is like 400K. So you can see that 400K.
By the way, I'm not a stylish person, so I don't have any idea, you know, how much suits costs nowadays. So I don't know if 400K is expensive or 400K is cheap. You know, I just, I don't know, I just decided on saying 400K. So if you're selling one suit and suit 400K, OK, let's assume that that's a reasonable price. So one suit and suit 400K, you know, it's a reasonable, straightforward something you're trying to sell to someone they can never afford to or they can't.
You know, you follow up, you know, close on our TTS. No Allah, no problem. But let us now say that it's not just the MD, but let's say the the staff, they have let's say 10 staff over there now and you're trying to sell one suit and suit 400K now because it's 10 staff, that's 10 * 400 K Abby, that should be like 4,000,004 M OK, good. So now by the very fact that you're now looking at the number of all the stuff that are there,
so ten of them, that's now 4 million. And if you now look at the cleaners, the security guards, blah, blah, blah, maybe you're supplying their own uniforms as well. You know, the money goes up, the money goes up, the money goes up. So we are now talking about expensive solutions. So that automatically puts us within the realm of a complex sale. Complex sale just means, you know this one, no straightforward. It means you suppose take them easy, you know it's dicey, you suppose play them softly,
softly. That is what the complex sale means. Then by the very fact that we're dealing with expensive solutions in complex sales, automatically it will not become a matter of buying committee. It's not just one person that is going to sign the cheque or it's not just one person that will decide. It is a simple matter of buying committee now, except if you're dealing with businesses where the CEO, the founder, the whatever is the undisputed champion.
Like I heard for instance, that if you're going to do business with Adenuga, well, it's a long time ago. I don't know about now, maybe the guy don't mellow. But a while ago I heard that you're going to do business with Adenuga. Like you have to deal with him direct. Like until he says go, nothing they happen. Until the guy approved nothing, they happen. Until the guys sign nothing, they happen. So if you're dealing with those kinds of businesses, OK, in that case, you better try and get as close to identity as possible because everybody knows he's the mover and he's the shaker.
But then if you look at his other contemporaries like down with a, for instance, you know, down with a runs a different kind of enterprise. Everything is set up, you know, presidents, vice chairman, you know, departmental head, blah, blah, blah. You know, you don't have to see down with a for absolutely every single thing. So depending on the kind of organization it is, once you start dealing with expensive solutions, it's going to be a matter of buying committees.
You're going to have to talk to different people because the decision is going to be made by different people, not just one person. It's not a matter of what guy at the top has said, yes. Therefore everybody who's everybody who just fall in line Now because of that, because you have to talk to different people. Relationship building is key. You're going to have to know a bunch of folks. So if it is the Adenoga example,
by the way, you know, this is just gist that I heard, you know, so I don't know if it's true or not, you know, go and do your own research. So back to this example. Now, if truly, truly Adenoga is the top dog in charge, then there's no need for building relationship with anybody else because the aim is to go straight to the source. Maybe you try and, you know, parlay with one or two people, but the idea is that you're trying to get to the source of power.
So that I didn't know I was signed the contract, but then we've done with it, for instance, where everything is properly set up, you know, chairman, vice president, deputy D senior, D senior, that you will have to know a couple of people within the organization because it's going to be a commentary of people at the end of the day, who will meet and who will decide. So back to that Zenith Bank example. She's buying suit and suit as the MD for the branch.
Sure, no problem. She will sign 400K, she'll buy a house which will give you the money. But then to say she would take the bank's money, you know, for M, you know, use the businesses money for M like that to buy suit and suit for everybody. You know, you should go, you have to pass one or two avenues. You understand, you know, procurement, human resources, who again you know, you understand you have to pass through certain stages.
So that's what happens when you are in a complex sales scenario. Now, if you are involved in a complex hill scenario, it is your job as a salesperson or it is your job as a as a business owner to try and figure out who the different parties are in this whole setup. Who are the essential parties? Who are the important parties? Who are the critical parties that I need to talk to? It's a huge part of making sure that we get this deal to close.
Oh, by the way, if you think you're in a complex hill scenario, you've been running your business and you've been facing these sorts of issues, who am I supposed to be talking to? You haven't been able to figure all these things out and you need some help. You can call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140 and let's see if I can help you get that money by talking to the right person. So there's also nothing I want to tackle.
Some people think that when you're selling business to business solutions in Nigeria, that is different from other parts of the world. Is that the case? Now, what I'm about to say is just my own opinion. My answer is no, that the dynamics are the same. If you're in a business to business situation in America is the same as in the UK, is the same as in Afghanistan, is in the same as in India is the same as in Nigeria. They're all the same.
The dynamics are the same. Now, the only thing that would be different is the level of man, no man, if you understand what I'm saying. All like, what is man? No man Now, man no man is the level of personal relationships that you have within an account. OK, yeah, let me put it like that. The level of personal relationships that you have within an account. So I'll say it's the same, but from what I hear about our brothers in India, I hear that it's just about the same thing in India as it is in Nigeria,
that the level of man on man is a, you know, man on man is a significant factor. So in other words, if you know one or two people on a personal level, it will help you. But overall, the dynamics are the same. Then in Nigeria, sometimes, in fact not sometimes, a lot of times, we have less strict restrictions when it comes to procurement, like dealing. One of the reasons why I don't like dealing with international NGOs, 1 international NGO in particular, every single time it's time, you know, I have to do a job for them, that's when it comes to producing documentaries.
I always have to go through this whole dog and everything where a couple of us, you know, three of us will drop proposals and stuff like that. And in my own opinion, and I've been telling them that look, this thing is highly inefficient. You people have done business with me before. You know, clearly I'm the best person for the job, but you have to act this drama every single time and collect invoices from three different people.
I mean, just for the sake of what? But anyway, you know, that's how they do business in that particular NGO because it's the the home body is in the UK and you know, in the UK now they have this whole thing of let's play fair, everything must be put to open bids and, you know, stuff like that. So yes, so in Nigeria, we don't have lots of all those rules around procurement. And then there's issues around corruption and then there's this culture of appreciation that,
you know, you suppose appreciate when somebody do something for you, you go appreciate them. Nobody seen our bribe, you know, our appreciation. And of course, you know, trying to figure out the difference between bribing and appreciation is kind of hard. But yeah, in Nigeria, I would say these are the kind of dynamics that make things a little different. But essentially the, the dynamics are the same whether in America, Afghanistan, the UK or,
you know, whatever. But some of you will say that all these other things that I've spoken about, you know, man, no man, procurement is relaxed, corruption and then appreciation, you know, that all those things make the Nigerian situation different. But anyway, let me not dwell on that. So let's get to the central question. Now the main question is, do you have to talk to a senior leader to get the deal done? Do you have to be talking to CEO, founder, GMMD?
Do you always have to be talking to dem dem, those kind of people to get the deal done? Now the answer is not necessarily. OK. That's the reason why I'm making today's podcast because this guy assumed that it is because he was now talking to Orga Pata Pata direct. Now that's why the deal closed. It's possible, but if you run around all the time trying to look for, you know, the phone number or the PIN code of Olga Pata Pata because you think that is the most significant factor that is going to lead to closing the deal, you will be, you might be wrong some of the times and you're going to miss out on some significant, significant deals.
And I found that out the hard way. So we shouldn't just be thinking in terms of seniority. Now, you know, now who get power pass, now who senior pass. We shouldn't always be thinking in terms of seniority within the organization, but we should be thinking also in terms of responsibility for decision making. Because sometimes there are some junior people, some junior desk officer, some junior stakeholders, low, low, low,
low, low on the totem pole who have lots of responsibility for making some decisions. So even though Orga at the top says this and this, if that desk officer say, then nothing will happen for you. So it's not just seniority, but who's responsible for making decisions and then who are the different stakeholders that have to implement this, your solution? Because if MD likes you and GM likes you and the one does need to go ahead.
But then the people in the technical department, they insist that your solution is inferior and blah, blah, blah, no what not. And it's that kind of organization where their own opinion matters. Then the fact that, you know, MD and CEO and all that is not going to help you. So seniority is something that we should consider, but not just seniority. We should also be thinking who is responsible for making this decision and then which other stakeholders, which other stakeholders have implicated,
Abby, that's implicated, which other stakeholders have repercussions or implications for when this thing has to be implemented. That is how we should be thinking about it in a holistic sense. Now for this client of mine that I've mentioned I think last week or maybe 2 weeks ago, currently working with them, what they do is they sell their ad tech, their ad tech consultants, they partner with their licensed distributors of the licensed implementation partners implementation, sorry,
implementation partners for Admatic. Now Admatic is a digital advertising technology, you know, on the same level as Google and Meta and things like that. But Admatic is supposed to help, is supposed to help any. The problem is a whole bunch of stuff and I think one of which is that they can, so sorry, they can acquire customers for businesses at roughly about half the cost that Facebook can and Google can. So, you know, there are other stuff that makes up part of their unique selling proposition.
So when I was having a session with that team, the sales team of my client, it is one thing I have to tell them. I look, when you're trying to get into an account, it's not just a matter of who is the senior person, who is the senior person, who is Orga at the top, who is Orga, Pata, Pata, You know, who is the person that holds the key to power. It's not just that we should be thinking in some broad categories and one of them is we should be thinking in terms of management, management decision makers or management users, then technical decision makers,
operational decision makers or financial decision makers or financial users. Now the reason why we think about that is because like in all cases they sell advertising technology. Definitely you have to know management because it's management who is going to be thinking about strategic imperatives and things like that and fixing budgets and things. So you know, you guys know one or two people in management definitely. But then you also suppose know some guys and some girls in the technical side.
You know, the people in the marketing department, the people who are actually, you know, at the end of the day, running the apps or running the, you know, people who are running all the software, running all the back, back end stuff that make it possible for the business to operate. So you need to know the technical and operations people. You suppose get some of those people on board. Then definitely you also need to know people on the financial end, you know, procurement.
OK, no sense they are in ad tech, they don't have to deal with procurement, but you understand what I'm saying. There are some of you who have to deal with their procurement or who have to deal with people in accounting or whatever to get your job, your job approved, your contract approved. So that's the way to think about it. Think in terms of managerial responsibility, technical responsibility, operational responsibility, financial responsibility.
You know, they're called different things by different people, like Antonio, Victor Antonio, he calls them users. So Victor Antonio would say management user, technical user and financial user. But you get the point. It's not about the name, you know, it's about the rationale you understand. So don't follow people and be arguing too much online that no, this is the right time. This the time is not important. Just do the thing.
Forget the term. Now the reason why I'm going through pains to explain this thing is remember I told you that if only you're only looking at seniority, you will miss one or two things. And this is my own example. I've told the story before and I'll say it again. And the reason why is because the team pained me. You're paying me very, very well. And also because I cannot believe that I was held to ransom by secretary. You heard me, you heard me.
There was an end of year party for an oil and gas corporation. So the money was going to be good money, good money. And I had told all my crew that this thing was a done deal because the person who brought me into the organization was she worked in the office of the company secretary because she was my classmates. You know, I'm a former lawyer. So when she brought me in now, by the time I entered the organization, I now noticed that all the people in the top, top corners, you understand what I'm saying, Audio guard them, all of them went to OAUI say, I say this thing is a layup because the girl that brought me in,
she's my classmate. Audio guys. Now, you know, all of them, we all went to the same school. They're my seniors. I said, this is a layup. So every time I'll go to the office now I go there, network, you know, go and greet or guide this person. Go and greet Madam, this person, go and greet all of them. You know, we're going up and down. I will shout greatest affair, greatest affair, you know, healing them, bidding relationship.
And I was feeling cool because I knew all the senior people. So I thought this was a layup. And I remember that year I had told my guys, I told my crew, I said, forget that this thing. Oh, it's a done deal. I told them this is what we used to wrap up December because remember was the end of year. The money would have been good, good. You know, it's always nice when the year is closing and then you get bam, good money.
Then you share with all the boys, everybody is happy, you know, and then we all wrap up the end of the year, you know, in a good way. And then we wake up in the next year, cool, ready to face the air. So I already told everybody that, look, this one is a done deal. It's a done deal only for me to discover one thing by the time my evolves was in and the time came for money to be paid and I found out that one secretary that I was not greeting.
I was not greeting. How I will come and greet everybody. I've got a shout greatest if you're up and down. I because I know all your, all of us educated people, all of us will get master's degree, you understand. But this one secretary, common secretary, she's the one that was firmly in charge of the planning committee. Remember what I said? That is not just a matter of seniority, but it's also a matter of who is responsible for taking what decisions and then who are the other stakeholders who have responsibility for implementing.
So even though she was a common secretary, I should not go school when it comes to implementation. Let's just say her name is Auntie Bossy. When it come to implementation, anti Bossy was in charge, was large and in charge and I didn't do my homework. So even though I knew all the oga and I've been greeting everybody and I did network and I did hail everybody, you know, come to the office, then walk out up and down the corridor,
you know, feeling like it's my house now, me on the place because I didn't do my homework and because I didn't realize that anti boss is large and in charge when it comes to these kinds of things. Forget it, forget it. Anti boss said I didn't greet when I was coming into the building. By the time we move front and my invoice was there. Lo and behold, and the boss is the person that I was in front of when it came to decision making.
Now by then I was trying to greet her, but I was ready too late. The way she was looking at me, you know, that kind of look like you are feeling like you're somebody happy you come here, you know the worker anyhow, like you know, just smile because she knew that ain't no problem. Now you will jam me for front, should be, you know, rate me, you will meet me in front. So now, Zito, that's how a secretary, come on secretary,
help me by the balls, excuse my French. And that's how the thing didn't pull through. And that is how me and the boys that year, we did not end December on a good note. We didn't end it on a high note because it would have been nice for some hundred 100,000 to come our way. Because back then, I think me personally, my own court would have been like 800 K. So that would have been some good money back then. Sorry, not now, because now 808100K is not, is nothing,
because by the time fuel for your car, you put like 400 K aside 400500K for fuel alone for one month or maybe like 6 weeks waiting remain again that 300K, what would that 300K do? By the time you enter market, everything don't finish. So excuse me, so now Zito, so the bottom, the summary of what I'm trying to say is this. Don't be seduced by a job title alone because so many people get seduced by job title. Don't be seduced.
What you need to do is you come in to the organization, then you shine your eye and then you think critically. What you're trying to do is you're trying to map the decision making structure, map it well. Remember the categories that I gave, think in terms of managerial responsibility, technical responsibility, operational responsibility, financial responsibility. So if you have access to the top dogs, you have access to CEO,
you are CEO, go to the same church is good or well and good, but don't rest on the fact that you're talking to the top dog, They're talking to the senior people. Map the decision making structure well, shine your eye, figure out who is who, know who's responsible for what, know which other stakeholders are involved, and then begin the build relationship with everybody on an equal level because you never know. Because the way I tell people is it is better that you come into the organization network with like 8 people.
At the end of the day, you only three of them to approve your contracts, no problem. Now for you to come in, you only network with you know three people only to discover that you need 5 to push your contract above the line you get. So don't be seduced by a job title alone. So for that guy who said that if you're not talking to the senior leader, you're not getting the right perspective. It's not as if he's wrong. There's an element of truth in that.
I'm just making today's episode to let you guys know that you know it's not always 100% correct. Don't be like me that you think I've got this in the bag because all the I know them and trust me, company secretary, I knew the person in finance, I knew the person in operations. I knew the person in technical. I knew, in fact, one of the members of the board who was retiring that year because it's an oil and gas company, a publicly quoted oil and gas company, one of the members of the board who was retiring, I
not only took photos at her retirement party, I also took the photos and provided media coverage when her own adopted son was getting married. Honestly speaking, I thought was a done deal, that if I don't collect this thing, who will? So don't be like me, sorry. Don't be like me as I was back then. Now I've learned my lesson, so please learn the lesson on my behalf. It's not just about titles alone. Now, if you are in a similar situation, you're trying to sell into an organization and you can't figure out who is who.
You don't know who are the important stakeholders to talk to, or you're talking to one or two stakeholders like you don't hook, you don't hang. You're not sure how to move forward. You're not sure how to, you know, extricate yourself from this situation. It's not a problem. Reach out, call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Let's see how we can make you. Let's say we can help you move along.
Now some of you are listening and you are scared because I sound expensive. Don't worry, I'm reasonably priced for now. Apart from that, I have no problem with answering questions for free. But I'm only going to answer one question. So think really hard and real fast about what you want your one question to be. Because someone spoke to me a few days ago and he asked me about coaching options. I told him, the guy shouts, the guys say hey Bros money not the issue.
I say no problem I understand that money not the issue but I'll answer one question for you for free. So let's just book a time later and ask me the question. I said no, no no that I'm ready for my one question. I said. I said look dude honestly speaking I will answer only one question like I'm on this call now and if you ask your own question honestly we know it will take up to like 5-10 minutes. I'll give you an answer that Are you sure?
The guys say yes I'm sure. I said OK no problem. The guy asked. I said. I said dude honestly this your question it's not the best. Like you have me on the phone now this is not the best use of your time asking this kind of question. So I told him do you want to reconsider? He said no, I know my one question. I said OK no problem ask. He repeated the same thing By the time I answered the question and he saw that some things were well.
The guy said can I ask the second question? I said, no, you can't ask a second questions. You've had your one. But don't worry, keep listening to the podcast. I'm sure I'll make a podcast episode where you know, I talk about some other factors and you know you'll be able to understand everything. But anyway, the long and short of what I'm saying is don't worry. Yes, I sound expensive, but I'm reasonably priced. So even if we talk a money night issue, no problem, I'll answer one question for free.
So just make sure you think real hard about what you want your one question to be so that when you call, we can just head straight to the chase. Now, even if you don't have a question, you can still call me, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140 because I love meeting and talking to listeners of my podcast. Well, at least now. So take advantage of that fact because when I blew and when I become a big boy, somebody else is going to be on the phones and it's not going to be me.
So thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you all at the next episode.