Tech Sales Strategy for Nigerian Entrepreneurs: How to Secure High-Quality Meetings

Today on the podcast, we're going to be talking to Nigerians who are in the tech space. You know, you work with a startup or whatever and you're trying to sell tech solutions and you are having difficulties in hooking up demos or hooking up meetings. So that's what we're going to be looking at today. Now, these are the sorts of things you like to listen to. Then this podcast is your jam because this is what I do, you know, 2-3 times a week.

And I've been doing this for a while, let's say about five years at least as at the date of this recording. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm the host of the podcast. And if you'd love to connect, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. So again, we are talking to people who are in the tech space or you're trying to sell some fancy tech solutions. You're having a problem securing meetings, you're having a problem, you know, securing,

getting people to come for your demo. And the demo is just that meeting where you get to show the potential customer what your solution is, how it works, how it can help them, you know, things like that. So that has become kind of like the modern playbook for selling tech solutions, selling software, things like that. So for those of you who are not in the text page, you should keep listening. Of course you can, because it doesn't matter what we talk about over here, you'll always find that there are some transferable skills and there are some things that you can listen to and that you can listen to and you can learn some stuff that will apply, you know,

in your own business or whatever it is that you sell. So why are we tackling this today? It's very simple. I was going through some of my old notes, some of my very old notes, and I realised that I had an interesting conversation with a podcast listener. Her name is Neca. Nobody use the full name but Neca, if you're listening, yeah, it's you. Nobody use your surname, but to give you some privacy. So Neca was in the tech space and she was selling some fancy HR solutions.

In fact, that was the problem. So, but anyway, let me, yeah, let me talk about that. She was selling HR solutions, right? The software that helps to offer customer care support. And so I started talking with her now to try and figure out exactly what the tech solution could solve. And these were some of the problems that it could solve. The software supposedly could help you resolve customer disputes. It could also help you gauge customer satisfaction.

It could also help you with tracking, you know, customer follow up procedures. Let's see what else Plenty, plenty things are and that was a problem. And some of you in the text space, you don't realise that that's a problem in the beginning when you're brand new. It really doesn't help if your software has a laundry list of solutions and your software can do 50 things from a sales perspective, you hire somebody to now sell on your behalf.

Like you know how, how, how do you want the guy to do it? It's 15 things that the person has to remember at every single any given point in time, you know, narrow it down. Like what are the core problems that this your software can, can fix? If the salesperson just has to manage two or three things as part of your UVP, that's your unique value proposition. Then that's an easier sales conversation to have because I'm only juggling two or three things in my head on every single call.

But then if you're selling a software, some superstar software, customer care support, it can do it. Customer disputes, it can help you, customer satisfaction, it can help you. Customer follow up procedures, it can help you. Introducing customers to new orders, it can help you. That's that's a bit much. So those of you in the start up space, Nigerian entrepreneurs, I know you're in love with your solution. I know you think your solution can solve everything under the sun, but the simpler you can make it, the better.

If we can reduce it to a simple sentence, a simple statement, you know, one or two things Max, three things that would be the best, at least from the point of view of your salespeople. Sometimes one of the difficulties that your salespeople are having is, you know, it's just to be much. Your solution does everything under the sun and it is hard to sell, you know, omnibus solutions when you're having a conversation with someone.

So that was one problem. So my recommendation for those of you in the tech space in Niger, please, you guys take note. Make your job easier. So Neca, now part of the sales team, she was having 30 calls per day. You know, I like that. Impressive. And the problem was that out of 30 calls, she's only able to convince average person. So I say average person convince her one person. So on average, NECA is doing about four for appointments per week.

So I repeat, NECA can bang out roughly like 30 calls every day. Well, on average, I was just like one person, you know? Of course, that means on some days she's hitting zero. Because when we look at the figures now, her average per week is she's booking 4 meetings. And of course, she was wondering what am I doing wrong? How can I be more effective? Because you're making 30 calls, you book zero meeting. Man, that's harsh.

You know, after a while, the thing that even starts degrading her self esteem, like, ha, ha, no, Be me again. Am I not the daughter of my father? No. Be phone call. Come on. Phone call. So yeah, she was wondering how can she get more effective? So I asked her one question and I said, OK, when you're on the phone with people, what's the goal? And she said that simple. Now the goal is to book a virtual demo. And I have to stop out there and say, NECA, hold up, Stop there.

That is the first mistake you're making. You say, how is that what they pay me for, to book virtual demos? Yeah, that's what your guy told you. But honestly, yeah, from a traditional sales perspective, when you hop on the phone with somebody the first time, the goal is not book them on demo or get that meeting. The goal is figure out if they're interested in the first place and then figure out the nature of the problem first.

And then she understood If you're only having a conversation with somebody who is interested and who has a serious problem, then you can have fruitful conversations where you're not trying to strong arm somebody into a meeting. There are some people that clearly you will see that the interest is not here or there's a problem here. But honestly, there are human resources problems is not that much big of a deal. That kind of person.

You thank them for the time, ask for permission so that you can leave. You can put them in e-mail list and let them be receiving emails from you once in a while. You know, every once in a week or every two, two weeks, they will receive emails from your business. You know, our business is doing good. We are Nigeria's premier human resources. Something, something, something. If you have problems with human resources in your business, this is how software can help.

You know, every two, two months, every one month, they're receiving those kind of emails. You know, you stay top of mind. Maybe one day they actually do have a need and they remember that, oh, NECA called me six months ago. I've been receiving the emails. You know, let me reply to the e-mail or let me check if I have Neca's phone number. Let me buzz them back. So that's what you do if somebody is not interested or the nature of the problem is little, it's not that big.

So I was able to get her to twist her, change her mindset, that, look, the goal is not OK, I have somebody on the phone or I'll go for the demo, go for the demo, go for the meeting. Go for the meeting. No. And that's the reason why some people will not show up. They'll say, OK, yeah, sure. They will agree. Then they will click on the meeting link. They will agree. But they're just trying to be polite. They don't, you know, you're you're, you know, persistent,

articulate, obviously an intelligent young lady. They don't want to shut you down. So they'll say yes. Now when the phone call is over, will they shop for the meeting? No, because they were never interested in the first place. So those of you in tech sales, stop trying to strong arm people into a meeting. I know what your guy told you, that the goal is to book demos, but I'm telling you, yeah, save yourself some headache.

The goal actually is to figure out who is interested and what's the nature of the problem. There's not everybody you must try to get to go for that meeting. There are some people that the best thing to do actually is, you know, thank you very much for your time. I hope you don't mind if I add you to the e-mail list. That simple. Then the e-mail campaign is going to be doing relationship nurturing. You put them in a relationship nurturing sequence, a sequence to stay top of mind.

That's the best you can do. Then only engage with people who have a serious problem. And then she said, ah, well, she does that. Her stats will suffer. And I say, yeah, actually it will suffer. It will, will, will, will suffer. But The thing is when you book a meeting, your sales people, your sales team, because the structure that they have with their companies is twofold. They have, you know, business development reps and then account account managers or closers.

So you know people like her who are on the phone to try and set up the meeting, then somebody else is that job you try and get the person to buy the product, to buy the software or pay the subscription. But I told her if you take this approach, even though your stats will suffer, you'll not be putting up impressive phone numbers. All I put is OK, I don't know how to explain it. Anyway, it will mess with your start with your stats, your daily records, the number,

number of customers, the number of conversations that you record because you'll be spending more time, you know, per person. But The thing is, when you book a meeting now, it will be a high quality meeting and your account, your account officer, the person who is responsible for closing the deals, they'll be happy working with you because right now you're booking 4 per week. And out of that four per week, only two people have forgot that only two people are showing up.

So she's calling 30 people a day, averaging booking 4 meetings per week, but then only two people show up. So even if now it is still four people that show up or two people that show up, it will be a good quality meeting because of the two people who show up. We didn't have the stats for how many people actually go ahead and buy the software. So remember, when you're on the call with someone for the first time, the goal is not, you know,

by force, by force. Get them for that meeting. Get them for the virtual demo of your product or service. The goal is figure out if they're interested and what is the nature of the problem. So call and introduce yourself. My name is Ineka for so, so, so and so solutions. The reason why I'm calling or I got your phone number from, you know, you have to give that background context. Maybe you talk a bit about, you know, your solutions.

In fact, for me, if you're talking about your solution at this stage, you're talking too much for me. Once you call and introduce yourself, start with the problem statement and then ask questions. So hello, my name is Ineka Solutions. The reason why I'm calling or how I got your contact number is, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I'm assuming that in your business, you currently have some issues with customer support that you struggle with at the moment.

Yeah. Is that correct? Some people say, oh, no, we don't have any human resource problems. You say, oh, really? OK, congratulations. I'm glad to hear that. That's really rare because most people that we talk to, you know, that usually have problems with customer disputes or they're trying to figure out a way if their customers are happy. So are you facing those sorts of problems at all? They say, well, you know, actually, yes, I would like to know if my customers are happy with our product or service.

Once somebody says something like that, good, you keep on asking your questions. That is your aim now to now try and figure out how the interested they are. That's the angle that you will now use to say, well, you know what, our product, we've been able to use our product with, you know, 20% of our customers or whatever, whatever. I want to be able to help them achieve, you know, greater customer satisfaction rates. Would you like to have a meeting with one of my associates so that we can see whether our software will be able to help you in the business?

So, oh, yeah, yeah, I would like that. Then you book a meeting. So Carl, the goal is, are they interested? What's the nature of the problem? Have a problem statement. Problem statements are built around your UVP, your unique value proposition. Reading value proposition just means what are the results that you give people or why do people do business with you? So you can start a conversation that way. Hello, my name is NECA from so so so and so Tech Solutions PLC

or limited or whatever the reason I got your phone number from blah blah blah. The reason why I'm calling is because we help businesses, you know, solve their customer care or customer service problems. Do you have any, do you happen to have any customer service problems that you're struggling with at the moment? Sorry, I'm just freestyling now. That's why I'm not sounding very, very articulate. But you can sit down and come up with a problem statements that you can use to start open to, to start the conversation.

Then the use cases that we came up with, you know, remember customer care support, the software does it. Customer dispute the software does it. Customer satisfaction, the software does it. Customer follow up procedures, the customers, the software does it. You see some of the difficulties now, like if you're a salesperson and you're talking to somebody, you're now trying to juggle that. Of all these five possible solutions, which one should I be leaning in on?

That's why I'm saying you will help your sales people. If you just narrow this thing down two or three, it would be a lot easier to handle the conversation. So that's it. Call introduce yourself briefly. Don't start giving them history. We're the greatest, we're the best. Our founder Something, something, our software, this that. Call, introduce yourself the next thing. Problem statement. Do they have the problem? How bad is the problem?

Oh, it's not that much of a big deal. You move them into relationship nurturing sequence. Thank you very much for your time. I hope you don't mind if we put you to our e-mail list. If we do that every week, every two, two weeks, every month, you'll be able to get updates about, you know, tips and tricks about how Nigerian businesses or modern businesses are solving customer service challenges. Don't worry, we won't e-mail you too many times and the emails that we send will be valuable.

I can assure you they have your permission to put you on the list. Some people will say yes, some people will say no. We would say no, no problem, don't send them e-mail because if you do, you'll be hurting your e-mail deliverability. If you send them e-mail and they see it, they will click spam. Once they click on spam, Google will now see that OK, people don't like receiving this e-mail, and then they'll start moving you to promotions folder when you get into other people's inboxes.

And that is what we're trying to avoid. So if somebody says no, don't add me to your e-mail list, please, please, and please do not add them. When we're young, back in the day, my sister used to say there's many fish in the water. So as you say, tarvishing my don't cry that girl broke your heart. But don't worry, there's many fish in the water. It's the same in business. There's many fish in the water. If somebody says don't add me to your e-mail list, there are many fish in the water live there,

you'll find somebody else, right? So that's it. That's for those of you in the text space. By the way, always nice talking to those of you who are coming up with innovative tech solutions, you know, real nice. You know, I get the impression that people in the tech ecosystem in Nigeria are trying to come up with like our own Silicon Valley type thing and that would really, really, really be good. So always like hearing from you guys.

So even though most of the things that we talk about over here are so far, this year has been more hardcore practical, you know, like solar, fishery, poultry, what else? Construction, you know. So yeah, for this year has been mostly very concrete stuff, you know, but still, I'd also like to have conversations with you guys in the tech space as well. So that's why I leave my phone number at the beginning and at the end of every episode.

So again, if you would like to connect, if you're like NECA, you're walking in an interesting company, you're trying to bring innovative tech solutions to the market that you guys have some problems, you know, hit me up. My name is Tavishima Ayede, I'm the host of the podcast. The phone number is 08064662140. So that's it. And that's all for today. Thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you some other time.