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

Ratings and reviews are essential to getting residual income from repeat business and referrals. However when is the right time to ask for a review or testimonial? You should only do this AFTER the underlying customer service issues have been resolved and you’re sure that everyone is happy. Asking people to give you a review and rating while you’re still in the middle of a tussle is a recipe for d...

Wootlab is a an abuja based software development firm. This episode is not a promo for the company, but it’s a real life example of how follow up is important and why we ought to keep in touch and build relationships with our past clients.

The good news about being successful in selling is that it doesn’t depend on how good you talk, or how well you can toast. Being good here requires you to ask the right questions of your prospective clients. If you have the sheer talent or the bubbly personality, it won’t hurt! But anyone can be good at sales because it’s all about learnable skills. Being good at asking the right questions begins...

Whether the break up tactic gets the conversation going or not, it all good! This is because a “yes” answer is fine because it means you could be working together. A “no” response on the other hand means you now have more time to look for other people better suited to working with you. Of course all this only makes sense if you adopt an “active” philosophy to growing your sales rather than a “pass...

You should ask questions about the client’s decision making process because it’s not always the case that the person you’re speaking to now will be important in making the buying decision tomorrow. Find out who should be a part of the decision making process today and make sure they are involved in the conversation. This will make “sealing the deal” in the future a lot easier.

This is a tactic used in the past by business people to “guilt” their clients into resuming a conversation when it looks like the latter has gone “ghost”. The break up message can be a useful tool to gauge whether they were genuinely interested in the first place, or if circumstances have changed on their end so that procuring your goods or services is no longer a priority.

These are the kinds of conversations we should be having with prospective clients when people DM us on Instagram, or call us from Google. Questions that help you figure out your clients will help you determine whether they will be worth taking the money at all, and it’ll also help you figure out the details that will go into delivering a reliable quote.

Being talented and passionate about our business is no guarantee that we are going to be successful. These were some of the things that were discussed at a photography business Roundtable that I attended recently. Apart from this, there were also discussions on the importance of workplace culture and business culture. Discussions on the importance of building customer loyalty and goodwill for the...

“Following up” with a customer or client is something that should be done consistently if we hope to establish a relationship with clients and secure repeat purchases and referrals. It doesn’t have to be technical! Any system that you can use to keep track of past conversations and future things to look to will be fine. Also make it a habit to record personal details like names, dates, and relatio...

Another type of conversation you should be having with previous customers and clients is, where you try to gauge where they’re at in their personal and professional development. These changing circumstances often reflect new avenues that we can use to bring value into their lives. However don’t be robotic about this and realize that VALUE is the name of the game here.

Customer success conversations are chit chats where we figure out if the client had a fun time of working with us and if we were able to help them achieve their goals. This is absolutely essential to making sure they come back for repeat business, and they bring their friends, families and associates in turn.

Issues of personal and professional etiquette are important because of how they tie in with building our businesses as service based professionals. This episode is a preview of some of the trainings coming down the pipe with “Etiquette with Eti” on all matters including corporate image branding, sales and communications.

So they’re excited to meet with you? Find out why! This is important so you can gauge the expectations that the client is coming into the meeting with. Without this knowledge you won’t know if you have the right agenda for the meeting, or if you guys are suited to work together.

Why should you keep in touch with your former clients? Because life and business is an adventure. It’s good to have future playmates for the games that may arise.

Sometimes the reason why we are demotivated in running our businesses is because we don’t have enough revenue generating activities on the books. These activities keep the deposits coming in, keeps the account balance growing, and keeps the morale high. If you suspect that your demotivation might be sign of depression however, mental health professionals are readily available for professional help...

It seems strange but there are people who help others not because of what they hope to get in return, but they do so out of “the milk of human kindness” and other fuzzy motives that we can’t put a finger on. This episode explores ideas about how to maintain the relationship without things getting “tacky” and awkward.

The fear that calling yourself a vendor leads to commoditization is a valid one. Vendors are often undifferentiated and any one will be as good as the other. However the key to being differentiated might not be what we call ourselves, but how we conduct our businesses and build relationships with our clients.

They way we work is changing and we often find that we’re now working in isolated cramped conditions that throw our bodies and spinal alignment out of wack. Being mindful of this is the first step to working better. So also is proper Rest and exercise. Good news for some of us especially since occupational therapy is becoming a thing in most parts of the world now. Work better and healthier becaus...

Using the phone to seal the deal or diagnose with a customer is the most efficient way to go! Much better than using text or email. If this scenario doesn’t convince you, then I guess nothing will.

There has to be more to life than buying and selling of goods and commodities. However since money is a medium of exchange and a key determinant to the kinds of adventures and experiences you can enjoy, it actually is fundamental to you living the kind of life you desire. Chasing money doesn’t mean downplaying all that’s important to the human experience. Money buys stuff and gives you opportuniti...

There’s no such thing as a difficult client! There are only failed expectations that weren’t met or properly understood. We have to take the initiative as professionals in the first place to be sure we properly understand the goals our clients are aiming for and so reduce the incidents of dealing with “difficult clients”.

Podcasting can be a fun venture but is of very little use to anyone if you’re not going to do this consistently over the long haul. A content calendar is key to keeping things moving, and be sure to consider what the goals and business returns are if any!

It’s important to determine as quickly as possible whether you are talking to a client, customer, or prospect. This has implications for how you drive the rest of the conversation. Figuring out the clients and customers is easy! Prospects on the other hand pose more difficulty. It all boils down to the nature of the questions you ask.

Yes our clients know what they want but mostly on a superficial level. We have to take the initiative to ask questions that get to the subconscious of the problems they’re trying to solve and the grand visions they’re aiming to. Stop being exasperated every time you’re faced with a “confused” client. Take the initiative and ask the right questions to be sure you understand where they’re coming fro...

Clients seem to lie at times because we’re involved in commercial relationships where they have a lot at stake. The solution isn’t to bemoan that fact or call them out for lying. Rather we should look for ways to build trust so that they can let their guard down. We should also look for ways to make the prospect of dealing with us a “risk free proposition”.