Your Proposal: The Conversation Starter, Not the End

Hello and welcome to the podcast. My name is Tavishima Aede and I'm your host. I'm making today's recording outside church 'cause, you know, it's a Sunday and the kids are having cat kissing classes as usual, so there will be some noise in the background. Now today, what I want us to look at on the podcast is something that we've done before, I think, but was part of a larger broadcast. And so I just want to make it more succinct.

Succinct Abby. Yeah, sorry. Forgive me. Anyway, So where are we? All right, so this is about proposals. Now, this is something I was spoken about before. Oh, I forgot. For those of you who want to connect, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Now lots of us have to make proposals, presentations, you know, you name it because we're trying to drum up business. But then there's some of us have gotten into the very bad habit of, you know, you create your proposal, it's just one document and you just send it like that.

The person will say, oh, thank you very much, send me an e-mail. And then you just send it. And then you don't hear about from the person. And then you now send them a message saying, have you received the proposal? They didn't answer. You now send another message. Have you read the proposal? They didn't answer. You know, send another message. Have you considered the proposal? No, they didn't answer. And you're now wondering, are these people, like, ghosting me?

Like, why now? Why are people so wicked? So the problem is not that people are wicked. The problem is that you didn't quite think through the sales process and you didn't anticipate next steps. And so you send people a proposal. They've received proposals for three or four other people. And to be honest, they'll just carry the proposal and keep, you know, until it suits them or until they make a decision. Then they'll now call you if you're the anointed 1.

So what you have to do is whenever you're sending over a proposal, well, first of all, I'm not one of those people who believe that you should send a proposal 1st and then you now start playing catch up. What I prefer to do is create the proposal, you know, keep it, but then call the person and then walk them through the proposal. After you walk them through the proposal, you now send it after you've agreed on the next step.

So in other words, it's like this. So, Olga Bio, how are you doing now? You know, the last time that we spoke last week Wednesday, you said I should create proposal and no problem, I don't create them. But I say let me just call you before I send it. There's one or two things in this proposal that I want us to discuss. So are you are you free? Share your with your computer now, Abby. OK, no problem. I just send the e-mail.

No, no, no, just hold on. Well, I don't send them. Have you seen it? OK, let me send it to you on WhatsApp. Well, let me send it. Have you seen it? If you don't drop, OK, no problem. So I'll go by or now you just open the proposal. You go and check this section where I said this and this and that and that. This is where I refer to that thing that we spoke about last week. Remember I was telling you that we supposed on like this, like this, like this, and that's the reason why we arrived at this amount that's at the bottom here.

So you remember when we were talking like that, I had any proposal. I also added this one, added this one, added this one. So I'll go by. I beg, is there anything that I forgot? It's important to answer that question because Ogabyo might say you need answer. So this is very important. You know now very good. You now know that there's issues with your proposal before you send it. It's OK, No problem. No vet. So this one I sent to you, just disregard it.

Let me edit it. OK, Today is Sunday, give me like around. I can't use the I'll send you another one. Is that OK? Or Gabyo will say yes. So you see, in the process of walking somebody through, you can get feedback on a couple of things. You now know whether you're hitting the mark or whether you are missing the mark. But let's assume that everything checks out, everything is OK. We still have to have some kind of call to action.

So off the top of my head, one simple 1, is this OK? So I'll go by now. So as I've sent you this thing, most of my customers in the past, the satisfied customers we've had in the past, usually they take like 2 weeks to look over the proposal and then decide, do you think that's OK? OK, Bayo might say sure, two weeks is enough to consider, no problem. In that case, you paint him down as two weeks. You also tell him no OK Bayo,

sure, no problem. Today is September 1st. That means I'm calling you around that kind of September 14th. You say sure, no problem. You can say that you guys have agreed to a next step now while he's on the phone so that when you're trying to call him on September 14th, there's a clear reason for why you're following up. We see how you're keeping the conversation, the conversation in play. Now, the good thing about doing this is that some people who say 2 weeks, no big jam.

Now call me back by Wednesday I would have decided and then that's perfect. Now you know, because the person has given me a timeline. It's not as if you just send the proposal by yourself and then when you remember, you now be portioning the person. Have you received the proposal? Did you read the proposal? Have you considered the proposal or Gabio, how far my proposal? So this is my own default. Call this person and walk them through the proposal.

Then you send it, gaining some feedback on some things. Then you agree on the next steps. That is my own default. Now assuming that is not possible, you know, some people will say, look young man, I say I'm busy, just send me this proposal. Sure, no problem. You can send it in the WhatsApp or in the e-mail. In fact, for me, I prefer to do both because I repeat, e-mail is not a conversational platform. You send somebody a proposal only on e-mail, like e-mail just has that vibe.

It has that kind of official vibe. You can't carry a conversation over e-mail most times. And if you carry a conversation over e-mail, the thing won't be smooth at all. So yeah, I will send it no problem. e-mail. I also send it as WhatsApp. Now all the portioning I'm going to be doing on WhatsApp, you see now everything will rhyme. Instead of you send somebody e-mail, the person has received it. You're now going back to go and be portioning in WhatsApp to see how far would that.

So I'll send e-mail, I'll also send WhatsApp, but for me I'll be pursuing the person on WhatsApp because WhatsApp is much more conversational. So at the end what? Sorry, not at the end. Yes, at the end of the proposal document, yeah, usually put, I make sure you put call to action on there. If it's not proper, what you do is you attach the proposal as a document, but then in the communication you put a call to action there.

So let's use that simple first call to action that I came up with, which is OK bio. Most of my happiest customers usually take like one week to go through the proposal and consider the proposal and then let us know if they have a decision. So would that be OK? Question mark send, ending your e-mail, ending your WhatsApp communication ending or whatever with a question like that increases the odds that people will respond to you.

Now, it's not everybody that will respond. Don't worry whether we'll say those people lack home training or whatever. Look, don't worry, you're 1 is we're just trying to increase the odds. There's no way that we'll close every single deal that we have on the table. It was like that all of us would be billionaires, but we don't close every single deal. So don't worry. So end your communications with a question mark, with a call to action.

You know, something like that just to get the conversation going. Now if you do that, chances are you stand the chance of of getting a response later. Now, let us assume that you know, you didn't catch this podcast on time. You've already sent it and you didn't put call to action. You also didn't call the person to walk them through. Sorry, one moment. OK, where was I? So you didn't call them through now. So it is what you do when you try to call them later on.

Then the answer you send text message, don't send a message. Have you read the proposal? Have you received the proposal? Have you considered the proposal? That's bad because you know clearly most times the person have received it. It's just that they're not ready to talk to you yet. And to be honest, have you received the proposal? Have you read, have you considered the answer that can come will either be yes or no. And remember what I've been telling you guys on the podcast,

that is best when we are asking questions in a way that are much more open or in a way that can prompt conversations because a lot of us are in complex sales environments. So The thing is, we're just trying to stay in play. You understand, we're trying to remain top of mind, continue to follow them to the yarn, you know, so that we stand a chance. So let's be talking. So that's how that's how you do it. So proposal, have you received proposal?

The answer is either yes or no. That's no good then. So what you do now is you ask questions in a way that are much more open and remember that open-ended conversations begin with the 5 W framework. You know who, why, what, how, when, how you know all those sorts of things. So when you ask like that, OK, sorry, how is not AW, but how people put them there. So who let let me be counting yourself. Who, why, what, where, when?

Those are the five WS who, why, what, where, when. So when we start conversations like that, you can see that it's much more. The chances of getting a conversation are much more open. Like those of us who have children. If you ask your child, how was school today? Your song we say was good. That's what they always say, especially those that are, excuse me, especially those that are like around that current teenage age.

Sorry about the noise in the background though. You know, today the Pentecostal people, they're praying. It's like they're beating the devil out of somebody today. You know how their prayer service can be. So where was I? So your son will say it was good. But then if you use five, you know, The Who, why, what, where, when, how the chances are you can get your teenage son or teenage daughter have a conversation with you.

You can say, OK, how was school today? OK, no, that one who say it was good. You can say oh, what fun things did you do in school today? You see, what fun things did you do in school today? It prompts a conversation. So that is a what? Or you can say, OK, like when, OK, tell me when something exciting happened in school today. You see that kind of thing prompts a conversation. So whether we relationships now with our children or with our boyfriend, girlfriend is the same with our customers.

So 5 WS who, why, what, where, when That's the five Some people now say we can throw in How so One question you can send. It's not saying have you received, have you read? Have you considered you call the person bring bring get an answer and you send a text message. OK bio try calling you earlier number busy. No holla, no need to call me back. Just wanted to find out how do we compare to the other vendors that you have looked at the proposal so far, question mark Blap, you see that, that kind of thing.

Now if they respond, the chances are the response should be much more conversational. So look, some people will ignore, don't worry. See, don't worry about people who ignore whether they have good home training or not. You know, it's none of our business. You just remember that sales is a matter of probabilities. We're trying to do things that increase the odds in our favour. Because I know some of you saying I asked this question,

but then one person didn't respond like like, what the hell does that have to do with me? One person didn't respond, I hope. And so pay attention to the people who responded and let's let's see how we can move this business going forward. If you waste much of your time complaining, this didn't work, this didn't work, this didn't work, you will not do anything. So just learn the one that is best business practice and then begin to apply.

Sometimes you will work, sometimes you will not work. The time that it works, glory to God, you keep moving forward. The time that it did not work, you know what did our guy Jay-Z said? You know, for those of us used to listen to Jay-Z when we're in secondary school, if you're feeling like a pimp, go on, brush your shoulder off. That's how you do it. You know, you got to stay fly. If it works, nice. If it doesn't work, brush the dead off your shoulder and continue moving.

Keep flowing. Stay fly, stay in the game. That's how you do it. So that's one question. How do we compare to other vendors? If some people response, they might say, well, you're on the high side. At least now there's room for you to continue the conversation because the person say you're on the high side. Hopefully the person will say you're the cheapest. Well, because you know, that can be either good or bad depending on how you look at it.

But you see, that's an example of a question they can use to open up the conversation using the five WS who, why, what, where when there's some people say let's add how even though it's not AW OK, well, it ends in West. So we can say is it is AW. So how do we compare to the other vendors? Another question you can ask. OK, bio try. OK. No, I've said bio busy Madam busy. Try calling earlier number busy. No, Hala, just wanted to find out since I sent you over the proposal, what thoughts have come up since you read the proposal, See what thoughts have come up since you read the proposal.

Question mark, just end it like that. Let it end with the question. When we're trying to prompt a conversation, this is not something that people can reply with yes or reply with no. It is something that if the person replies, it will have to be conversational as you don't see the proposal. Now what are the what are the important things that you are considering? See what are the important things that you're considering?

Now they're using the proposal. So you go ahead and assume if the person has there's no right do say ah, Tarisha beg no Vex. I haven't read it. No problem. The conversation is continuing. Like I said, complex sale. The goal is let's stay in the know more. They relate. Let's have a conversation. Let's keep things moving. The only time when there's a problem is when people are quiet. If the person is quiet, the ghost, you, they zip up a hand,

there's a problem. But so long as you, they young, you say 1, they say 2, you say A, they say B, they still hope. I'm just trying to keep this hope going. Remember, it's a game of probability. You're talking to 10 people. You can keep the conversation going along with 10 people, God willing. You close like four or five. You make some daily bread. So that's the scope. What was that? What are the important things? Are you considering another one?

But I'm beside you. I tried calling you earlier. Number was busy. Number was billion, number was busy. Just wanted to confirm, now that you've had a look at the proposal, what would you like to see in the proposal? What else would you like to see? See another what question? Question mark send. If I may, I'd like to make it a little bit much more stronger, although some people say it's two forward. Boscha, may I say what would you like to see in the proposal that will make you confident in US

moving forward? Question mark, send another W Another question is I was saying, have you received the proposal? Yeah. You see, Madam Barbara try calling you earlier. No bar unavailable. Just wanted to find out, Now that you've had a look at the proposal, how does this proposal fit into your timeline? Question mark, It is something that begs a conversation. It is not something that Madam Barbara can say yes or she can say no.

And this is the one that a lot of you are afraid of. But quite frankly, you know, I've said it, but there's no problem with this is there's no problem you can use to start the conversation. But I'm Belinda try calling earlier your number was busy. But I believe that try calling earlier number was busy. Wanted to find out about the proposal. Now that you've had a look at it, how do we compare to the other quotes that you have received?

But I believe that cannot answer yes or no. If she's combative, maybe she will answer back other proposals. Who told you that I had other proposals? Some of you are afraid because somebody can reply like that. But remember, this is a conversation. But I believe I cannot beat you. She will not slap you. This just business, hear me. Most you can do at that case, but I believe that I beg no vex. Usually most people that we have done business with the past were considering about two or three quotes before they ended up doing business with us.

No Vexma, that is just the reason why I asked. So I'm assuming that ours is the only proposal that you've been looking at. See your continued conversation. Small, small, small. But this fear thing, please, evil should stop being afraid. The worst that will happen is that somebody will shout at you. Let me repeat. The worst that will happen is somebody will shout at you. Let me say one more time, the worst that will happen is that somebody will shout at you or they will ghost you or they will ignore you.

Nobody will come to your house and beat you. If they come to your house and beat you, then I can assure you that you have been doing things that are highly unethical. That's the reason why. So just man up or woman up. Let's try and keep these conversations going. Try and learn best business practice around sales, around handling conversations, around negotiations, around all these things and you will be fine. But where a question needs to be asked to get the conversation moving, please ask that question.

Nobody is perfect, nobody's 100% and sometimes you will ask and you'll be too forward. When that happens, you say oh, I'm very sorry Sir. No Vex, the reason why I asked the question is because of this, this, this, this, this. I'm sorry Sir, did not mean to offend. It's not a problem. Most Nigerians are decent human beings and the guy will say oh sorry, that's the speaker in church. I don't know why The thing is vibrating anyway.

So most people will say most people are no more human beings or say, young man, you know, we're doing business, but you know, not be. So next time talk like this, talk like this, talk like this. You say thank you very much. I appreciate it. OK, So ask the question that needs to be asked. If you're Miss Yan, I apologize. Walk it back, take dressing and then move forward and you'll be fine. So that's just what I wanted to talk about in today's podcast episode.

So basically, you've already signed the proposal. No problem asking have you received, have you read, have you considered? That's that's that's a foul? That's that's that's bad because he has the answer. Yes, they don't say anything. You now hook because if they just answer yes, they didn't say anything. And what you now say that will not make you sound too pushy. So let's try to keep a conversational. I remember the five WS who let me count who, why, what, where,

when. Some people say we can throw in how so use that simple formula to get the conversation going again. But remember for me, the way I like to sell what I prefer is I'll finish the proposal. I will hold it. I will now call the person. They have not received the proposal yet, so there's still some incentive to talk to you. I will now talk the person through the proposal and gain feedback on the idea. If we are good, I will send it.

Sometimes I will send it while we're on the call, but I'm trying to gain feedback on the idea. And now I want to know how is this proposal looking now so I can go through the proposal in my first scenario and then say OK or Gabriel. So now that we've discussed everything, you know, now that we've discussed everything so far. Based on this final figure that was spoken, how do we compare to the other quotes you've received?

You see, I'm asking this question now down on the phone. So let's say I'm quoting or Gabio 5.5. The way he responds, the way he will laugh or the way he will keep quiet or the way he whatever, at least I will know now before I send this proposal that is 5.5 I sent is either looking good or is either looking bad. So and it does the way anyways, 20 minutes, then Nova stretches this thing. So that's it. And that's all for today.

Remember if you'd love to keep in touch, then the number to call to send a text message or WhatsApp message to is 08064662140. Thank you very much for your time and attention. I'll catch you all at the next episode.