Sales For The Nigerian Business Person: The Sales and Marketing Blueprint

Some folks are worth keeping around in the business much longer than others because of their drive and enthusiasm that they bring to the role, especially if they go beyond their job description and joyfully take on sales, customer service and other customer facing functions. Those folks will bring outsized returns for the business in the future.

Does how we do business have to change from one age to another? Do technological advances mean how we do business and marketing becomes outdated? Will “know”, “like” and “trust” reign supreme in sales and marketing for all time?

Does it matter how you think about yourself? And does an advisor mindset make it easier to handle conversations with potential clients? Does it enhance your positioning and level of credibility with the potential customer?

Is the conversation about how many people you might scare away? Or is this about the best way to “sort through” potential clients to be sure you’re speaking to “serious people” only?

Is it possible to have “everyone” as your target market? Or do you have to narrow down to a particular demographic or psychographic to be effective in your sales and marketing efforts?

Is it realistic to keep going for “big kills” every time you’re with a potential client? Or is it more effective to go for smaller commitments with each conversation until we have earned the right to ask for the sale?

It’s important to have a selling framework, process, or philosophy to guide you on how to initiate relationships as well as determine criteria for when to STOP talking to a potential customer. Do this and you’ll be fine.

Staffing issues. Who to keep? Who to fire? Who’s worth what?

It’s necessary to approach everyone in the beginning because you don’t know who your ideal market is. But should you continue with that over time? And how do you determine what your message should be? And who your customers are?

When preparing stuff for the site or the gram, should we be worried that it doesn’t have high production value? Or is average “good enough” content good enough for that purpose?

Conversations with customers can be a reliable treasure trove for ideas about how to improve the business, as well as things to cut out. Pick up the phone and talk to clients today!

What is an advancement? And how do we involve the potential customers when coming up with timelines for the project?

Should we be emotional or logical in the sales process? Which is more effective?

Are angry customers a problem to look out for? Or should we be worried about macroeconomic concerns like inflation and changes in the business environment?

How should we handle situations where customers call us angry? And is it a problem if we loose people at the end of the transaction so long as we’re still profitable? What is a customer worth over the long haul anyway?

Looking for potential customers to talk to (the art of prospecting) is an absolutely essential skill and practice for every business owner and self employed person. How are we supposed to prospect? And why should we be ready for actual conversations every time we reach out to someone new?

Does it matter what you and your partners call yourselves in the early days of the business? Or should you guys be preoccupied with traction and validating the business idea in the early days?

Can you grow your audience and potential customers by begging them to act for your benefit? What are the ways of making it “all about them” so they can be happy to come along for the ride?

Prospecting with copy and paste messaging is a good idea but is there a more effective way to promote your services? And how can being ready for an actual conversation improve your sales?

What is reputation management? And what's the business case for implementing this in a deliberate and conscious manner? The FIRST interview on the podcast, and the beginning in a series aimed at communications strategy.

What is the goal of advertising? When should we try direct response marketing instead? And how can we throw business twitter into the mix to improve our businesses?

What similarities do sales and coaching have in common? And do you have to TALK AT people to be a good sales person, instead of having conversations WITH people?

Is selling a solo activity? Or do we need the help of other people to bring in those big “killer” deals?

Is it a problem that the potential customer doesn’t remember your name anymore? Especially after that fun conversation you had last week? And what are simple conversational techniques you can use to jog their memory a bit and get the conversation flowing again?

Why is it necessary to have questions rather than conversations topics at a networking or socializing event?