Closing deals that will add to the bottom line is the essence of growing any business.
This is one thing that not even mentors have down to a script. Every deal has its own life and its own dynamics.
The
Kenyan market is unique in terms of how entrepreneurs close deals. With
speed bumps like corruption, need for connections and godfathers and
most importantly favours, the influence of market forces like costing,
delivery timelines, value addition is diminished.
While
closing deals may look like common sense, it's very prevalent in the
Kenyan entrepreneurship realm for people to get caught up in the emotion
of the moment, and ignore their basic instincts.
BE PATIENT
We
ignore the lessons that nature has taught us to learn and survive. Like
the leopard, be patient, until the right time and place, devoid of
emotion, drama and sentiment.
Sentiment,
emotion, luck and magic have no room where a deal is being closed. It
takes an iron gut, homework, street smarts and unblinking discipline to
convince a client to part with a certain amount of money.
One
of the greatest mistakes we make as entrepreneurs is to walk into the
boardroom with the confidence of a tiger keen on making a kill, but with
the strategy of a puppy.
STUDY YOUR CLIENTS
We
loathe research, yet without it, an entrepreneur is simply blind while
purporting to be knowledgeable. An entrepreneur needs research the way
we need shelter during a storm.
With
research, entrepreneurs will discover what appeals to a potential
client, who the competitors are. He or she can conceptualise the
client’s needs with yardsticks of market value and cost the deal in a
way that makes economic sense to both parties.
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