Ore works for one of my favourite firms – Abbey Mortgage, which is led by my aburo, Bolaji Adewumi
Abbey is on the cusp of history, but that will be a story for another day.
Ore reached out this morning with a quote from Blessing, her former colleague at Abbey
She apparently had left Abbey to set up her own thing after she attended my Master class on sales and Marketing
According to Blessing, on a post on her WhatsApp status – Joseph Edgar-ohhhhh this man. He changed my whole view of sales and marketing. His audacity …His arrogance …..His mind…..Edgar should be studied as a course if you want to develop a passion for sales and marketing. Here, I made a commitment, with God’s help, to be a force in sales and marketing.
This now made Ore put me on a video call with Blessing, and she confirmed her transition from Customer Support to Sales and Marketing on her own platform
She was really excited about the progress she is making and remained quite appreciative of the little inspiration she got from that Masterclass
You see, what I tell people about sales is that it is an art form.
Once you understand its creative intent, you can only be a winner
The fluid symphony from visioning, to dimensioning, down to profiling and securing access and then closure, all sitting on a rich network that is built on value, integrity and selfless engagement, you can only but enjoy sales
Young people like Blessing have discovered this truth and have used it to open up enormous opportunities for themselves
One of the most significant obstacles to sales is fear and a lack of self-belief
I have conquered fear since Nicholas sacked me. That sack opened up my eyes to the futility of fearing fear
So what else could be worse than Nicholas sacking me with just N20k in my pocket and five children in the most expensive schools in Lagos to cater for
Since that moment, nothing scares me again. So if I can’t raise money for the next play, apart from. My ego, Whatesle, will fall?
Nothing, cos the sky will still be up there, tomorrow will still come, and other such inevitabilities of life will still occur.
So why kill myself? With this mindset, you tackle rejection like a ballerina – you dance around it
When King Sunny Ade put a stop to KSA in London (I will still tell this story), everybody around me panciked
This was three months to the show. All the running around, especially by Otunba Bimbo Ashiru and Yemi Shodimu, came to nought, and the realisation that the Baba would never agree hit us six weeks to show day.
How would you raise over N100m, promote it, get new cast and crew, rehearse, buikd a set and stage a show of that magnitude in less than 6 weeks
Blessing have called me arrogant, and yes, it’s arrogance you need for such an endeavour
I swapped the plays, announced Kashimawo with only N1m in the purse and pushed
The idea was that I was not afraid, I would push as aggressively as I could, identify rejection very quickly, cos the main issue about rejection is not rejection itself but the debilitating effects of time-wasting rejections
As I had no time, I could sense bullshit very quickly and cut it very aggressively
Edgar, I’ll call you. Edgar, give me some time. Edgar, let me discuss with my wife. Edgar our budgetbfor tge year is over but let me see…
Those are early warning signs of bullshit and rejection.
So as soon as I drop the phone, I remove them from the database and replace them
We raised the funds and had a fantastic showing.
Speaking with Blessing today was a reaffirmation of my firm belief in myself.
I live my life on my terms, and this seeps into my outlook, the way I see my life, my expectations of people and society and most of all, I have buried shame, and this is a strong ingredient of success in Sales
Thanks so much for the kind words, and I pray fervently that your new company grows Phenomenally and becomes a huge quoted company and a vehicle of socio-economic emancipation of our people
Thanks
Duke of Shomolu