Marketing in Nigeria

By Brian Bott

President at Botts Industries LLC

I have spent the better part of the last 5 years in Nigeria. As an American, when I first went there it was a culture shock. The key for me was that I had no expectations because the worst thing I could do was make comparisons. I wanted Nigeria to tell me who it was and let me decide how I can thrive in that environment. I think the fact that I've been to multiple countries helped me a lot because my world view goes through a constant evolving process.

Currently I'm working on a project for Nigeria, but before this, I oversaw operations for an International Company that had offices in Ikeja, Lagos. However, our services reached nation wide. We had satellite offices in Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Abuja, Enugu, Abeokuta and Kano. Our head quarters were in America, but I spent a ton of time traveling frequently over there because I was responsible for getting the operations off ground, hiring all the people, and then initially marketing to get business while I trained a future marketing team.

When I first got there and hired my initial staff, they all told me things.

1. I can't get contracts without bribery (In various forms)

2. I can't get my desired prices because Nigerians want to constantly negotiate, therefore I must offer our services at ridiculous prices so that I can negotiate down to make it look like I made an effort to make the client feel good and in the end I get my desired prices anyway.

3. When contracts are in place, I must overvalue my invoices so that I can provide a kickback to the appointed person responsible for giving me the contract.

4. I must provide a "settlement" to the accounting person in the accounting department responsible for paying my invoice. I must do this in order to have my services paid on time otherwise it will be held up for eternity.

Make no mistake about it, these things happen more often than not. Many companies struggle because they are not "playing" correctly in the system. Money gets held up for that very reason. Contracts get sabotaged because of it and companies lose out on contracts to competitors because the other's "gratitude" is much more lucrative than theirs.

But...........this is not set in stone. It doesn't have to be that way. Regular business can and will get done. However, a few things need to be done correctly in order for you to have sustained business without bribery.

A Unique Service:


If your service is comparable to many others, then I can't help you. Maybe your only solution is to bribe your way onto a contract. Nigeria is a word of mouth Country. When one finds out about something, in a short amount of time, many people try to do it or be a part of it. This takes the value away from the service. You might be better at it than everyone else, but to get noticed and to prove yourself will be difficult.

You have to be the first one in with what you are selling. It can be comparable to other services, but you have to clearly define how you are different. What value does your service bring to your potential client? How are they saving money using you in the long run? If you have a unique service that clearly has value to it, you can close contracts without any form of bribery and get paid too without any settlements. This is a fact.

There will be companies where you won't be able to get closed because of the bribery issue, but because of your unique services, there will be plenty of companies willing to do business with you the right way. So if you don't want to compromise your morals, you don't have to. You can find the right client for your business. And when you have business where the premise is clean, it creates an opportunity for your client to grow with you. If they are a big company, and your services do exactly what you marketed, they will give more business over time.

Belief in Your Service:


A seasoned business person will be able to tell if you are simply reciting your material like a robot while marketing or if you actually believe in what you are marketing. Let's assume you have a unique service. If it's unique, there is a good chance you will believe strongly in it and so will your marketing team. When they are talking to potential clients, they don't need to memorize anything. When someone has belief in what they are talking about, you can see their passion. You can feel their passion. They are engaging and making eye contact. They are so convinced in what they can do, that they are talking to the potential clients as if they are doing them a favor bringing them their services.

Appearance:


You do not have to wear a three piece suit or a short dress that shows your upper thigh to get someone to pay attention to you. You do not need a briefcase. You do not need a 40 page PowerPoint presentation based on redundancy. Be comfortable. Look comfortable. Act comfortable. They need to see you at ease with yourself. Can you imagine how it feels wearing a three piece suit in Nigeria with the sun out? Oh my goodness. All I will think about is how hot I am, not the great services I have to sell. You can look great in something else. Nice pants or dark jeans with a buttoned down shirt or nice polo. Dress pants with a nice button down shirt. All of these are acceptable. For women, nice dress pants or long skirt with a dress shirts will do fine too.

You don't need that 40 page proposal. One page will work just fine. Give the client something that tells them what you do, how you do it, and how you save them money doing it. They don't read the 40 page proposals most of the time.

Conclusion:


I understand. I know people are going to disagree with this assessment. And that's perfectly fine. Some people are so engrained in one way that they can't possibly see a different scenario working. But you're wrong.

I understand I'm a White American (Oyinbo). That doesn't get me contracts. It might get me in the door. It might get someone to initially listen to me easier than it will for others. But getting the contract done is another story entirely.

I had a unique service. I believed in it. I was comfortable in my appearance and concise in my description and benefits. And because of this, I never bribed a single person in almost 4 years working for the company I worked for. There were companies that didn't pay us on time but that was because of their own internal issues. Most clients paid on time and we didn't bribe anyone.

To solidify this post even more, let me state one other important fact. Over time, I stopped marketing. I had a marketing team that was comprised of 100% Nigerians. They closed contracts on their own and didn't bribe anyone to do it. They knew our services were unique. They believed in them. They were comfortable. They weren't robots. They weren't intimidated. And business got done.

Yours can too. Don't pay attention to the negativity. Find out what is unique about what you do and how you can benefit customers.

Wishing you success,

Brian Botts