Sales is a System, Not a Personality Trait

Hello and welcome to the podcast. Apologies before we begin because today's episode is going to be a noisy episode and that's because the kids are preparing for inter house sports. I had to drop the kids off at school and I didn't think it made sense. Let me just, you know, drop them, go back home and then come back again in a couple of hours. So I'm going to just stay here in the parking lot and see how much work I can get done.

So you're going to hear some seniors, you know, grunting and shouting because they're playing basketball. You hear some little kids marching and then, you know, on and on. And then, of course, you know, in Abuja, construction sites everywhere. So yeah, yeah. Laborers in the background, trucks driving by, you know, stuff like that. So apologies, today is going to be a noisy episode. Now we're not here today to talk about my kids and my personal issues, but rather what I want us to explore today on the podcast is something that I

recorded. Maybe a week. Back and and that was why sales is like chess and not toasting. So I repeat why sales is like chess and not toasting. And that's because I wrote a LinkedIn article maybe a week ago or however long, and that was what I was trying to explore in that particular LinkedIn post to show that this Nigeria thing that we have going on where we think sales is about toasting. You know, you're a fine boy, you're a fine girl, you'll put together a packaging is all right, you know, you're smooth,

delivery is on point. You know, so long as you have all of that going on, then you should be good at sales. So I'm just trying to say that look, you know, like toasting day, you know, like if you're a fine boy, you're a fine girl, you're well put together, you know, packaging on points, you know, branding, positioning, you know, all of those things. I'm not going to say it won't help you, you know, but think of sales more like chess.

So that was the whole point of the post. But then when I wrote the post on LinkedIn, what I now did was I came over here and I read out the I read out the post over here on the podcast. And after listening back, I was like, Hey, you know, that is not to make sense because writing something is not the same thing as, you know, recording something for for audio. So today I'm just going to go over the piece that I wrote back then and try and explain things a little bit more detail.

Because I won't be surprised if there are some of you who listened to that 2-3 minute recording on why sales is like chess. Not just toasting and you kind of got the the spirit of it, but you are left wanting a little bit more. So for those of you. Who are new to the podcast? My name is Pavi Shima Ayede. I'm the host of the podcast, been doing this for almost 6 years now. I'm a former lawyer turned business consultant and I always try to solve business problems from a sales and business development perspective because that is my area of specialty.

Just in case that any of you reach out to me and then you have problems that have to do with personal finance or business management or things like that. You know, those are all business problems that I can solve. But if I can look at it from a sales and business development perspective, then yeah, very good. I'll see how I can help sort you out. Now, if you love these sorts of things, how do you sell? How do you grow your revenues?

How do you build your business? How do you get more effective in having customer conversations? How do you have effective proposals, effective negotiations? You're interested in all these sorts of things then. So excuse me, you know how my time here. So I'm have a bit of a cold. So yeah, if you're interested in these sorts of things, then subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, on Apple iTunes, on YouTube or wherever you listen to audio content so that you have all of this business goodness over here on the podcast that we do almost every day and that we've been doing for the last five and a half,

six years. Then if you would love to connect with me because you have questions, you have comments, you have queries, or you want us to collaborate on one or two things, then you can call, send me a text message via WhatsApp message on 08064662140. So call, send me a text message, send me a WhatsApp message. And yes, it will be me on the other end of the line because people reach out and then when we talk, they're like.

Oh, OK, it actually is you. Yes, it is me. For now. When I become a big boy, it'll be APA, but for now it's me on the phone. Oh sorry, excuse me. All right so now why sales is like chess and not toasting. All right so in the article. OK, well first of all I wrote the article on the Saturday morning and of course in my own house Saturday morning is for Akara for breakfast. Now, the reason why is because back when my kiddos were little,

when they were very, very small, because in the 1st house we lived in zone 7 then from OK, well, first of all, I think we lived in zone 4 first of all, but then me and wifey, you know, we didn't have kids then. Then zone 7, that's when the first one was born and then APO. And then you know, but for some reason, the kiddies always had this thing going on. The want a Cara, the want a Cara. But the places where we lived, a Cara was hard to come by.

Then we moved to this new place and yes, this is the new place I keep, you know, complaining about that Nepal showing or shaky and, you know, generator noise. And people have different kind of pets, you know, Peacocks, dogs the size of wolves. It's rumored that somebody has a snake. And yeah, so this same estate where I live right now. Now. But the good thing about this estate, even though all these issues are there, the good thing about this estate is that we have.

Like 3 Akara locations. One of those Akara locations is even like a morning and night thing. As in, in the morning is one woman who comes. And at night is another woman who comes. So in other words, this new estate where I'm living right now, a Cara galore. As in a Cara everywhere. So a Cara is not a problem. So because of that, now we'll be in a Cara for breakfast every single Sunday. I say Sunday, Saturday. So I went out to go and buy a Cara now and then while the guy was processing my order.

I know when I reprocess my order in the article, some of you must have thought he's in a Cara. You know this guy, You're being too fancy. But forget, I'm not being fancy. There is one guy, all I put it now, I don't understand somehow. Anyway, there is one guy, Sha. He and his wives. They run one of the Akai joints and that guy seems to be very popular, very popular. So if you don't go there early or more, you will see Q as you have to queue.

But that's where the good Akai is. So that's what I meant. Why I process my order because it's a whole thing, collection money, join the queue, sit down, you know blah blah blah. So why the game? Why the guy was processing my order now? Because I like to buy like if there's money I like to buy like you know, 5-6 K because they shouldn't eat lots of a car. And then of course I'm a big eater as well. But if at times I had, you know,

I buy maybe like 2K2K a car. So as a guy, I was processing the order. Now I just pulled off my phone and started playing chess because I always wanted to play chess as a kid. And I thought that chess was for, for, you know, people in notebook, you know, smart guys. But for me, I struggled a little bit in school in the early years was not until I think that kind of like primary 4, primary five. I just came second in class.

And then, you know, people like, ha, ha, where'd this guy come from? And you know, my, one of my teachers, what she said, he's a flash in the pan or something. I can't remember anyway, but, and that's where my life changed because before then I was just a regular kid. You know, they're calling results like, I'll go about my business because, you know, I'm not supposed to be on the, on the leaderboard or anything. Then one day I came second and then people knew my name.

All of a sudden. And I guess since then, people now thought of me as a kind of a smart kid. So as per smart kid, consigned now. So OK, now I'm a smart kid. I guess I should be playing chess. But I didn't grow up in the chess neighborhood. And you know, pops, he didn't play chess. What else? So anyway, I used to watch all the smart kids or the smarter kids playing chess. And I always wanted to play chess but never did because I

didn't think I was smart enough. But then eventually I go into university. I said what? Now it's time to start. So I started fooling around with a couple of guys. I found some reading material and then of course you know how these things are now when you start, you know people as in flog the hell out of you, which is normal when you're starting anything in the beginning don't expect. To be perfect. In fact, that's a very good corollary when it comes to sales.

Some of you start and they say our sales is difficult and like, of course it is like you're brand new, you don't know anything. You don't know the lay of the land. You know what, you don't know what's going on, you don't know the strategies, you don't know the tips you don't need, you don't know the tactics, you don't know the techniques. Of course this thing is going to be hard. So coming into chess, people whooped my you understand, whoop me well serious beat him as in absolute nomination like I was a fish while he's back then in above me at Wallowa University.

That's what I used to call them. If you're playing chess with somebody and you're just killing the person anyhow, so shut up, you're my fish. Keep quiet there, you know so well anyway, don't mind me, That's just trash talk. You know, some games have trash talk associated with them. Excuse me. And like, now that my kids have started playing. What was it called? PlayStation and all that? I can see that the trash talking culture is still there.

So I guess boys would be the boys, you know, they'll always be trash talk so. Anyway, how did I get here? Look at me, I'm now telling my life story. So anyway, so I was sitting at the car guy now. So I pulled up my phone and started playing chess because after a while somebody told me that, you know, guy, you have some small talent, you're supposed to be going fast. How will I go far? I don't have time to play. And the person said, have you heard of Lee Chess?

I said, which one is Lee Chess? He says it's an app downloaded onto my phone. And since then I've been making serious progress because on Lee Chess you have access to millions of chess players over the world. And when I say millions, I mean millions with a capital M, You can play chess anytime. If you wake up at 2:38 in the morning, you just remove the mocha from your eye, rinse, rinse your mouth, or pick up your phone.

There's somebody who is willing and able to play chess with you at 2:38 AM anytime you want to play chess. So it's a wonderful chess community. So excuse me. So anyway, so since I've been on this app now, my chess has been improving, has been improving, and I have grown from strength to strength to strength. Because I'm playing, because I'm practicing, because I'm applying. And then of course, there's corollaries in chess as well.

Some of you wonder why you're not making progress in your selling career or making progress in your business. Are you playing? Are you applying? Are you practicing? Have you been talking to people? Have you been going out or do you call your friends and say, what's up, let's do small role play? Or you call somebody and say, I beg, I'm having this problem. Every time I call these kinds of customers and I'm trying to close the deal, they say this.

What do you say in return? How do you rescue this kind of deal? You know, stuff like that. These are the reasons why you're not improving. So for me, I got access to leeches and my game started to blow up. I started to become a bad guy. Now I'm confident now I know that no matter I don't care, no matter who you are, Let's let's sit on the table. Let me let me feel your hand first. Let me feel you. Eventually I would dominate you.

You would be my fish. I will eat you. Facts. The fact there's one podcast listener who let me not call him by his your name. Let me preserve your dignity. So you listen to that episode. And so I was like, oh, you play chess. The guy sent me. He sent me a game request. I told him I was kind of busy, but you know, let's play later. So later on he sent me one minute. That's how we played. The guy brushed me and said no problem, we played again.

I managed to hold the guy but he brushed me. We played the third time I managed to hold the guy but he brushed me again. So that's how also in one moment a call is coming in. I can't ignore this one. So hold on guys, let me just pause this recording now and then I'll continue with this episode that I had with this guy. I'll finish it. Just hold on, let me pause first. I'll come back. I'm using my phone for this recording.

That's why. OK, I'm sorry about that. It was a phone call that came in some domestic issues that I needed to attend to because, you know, like I said, I'm in the car lot at the kids school and then some stuff that needed to be that I had to attend to our home with some workmen. So, yeah, before I left, I think I was talking to you about how this guy, the podcast listener, now, when he discovered that I play chess, he sent me a link.

We decided to play a couple of games. The guy trashed me. The first one I held on, the second one, the third one I held on. So I was not able to make a promise to that guy. I'm not using his real name because I want to preserve his, preserve his dignity. But if you're listening to this podcast and you suspect it is you, then yes. And one nice talking to you yes. So I told him that no problem, you beat me, no problem. I accept, I accept.

But from what I'm seeing, by December of 2026, I will be brushing you confirm you won't be able to win me at all. Now, the reason why I can say that with confidence is because I've been playing the game. I've downloaded the lead shares app. I've been paying attention to the fundamentals. I have a training regime and regimen and I play, you know, every other day, you know, at least once a week, you know, I will play. So these are the things that is giving me mouth to be talking the way that I'm talking, that by December of 2026, this guy will be my fish.

So what was I? How did I get here anyway, I think you guys get the point of what it is that I'm trying to say when I say sales is like chess. It's not just like toasting. So for chess, you can buy the most expensive board because there are people who do that. There's some people that when you look at their board, Immaculate. Have you guys seen a beautiful marble chess board? There's one board that I even saw that was made of glass glass.

And then the way that they did it was that they, they, is it engraving? I'll be scratching the parts that are supposed to be the black squares. They did cross hatch, cross hatch scratching. For those of you who studied Fine Arts, you know what I mean. Cross hatch. That's when you scratch diagonal to the left, diagonal to the right, then up and then down. So when you get it right is a very beautiful technique. And this thing was pure glass.

The pieces were wonderful. So the people that invest all this money in wonderful boards, ornate boards made of marble, made of wood, made of glass, made of steel, made of, I've even seen, what do you call this in clay made of clay? But then by the time you handle them on the chess board, nothing, they don't know nothing. It's the same thing. You've not been paying attention to the fundamentals. If you've not been practicing,

you've not been putting your eye on the game. You will not improve. There's not about you're toasting, it's not about your packaging, it's not about your positioning, it's not about your, you know, some of those things look good, but the things that will help you move forward are the fundamentals. So I head back to the Akara guy now. So I pulled up my phone now and I started playing chess because I've been experimenting with king pawn opening and queen pawn openings.

Now those of you who don't play chess, I know who sound somehow, but for those who play chess you understand what I'm saying because earlier on when I started playing chess, there are two main, how will I say now 2 main strategies or two main philosophies when it comes to chess. There are classical chess openings and then there are hyper modern chess openings. Now the classical chess opening is where you try and command the game using the centre.

When I started learning how to play chess, the boys who are teaching me, that's what they were teaching me. But for me, I found out mentally exhausting because people were always always, always always whooping, as in like severe brushing. So for a long time I had PTSD, post traumatic PTSD, post traumatic something disorder. Anytime I see somebody doing a classical opening, I begin to shake, I begin to palpitate, I start sweating, I say hey again.

So later on, a friend of mine gave me some reading material and then that's when I was exposed to hyper modern openings. Now hyper modern openings are where you try and control the game, but you're using the flank, you're coming from the side. Now when I saw all these ones, I was like, I don't always have to be direct in the centre. I can call from the side and be trying one or two things. And I fell in love with it. And since then that's all I've been doing, Hyper modern openings always.

I always feel I kept all my bishops, always, always. It's a lazy way to play. I understand. But, you know, that's just my own level of comfort. I found something that worked for me. But then, you know, once in a while my children ought to play chess. And I said Tarishma is not good. I can't be teaching my children how to play. And then, you know, do head into the world and on the chess board, they are crippled. They only know how to play one way.

So it's OK. Let me go back and Start learning this classical chess openings. And an amazing thing happened. As I started playing this classical chess openings, I saw that my hand is now strong. I said, yeah, what did happen? He said this is something that I explained to my son and I tried to explain to other people that when you're trapped, when you're doing things in a system and you learn things one way, sometimes you pick up some skills that translate into other areas.

Like my son wants to play football and he's trying. But when he was younger, I told him, OK, no problem. You want to play football, no problem. You're not as good as first level, No problem. In the meantime, I used to play badminton. I used to play badminton. My father played squash. What else? You know, I hung out with some kids, used to play tennis. So racket games, I know racket games. So I told him no problem more they play badminton, let's be playing badminton.

And you say badminton is not football. I say yes, badminton is not football. But The thing is when you play badminton or any other game, you get good at hand eye coordination and you boost your stamina and boosted stamina and hand eye coordination helps you on the pitch. Of course, when he was small, he didn't listen. I mean, how do you explain all these big, big grammar to, you know, a four year old, 5 year old boy at the time, you know,

345, that's how old he was who just wants to play football. But eventually. My son saw what I'm saying and his game started to improve and he was shocked, I said. I told you there's a correlation. There is a. Correlation, very big correlation. That is the reason why Usain Bolt, when Usain Bolt finished his running career and started playing football, people were surprised. I say why are you surprised? There's a correlation.

If you've been a top tier athlete, conditioning is on form, hand eye coordination is on form. You've been doing this thing at an Olympic level. To transition into football won't be that hard. It'll be hard for ordinary people like me who have been eating fufu and a bar for the last two decades. But for somebody like Hussein Bolt, to transition from track and field to football is not hard because there's some transferable skills that go along the way.

And so for me too, it helped the fact that I've been playing hyper modern openings. I was learning from the matters of chess that came in, that that came in handy and tactics that came in handy. So that when it was now time for me to start playing classical openings, I was, I was standing, I was OK. I was not a dawn, but I was, I was OK. It was not like before that if somebody opens from the center, I'll begin to shake.

No, now I can take you. I will take you no matter who you are. Well, let me stop boasting before another person sends me a a request. And then, then person will now flog ME100 and then start calling me fish. So yeah, I put out my game, my phone to start playing chess because I was practicing king and queen porn openings and I I was playing, I was playing blitz, you know, sharp, sharp, sharp games, you know, quick, quick.

One minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes. So sometimes when I want to practice, that's what I do. I just play sharp, sharp game. You know, maybe you go for a wedding, the couple, bride and groom, they're wasting time, you know, nothing to do. Don't bring out your phone. I don't be playing game. Sharp, sharp, back, back, back, back, back. Now, for people who don't play chess, when they see me pushing buttons like that, the thing looks frank, frantic.

Those are calm down now. Like, why are you moving like this? Calm down. Think, you know, is it not chess? You know? Yeah, actually it's chess. And I know it looks like when I'm playing like that, it looks like what I'm doing is random, but actually it's not random. And now that my kids are a little older and, you know, they started learning one or two things as I'm just, you know, tanning as I'm moving. Even they they can see as the game is unfolding.

In fact, sometimes there's some things I don't see that my son be like that, that over here, over here, over here, because they're beginning to read the floor of the game. To those of you who don't play, it will look as if we're playing draft just in pass, pass, pass. But actually we see the larger picture because you understand the fundamentals. We know what it is that is going on. So I can make bold judgments. I can make snap judgments because I understand a couple of things.

I understand the principles of the game. I understand the rules of the game. I understand the strategy. Remember, I'm talking to you guys about hyper modern and classical openings and all these things. And then I understand the context of the game. I know how the game shifts, how the contact shifts, you know, with different moves. I understand. So when people see me on stage or when they hear me on the phone and I'm talking with somebody and they're like, oh boy, I wish I had your confidence.

No, it's not confidence. I wasn't born with this thing. It's not practicing. That's the reason why if I'm on the phone call with a client, I can make some snap, snap judgment, quick judgment. I know when to lean back on somebody or when to double down on another person, or when to just fashion somebody altogether like this, this, this thing won't close. I can make these judgments because I understand the principles, I understand the strategy, I understand the concept, the context.

This is what we should be aspiring for in whatever endeavour it is that we have in life. So right now, if you're like me and you're trying to improve your chess game, these are the things you should be aiming for. If you're trying to improve your business game, it's the same thing, which is the reason why I tell you people repeatedly, stop listening, stop paying attention to people and stop watching podcast influencers and TikTok influencers and all who keep telling you, who keep telling you that these are the top three tactics.

These are the top three ticks, the 55, five wonderful strategies to double your business in 2026. Like, stop it. Only listen to people who have a system, who employ a system, because somebody who is trying to use a system from beginning to end has to teach you principles, has to teach you strategy, has to teach you tactics, has to teach you theory. That applies all through from beginning to end, that works in different kinds of scenarios.

Stop following people that are teaching you quick tips, quick tricks, quick tactics. You don't have to listen to me, but whoever it is I listen to follow somebody, please, who is teaching you a system, a system of how to sell. So the fact that I understand what's going on, that I know the principles, I know the strategy, I know the context. It doesn't mean that I don't get punished because remember what I said? This guy that sent me an invite and I played three games with him.

Remember he brushed ME30 but because I saw his hand, I knew that I would beat him. Later on, the guy sent me another invite that we should play again. Of course, I was busy at the time because we're getting ready to start this training that is going to start on Monday is on how to teach people to teach people how to sell over the phone. This is the first training that we have for 2026. So I was busy talking to people who want to be a part of that program.

So I told you no problem, I'm kind of busy now, but just give me give me a while and I'm coming. You play 1 sharp 10 minutes. So the guy sent the link. We played 10 minutes. The guy brushed me, no problem. I accept. He brushed me, I said but no problem. I told him bro I'm seeing you, you won, but I'm seeing you, I feel you, I'm seeing your hand. I said before December I will beat you woefully. December 2026, you guys are not be like that now myself, I'll be practicing.

I said no problem, no problem, no more problem. More they relate. Let's continue. Although I told him that look, because you've trashed me now, it doesn't mean that you know see finish. You now respect me as a sales coach. The guys say no, nobody like that because I won't like at some point. I was wondering establishment is this wise should be playing with potential clients like this and potential clients are now are now trashing up and down.

You need to to see finish anyway. So we agreed that we're going to play the next day and then my kids wanted to cut their hair so that they can look fresh for school. So when we're in the Barber salon now, that's when the guy sent me another link. I told you, no problem. I accepted the link and then we started playing or more. It was heavenly, I say, the way that I destroyed this *** Oh, I was impressed with myself. I was impressed with myself and my two children too, because they finished cutting their hair.

This was the 10 minute game. Even the guy who was babbing her hair, he looked at me and said, OK, I'd be like, say you mean this guy. I say yes, I mean this guy. And the Bible was like, the guy, don't guide you, do the talk, Abby. I say yes, the guy, they run him out anyhow. I say I must end this guy today. I must finish his destiny. That's all. Other people in the babies alone were laughing. At some point. The guy sent me a message.

They said, bro, this is your moves. I said what happened? What's wrong with my moves? I don't understand them. I don't understand them. They're just too good in my mind. I'm saying of course they are good. Nobody me tell you. I say before December of 2026, you will be my fish. I will beat you severely. So that's how I ended that game now. And I trashed the guy. Well, I ended his destiny, his whole lineage. I clean everybody.

The guy was in shock. He said he underestimated me. I said it's OK, I understand. He said we'll play a game, no problem. We played again after that. We played three Termini games and I only won one then. Now the guy won two. But you can see the progress that is going on. In the beginning, what happened? The guy trashed ME30 After that we played another one, Terminus. What happened? The guy ended my career no problem. After that we played.

What happened? I ended his whole lineage. After that we played, I won one again 1-2. Can you guys see that? Honestly speaking, by the time it is December of 2026, oh by the time I finished him in December, he will never play chess again. Yes, I'm saying it with my full chest. Please, those of you who are listening for the first time, I'm not a violent person, this is just trash talk. When we play chess is normal or when we play PlayStation and order is just normal.

This is how boys talk. It's not as if anything serious or don't wanna report me to Spotify that somebody's advocating violence. I'm not advocating violence at all, at all, at all. So what I'm trying to say is that because you understand the principles, you understand the strategy, you get the context. It does not mean that you will not get punished. There are times that people punish you. Like I told you the first time the guy beats ME30 needs 30

clean. The same thing will happen in sales. You enter into some selling situations that by the time you finish, you say what happened now like maybe this like was what's going on. I thought I was a bad guy. I thought I was a dawn that why am I here? How did I lose that deal? These things will happen. It is normal. It is normal. Don't don't let it disturb you. It's normal. When I was growing up, people used to say every day for the tea, one day for the owner is normal.

So in chess, it's not every day that you know you, you'll be chopping fish. One day you are the fish is normal. One day you're the person eating fish, the next day you are the fish. That's just life, ups and downs. You don't let it get to you. Well, sure. The main thing that I want to say is that this whole thing of toasting, when you're being slick, when you're smooth, when you have compelling lines, when your packaging is on point,

you're a fine boy. You're a fine girl. You went to school abroad, you know everything. You know, giving yourself an aura of success, branding yourself in one way, positioning yourself, all these things help. They really, really help. And if you can't do that, by all means do it. If you're a fine girl, yellow skin, American accent, you know, by all means play that up. Don't turn it down. If you're fine, you're fine. Same thing, if you're a fine boy, you're a fine boy.

If your father is a minister, he's a minister. And what you do, you disown your father. Anything, any branding, any packaging, any whatever, anything that just like, you know, if you are born with it, you are born with it. If he's there, is there, Take advantage of it, but just know that it is not the full picture. You can't say you will package your way to success when it comes to sales. You can't say you will brand your way to success in sales.

You can't say you will position your way to success when it comes to sales. Because sales is a system. It's just like chess. Sales is like Scrabble. Scale sales is like football. There's no magic trick. You either have the talent or you don't. You understand the system or you don't. You have a good coach or you don't. You will work together as a team or you don't. There are different elements that you have to move around to get this thing to work.

That is sales. So I am using the analogy of chess because chess is currently what I'm doing. I'm trying to get better in chess. If you play Scrabble, it's the same thing. All these things that I'm talking about, you know that these dynamics are available in Scrabble as well. If you play football, the same thing. Table tennis, any which one sales is a system. Sales is like table tennis to win consistently, ignore the vibes and master the mechanics,

master the fundamentals. So with table tennis, it doesn't matter if you go and get the best shoe, go and get the best trouser, go and get the best table. Is it your next? I can't remember those those people that manufacture table tennis equipment because there's some people that want to see them when they step on the court. Deadly, deadly. There are some people when you handle the table tennis, what's it called? Bat. When you handle the bat,

lightweight, very smooth. When you feel the pad, it feels like it's from heaven. By the time you do, by the time you spin using it, because spinning is a technique in table tennis. That's when you get the ball to rotate. You know, either you know top spin because you want it to move quick or you do bottom spin because you want to slow down the ball. By the time you spin with it, the ball will just the table tennis ball will answer you one time.

So there's some people that come with this beautiful equipment, but then by the time they step to the table, rubbish, absolute rubbish. Packaging is good. If you can package, please go ahead, but just remember sales is a system, Table tennis is a system. Master the fundamentals, master the mechanics, learn the fundamentals, understand the why behind every single move you do. Start trying to do these things. You will get better.

Get your reps in. Reps just means reputation. That's for those of us who you know used to go to gym back in the day. Reps means reputations. Do your reputations is not by thinking that you will get better, it is by playing. The more repetitions you make, the better. I'm getting becoming a better podcaster and a better broadcaster because I'm staying in the podcast and the broadcasting game and I'm getting better as a salesperson because I'm selling more.

I've been exposed to different kinds of clients. I'm being exposed to different kinds of selling situations and that's why I'm getting better and better. Get your reps in. It's not just be listening to podcasts all the time. If you've been listening to my podcast episodes, you've listened to all 1000 episodes, but you haven't tried selling anything. You're not helping yourself. In fact, if that's the case, stop listening to my podcast today.

The ones that you've listened to before, go and try and do something, OK? Tavi Sharma spoke about this. He spoke about this, he spoke about this. Let me try it. Go and try something. Then as you're out in the field, as you're talking to people, you'll be getting some kind feedback. Some people will tell you're too loud, some people tell you're too soft. You notice that you're chasing some people away or you notice that you close very well when you do some things.

You know what you do now is now take that feedback and reiterate. Iteration does means you've taken some new knowledge and you adapted your process, adapted your process. The things that are that are not working, stop doing them or learn how to do them better. The things that are working, oh, by all means, double down on them. When you go out into the field and somebody beats you, whether in chess or whether in table tennis or whether in sales, take that data, plug it back into your system, and then go again.

One thing I want you to know, and that's the reason why I'm making today's podcast episode, is this mastery is not natural. It is not natural and that's the problem I have with all these packaging people. The packaging people make it seem like it is natural. They make it look as if, oh, I was born like this. No, it's not natural. There's work behind it. So if you're seeing me on the stage or you hear me right now, or you see somebody first on the stage and say, hey, get down for body, meaning he's just a natural.

No, it's not the case. Like say for instance, this guy, what's name this guy that married new wife, what's his name now? Is it basket case? I think it's best a case. Bright, Bright, Bright or car for Abby Bright. You know, the guy with the big guys, the Mohawk and the big guys. And the guy has married a new wife. I don't know what's wrong with all these boys. You make a bunch of money and then you're the wife of your youth.

She's not good enough again. You now disown her. You now go and marry, marry a brand new mother. So you see basket basket case, you see him on stage, you see AY on stage. You see all these people say I get out for body. No, it's not a get out for body. They've been doing this since they were in primary school. You crack one joke in some primary school, people laugh. You're like, oh, I can make people laugh. And then you keep trying to improve your game again and again and again.

So when you see AY on stage, when you see basket case on stage, when you see a poro and all these people on stage, you know it's not a matter of you get out for bodies. It started from primary school or for some people, not ritual. They were not born comedians. I was not born playing chess. I was not born public speaking. I was the quiet kid at the back of the class. That was me until somehow I became took second in primary 4,

primary five. I was just there minding my business whether I know the answer or I didn't know the answer. I used to raise up my hand because I realized that if you don't raise up your hand, teacher will call you. So I raised up my hand saying, oh, please, please, please don't pick me. Don't pick me, don't pick me. You know, But I was that guy, that quiet person at the back of the class. I wasn't Born This Way. I didn't start this way.

I wasn't born a salesman. I wasn't born a public speaker. I wasn't born a radio show host. I wasn't, I was a shy kid. I just realized that, look, if I want to do some things that some fundamentals that I need to master. And then I started putting in the repetitions. It's that simple. I knew that I wanted to be a leader, so OK, we'll start small. I think the first thing I did, well, I think I joined a Press Club. That was in Saint Gregory's College.

I think I joined Press Club. Then luckily for me, after that, they made me deputy senior prefect. That one I didn't have a choice, but you know, small, small, small. OK, now I'm deputy senior prefect. What the hell am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to run in school? I don't know, but OK, there must be some fundamentals in place. Let me start doing some research. Let me start trying to figure it out. Let me start doing this small,

small, small. So that's it. Sorry that kept you guys over 40 minutes, but that's just the main thing that I wanted to pass across today. So please, when it comes to sales, stop trying to toast your way. Stop trying to package your way to revenue success. If you have the packaging, it is not a problem. Embrace the packaging. Embrace the packaging. Embrace it. So those of us who have fine bore yellow skin, you know, embrace it.

It's not if you can peel your skin away, can you? So embrace it. But just know that that's not the the main reason why you are going to be successful at the end of the day. It's not the toasting, it's not the packaging. Learn the game, master the game, master the math. Keep playing, keep practicing after a while. The magic will follow and you start getting all those compliments and then you start feeling sweet with yourself.

Please all you toast us. Stop trying to toast and stop trying to package your way to success. For those of you who want to get serious about sales and selling, stop being seduced by these people who are toasting and packaging their way. To success. They will help you. This is the reason why they won't help you. They'll teach you how to toast. They'll teach you how to package. But the problem is this. You package yourself well, but then when it's time to be on the field, you will notice that you are not delivering the results.

And that is where you will start getting a reputation as a charlatan. And that is the reason why that is where you will fade. And that is why these people fade. Every two or three years, another one of them comes along. But sure, they fade and then they go away. And then some of us, you know, we're still here. Like take America, for instance, Brian Tracy and the rest of them, you know, people come, people go. Brian Tracy still remains.

People come. People go. Tony Robbins still remains. People come, people go. You know, you call the big names. They're still there because for them, there's a system that teaching you the system. You learn the system, you master the system, the system gets results. Somebody will come flash in the pan, make a quick, you know, make some quick money, then the person disappears. Anyway, I've made my point to them not keep you guys here for an hour for sure.

That's just why sales is more like chess or table tennis or football or Lawn Tennis or whatever it is that you play and not just toasting. So I wanted to re record this episode to give some more context in case some of you listen to the 2-3 minute episode I didn't quite like. Maybe you understood, but I didn't quite get what it is that I was talking about. So that's it. And that's all for today and thank you very much for listening.

If you haven't subscribed to the podcast, subscribe on Spotify, Apple iTunes or whatever they call it nowadays, YouTube, any podcast player of your choice so they can have access to this business goodness every single day. And then if you would like to connect with me because you have a question, you have a comment, you have a query, you want us to collaborate, or you just want to say what's up to your boy, No problem.

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