Stop Selling! How to Use Education to Close 50M Deals

Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking about closing complex deals and plugging leaks in your sales funnel. Again, today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at how do you close the complex deal, What is a complex deal? What does closing mean? What is the sales funnel? These are the sorts of things that we're going to talk about because I had a conversation recently with a podcast listener. So shout out to Abdul from Show Trucks.

That's the name of his company. He's an Apple podcast listener. And I think I mentioned him maybe two or three episodes ago. And I figured, let me come over here and share some of the things that we spoke about because I think that there are some people who could learn one or two things that will help them move their business forward, particularly those of you who sell really, really, really high-priced items because a lot of us are in the SME

space. But then there are a few listeners of the podcast who sell items that are rather pricey, like take Abdul, for instance, selling things that are 30405060 or 100 million. So yeah, it's time that we start putting out content that these sorts of people can relate to because, you know, they're also a member of the family as well. So if you're interested in these sorts of things, how do we close deals and if you sell big, big things, you know, 100-M50M200M,

how do you close the deal, then this podcast is the thing for you. This is your jam. So subscribe on Spotify, YouTube, Apple, or any player of your choice. My name is Tavishma Ahede, I am the host of the podcast and that is all I do here every single week. Solving business problems, especially problems that have to do with sales and marketing. So let's get straight to the cocoa. Closing deals, plugging leaks. OK, close.

Now close is somewhat of a technical term, but some of you already know what that means. The thing is when most of you hear close, you think collecting the money, bam, one time. So a lot of you who are listening to this thing now and you hear that Abdul is selling things 50M100M. When you hear close, you're thinking collect 100-M1 time. Unfortunately that is not the case when we're talking about high ticket items. When we're talking about high ticket items, you will find that the deal is closed in several stages.

So for those of us in this community in the SME space, you know, you're selling maybe Ankara 75 for six yards, you know, 12 K for six yards, that kind of thing. Yes, you can collect your money in one sitting. Somebody who DM you in the morning, 8:00, nine o'clock saying how far do you have this fabric? Do you deliver to Abuja? He will chat back and forth by 3:00 PM. She don't transfer and then next thing you're talking to your delivery rider, send it to this address.

So yes, there are those situations where you can collect your money, bam, one time. But when you start talking about complex deals or high value deals, typically you close the deal in stages. You yawn small, you get the person to take one step, you yawn again, you get the person to take another step and another step and another step. Each step is also considered a close or a conversion. But just know now, when you start getting into big, big, big money, you don't close the deal one step.

It is small, small, small. Now, the example that I've always used on the podcast is wedding photography because not because it's the perfect example to use, but just because that was my own background, that was my own constituency. And also because in wedding photography and in video, we used to close it. Small, small, small. You go to the bridal show, you talk to 50 potential brides. Let's say you're able to pull 50 of them to the stand.

That is a small close. That is a conversion of the 50. You're able to get 30 of them to drop their phone number. That is also a close. That is also a conversion of the 30 you call them. Maybe you're able to get 20 of them to agree to have a meeting. That is also a close. You have close on a small step. That is actually also a conversion of the 20 that agreed to the meeting. Let's say you're able to get 15 of them to actually come to your studio or you go to their house.

That is also a close. That is also a conversion, another small step. And you see that's how it works. Step by step by step from the studio, discuss options from discussion options, send proposal from send proposal, collect deposit. So you can see that when you start going up, up, up and the money is becoming big, big, big, it is step by step by step. That is not that one time close. It is not that beam one time transfer.

So that is what closing is. And if this is your first time listening to the podcast, Please remember that have that perspective as you listen to all these episodes to the future episodes. Well, and also the past episodes. I mean, for you, this is your first time hearing it, but you know, a lot of the stuff that you want to be listening to is in the past because people who subscribe to this podcast, I noticed that you guys binge, you come, you like it, and then you listen to maybe like 10 at a stretch or something.

And I really value the time and attention that you guys give over to the podcast. So that is the proper perspective to have when it comes to closing. So let's see. Okay, sales funnel. Most of you already know what the sales funnel is. The idea behind the sales funnel is this, excuse me, that before you have a potential customer, somebody that will transfer plenty of money to you, you would have started off by talking to a wide number of contacts.

So back to the wedding photography example. You go to the bridal show, you talk to 70 brides on the floor. For the 70 brides on the floor, 60 come to the table. From the 60 that come to the table, 50 drop their name. For the 50 that drop their name, 30 agrees to a meeting. For the 30 that I agree, because you know everybody that says yes, I'll take a meeting that will show for the 30 that I agree, maybe 25 show up. So you can see that in the beginning the number is wide as you're coming down, down, down,

down, down. As you declose, small, small, small, small, small. As you're making conversions step by step, the number is dropping and dropping and dropping. Now. That's why it is called a funnel. Although when people say sales funnel, they typically think online. So that's the definition of some key terms. So let's just go straight ahead to the meat of what Abdul and I spoke about South. One of the things that we spoke about was good social media strategy.

If you are in the heavy duty machines business, the mega machines business. Now the reason why we had to tackle this is because I had to look at the guy's social media and he had a lot of buy now content and that is not a good idea. Buy now content is the thing that says oh I have this truck here it is 50 tons. If you want to buy, buy now send me Adm These are my account details. You know that kind of content. Now the problem with that kind of content especially for people who are in complex sales scenarios or who sell high value items, that is not really how people buy and not everybody is in the market for your thing at all times.

So when you sell Ankara, you actually can say see the Sankara very nice, very smooth, very neat, very good, fresh from Ghana, Ghana kinte slash Ankara, if you want 6 yards, send me 75 now, now, now to take advantage of our, you know, 20% promo discount or whatever available for people in Abuja. Now people can buy now because it is Ankara. I mean, what's the risk? And everybody knows what Ankara is, you know, so no risk.

But then trucks, it's different. It's in cost, 20M50M. People are not just going to go and drop money like that. And then apart from that, people even want to know this truck that I'm buying, you know, is it a good quality truck? Is it brand new? Is it accidental? How many miles does it have before the tyres are? The tyres are on point. You know, the pneumatic system, the hydraulic system is everything on point. You know, there are lots of things there that people have to consider.

Oh, by the way, forgive me for the noise in the background, you know, while he's on leave. And so she's watching TV in the living room while I'm making this podcast recording. So where was I? So buy now content is not a very good idea when you are in the high ticket items because everybody's in market at that time. And that is one of the reasons why I keep on saying over here on the podcast that educational content is a good idea for you guys.

Because educational contents, no matter what you do, especially for those of you who sell high ticket items, as in all the things that you will sell between the costs, you know, millions, 1,000,000 millions, not single thousands or 10s of thousands. It's because educational content is value add. Somebody will come on your Instagram and they will see something, you know, the team makes sense. They learn one or two things,

they go away, they come back again. Before you know it, they will begin the sleep on your social media. You know they come, they imbibe your social media. As they imbibe, as they're listening, as they are watching, as they're reading, you know they're learning. Trust is being built. And that's the reason why for those of you who do educational content, you might find it surprising, but that's the reason why some people just call you up and they say, I'm ready.

And in your mind, you're wondering, how did this happen? It happened because you've been putting out educational content. People have been sleeping on your channel, they've been living on your channel, they've been learning. Trust has been built. So by the time they buzz you up, they think you're the very guy. If I told you about one of my potential customers, how that that's how it was. He called and he just went straight to the point and said,

oh boy, I've been listening, I'm ready. I have a sales team, It's three people. How far, what can we do to get it started? So that's the benefit of educational content. So if you are in high ticket items like this, educational content also because educational content is is low commitment, you can come, you can watch, you can read, you can swipe, you can whatever. And then you go, no pressure, no pressure at all. That kind of thing I make over here on the podcast.

I'm educating you guys, but it's no pressure. You listen, you know, if you want to finish it, good. If you don't want to finish it, no problem. You want to go, go. You want to come back, come back. I'm not trying to force you to do anything. Eventually you feel as if, yeah, this guy knows what's up. Let me give him a call. So it's the same thing, high ticket items, educational content, that is the way to go. So the educational content that someone like him can produce if you are in the similar space to Abdul is you can excuse me, you can feature your trucks and say this is the MDZ 1000 Something,

something, something. It is popularly used in Nigeria and India and China, especially for people who are in the construction space building. So, so, so and so highway or in the oil and gas space doing so, so, so and so. Excuse me. So these are the conditions under which you can use these kinds of trucks the best, they're best for this disease. Now that in fact, for Nigerian buyers, if you're going to be engaged in mining, you're going to be driving through NASA.

You know that NASA is a very hilly area. So some tippers normally struggle when they're going up the mountain and down the mountain, but this truck has a special seven gear system so that by the time you downshift from three to seven, you can climb any hill. No need for your boys to be putting stone behind the truck. You drive small, you put stone. You drive small, you put stone. This kind of truck will eliminate all those kind of worries.

If you'd love to learn some more, if you're curious, you know what's at me or slide into my DM, that kind of thing. Very nice, very educational, very easy. By the time potential customers come to your channel will be as if you're talking directly to them because you're featuring one truck. You're talking about setting use cases. In the beginning when you say customers in Nigeria, China, blah, blah, blah, the Nigerian people, the Chinese people, the Indian people, they'll begin to pay attention.

And the funny psychological thing is this, because you are being specific, saying Nigeria, you find out that people who are based in Ghana, for instance, them too, they will listen because Ghana, Nigeria, nobody the same thing as they were next door neighbors. Sometimes people want to talk to everybody. They keep it broad. I say no, no, no, no, no be targeted. The more relevant the better, the better. Like take this is my podcast.

I'm talking to Nigerians also. They're Ghanaians who see the podcast and be like, OK, all the podcasts we've been seeing is Oibo, Oibo. But it's something for Nigerians. They say, OK, no problem. Let me listen. Because after all, Nigeria and Ghana are not the same, you know, at least on an international level. Niger and Ghana, what's the difference? We're like brothers. So this is the kind of content that you can make if you are in this space.

So feature the truck, feature your equipment, talk about its optimal use, talk about these features, talk about how they can help clients get the job done or how we can get clients to grow their business or to improve their, you know, whatever it is that they're trying to do their mining operation there. You know, that's the whole idea then. So excuse me, where was I? So we also had conversations on leakages in his sales funnel because Abdul has a sales funnel.

Now this is what the guy has been doing. He's been running advertisements, Meta, Facebook to specific videos on his channel. And so he was wondering that Omar, you know, I've missed some small deals, but the money not true, you know. So where's the problem? Is it that I am targeting the wrong people or is it that my targeting is OK, but then when people enter my funnel, my conversion is not on point? Like I don't know how to toss them.

Maybe that's the problem. So for those of you who have similar concerns, yes, Abdul was spot on. Usually when you're losing money in your advertisements, some of the first places that will check is either targeting or conversions. Targeting just means am I running after the right person? Those are the kind of people on this podcast that we keep on saying ICP ideal customer profile or ideal customer avatar or your ideal customers, or you know, preferred customers or you know, best customers or whatever it is you want to call them.

But we have to be targeting them because if you are talking to the wrong people, if you are targeting the wrong people, there's no chance that you're going to get good business out of it. Let me repeat, if you're targeting the wrong people, there's no chance that you're going to get good business out of it. So in his own case, since he is trying to be selling all these big, big, big machines, but somehow he doesn't set up the target incorrect.

And maybe lots of the people who are seeing these advertisements are people in the aviation space, for instance, and then they land on his page. But aeroplane, they know them. They know sea, you understand then there's not going to be any way that the deal will close because his targeting is off. It is big machines, but because of that people in the aviation space, people where they find aeroplane are landing on his page.

But the guy know they sell aeroplane. There's no way that deal will close. So it is what happens when you're targeting is off. So we need to make sure that we are reaching out to the ideal customer profile. Now, of course, trying to figure out if the ICP is correct, would have to look at the advertising campaigns, would have to look at the criteria that he's using, the demographics and the psychographics. Is he putting in the right terms?

Is he putting in the right location? Is he putting in the right age, occupation, income level, you know, all these sorts of things that will make sure that we're finding the right kind of buyer. Well, of course, excuse me, since, you know, I tried to give value to everybody who comes in touch with me. You know, I try and answer one or two questions. So, you know, why not on that level yet? You know, if he wants me to go deep like that, then you know,

the guy, guys drop some money and then we'll start looking at things on a real deep whatever. So we didn't go into that. We're targeting. It has to be on point. Then the next thing now conversions. Conversions just means we are talking to the right people. Definitely we're talking to the right people, but can we get them to take the next step? Remember the example that I gave in the beginning? I go for a bridal show as a wedding photography guy or as a wedding video guy.

He's a bridal show. So definitely I'm in the right place now. The skill is now on me. When I'm on the floor mingling, do I know how to start conversation? Well, if I start conversations with 70, do I know how to pull some of them to the stand? The ones that I pulled to the stand, do I know how to collect their number? The ones that I collect their number, do I know how to call them? The ones that I called, do I know how to fix meeting?

The one that I fix meeting with? Do I know how to show sample? The one that I show sample to, do I know how to issue proposal? The one that I issue proposal to do, I know how to ask for the payment. That is conversion. And that is the small, small, small closing that I've been talking about. So targeting that one day are we chasing the right people? But then now conversions, the one that fascinates all of you, the sweet mouth element, the talking element.

Can I do that? Move them forward one step after another, after another after another. So if you don't know how to get people to take the next step, then my brothers and sisters, there's little chance for you to close all these big, big deals. Because when it's for simple items like Ankara, for instance, that one is not too much talking. Do you have it? Yes. How much? 75 per yard, 75 per yard. Will you take? 6-8? OK, 6-8.

How many pieces do you want? Do you want 10? No, 10 is too much. Give me 7. OK, my name, your Billy. So, so, so here's my account detail. You can see that I want the storage. Not too much, or for wedding photography, or for selling solar, or for selling big machines or for selling property development complexes or real estate. Small, small, small, small, That's how it works. So we have to work on that. Now I have mentioned complex hill scenarios, but I don't think I've defined it.

So let me just define it. So let me see how how will I do it now, OK, I've been talking about Ankara and then I've been talking about trucks. Now Ankara is a simple sale scenario most of the times because the price is not much. So by the way some of you who sell Ankara, you guys will be offended at the price I'm calling. Please don't blame me. To be honest is a long time since I bought Ankara. The last time that I bought Ankara it was before teen who came to power and yes that time 75 could give you like 6 yards.

I don't know how much you can cost now. OK I should have asked my wife before I started but you guys know vex I'm not saying that what you do is cheap. So Ankara now defint the price in No2 cost compared to other things. That's a simple sales scenario. When the price is not too big, then the subject matter itself is this simple or complex. Ankara, The subject matter is simple. When you see Ankara, you know Ankara if it's good quality 1

you know OK, well, me, I don't know anything about clothes and in fact there was one time that I went to go and buy some my car and I thought I did a good job. My wife looked at this time. My wife said Kai, I said what happened? She said never buy a car again. I said why no, she really broke my heart. But anyway. But for people who know also, once they see they know it, this one is good or this one is not. So the thing in itself, it's simple.

Then the number of stakeholders that are involved when you're buying Ankara is not too many people that are involved. You are chatting to the person who's leading to your DM. It's that simple. You're not having to wonder about whether the person has a lawyer or an accountant or the husband's opinion or something. It's just a one-on-one conversation. And then relationships are not really key when it comes to closing simple sales scenario.

So for the Ankara thing, you can have like 5 or 6 Ankara plugs. As for those of you who like to buy this kind of material, so when it comes to Adiria and all these things, there's one person you patronize. When it comes to King T, there's one person you patronize. When it comes to Ankara, there's one person you patronize. When it comes to, you know, I don't know, animal prints, there's another person you patronize and you know, now it's not a problem.

But let's say trucks now or cars for instance, you can have different plugs. Typically somebody who likes to buy cars over and over again, you find that the person buys the car from the same person until the person mess up. They now look for somebody else. The same thing with big machines like this. Once you find your plug, you find your person. Excuse me. OK, sorry about that. I'm recovering from a bit of a cold, so I had to go and clear my nostrils.

Let me not be doing fusion fuel over here on the podcast. Let me try and sound professional. So why was I? And hence when it comes to these big machines, now relationships are really, really important. So you the person will have just one blog. Now when it comes to big, big things, I'll go and buy from Abdul and Abdul only he's only one to Abdul mess up then guy will now start looking for any other place. But for Ankara is no problem.

You can have, you know, Ankara rapper, native material, you can have 5 or 6 blogs, there's no problem. You'll just be switching back and forth. There's no big deal because after all, the risk is not high. So for complex sales scenarios, the price of the things are big and Abdul is selling stuff 30-M50M and above. Excuse me, Depending on the number of trucks that you want to buy, then the subject matter itself is complex.

The trucks that he's selling, some of them are good for construction, some of them are good for mining, some of them are good for oil and gas. All of them have different purposes. The ones are for construction, some of them are good for digging, some of them are good for levelling, some of them are good for compacting. You can see there is now a technical, technical something. It's not the kind of thing that an ordinary guy like me can go on price and go and buy.

And if I try, I'll make a mistake. I'll go and buy one truck by the time I leave it to deliver it to my engineer. Let's say I'm doing government contract, my engineer. OK, what you come by OK, nobody is 1 and the inquiry will start because I bought the wrong thing. So these things are complex. The person that is selling it, you have to know these things inside and out. The person that is buying it, the person needs to know some of these things inside and out.

Because the thing, maybe The thing is complex and if you mess up, you will waste a lot of money now because the level of risk and complexity that involved is high. People use relationship building as a means of de risking. You talk to somebody, you get to feel him out. You know, you go and see the office, you know, things like that. It's not because they're being nice, it's not because they like you. They're just trying to figure you out.

Are you a trustworthy person? Will you sell them a rubbish truck if anything goes bad and they need to call police or they need to call military? Which office can they send the military to or would they send EFCC to? For those that come and visit you in the house, it's not because they're being nice. It's because if this thing goes sideways, they want to be able to come with a truck of soldiers at 1:00 AM at night. I come and bond to you and your wife straight to the cell if this thing goes sideways.

So this is the reason why relationship building is key de risking. So I can keep going on and on. And I've made lots of podcast episodes about this. But you can understand now when we say complex sales scenario, because not all sales scenarios are the same. Buying Ankara and buying Diga is not the same thing. Then Abdul and I discussed some other issues. But you know, and that's the beauty of dealing in Niger. Sometimes we forget cultural and religious implications because we're discussing finance and finance product financing is a very important thing to consider for those of you who sell high value items because that's one way that we can overcome money objections.

When you're selling Ankara now, as somebody says, too expensive, you see that you have options that you can play with. You can say that seven or five is for six yards. If money no day, then buy 3 yards instead. And then let me remove 2K. You see that you have options. You can be bouncing back and forth when people say you're too expensive. I know get money. I found it here cheaper the options. But then when you're selling high ticket items, there's no,

you know, you can't let's say the truck is 40 M. You can't tell somebody, you know, bring 35 and take 60% of the truck. That can happen. So one way that people finance deals when it comes to high value items, especially machines is when they're able to arrange financing that OK, no problem, you don't have the money down, no problem. We're a partnership with social so and so organization, talk to this other organization.

They will allow you to pay 70% of the cost. Now the remaining 20%, you can pay it off over the next four months. And I made a broadcast episode about that, about I can't remember what it's called in Abuja. I can't remember what it's called in Abuja and in the east and in Lagos. But there's this practice now for people who sell mobile phones where that is like standard practice now. Now I didn't know it until last year.

I was just, you know, you know how sometimes now you just say, you know, my people, team, people, they say that yes, somebody can be poor, but it doesn't stop you from looking. So was around that time now that Samsung default had come out brand new back then, that was before Ford had reached like one M So I went into one shop. Now I say I don't have money Bali, I can look and I already knew then that Ford was like I think like 809100K.

So I'd even go and look at Ford. I went to Xiaomi Redmi section. I saw some tablets, I saw Techno Fold. I started asking some prices. Then those one tablet I like, he looked very, very, very sweet. And then since it's a Xiaomi, the thing would have paired with my own phone very well. So as the sales revenue as the lady, how much? She said 500 Ki said 500 Ki put the thing down As I was about to leave. She said no, don't worry, I'm not so fast now.

OK, why you do fear? I said how would I fear? You're telling me 500 K? She said that's not a problem. Then she now slid a sheet of paper to me and she said that if you're really interested, these are partners and through them we can finance the product. Instead of 500 K, you'll be able to pay. What does she say again? Plus, if 300, I'll be 320. And then the remaining balance, you'll be able to net it off over three months or something like that, paying monthly payments.

I said. She said yes. I said OK. She said no, you can't take the paper. I said OK, no problem. I took the paper and then I left. But of course, you know, I didn't come back again because, you know, 500K tablet for what am I mad? But anyway, maybe not now. So that was then I started hearing about these sorts of things years ago and I found out that now it's standard practice. That's how lots of people buy these things.

Then on the radio show now when I was talking about it, I was even I just said the casual like I ever wonder how they enforce like on top mobile phone. Then that's how somebody called in. The guy was based in the East normally, but also in Abuja. I said that, yeah, that the people that finance, excuse me, that is a way that they install something on the phone so that if somebody is missing the payment, they remotely switch off the phone, turn off features from the phone so that you can't use the phone.

So that way people have to go ahead and pay because there's no point in having this phone that you paid for that you can't use. And I was like, oh, OK, in that case it makes a lot of sense because now I was thinking, if there's no security, I can just take this tablet and just Jack back. You can't catch me. You can't recover your money. But anyway, so yeah, there's security then. So anyway, quite a Long story short. So Abdul and I were discussing finance, then Abdul, of course,

you guys have noticed that his name is Abdul Abdul. Say, you know, so my customers now how's our people? Muslims immediately said Muslim as like, oh, I understand, I understand interest. I be you say yes, anything that involve interests. Some Muslims who say no, I don't want to do. And I was like, oh, OK, then we now started discussing other options. But yeah, you know, it's one of those things, you know, we forget cultural practices,

religious implications, you know, things like that, that affect the kind of strategies that are available in the local market. So in this case, you know, I guess financing is not an option if you are talking to Muslim buyers. Well, then if you're talking to, you know, an IBO contractor who is doing business in Lagos or Abuja, Yeah, sure, no problem. So we also have to take into practice, I'll say, I'll say take into practice, take into consideration some of these practices and beliefs and cultures and norms, you know,

when we're doing our business. So that was the part when we discussed finance then, OK, we also discussed risk mitigation. That's something that we also have to use in that we use in sales. So risk mitigation basically is when you are trying to show the person outlook dealing with me actually is a less risky alternative than if you go and do AB or C. So in his own case, we have to deliberately tease out strategies for de risking.

So in this case, Abdul is in China. So it's a simple matter of pointing at, look, I am already on ground here where these trucks are. If you want to buy it yourself, you will get ticket. You think of hotel, you don't know the lay of the land. But me, I am here on ground. So going through me actually less risk. That's the risking strategy there. Then let's see what else. He also has a business partner in Nigeria, which is also very good because it helps that, OK,

I'm talking to you today overseas, but at least there's one guy in Lagos or in Abuja that I can go and see. Because remember, risk mitigation, relationship building, people want to know that this thing goes S, that there's somebody in Abuja that I can go and hold his trouser and bundle him straight to police station in case anything goes South. So he's on ground abroad. There's somebody here in Nigeria, someone local then plus they also have inventory already on ground.

So you can travel straight to Lagos, look at some of these things, inspect it before you buy without having to travel to China. So those are some of the risk mitigation strategies that are evolved precisely because you know how Nigerians can be. Somebody will say Nobi truck, Nobi China, I can buy ticket now, Now, now, now, now, 72 hours, I'm in China. I'll see this name myself and I'll buy it. That's how do we use them out for you.

You too. You give them out back, say yeah, of course, now of course, but me, I'm ready. In China, if you come here, you add ticket, you add hotel. And then plus when you land on ground, you're meeting people that you don't, you're meeting people you know. You don't know them from, you don't know them from your left, from your right. You don't know who it is. You're going to go and see where they're carrying you. You don't know what you're looking at.

You don't know when you leave and go back to Nigeria what they will deliver for you. You don't know if there's problem, what will you do? You take flight again and run to China to go and start tracking now who to go and start chasing who. So as they give you you too, you give them de risking. Excuse me then. OK. Another issue that we discussed that I think some of you should be able to benefit from was this. I noticed that he's conducting his business by chatting back and forth.

I had to tell him that look, when we're dealing with high ticket items, you have to hop on a phone call with people. At least face to face visit can help. But at the very least you have to hop on the phone call because there's no Ankara. If there's Ankara, you can ping back and forth and sell you Ankara. But a high ticket, something people don't just drop 30-M50M100M because they have been pinging somebody back and forth.

It's not like that even ordinary motor car. Think about it. How many people buy motor car? Just pinging back and forth. You ping first, then you call, then you say where's your stand, where's your shop? You drive to the person's shop. You look at one or two things, you come back with your mechanic, you test drive the car. You know, something like that. So I told him he had to open a call. For those of you who sell expensive items, please stop pinging.

Well, not like you stop pinging, but as you're pinging, schedule time for a call, open a phone call with somebody. This thing helps. Very few people buy expensive items over chat. Then it is also hard to build rapport and to build relationships through chatting. Because the problem with chatting is this, looking at text messages, it is hard to get non verbal cues to see if people are interested or they're not interested, whether you're making progress or not.

So phone call, as we're talking over the phone, the way your voice will be strong or the way your voice is shaking, I will now know that OK, I'm making sense or this guy is not feeling me or face to face actual meeting based on the way body language, the way people are sitting, the way people are, you know, moving, you can engage that man. This guy is not feeling me or this babe really doesn't trust me that this thing doesn't make sense.

So for high ticket items, we need to set aside time, schedule a call, schedule a visit when possible. Then of course, there was a question of when to hop on a call. Because if you just call every single person, you spend all your time on the phone making calls, wasting money, but not making money. So the time to hop on a call basically is when you're pinging with somebody back and forth and it looks like they have a need,

they have a clear want or they're clearly interested. Make sure you give them a budget range 1st and tell the person, oh, OK, Alhaji, based on what we've discussed, it looks like model of this model of this model of that could take care of these your construction needs. But Alhaji, each of these options go for anything between 80 to 120 million per unit. How does that sound that you hear what Alhaji has to say? Some people say 80 to 120.

It sounds fair, no problem. The person who says it sounds fair. This is the kind of person you can continue talking with and try and schedule a call. But the person that shouts and say EH80I was thinking maybe 55. Now in your mind, since you've been in the business for a while, you already know what the realistic prices are. And you know that anybody who is saying 55, you know that that person is a jam bite. The person is a novice.

You now know that this is the person you know to waste time with. Then also make sure they have a project on hand so we can get a sense of the timelines. Yeah, sure, Alhaji, no problem. Model this. That prices between 80 to 120. What do you think? Sounds doable, but we'll still negotiate. Open to negotiation now. Sure, that's not a problem, Alhaji. Oh, by the way, Alhaji, is there a particular project you guys are working on now?

They say yes. They awarded us the contract for Lagos Benin Expressway and the government wants us to complete it by first quarter 2028. You see, as he's talking now, you're getting a sense of timeline. You will now know whether this person is serious or not because you can also ask any particular project at hand. You say no, you know, I'm just thinking, I was talking with my wife. My wife say construction is a good business so we can enter the government contracting space.

So I say I'm just doing research before we enter that kind of person. There's really no need to hop on the call with the person because the person is just curious that those doing research. So these are the questions that you ask before you now determine who do you hop on the call with or not. So is there a need? Is there a want? Are they interested? Have you guys discussed budget range, not exact money, Just give them a range between this and this.

Gauge their body language. If they're still interested, yeah, no problem. Do they have a project on hand? If they have a project on hand, OK, you can also. OK, Aji, you know what, at this point, I think it's best if we schedule a Zoom meeting or open a phone call, let me know exactly what project you're doing, the stage that you people are at, the kind of equipment that you need. So that between these options that we discussed, option A,

option B, option C, let's narrow down to a specific range or specific model of trucks or digger or excavator or compactor or whatever that will help you with this job. Oh, by the way, those of you in this space, I'm sure you look, I mean, this is not my own field. So I'm sure I'm calling some things that don't apply like compactor because I don't know if you use compactor in construction, but you get my drift. So that's how you know how to hop on the call.

And it's been 41 minutes so far. So let me bring this podcast recordings very close, but basically shout out to Abdul. Thanks for reaching out. I've been making these jokes on the podcast. It's part joke and it's also part truth that it looks as if people where they use their phone like they all pass like they have money. Because I've noticed that all the Apple people, when they reach out to me, you know, it's big, big industry, solar,

government contract construction, heavy duty machines, oil and gas dredging, you know, big, big business. Then people who are Spotify use listeners when they reach out to me, you know, Ankara mobile phone painting, you know what else? Don't mind me, I'm just taking a job. But anyway, was nice to hear from Abdul and it's also nice to hear from people who are on the higher end of the spectrum. So if you're listening and you're wondering, is it possible they even know these guys always talking SME.

But me, I'm in the big, big space. Is it possible that there's anything that this guy is talking about that applies to my industry, applies to my sector? Trust me, there is. Just try me. Like I said, I'd like to give value to every single person that I come across, whether they pay me money or not. Hit me up. That's the reason why I leave my phone number at the beginning and at the end of every single episode. Just hit me up.

A trial will convince you and not confuse you. But all jokes aside, are you iPhone people and Samsung people? I'd like to hear from you guys, you know, hit me up, reach out. So remember, if you'd love to connect, the phone number is 08064662140. You can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message. And if you love all the things that we've been talking about so far and keep on listening because wherever you're listening now, wherever you're subscribed now, whether it's at Apple iTunes, whether it's Stitcher, whether it's Spotify,

whether it's YouTube, whether it's Pod Beans, whether it's whatever, continue to scroll and you will see that there are over 1200 episodes here where this is all we talk about solving business problems, especially problems related to sales and marketing. How will I find customers? Am I talking to the right customers? Now that I'm talking to them? How will I be toasting them? How will I move this conversation forward? So listen, like I've been saying the last couple of weeks, as you're listening pen and paper,

please write things down. Like Abdul was writing things down, write things down. The whole point of writing things down is so that you can apply the one that makes sense, the one that makes sense to you when you try it out. Hit me up. Did it work? Let me know it didn't work. Let me know. Were you confused? Let me know you disagree. Let me know. So that's it. That's all. Thanks. I'll catch you guys some other time.