Back to School

Our car turned into a narrow lane in Yaba, one of Lagos’s busiest neighbourhoods. We were on our way to meet a prospective client—a mid-sized outdoor advertising company that, according to my sales colleague, was among the established players in its segment.

He had spoken enthusiastically about the opportunity. The company, he said, urgently needed an automation solution. On paper, it sounded promising.

As we moved deeper into the congested area, the road became narrower. My colleague leaned forward and spoke to my driver in Yoruba. A few moments later, the car stopped before a dilapidated building.

There was no road ahead. I assumed we had taken a wrong turn.

“Sir, please follow me. We are there,” my colleague said.

I looked around, expecting him to point towards an office hidden nearby. Instead, he walked directly towards the building.

Two rough-looking men stood near the entrance, smoking and talking animatedly. They watched us approach, and one looked me over from head to toe. My heart skipped a beat, though I tried not to show it. Keeping my expression neutral, I walked past them and entered.

The reception was a small, poorly lit room with little to suggest that it belonged to a successful outdoor media company. An elderly woman greeted us and informed my colleague that the managing director was expecting us.

The surroundings seemed completely inconsistent with the picture my colleague had painted.

I was furious.

Back in India, I thought, taking one’s boss to a poorly prepared prospecting meeting could have serious consequences. Yet here I was, wondering whether this was genuine business or an elaborate waste of time.

Then the door behind us creaked open.

One of the men who had been standing outside entered. The receptionist immediately stood up, greeted him respectfully and left.

“I am Ola, the managing director,” he said warmly. “You are welcome. Please follow me to the conference room.”

For a moment, the floor seemed to move beneath me. The man I had mentally classified as a roughneck was the managing director.

My mind began racing. How could he be the MD? Why had he been standing outside smoking? Why was the office in such poor condition?

Without realizing it, I had already created an entire story about Ola, the company and the meeting. I had judged the business before hearing its needs and the managing director before listening to him.

That is how influence often works.

We like to believe our decisions are based on facts and logic. In reality, appearance, location, clothing and social expectations influence us long before a conversation begins.

The Meeting

Ola listened carefully as we explained our solution. He asked relevant questions about implementation, reporting, controls and efficiency. His questions showed that he understood the business problems. Gradually, I relaxed.

My first impression had clearly been incomplete.

Then, just as the discussion appeared to gather momentum, Ola glanced at his watch and stood up.

“I have to rush out,” he said. “Please send me your proposal, and then we will take this forward.”

We exchanged a few polite words and left.

Once we were back in the car, I turned towards my colleague and looked directly at him. He avoided my eyes.

Another set of doubts took over. How well did he know Ola? Had the meeting been properly arranged? Was there a genuine opportunity? Had the visit been staged simply to demonstrate activity? Had my colleague confused a contact with a qualified prospect?

The questions pointed towards a serious business problem: activity can easily be mistaken for progress.

A salesperson may make many calls and arrange several meetings, yet create little value. Business activiy can make managers believe the pipeline is growing and healthy, while weak qualification, or unclear budgets and absent decision-makers remain hidden.

My colleague had brought me to a meeting. But had he brought me to an opportunity?

When First Impressions Mislead

The experience taught me two equally important lessons.

(1) The first was that appearances can mislead us.

Ola did not fit my mental picture of a managing director, and the office did not fit my idea of a market leader. Yet his questions were thoughtful and commercially relevant. My assumptions had been influenced by visible signals rather than verified facts.

This happens frequently in retail. A customer may enter a premium clothing store wearing simple clothes and receive little attention because the staff assume he is unlikely to buy. Another may arrive in an expensive car and receive enthusiastic service. Yet the quietly dressed visitor may be purchasing wedding outfits for an entire family, while the glamorous visitor may only be browsing.

Judging spending power by appearance risks both revenue and reputation.

The same error appears in business-to-business selling. A company operating from a modest office may have healthy cash flow and a genuine need. A company with a stylish reception area may have no approved budget and no intention of buying. Influence begins with perception, but sound judgment requires verification.

(2) The second lesson was that refusing to judge by appearances does not mean abandoning commercial discipline.

An open mind is not the same as a careless mind. Before involving senior managers or technical teams, basic questions must be answered. What problem is being solved? Is there a budget? Who decides? What is the timeline and next step?

Without such answers, a meeting may be interesting but not necessarily valuable.

The Retail Version of Poor Qualification

Retail businesses face the same challenge differently.

Imagine a menswear store stocking a large quantity of unfamiliar premium fabric because several customers casually asked about it. The retailer may interpret interest as demand and invest heavily. But unless the store checks price points, colour preferences, seasonal relevance and purchase intent, the fabric may remain unsold.

Customer curiosity is not always customer commitment.

Similarly, a tailor may receive repeated enquiries about corporate uniforms and conclude that a major opportunity exists. Before purchasing fabric or reserving production capacity, the business must confirm quantities, specifications, payment terms and delivery deadlines.

Enquiries influence expectations. Proper qualification protects decisions.

A busy store is not always a profitable store. Many social media followers do not guarantee sales. A long prospect list does not guarantee a healthy pipeline. A pleasant meeting does not guarantee a purchase order.

Leaders who reward visible activity without examining its quality encourage theatre. Employees learn to create the appearance of momentum, and the organisation begins measuring movement rather than achievement.

Who Needed to Go Back to School?

As our car turned onto Western Avenue, the silence became uncomfortable. My colleague remained quiet. My driver sensed that something was wrong and shouted tensely at an okada rider who had made a careless turn.

For a moment, I wished I had directed the same anger towards my colleague. I managed to remain composed during the drive. That restraint lasted only until we reached the office.

At the time, I was convinced that my colleague needed to go back to school. He needed to relearn the basics of prospecting, preparation and qualification. He needed to know the difference between arranging a meeting and advancing a sale.

However, my furiously racig mind also hinted me that I too needed to go back to school myself!

I needed to examine how quickly I had judged Ola based on his clothes, smoking, surroundings and office. I needed to understand how strongly social conditioning influences our definition of credibility. I needed to separate discomfort from evidence. I needed to learn that professional discipline and human respect must exist together.

We should not dismiss people because they fail to fit a familiar image of success. But neither should we accept every claim without investigation. We should remain open without becoming gullible, and disciplined without becoming arrogant.

That balance is difficult because influence is often invisible. We are influenced by the way a person speaks, the car they drive, the address on their business card and the confidence with which they make a claim. These signals may contain useful information, but they are not proof.

In business, we are all students of people. Every customer interaction, sales call, negotiation and managerial decision teaches us something about behaviour. Sometimes the lesson concerns the other person. Sometimes it concerns our processes. Quite often, it concerns ourselves.

My colleague may indeed have deserved to go back to school. But, in a different way, so did I.