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Today on the podcast, we're going to be looking at data enrichment and how that can help you make more money in your business. So what is data enrichment? Who should be doing data enrichment? How should you be doing data enrichment? How can it help you make more money? How can it help you decide who you should be spending time with? Because it's not every single potential customer who comes in front of you that you should be spending time with.
There are some people that you should say, oh, please come in, take a seat. How can I help you? And then there's some people that you should be trying to, you understand, you should be trying to move them along because you know that they are not your potential customer. So these are the sorts of things that we're going to be looking at today. Oh, by the way, everybody is created in the image and likeness of God. So we treat everybody with respect.
So I'm not saying we should look down on some kind people. I'm just being real with you here. There are some people that you can just tell like this thing is not going to work out. There's no point in doing relationship building with somebody for three weeks or for two months if at the end of the day, I won't get the kind of money that I'm looking for and they are not going to get the kind of experience that they are looking for as a customer.
So I'm not saying look down on people. I'm just saying be wise and let us use our time wisely, use our time judiciously in business and use our time profitably. If we use our time wisely, judiciously and profitably when we're in the office or when we're out in the field conducting business, then we can come home by the end of the day and relax and be with our significant other. And you know, I'm with our kids and be fully present because we know that business has been taken care of.
Now warning, I'm making today's recording at home, so there's going to be some noise in the background. My name is Tavi Shima Aide, I am the host of the podcast. If you'd love to connect with me, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. And if these are the things you like to think about every single day, then subscribe to the podcast. What are you waiting for? Subscribe on Spotify, on YouTube, on Apple, or any player of your choice because this is what I do here every single day.
We've been doing this for maybe 5 1/2 ish years or so and this is all we talk about. How do you determine who is the best customer? Who is the person you should talk to? Who should you be running after? How do you spend time with people? How do you start the conversation? How do you make a sales speech? How do you close the conversation? How do you get them to come back and buy again? How do you get them to introduce you to other people?
These are the sorts of things that we talk about over here on the podcast. And of course, we do that from a uniquely Nigerian perspective because I don't want to just be talking fury, fury, fury, fury. Let's take all these fancy ideas and see how they relate to the Nigerian experience. That's what we do over here on the podcast. So today what we're talking about is data enrichment. And data enrichment just means, you know what, let me know if we'll try to define it in an academic way.
And what I'm trying to say here basically is this for those of you who are doing business and you go and you get some leads, maybe you run some advertisements or you know, you, you do some reason, you do something shy, you get some phone numbers, some e-mail addresses or some addresses. I think this person might be a good potential customer. Data enrichment just means do some basic research before you reach out to somebody.
That is just what data enrichment means. Data enrichment means do some basic research. Whenever we are trying to grow our businesses, we are always going to come in touch with contacts because one of your friends might say, hey, oh boy, how far, why you did and how you said do this export IB I get one guy, get it for Netherlands, blah, blah, blah. This is contact number data enrichment means before you call that guy in the Netherlands, do some basic research.
If you run an advertising campaign and then part of the advertising campaign is that people click through to end up in your WhatsApp box or maybe you know, they add their name to a list or something. Before you start calling people on that list or responding to messages on that list, you know, do some small research. I'm not saying do some extensive academic research. You don't need to do some small research because you need to get some extra information about this person.
Because if you have some extra information, first of all, it lets us know whether this is a good person to be spending time with or not. And then it also gives us a sense about whether there is a meeting here, whether your product or your service can indeed be useful to these people. And then plus, when you're having conversations with people in the business context, the more background information that you have, the better.
So if I have a phone number and I'm selling certain kinds of services, OK, let's make it practical. Now I'm in the business of doing sales coaching, sales training, business development consulting. If I have a phone number and the phone number just says 080, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and that is all the information I have, how do I know I'm going to carry on that phone call? But if I say a phone number and it says 080, blah blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah. And I know that on the other end of that line, the person is an MD of an Eye Foundation in Abuja that has been in existence for maybe 15 years. You can see I'm really getting some kind ideas about how I'm going to start the conversation. On the other hand, if I know that the phone number 080, blah blah, blah, blah, blah blah belongs to a female entrepreneur in Abuja, Nigeria who is brand new in business.
She's only been in business for about maybe two or three weeks. You can see that I already have some ideas about how I'm going to start that conversation. If nothing else, I will know that I'm starting the conversation by saying good morning, Sir, or good morning, Ma, if nothing else. But either way, data enrichment is important, and data enrichment is something that sales professionals and business owners should be doing before you highlight somebody.
The reason why data enrichment is important before you do outreach is you want to make sure that you're spending the time, the most time you can with people who are the most promising prospects. We want to make good money. Make sure you're spending time with people who are promising prospects. Don't waste your time with people who, at the end of the day, something sweet might not come out of this whole arrangement. We want to make sure we're talking to people who have a want, people who have a need for our product or service, people who are interested in what it is that we do.
Also, we want to be talking to people that it looks as if they can afford the fees or the amount that we're trying to command and also want to be sure that we're talking to people who are willing and ready to take action soon. If you do not do any data enrichment, when you reach out to most people, you have no idea from the beginning whether you are talking to somebody who is part of your ICPICP just means your ideal customer profile.
You have no idea if this person is part of your ideal customer. You don't. Now, if you listen to the podcast episode I made from 2 days ago about LinkedIn, then you're really familiar with some of these ideas. Today, we're continuing in the same vein. Now what we're going to do is we're going to do a message tear down. We're going to look at some outreach that I received over WhatsApp, cold messaging that I received. When we say cold outreach or cold messaging, which just means I don't know this guy.
This guy doesn't know me. You know nothing, Gummos. So when we say cold outreach, that's just what it means. There's no prior contacts, no prior history between both parties. So back to the first example. If that phone number that I said 080, blah, blah, blah, belongs to the MD of an Eye Hospital, let's say an Indian Eye Hospital that has been in Abuja for the last 10 years, if me and the MD will already know each other,
maybe we'll belong to Abuja Chamber of Commerce. That's not a cold call because me and that guy, we really know ourselves, you know, somehow, somehow we don't they relate before before. So it's not exactly a cold call. But then for the female entrepreneur, if somebody just told me, you know, she get back, you'd be like say you should couldn't use your services. They just give me the phone number. I don't know anything at all.
I don't know how she doesn't know me. Not Team Gomos, no prior history, no prior context. That one. You can call that a cold call. Now, the reason why I'm taking pains to define what a cold call is because lots of people just assume if you're calling somebody straight out of the blue just like that, then it's a cold call. No, no, no. It depends. You know this guy before. Does a guy know you when I don't jam before? Is there any prior context?
These are the kind of things that determine whether it's a cold call or not. It's not just everybody you call like you say that it's a cold call. So I received a message from OK, as usual, let me try and disguise the guy's identity. And I received this on WhatsApp and this was the body of the message. I'm going to read the message. Yeah, 1 moment. Let me locate this thing and scroll. OK, So the message says good afternoon.
I am so, so, so and so from so, so so and so digital network. We help photography and media studios get noticed online, attract more paying clients, and connect with event planners and brands that need your creative services. Can I share a quick idea on how we can help your brand grow and get more bookings? So that was the message. So I'm sure you guys get the gist. The guy said, hello, my name is Ozua. So this is my company.
This is what we do. Can I share an idea about how we can help you grow your brand and get more bookings? So OK, we're already done 10 minutes. So let me just go straight into the comments and the suggestions. So now let's break it down. The first part of the message. Good afternoon. I am so, so, so and so from XYZ Digital Network and we help photography and media studios get noticed online, attract more paying clients, and connect with event planners and brands that need your creative services.
This sounds like an OK paragraph. It's the kind of thing that anybody will craft. In fact, the message was short and sweet. So that is cool because remember, we're trying. We're supposed to send messages that people will not scroll to read. If somebody has to scroll 12345, forget it. Lots of people are not reading that message. Now, obviously, from what you've heard so far, this guy did not do any data enrichment because if he did, he would have asked himself some questions.
Who would have said this phone number that I'm calling? Is this guy squarely within my ICP ideal customer profile? This person I'm about to send a WhatsApp message to, is this person part of my target audience? Is he the kind of person I should be chasing after? Now, in this case, the data enrichment the guy should have done was just to look at my WhatsApp business handle. That's all. He's already there, about to send me a message.
All he had to do was look at my profile. If he looked at my profile, he would have seen that there is no indication that I am currently into photography. There is none. For those of you who've been listening to the podcast for a while, you will know that yes, I have a history of being involved in photography and media and stuff like that. But currently, currently, people who are just meeting me for the first time, if you check my socials, if you check everything, I have scrubbed that history.
That history is not available anymore online. So this guy probably just found my number in an old business directory. By the way, I haven't been looking for photography clients in the last maybe like 7 years. So the listing that he found is probably like 7 years old. You know some of those websites, they show, you know when last the list was updated, the guy should have checked the date. How old is this list? If you sell these kinds of services, should you be talking to somebody who is not into photography and who is not into media?
This guy did not do any data enrichment and the simplest form of data enrichment he could have done was I'm ready here, I'm in WhatsApp. Let me check this guy's WhatsApp profile. So you can see when we say data enrichment, the thing sounds big. It sounds like a big hefty term, doesn't it? But what is required for data enrichment is not that complex, especially at this level of business that you're in. For those of us who are SM ES,
it's something as simple as and this is the guys what's up profile. May I view the profile? That's all just click our view. Oh, this is the guys Instagram. May I peruse them? Click our view and this is the guys LinkedIn handle. You click and you scroll. That is just the amount of basic research that we're asking for most of you to do at this stage so that you don't end up like this guy, sending messages to people who can never be a customer of yours.
Now, assuming that we were a match, assuming I was still into photography media, you guys should have asked me some questions first. So excuse me, those of you who listen to the teardown that I did 2 days ago, you know what I'm talking about. Simple question. Oh, I noticed you've been in the photography game for 20 years. Are you struggling to get noticed online? The whole point of questions like this question based openers or problem based openers is so excuse me, I had a long phone call today, coaching session.
And then anyway, sorry, forgive me, I need to take better care of my voice. So by asking simple questions like this, you get a sense of whether somebody's interested or not. And it's only when you know that somebody's interested that you can lean in and continue trying to chase, continue trying to toast, continue trying to cajole, continue trying to sell, figure out if they are interested in the first place. So I noticed you've been in the game 20 years.
Are you struggling to get noticed? Are you struggling to get customers? Of course Slattery is not a bad idea. The guy could have continued. I think your photos are awesome and you should be more widely known at this point. Are you struggling to get more paying clients? Let's continue with the complementing thing, with the flattery. I think your photos are awesome and sophisticated. I think you should be featured by wedding planners like XYZ and wedding media like ABC.
Would you like to connect with more of these kinds of planners and brands? Question. We're trying to spark a conversation and we're trying to feel people out. Are they even interested before we now make a pitch and start asking for meeting, asking for time? Answers to these kinds of questions, answers to these kind of openers will help confirm if people are interested and if they have a need. So assuming the person is a match, that is a much more realistic way to continue the conversation than already asking them for meeting.
See, the reason why I keep using the example of romantic relationships is because the dynamic is the same. You meet a lady for the first time or you meet a young man for the first time. You don't just go straight to the point. Hold it back a little bit. Get to know somebody first, fitness somebody a little bit before you go on, before you jump straight to the point. For those of you who are late discovering the podcast for the first time, I've spoken about a friend of mine.
OK, well, an acquaintance really. She also makes content more on relationships and you know she told me about the time when she saw one guy in her church and then there was one auction she received one divine auction. BAM, something told her this guy is my husband. I know what she did. She woke up to the guy. She told the person that God told me you are my husband now. How do you think that thing ended today? The guy is married to somebody else with children.
I mean think I'm now reason it we're in Nigeria. I'm there minding my business and a young lady walks up to me and says, God told me you're my husband. Oh boy, I will weave that cheek. I will weave, I will evade, I will ghost. Like from where to where do I know you? The spirit just ministered to you that I'm your husband. OK, wait for that spirit to talk to me too. But if she actually received the unction. But that is her husband.
She took things easy. His old brother. Welcome to the church. Is this your first time here? Oh, really? I've never seen your face before. You know, from the conversation, casual conversation, you know, just the flow, just the flow over time. Today they could have been Mr. and Missus. Those four children could have been her own. But he said she went straight to the point. God has told me you are my husband for boys, too.
The same thing. You don't go straight to the point, whatever the point is, whether you're looking for wife, you don't go straight to the point. If you're looking for, you know, chop and run, you don't, You don't go straight to the point. And by the way, I'm not endorsing that kind of behaviour. It's the same as in business as in relationships, conversation. Is this person even interested? Then you know that you can't take things one more step forward.
OK, so the message that the guy sent on WhatsApp, the thing ended. Can I share a quick idea on how we can help your brand grow and get more bookings? And the guy left it like that because really you think most people are going to say, Oh yes, I would like to hear your ideas deeply. Be deceiving yourself. That is not a strong call to action. That is not a stronger advancement. Call to action just means the next step that you want somebody to take.
And it's the same thing as an advancement. An advancement just means when you're having a conversation with someone. By the way, you can see that me and this guy were not in conversation because he sent one message and he assumes that one message is enough for somebody to take the next step. By the way, just in case you're wondering, the answer is no. One message is not enough to get the person to make make the next step.
You guys should stop believing in magic. There is no magic recipe that you would type out in the text or that you would say with your mouth and then people will take action. Maybe it might work, you know, one out of 100 or something, but don't deceive yourself. The times that it worked, that was just luck. So the advancement, the next step when you're having a conversation with someone, you need to make it much more specific and much more all I put it, sure, make it more specific.
Narrow things down. And of course, remember, try and confirm if they're interested in the first place. So in this case, you guys should have said something like this. That's by the way, if we were in the conversation. So oh, so if you're interested in XYZI can give you a couple of ideas that have worked for photographers like ABC and 123, by the way, that is, you know, where you show your credibility. You're trying to show that I
know, you know, I don't do for this field. You know, like I've sorted people out in your situation before. That's the whole point of this part of the message. OK, so let's rewind. If you're interested in XYZI can give you a couple of ideas that have worked for guys like ABC and 123 in the past. Would you be free tomorrow morning for a WhatsApp call? Aren't I kind? 10:00 let's talk. That kind of advancement is much more specific, much more.
You know, I am proposing the next step. I am proposing a time I am propose proposing what we do next. All these ones where you just leave it in the other person's hand. Can I share with you a quick idea and you're leaving the other person's hand. The person can ghost. The person can't ignore the person can say, let me think about it. Let me call my wife. Let me talk to my pastor. But what I've suggested now, so if you're interested in XYZI can give you a couple of ideas that I've worked for this guy and that guy in the past should be,
you know, this guy now, I'm the guy that worked on that case. So are you free tomorrow? WhatsApp call? It won't take time like 9:00. By 9:15, we don't finish. It's pointed, it's a question, it's direct, it's narrow. Well, yes, people can still ghost because people can ghost anytime. But chances are somebody will either say yes or a person will say no, or some people who say 9:00, you know, at least there's some sort of response.
You're beginning to feel exactly what it is that is going on. Anyway, it's been 20 minutes, so let me wrap up. The summary of what I'm trying to say is basically that targeting is the backbone of any successful outreach. Any outreach that you're doing, if you're going outside to be handing out flyer, targeting is important. You want to be sure that you're handing out Flyers in the right neighborhoods so that those people could potentially become your customer.
If what you sell IS1100K, there's no point in handing out Flyers in a neighborhood where people can only pay 20K. Targeting is key, so whether Flyers, whether WhatsApp, whether LinkedIn, whether Instagram, whether whatever it is that you're doing, targeting is key. It is the backbone of any successful outreach that you're doing. So do some data enrichment. If you have Flyers, it's not enough to say you know we have 5 different neighborhoods in Abuja FCT.
What do you know about the neighborhoods? Some data enrichment. Put some data, put some context behind, some extra context behind this information that you have. It will help you decide whether this is a place worth visiting or not, whether this is a person worth calling or not, whether this is a person worth sending a message to or not. So back to this personal example. Now, the data enrichment that you need to do is simple.
It's cheap, it's free. Go and check Truecaller. Use the person's number on Truecaller. That's what I do. Truecaller will give you a name. Take the name right, paste it in Google and you will see some extra information. You will see some online business directories where the person's name is. You will see some social media handles. You see a bunch of stuff. Click on one or two of those things. Look, scroll up and down.
It will give you an idea in this case now where the girl is reaching out on WhatsApp. You guys already in WhatsApp every you know already. If it's a WhatsApp business profile, it cost you nothing. The profile is not hidden. Click on it and then see Simple Data enrichment, 2 minutes. You will now know, should I send this message or shouldn't I send this message? Then when it comes to advancements, when it comes to calls to action, when it comes to taking the next step, when it comes to, you know, moving this thing forward one step at a time, you take the initiative.
You don't drop it in somebody's court. Can I share with you a quick idea? You are dropping something in the person's court. Don't do that. Propose the next clear step and make sure you show an advantage for them. Show what's in it for them. That is something that I spoke about in the episode that we did 2 days ago on doing outreach on LinkedIn. Show that there's a clear advantage for them. So in this case, let me give you a couple of ideas that work for photographer ABC and 123.
The advantage there is I've done this thing for somebody in the past. I can do this thing for you too. They make it specific. Get them to commit to a time and to a date. This is how we move business conversations forward. But please, please, please, please and please. I'll continue shouting this until I don't know. Somehow people keep making a mistake and I don't know why. Some data enrichment, small data enrichment small.
Don't waste your time sending messages to people who might never be a buyer of your product or your service. So that's it and that is all. Remember, if you'd love to connect with me, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. And yeah, that's it. Thanks for your time and attention. I'll catch you some other time. Remember, if you're feeling the kind of things you talk about over here, subscribe to the podcast.
I can assure you, you will not regret it. And besides, this is probably the best podcast that you've listened to all day today. OK, well, the best Nigerian podcast that you've listened to all day today. The other ones are just Gist, Gist, Gist Network. Who did this? He married this. He arrested his brother-in-law. OK, you listen to all that? Good Gist, How did I enrich your life? At least the things I'm talking about over here can help you make more money.
All right, so catch you some other time.