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NB: This newsletter is published every Monday. Point your browser to www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/sdnuggets to read at least ONE new post added to my SD Nuggets blog on a different category from Tuesday till Saturday (sometimes even Sundays) in line with this publishing schedule 
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No. 133: To Succeed, Find Correctly Motivated Buyers
Why do people who buy YOUR services do so? Do you know? In this article, I explain why knowing the answer to that question, is the key to your long term selling success, as a service provider.
The insights I share can make you more effective in selling your services for the long term, IF you apply them.
Societies Differ In the Value They Place on Specific Types of Solutions
This applies to both products and services, but more to the latter in my experience.
A person can easily make a living as a chiropractor in the USA. But s/he could literally starve trying to sell the same service in my home country, Nigeria.
Unless s/he’s smart enough to find enough of the few people who value such a service e.g. expatriates from societies where such a service is valued. Most Nigerians, even wealthy ones, would NOT pay worthwhile fees (if at all they show any interest) for such a service.
Possible exceptions would be instances when they see it as an opportunity to show off, or prove they belong to a prestigious social class.
Now that, could catch the money spending attention and interest of some who can afford it.
They would typically be people who buy to prove a point, and not because they need the service. They are people who sometimes spend to avoid being outdone by others. Crazy? Maybe. But it’s true!
Which brings me to the issue of buyers’ motives…
Let Me Illustrate With a Personal True Story…
One morning, a few years back, a real estate expert I’d interacted with over a series of months, initially by phone and later in person, called me up.
After we’d exchange pleasantries, he said:
“Look, I need you to come down so we can finalize and get started on building my website. I really need it now. When can we meet?”
For me, I had been a bit surprised. He’d always spoken as if he considered having a website a waste of time. So when we met, I asked him why he suddenly decided he was ready to use a website.
His reply confirmed his ego was still in the driving seat of his decision making. For me, that was NOT good!
He said “Come, let me show you this website” motioning for me to come to his side of the table, and look at his laptop screen display.
There I saw a beautifully designed real estate website with pretty pictures of properties for sale. It had all the bells and whistles installed. You know the type
I said “Is this the kind of website you want?”
“No. I want something better!” he replied, looking at me as if to say “How can you even ask me that?”
Then he added “Do you know the guy who owns this site, started out only few years ago. Last time we met, he was not doing anything special. But if he can own this kind of website, then I must have mine, or people will start thinking he’s bigger than I am!”
As he said those words, I knew it was potentially one of those nightmare projects that would never go well. So, I offloaded him gently, by pushing my fees higher than normal, to a point I knew he’d balk at
Over time, I’ve found that in my part of the world, farm business owners tend to be the most authentic of clients one can find. Most times their motives are based on the need to get real results – otherwise their investments go down the drain. And so, most times they take you seriously when they hire you.
A Web Marketing System (WMS) Will Increase Your Chances of Getting Found By Buyers with the Right Motives
It has been my experience that buyers with the right motives, tend to be fewer in number. For that reason you need to use more rigorous marketing strategies to find and attract them. This is why depending mainly on face to face, networking and “connections” to promote your service is not wise.
And that’s why I recommend using a combination of strategies.
It does not give results overnight.
But done right, it will help GROW your name recognition and credibility as an expert at what you do.
I’m living proof of that fact …and I offer some recent examples to illustrate that fact:
This past weekend, I got a web contact form enquiry from a business owner from Barbados (a first…see below), for my Feed Formulation Products.
I also received a phone call from a UK based Nigerian, who told me he was just reading one of my articles, and wanted to know how to pay for my Ration Formulator™ software.
Then at 4.00a.m this morning, a chap who’d had a Facebook chat session with me, a year ago, about buying my Payslip Generator (or learning to build it himself), returned to post a request on my wall (see below):
Earlier in the week, I’d gotten a call from a Farm CEO based in Uyo, who confirmed he’d received the Feed Formulation learning package I’d sent him via DHL, following his payment.
Those are just a few examples. A number eventually result in actual sales. Some are good friends with me today, even though we’ve still never met.
There’s ONE main reason total strangers reach out to me, REPEATEDLY in the ways described above.
And that’s because I’ve used my WMS to put out credibility boosting information about the solutions I offer – in various formats (e.g. Ezine articles, Youtube videos, ebooks and free download resources of all kinds) – using a variety of channels (e.g. my website, on Facebook, Twitter, PInterest etc).
And this is not something I just did once, and sat back to enjoy benefits from.
No.
I’ve been doing it regularly for years. That’s the key: doing it over and over – but adding new content CREATIVELY.
That increases the mass of useful information linked to me, that’s relevant to what buyers with the right motives want. And so they get in touch.
Use Careful Observation, Combined With Critical Thinking, to Detect Buyers with the Right Motives
Why do companies hire Motivational Speakers to address their employees for one to a few hours? Why do meeting planners for trade associations invite experts-who-speak to deliver their trademark programs to their members?
Ideally, they want such speakers to help their members/employees perform better. Rarely would bias or favouritism be allowed to influence the process of choosing the RIGHT speaker for their event.
The reality in the real world I’ve had to offer speaking services as a Self-Development and Performance Improvement Specialist, has however tended to be a bit different.
You see, as a multipreneur, I offer a variety of solutions to different target audiences.
However, as stated above, I’ve found Farm Business Owners to be the most profitable group. So in line with the Pareto principle, I spend at least 80% of my marketing time/effort reaching out to them.
In whatever free time I have left, I try to connect with other groups. And I periodically make sales.
But between 2002 and 2005, my early start-up years, I’d not gained the above insights.
So I wasted (based on hindsight now) a lot of effort on marketing my Self-Development and Spontaneous Coaching™ learning events.
My objective was to get invited as a speaker and trainer in organisations.
What I discovered was that many (please note: NOT all) of the decision makers had different motives for engaging learning service providers.
Quite often, only people who were willing to play certain games (mostly unethical), or those who knew someone (who knew someone!) up “there”, got hired.
As a result, I found that I got repeatedly ignored.
Yet, I knew I could add value to many employees and their companies with my ideas. So I began putting them on the web via articles, special reports, a flagship Workplace Performance Improvement seminar offer, my Self-Development Bible etc.
Today, that strategy has paid off in some ways.
Take the example of my 10 item customisable Employee Workplace Morale Survey Quiz (approx 23.5KB).
I call it the “Employee Morale Gauge (available as an MS Excel workbook). I wrote an article based on it, titled “Are Your Employees Happy & Satisfied with Their Jobs? (A Ten Item Quiz That Can Help You Find Out)“.
In 2008, it was republished – with my permission – by India’s ICFAI University (with Sangeetha K. as author) in their 252 page journal titled “Employee Morale: Concepts and Cases” now on sale here(see item 14).
The article/10 item quiz has also been purchased by the Human Resource Development Manager of a US company, and at least one company in the UK currently offers it as a download for clients on their website.
Few Organisation in My Local Market Have Ever Shown Interest…Strangely (?)
Apart from speaking at the Centre for Management Development in 2002, and a few other gigs, I got little success as a speaker in my local market.
On the few occasions I got hired, I knew upfront before the decision came. I was basically able to sense that the decision makers wanted results.
They wasted no time on mind games of any sort! (See below)
But such opportunities were too few and far between.
So I gradually shifted towards serving farm owners more.
With the progress I’ve so far made, I’m now working on learning resources (e.g. my Practical Feed Formulation and Compounding Home Study Video Package ), and events.
Examples: My 4 to 6 hour Feed Formulation workshop, and keynote speeches on Best Practice) for Farm Business Owners groups and associations.
Final Words: Use a Similar Strategy to Succeed as an Expert-Who-Speaks
Form the habit of asking probing questions.
NB: I paraphrased Burt Dubin in that preceding sentence. He recommends getting decision makers to tell you what results they expect to see AFTER you are done (he teaches his students specific questions to use).
Then use careful observation (trust your gut instincts!), to intelligently choose who you invest time and effort in promoting your services to/respond to enquiries from…
…and HOW far you go to do so.
That way, you’re likely to pick the right clients to serve cost-effectively, and efficiently in terms of time and effort.
The best part is, you’ll be sure of not only getting well paid, but also getting great reviews, that you can use to promote yourself to others.
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Have a great week :-))
Tayo K. Solagbade*
Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist
*Sole Agent For Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Service In Africa
Mobile: +234-803-302-1263 (in Nigeria) or +229-66-122-136 (in Benin Republic)
http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com
Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist – Tayo Solagbade – works as a multipreneurial freelance writer providing zero risk article and report writing support for website owners, while travelling slowly across West Africa as a Location Independent Multipreneur.
He’s presently based in Benin Republic, where he’s preparing an English-French Language Guide, City Travel Guides, and a Commercial Rabbit Farming Guide.
He earns multiple streams of income providing clients with performance improvement training/coaching, custom MS Excel-VB solutions, web marketing systems, freelance writing services, and best practice extension support services (for farm business owners).
In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer, to Training & Technical Development Manager, then later acted in senior management roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.
When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Self-Development Nuggets™ blog, and Public Speaking IDEAS newsletter (which he publishes to promote Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring service to experts working across the African continent).
For a limited time, Tayo is available to speak to your group or organization for a moderate fee. Send e-mail to tayo at tksola dot com. You can also visit www.tksola.com to learn more.
Connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.
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