Sales Lessons from a Wuse 2 Underwear Vendor

Lots of Nigerian business people don't have a process for trying to figure out what it is that a potential customer or a potential client wants. It seems to me that lots of Nigerian business people just want to be in the situation of being an order taker. They just want to open their Instagram and then somebody should just sending a message and say this is what I want, how much? And then you collect the business money and then you deliver or somebody walks into the shop and the person says give me this, is this and this,

give me two of this, give me 3 of this. And then you guys negotiate and then you pay. It looks like lots of Nigerian business people don't actually want to go through the trouble of trying to engage with someone in order to close the deal. They want to be order takers. They want things to come quick. They want things to come fast. They want things to come easy. Now those aspirations are not bad. And when you do get to a certain level of retail powers, maybe like Amazon for instance, yes things can be very, very impersonal.

But the problem is in the beginning when we're all starting off at the SME stage, that small and medium scale enterprises, small businesses and micro, micro and nano businesses. It's unrealistic to think that you just open up your inbox and then orders are just going to start coming in or they're going to set up your shop and people are just going to walk in, pick what they want, and then walk out. So unfortunately for the SME,

for the small and medium scale, for the micro scale, for the nano scale business person, you actually need to have a process for qualification and discovery. Qualification and discovery just means you're trying to figure out who is it that you're talking to, what exactly do they want? You figure out their needs. When you figure out their needs, you're going to be able to make a proposal or presentation. Hopefully it is going to be accurate and you're going to speak to whatever it is that they need.

And then from there, that is what will give us the basis to be able to close the sale, engage in relationship building and nurturing so that we can get repeat business, get referrals and maximize the customer lifetime value. So as much as they're Nigerians, we don't want to speak to people. We just want to set up a system and then have it run automatically. Right now, you're hurting your business by taking that point of view because you haven't gotten to that level of scale yet.

You are still a small and medium scale person, you are still a micro or nano business person. So the dynamics of customer interactions are quite different. So nobody talks to Netflix, but that is different that a different level of scale. So it's realistic for Netflix to expect that they won't have to talk to anybody. Somebody would just transfer money and the whole thing is supposed to work. The same thing with Netflix, the same thing with Conga, the same thing with Jumia, the same thing with all those big brands that have economies of scale.

But in the beginning, having a process for talking to people and trying to figure out exactly what it is. That they need. Is absolutely important. It's absolutely essential. It's one of the reasons why I run this podcast and it's one of the things that is going to save your business. Funny enough, it is one of the things that is going to give you all the information that you need so that you can scale to that big board status.

The reason why Amazon and Jumia and Netflix and all these people can be so impersonal or hand off or whatever is because they know their customers intimately. In the early days, they had to acquire customers the hard way. Whether I was talking to people or running campaigns, having to onboard individual people, they have gone through the stage where they had to interact with customers one way or another, whether by e-mail or by WhatsApp or by phone or by whatever.

They have gone through those processes. So Amazon has gone through the process of individually 1 by 1, you know, courting distributors, you know, onboarding distribution partners, trading partners, 1 by 1 onto the platform. They have gone through that stage where they had to talk to people one-on-one and that is what has given them the traction and given them the data that they need to scale to that status. So yes, dear Nigerian business owner, we will get to the stage where we don't want to talk to anybody.

We just wake up, we open our bank account and then we'll just see money will just be dropping just between beam, beam, beam, money will be entering. But for now, while we are at the small and medium scale, while we are at the nanoscale, while we are at the micro scale, unfortunately, you have to talk to someone. Forgive me for being rude, but I'm going to say it. Stop being lazy, talk to people. The time will come. Now let me give you an example how somebody is taking the time and is going through the pains to talk to people, but eventually he personally is not going to need to talk to people.

But before I before we get into the meat of that, remember if you would love to connect with me, you can call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. If you want me to look at any of your business processes, then WhatsApp me on the same number 0806466 2140. If you'd like to join my WhatsApp channel, send me a message on that number and we'll get you started. So let's go straight into the meat of the matter today.

Now, I have said that it's absolutely essential that we need to have a process. We need to go through that stage where we figure out exactly what it is that the customer wants, exactly what is that the customer needs. Well, apologies for the noise in the background. It's a holiday. The kids are at home and I'm making today's recording at home. So that's the noise that's spilling in. So we need to have a process of figuring out what the customer wants and what they need.

When we figure out exactly what it is they need, we will now have options to present. When we present options to them, we're going to be able to narrow things down and then we can start pricing and we can start negotiating. You know that. Whole stage of how much is it is 8541, how much last, OK, give me 7, five, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah and all of that. If we're going to wait to be an order taker, what is going to happen is somebody's going to walk into your shop.

Let me stick to the example of female underwear because actually the example that we're using is a female underwear related. Or by the way, if you have children in the room, please send them away or plug in your headsets just in case I say anything that little kids are not supposed to hear, you know, especially little boys since we're talking about female underwear. So if you don't have this process. So what do you mean that situation where somebody walks into your shop and the person will say, Olga, you get Brazilian and you say, no, I

don't have Brazilian, and they'll say thank you and then they will leave. That could have been a potential sale, but because you don't have a process for trying to figure out what it is that that person needs since you are in the state of mind of being an order taker. The person just walked in. I said, Olga, you get Brazilian and you said no and the person said thank you and they left. You didn't have a process for stopping them to try and figure out now, OK, no, we don't have Brazilian, but what exactly do you need?

What is a Brazilian? Is it something that you're that you're looking for because you're looking after comfort or you're looking after that chic sexy feeling, or you don't want visible panty lines, or you don't want this or you don't want that because if somebody comes into your shop and the person says Orga, you get Brazilian, or Madame, you get Brazilian. And the answer is no. If you figure out exactly what it is that the person wants, you will be able to make some alternative recommendations that would have been as suitable as a Brazilian.

By the way. It's obvious that I like Brazilian underwear for some reason, since we came back to Nigeria, it's like Nigerian business people don't know Brazilian underwear is. Anyway, I just say side whatever. Now, for those of you who listened to the podcast episode last week, this won't come as a surprise. But if you're listening to the podcast for the first time and you're wondering this whole thing of female underwear, where is it coming from?

Actually, it's very simple. A friend of mine, me and a friend of mine, we did some business maybe two or three weeks back and then we came into some small change. The money is not life changing, but it's enough to do one or two things, you know, school fees, you know, things like that. And so he thought would be a good idea to surprise his wife and just overhaul her wardrobe. That's why he reached out to a couple of vendors.

And I thought, guy, you're doing a good thing. And then I called him later on to say, how's this thing going? And he told me it wasn't going so great. And we spoke about it. I made a podcast episode about it just to show how not having good sales practices or not having good conversation frameworks and things like that could be costing you revenue in your business. And then I was using people who sell lingerie and female underwear and things like that,

using them as a case study. So if you're listening to the podcast for the first time, no, I'm not fascinated by female underwear. It was a case study that we did last week because a friend of mine was trying to overhaul his wife's wardrobe. So now, inspired by my friend, I thought, you know what actually is a good thing? Why don't I do the same thing? Because currently my wife is away for business. You know, she's traveled to Lagos and I thought would be nice if she comes back home and then, yeah, magically I have overhauled her wardrobe and it's just brand new everything.

But I said, you know what, let me just be, let me not be too ambitious. I said let me just start with. Skeevies first skeevies on these underwear, butter pint, whatever it is you call it. So let me just start with that. Let me just overhaul that whole section. So like my friend now, I did the same thing. I reached out to some people on Instagram. Guess what? 00 response, zilch, nada, nothing gang 0. So what I said last week still applies this week.

There are lots of people who sell lingerie, female underwear. You all are losing business because you are not being responsive. People are reaching out, you are not responding. Or maybe they're reaching out in the format that you don't like. And you're not even having the courtesy to reach out to say, oh, Sir, what you typed, I didn't understand. What do you mean? What do you mean? And then engage them in conversation to actually try and figure out what it is that they want, what it is that they need so that you can make alternative recommendations.

Because now that I've joined and I've started looking because I think black Brazilian underwear look nice look looks nice since I've started asking around. You know, Nigerian people who sell lingerie, you know, it's clear that Nigerians are not Brazilian is or Brazilian is not a style in Nigeria. In fact, the last guy I spoke to, the guy laughed. The guy said, Oga, the only Brazilian way I know are hair, not be paint.

So please, I really hope there are no children listening. Please send your kids out of the room or plug in their headphones because we're talking about some more mature stuff. Let me just put it that way. So I reached out to some people on Instagram, zero response. One person did get back eventually, but she said my attitude basically was, OK, look, I don't understand what you're asking for, but this is what we have in store.

She sent a couple of photos and I said, Madam, you don't get high waist. She said no, I said OK, thank you very much. Then that was it. So you can see that even the woman who responded, she is in the mind frame of being an order taker. If somebody reaches out to Instagram, she wants the inquiry to come in a particular format that she understands. And then she wants the people preferably to go through her Instagram handle first, click on exactly what she wants so that all she does is just takes the order.

Now that is not bad. Businesses can grow that way. But believe me, you're leaving lots of money on the table. You need to think of yourself as an advisor, as a consultant and someone who has subject matter expertise. If you sell female underwear, if you sell lingerie, you need to think of yourself as an expert in these sorts of things. If somebody slides into your inbox and the person says Madame, do you have, OK, what Rihanna has this lingerie brand?

I can't remember what is called, That's Rihanna the musician, such as a lingerie brand. So if somebody slides into your DM and say, Madame, do you have that Rihanna lingerie? Something, something, something. Instead of just saying no, we don't have it, and then the conversation ends. You should be able to say no, we don't have it. But is it OK if I ask you a couple of questions? Let me see exactly. Let me try and understand exactly what it is that you're looking for.

Perhaps I have some alternatives that might be suitable. If you start having conversations like that with people, this is how you can start seeing, you know, 2030% growth in your business without you having to advertise, without you having to go to trade shows, without you having to do anything different. All you are doing is you're just implementing a process in your business for qualification and discovery, for figuring out what is it that people want?

What is it that people need when they walk into your store or when they send you Adm on Instagram? Now, this is one example of a guy who's doing it quite well because I reached out to some people on Instagram, you know, fancy, you know, fancy names, you know, women run businesses. And I assume that, you know, women should be the specialist that should be the pro here because of course, we're talking about female underwear.

So I reached out to them, zero. No help, no response. So I did what anybody else in my situation would do. I called my sister-in-law and I said hey sis what's up? I said I'm good. I said your sister has traveled. I said Oh yeah I know, I know. I said I want to surprise. I said what do you want to do? Because my sister-in-law, she likes surprises. Anything surprise you know her body, good dress, the ginger. Ginger. So I told her I want to buy new.

I want to buy a new pint. She said OK no problem now I know this place in Wusetu, when are you free? I said OK, I'm free tomorrow so let's go. So we went, lo and behold, when we arrived there, the person that runs the store, first of all, he's a man and the guy is kind of like my age, maybe older middle-aged fellow. And then the guy is very ebotic, as in the guy Ebo gone, very EBO. Sorry, please, no, I'm not trying to throw shit on anybody.

I'm just trying to say that this is not what I expected. The other people that we've been reaching out to, you know, like one of them was a former, was a former lingerie model in Nigeria. You know, she has a couple of stores here in Abuja. So that was what I was used to seeing. I was used to seeing the the people who own these businesses, you know, to be women, you know, fine skin for my model, correct, babe, you know, things like that.

But then my sister-in-law takes me to this place and he's a man Shocker, middle age shocker, ebotic shocker, you know, no accent, no, no refinery, no nothing. But of course it's my sister-in-law, so I trust that she knows what she's doing. So it's a physical store in we say to my sister's guy. Oh, and then again, the guy is he's semi literate, let me just put it that way. And after spending one hour in his store, roughly one hour, I

now see and I now understand why someone like him would be outselling other people who seem more qualified to be in this business. Because remember some of the people that I reached out to, one of them is a former lingerie model who has lots of stores in different parts of Abuja. The babe fine, the skin yellow, everything is smooth, nose pointed, she resemble Uibo. And of course, you know, when she talks, you know, it sounds like her voice sounds like a butter, you understand, sounds like smooth butter and high quality of babe.

But I'm here with a middle-aged evil man who is semi literate and very ebotic. So when we started the conversation with him, it was clear that this fellow has a process for figuring out what it is that customers want or what it is that customers need. Because he has a process, he is able to present options while people are in store. Because he's able to present multiple options while people are in store. Most people who walk in are walking out buying something.

And while I was there around, you know, four or five of us spending on average 100K on top Pint. Just because this guy has a process that somebody walks into my store, they ask for this. I don't know what The thing is, but I have a process for calming the person down, figuring out what it is they want, making a couple of proposals. And then on average people are walking out on average 100K, somebody who enter 120, somebody who enter 200, you know,

somebody who enter 80, another person 70. But that's what was happening while I was there on top batter, so. He has a. Process. But of course, like I said, this fellow is semi literate, so his process is very informal. But clearly he has a process. So we got there and it's like my sister, you don't come and say, yeah, so Olga, come inside, come inside, come inside. And of course I was with my kids, so children on a day now.

So we're fine, how's the holiday, we're good, blah, blah, blah. Sit down. And then the guy moved into qualification and discovery. But if you ask him, he's not going to use these terms that he's doing qualification and discovery. But he did not assume that me and my sister-in-law were married. He didn't assume so he started asking some questions. So he looks straight at me and says so now for them you've now for Madam you define Abby.

That's what he asked me. Now in that situation, if my sister-in-law was actually my Madam and I said now see Madam here Now you see he will now know that oh OK, this is Madam that is in front of me. But by asking the question like that, so now for Madam you define Abby. He's not making any assumptions. And I say yes, you see, he has now gotten some extra information. Two people have come to my shop, a man and a woman.

I didn't assume that their husband and wife, I guess, figure out who exactly am I talking to and what's the situation, you see? And remember I said that qualification and discovery. First of all, we're trying to figure out who exactly is it that we are talking to. What do they want, what do, what do they need? So now question. He looks me straight in the eye. Now for Madam, you define IB. He's trying to figure out who exactly is here because remember one woman, one man, two children have worked in lots of people would just assume it is husband,

wife and begin. But he's not assuming. And I say yes, it's for Madam. He now knows that OK, I'm buying for wifey. Wifey is not here. And then he talks to my sister-in-law said she know your sister. And then she said yes, now is my sister, now this, my brother here, blah, blah, blah blah blah. You know, all that small talk, you see he's trying to figure out the scope, what exactly is going on. He's not making any assumptions.

Then eventually all the other people that I was talking to, you know, they were asking about size. And that's one thing that actually was bothering me because to be honest, female underwear, I don't even know how you measure it, you know, is it like size 28, size 36, size 52, you know, I don't know. So that was one question that was tripping me up when they were asked me what's your wife's size anyway? So he said, you know, talk to my sister.

I said your sister, we can say yes, she big pass you. Now you see Sammy literate, but he's trying to figure out exactly what kind of woman are we looking at here? Are we looking at the box on chick? Are we looking at the like my babe? So now your sister Abby, she big pass you, you know, so he didn't push me for, you know, 265672. You know something he didn't push me for all of that all that confusing. Whatever then of course my sister-in-law joke, of course now she get bombed on we big past my own and then you know,

small talk blah blah, blah. And then the guys like no problem. Now we get time plenty. Which one you define? You see, first of all, he has figured out who are we? What's going on? Who are we buying for? Now he's going into discovery proper. What's the problem? What exactly do they need? But then he didn't say which one you define because remember, I've told you people that when you leave it up to the customer, there's no, you have no way of directing the conversation.

But we are supposed to be professionals and we're supposed to take charge. And we're the one who was supposed to direct the conversation, which is what he did. He said which are you define? And then he picked up a specific item and then he said something like this. That is how the conversation started. He didn't just say which one you define then leave it because if you said which one you define, I would have said I'm looking for Brazilian.

And of course later on asking for Brazilian. And in fact, he's the one that laughed at me and said Olga, the only Brazilian way I know not hair, no be paint so. Where was I? He directed the conversation. Which one? You define something like this and then he read something and that is how the conversation started. And I like this one. But the front is like this. The back is like this. OK, no. Do you have it in cotton? Do you have it in black?

Do you have it in purple? That is how the conversation started. And as we are going to say this or sister, so she like Liz, of course, me, I don't know which one is this? I'll say which one is this? Then you take a show me say, oh, OK, I've seen something like this before. I've seen something like that. And then we started talking and then you know the guy started asking more questions. He asked what about lace? After some time the guy asked what about high waist?

After some time the guy asked what about boyfriend pint. I said we should be boyfriend pint again. So guy never hear semi. I have never heard who said his boyfriend pints. Now for women that seem resemble boxer but not be boxer that's OK bring let me see as I was started looking. And then he started asking you know she would like this hair color. She would like that kind color because I was selecting some dark colors, you know, black,

purple, you know, stuff like that. And then you know, he started asking this color, this color, that color, and I said OK, what about VPL? He said which one be VPL and I say visible panty line. So oh OK, you know what make the teen show I be when she dressed for work, you say yes. He said no problem. That VPL where you do talk. We don't get VPL but we get this one. This one no get food, this one no get food, this one no get food.

Don't worry, no good show. And I asked my sister-in-law is it true? I said yeah, it's true. So long as he doesn't have hemline, the team will not show us. OK, no problem, give us a couple. Now can you see that this guy, this evil man, if you go and ask him what he's doing, he will not tell you articulately like I'm saying it, that he is running qualification and discovery. But that is precisely what qualification and discovery is.

And that is precisely what all those other Instagram vendors are are not doing because they are focused on being order takers. So if you go into their own and you say, do you have Brazilian, they will say no, go and check on Instagram and do if you see and you like click and pay will deliver to you. They just want to be order takers. Business can grow like that, but trust me, you're leaving lots of money on the table because you're refusing to acknowledge your superpower.

Your superpower is that you are the subject matter expert. If you sell underwear, you're the one who used to pro in underwear. You might not be articulate as all your customers are, You might not be educated as much as all your customers are, but you've been doing this business for a while. Maybe you know the things on that. Different names, different terms. But because you know this is your industry, take charge of the conversation.

Be a consultant, an underwear consultant, the lingerie consultant, whatever. And the attitude should be anybody who is coming here is trying to achieve something. Now from the questions that this guy was asking and I was impressed, I could see that he was trying to break it down into different components. He was trying to break down underwear into comfort. The ones that my wife would just, you know, wear and just be cool.

He was also trying to break it down into all I put it now friskiness. Please do there any children listening, send them out of the room now or put on your headphones. He was also trying to break it down into the a shallow components. If you understand what I'm saying. I'm not going to interpret for those of us who are foreign listeners. So he was trying to break it down into buckets. Comfortable butter. Here it is, a shallow butter,

here it is. Silk. Let me feel sophisticated 1 Here it is. He was breaking it down into buckets. By the time we were done, we had selected a couple of options based on different categories to fit different needs. Yeah, you've all figured out that I was trying to overhaul Madam's wardrobe. So that is exactly. What he was. Doing making recommendations according to different needs. See some of you men listening to this podcast.

I was saying I didn't realize was this complicated. Honestly speaking, I didn't understand that buying female Pata is complicated like this because you know how it is for we guys. Now you enter the shop, the boxers are there. It's either, you know, BYC, you know, like that white underwear, that old school one, the one we used to wear in secondary school is either BYC or boxer. You just bite and you go finish. I didn't know that it was this complicated, that there's silk that is satin, that there's cotton that there's this, that there's that, that breathability is an issue and that underwear effects how a woman feels.

So we need to be paying attention to different kinds of things, you see. But this evil boy, this evil guy, because let me not say boy, because, you know, he's my senior, let me respect my elders. He understands the game. Welcome leads us, broke it down, figured out what we want, and then started selecting options based on comfort, based on a shallow factor, based on sophistication factor, based on different kind of factors.

And then he put it all there, remember what I said, figure out what these people need, ask them questions. From the questions you ask, you will know what options to present. It is when we now finished looking at everything that we now started doing what we Nigerians like to do. We started to price and I was glad that my sister-in-law was there. I just left you to her because honestly speaking, I don't like pricing. So we say, OK, this one we will give like this, this particular one will give on like this, this one like this, this one like this.

You see this the reason why qualification and discovery is important. It was just up to me, our director that said, do you have Brazilian? It was another attacker who would have said no and I'll say, OK, thank you and then I'll leave. That's it. Potentially lost revenue, but because it has a process or welcome come in blah, blah, blah. He's trying to figure out who are they, what is that they want? And then he starts presenting options.

So went into pricing. My sister-in-law was there. I made sure she handled the pricing. It looked like a number that was OK for me. And then at the end of the day we paid. And then, you know, small, small talk. The guy was even saying that I'm lucky that I came with my sister-in-law because he said that if I came alone, I would have finished me. That's what he said that if I came by myself, no how, no how is it would have collected 300K

from my hand. That wouldn't just stop our underwear. That would have continued with browse, for instance and stuff like that, you know, and I could see that yeah. Honestly speaking this semi literate EBO guy because he. Has a sales. Process. A process for qualification and discovery. A process of figuring out who is there, what it is that they need. A process for making effective presentations and proposals. A process for closing the sale.

I have no doubt that the next time any man enters that store he will collect good something from that guy. So he said that is my sister-in-law does my protection because you know, he's a regular customer and everything. And we just laughed about it. And anyway. I got some. Stuff and a couple of days my wifey gets back. I'm hoping that she will give her a sign of approval because I hope there are no children listening because you know how it is now.

If you buy something nice or one time likes it, it means something nice will happen. I'll give you guys the feedback later. So what was I anyway? Summary This guy clearly had the process. He was process driven because I'm the one with sales expertise. I could see the gears working in his head and I could see the process. Then this guy was keeping it very conversational. Remember, this is how you get people to relax and to calm down.

Because to be honest, I want to buy something for all, to buy better for my wife. To me, it's a foreign environment. I'm surrounded by all these women. I won't lie, I was nervous because I was, I'm a young man in the female underwear store. I didn't want people to look at me as if I'm woman rapper. You understand what I'm saying? As if I'm a useless somebody, you know? But there's a way that he just welcomed us. Put the guard down.

You know, my anxieties melted away. I could now talk freely and speak my mind. If you didn't do that, like, how will I open my mouth and be discussing certain kinds of things about my wants, my wife's wants and preferences in a room full of because apart from me and my boys, everybody else, there was a woman. So to be honest, I felt out of place. So apart from the normal anxiety of when you enter inside the shop and you see everything and now thinking early, this will cost money.

So kept it nice, kept it conversational. This is one reason why I keep telling you people sales has to be conversational and relaxed. Eventually we'll get to the point like when we get to the contract stage, if you need to drop contacts contracts for your business. OK, at the contract stage ahead, we can start being formal, formal, formal again and precise with language. But for the purpose of marketing, sorry for both of sales, we keep things nice.

We keep things casual, we keep things conversational because as a salesperson, as the business owner, I am trying to figure out exactly what it is that they need. They will not say what is on their mind unless they're cool and they're calm and unless, well, you know, it looks as if they're talking to a reasonable somebody, another human being. He clearly did need analysis. That is why he was able to make presentations.

When I asked for Brazilian, he laughed. He said Olga, the only Brazilian where I know her hair will be banged. He started asking me questions to figure out exactly what your Brazilian is now, even though he didn't have. He had some. I think he showed. I think he called them boy. Was he boy shots or something? Yeah, I think he called them boy shots. By the time I saw the boy shots, I was OK. Yeah, it's close enough. So OK.

But then my wife was sorry. My sister-in-law was now like, and but don't bring this material. Bring. What does he say? Again, this is a cotton or something and there's some material that's supposed to be breathable. But you see, unlike other people, do you have Brazilian? No, we don't have conversation. And for him, do you have Brazilians, Olga? The only Brazilian way I know now hair no be pint. And then we laugh and then I

say, when I say Brazilian, you know, what do you mean? He listened. He said, is it like this one? I said, OK, close enough. So he's doing need analysis. Then he put options on the table. And when I say options on the table, he literally put options on the table based on comfort. This one based on work, this one based on a shallow factor, this one based on what is raining today. This one they were on the physical table.

It is from options on table that we now moved to pricing and negotiation. How much is this one for one No is to use too much. Now you didn't see that we carry 10 drop it like this. OK. This one you didn't see we carry it or drop like this one. And this one you didn't see that we carry 15 or give us like this give a hair. And like I said in one hour about four or five people walked in walked out Average purchase about 100K.

This animal man, middle-aged ish in woman's industry because he has a sales process for qualification and discovery, because he has a this is how he's distinguishing himself apart from other people. And I say women keep coming back to the store and I say women feel comfortable discussing all these things with him. Honestly, he's a strong man. I don't think I can be involved in this business. Honestly, I feel as if I'm a woman rapper and I don't want anybody to regard me as Zuma rapper.

So sorry for those of you who are not Nigerian listeners. I know I'm using a bunch of terms that you don't understand and I will not explain deliberately just so that it doesn't affect my explicit rating for the podcast. So your qualification and discovery process is the way that you distinguish yourself from the competition and this is the reason why people keep coming back. Realize that you have a superpower. You're the subject matter expert.

Be consultative, talk to people, try and figure out what it is that they want. This is the. Reason why somebody will come back in the future. Now in the future, I know that I can go back there again without my sister-in-law. Although to be honest, I'll go with my sister-in-law as my protection because the guy's a shrewd businessman. So I don't want him to collect 100K from my hand, 500K the next time I go there. So I'll go with her.

She'll be my shield and my protection. But I am confident that this guy is a pro. He knows that he knows what's up. So next time I want to explore more practical options or I want to explore a shower options, or I want to explore what is rating options or this option or that option. I know that he's the guy to go and see because he's the specialist. Meanwhile, the other people who look the part that I reach out to on Instagram, clearly, I

mean, they might be the one not useful to me. The one not helpful to me. Chances are I'm not going to go back there again. Now, there are a couple of things that this guy could have done better. You could have asked more questions because of our team. I would have asked when is Madame coming back? Because remember, he was trying to upsell me on bras. And since he was trying to change, I'm trying to change wifey's wardrobe.

He was also talking to me about trousers for work and you know, all those other things. But I told him, look, you know what, for all those ones, I want Madame to be around. So this one, let's just keep it. Just do the butter because not to surprise him. So he didn't ask when is Madame coming back? Because we asked when Madame is coming back. You could have tried to gain an announcement. So, Madame, when is Madame coming back?

Oh, she's coming back in two weeks. Around March. Something, something, something. OK. I know, I know. No problem. Let me have your phone number. Let me call you. I want to be sure that Madame is happy with everything that she has seen. Simple something. Reasonable request. So when is Madame coming back? Get a date, then collect phone number. You should always have your customers details. That is how you stay top of mind with them because it's from adding somebody on WhatsApp that you can be sharing WhatsApp status once in a while, sending the person messages on WhatsApp,

stuff like that. That is how we stay top of mind. So I'm assuming he has my sister in law's contact details, but you know he didn't collect mine. So that should have been the scope that he will call back just to figure out customer success, customer satisfaction. Wifey she saw it was she happy? Yes. Does she like them? Yes. Which are the ones does she like? Which ones didn't she really like? These are this is what will affect the future recommendations that he's going to make the next time he walks into the store.

So let's say for instance, now the A shower options I selected, maybe they're too risque for my wife. Now that he knows that the a shower options that we picked were too risque, next time I enter into the store, you know he will. So just something more modest. So these are some of the things they could have done. And then also when when is Madam coming back? You have a date? Was Madam happy? Yes, blah blah. We do all those issues.

Then that's why you don't have the option to say hey boss should be you say you want overhaul Madam's wardrobe. Just bring her to the shop. Now I have this correct fire, fire trouser Marks and Spencer this that that come from China, come from Italy, come from this come from that we have correct work hazard. I want to show Madam and I just know that she will love it. So where can you bring Madam? So that's the only thing that was missing in this process.

Advancements timelines should I figured out when wifey is coming back collect phone number always be collecting contact details for our customers so we can do relationship building, relationship nurturing. Stay top of mind then you should have done a customer success satisfaction call. And. Then advancements tried to get me and wifey to come back in the store. Well have other opportunities to sell some more. OK, sorry this has been 40

minutes. Let me just bring it to a close. But I think you guys get the point of what it is that I'm trying to say. So applying these principles can be tricky. But if you need me to look at your own particular circumstances, just call me, send me a text message or WhatsApp message on 08064662140. If you want me to audit any of your business processes or your sales processes, then WhatsApp me on the same number 08064662140.

So that's it pretty much for today. But the main thing that I wanted to pass across for all business owners who are listening, whether you're an architect, whether you're a lawyer, whether you are environmental consultant, whether you sell welding services or you sell washing machines, or you run a neighborhood grocery store, or you sell water tanks, or you sell underwater mining equipment, or you sell tractors or trucks or whatever it is you sell, don't be an order taker.

Don't just stay in the shop, stay online and then be in a situation where somebody asks do you have XYZ and the answer will be yes or no. If yes then OK you will haggle and then go by. If no then they'll say thank you and then they'll move on. You need to come up with a process for qualification and discovery. Learn to figure out what this Enquirer wants or what it is that they need. If somebody comes to your shop and they ask for the XYZ,

whatever it is that you sell, it is not the XYZ that they need per SE. It is a particular need that they're trying to fulfill. Oh no, I don't have it. But if you don't mind, I'd like to figure out exactly what it is you're trying to achieve. If I can figure it out, maybe I can put some options on the table that might be able to help you. Will that be OK? Most people will say yes because they're trying to solve a problem and they say, OK, step into the store, let's have a chat.

Isn't that simple? And it's asking your questions. You figure out what it is that they want, put some options on the table. From the options on the table, you begin to price and negotiate and haggle from there. You collect some money, you so collect some change. These are simple ways that we can grow our businesses by 20%, thirty percent, 50% just by having these simple processes in place. So if you've gotten value from today's episode, please connect with me, call me, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140.

Thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you some other time.