Lesson 4.2: Who decides

Many U.S. SMEs assume the person they are emailing can say yes. In a small U.S. firm, that is often true. In many Nigerian companies, the person you meet first is not the person who signs. Final decisions often sit with a managing director, chairman, founder or board member who may not attend early meetings at all.

This is not a sign that your contact is unimportant or that the company is slow. It reflects how authority and responsibility are organized. Senior people protect the company's reputation and money, and they expect proposals to come to them already shaped by their team.

The roles to look for

• Your contact or champion: the person who answers your emails and presents your offer internally. They want to look good to their boss.

• Technical evaluators: engineers, quality staff or operations managers who judge whether your product works for them.

• Finance: the people who manage payment, currency and budget. Foreign exchange availability can affect timing, so finance may slow or speed a deal.

• The decision maker: often a managing director, chairman or owner. Your contact may refer to this person as "my oga," a common Nigerian English and Pidgin word for boss.

• Influencers: advisers, long-serving staff or, in some family-owned firms, family members without a formal title whose opinion is sought.

How to ask without causing embarrassment

The blunt U.S. question, "Are you the decision maker?", can put your contact in an awkward position. If the answer is no, they lose face. If they say yes to protect their standing, you get a misleading answer. Ask about the process instead of the person. Process questions are neutral, and they let your contact explain how things work without admitting limits on their own authority.

Listen for clues in what people say. "I will present it to management" or "Let me discuss with my oga" tells you there is another step. "We will revert" (Nigerian English for "we will get back to you") often means the matter is going up the chain. Each is a reason to give your contact what they need to make a strong case, not a reason to push.

Respect the go-between

Once you know who the decision maker is, it is tempting to email them directly. In many settings, that bypasses your contact and makes them look weak. Instead, ask your contact how they would like to involve the senior person. Offer to have your own senior person reach out, matched in rank. A note from your owner or president to their managing director, sent with your contact's agreement, honors the hierarchy on both sides.

When the senior person joins

A chairman or managing director may join a late meeting with little warning. When that happens, greet them first, with their title. Give a short recap of the partnership and its benefits for their company. Thank your contact by name for their work so far. This shows respect for the hierarchy and helps your contact save face, which is the approach rewarded in simulator scenario S3.

Allow time for approval

Decisions that need senior approval take longer. A short deadline on such a decision can feel like pressure, and it may push your partner to say no to protect themselves. Ask about their timeline instead of setting yours: "What timing works for your review process?" Build that time into your own sales forecast.

The transferable principle

In any hierarchical business culture, map the decision before you push the deal. Ask about process, not authority. Work through your contact, match rank with rank, and plan for approval time.

Worked example: You want to know whether your contact can approve a first order.

Mr. Bello, can you confirm you are authorized to sign off on this order? We need a decision by Friday.

Good afternoon, Mr. Bello. Thank you for the helpful call yesterday.

So that we can support your internal review, could you share how your company usually approves a new supplier? If it would help, I am happy to prepare a short summary for your management, or to arrange a call between our president and your managing director.

What timing would suit your review process?

Why it works: it asks about the process rather than Mr. Bello's authority, offers tools that help him make the case internally, and replaces a deadline with a question about their timeline.