On this episode of Expert and African, we document Nikki Popoola's pivotal role in Nigeria's pursuit of a reliable digital future, spanning from the 2000s to the 2020s and beyond. While at that, we also uncovered what it takes to be a sought-after salesperson.

Nikki has been the Sales Director, West Africa, for WIOCC (West Indian Ocean Cable Company) powering the Open Access Data Centres (OADC), for the past seven years. For the past 23 years, she has sold a wide range of products and services beneficial to telecoms and ISPs to solve the continent's challenges.

Timestamps
00:00 - Sales isn't rocket science
00:07 - Intro
00:32 - Journey into sales
01:27 - Helpful skills
02:32 - Fresh out of uni
03:44 - Climbing the ladder
04:49 - People buy people
07:06 - Benefits
11:03 - Sales is black or white
13:34 - Can a sales person work in any industry?
16:03 - The art of selling
17:20 - The sales journey
19:22 - Selling to NITEL and Telkom
20:59 - Certifications aren't important
22:13 - Work-life balance
24:06 - Other interests
24:23 - Maintaining customer relationships