The person who knows the African market best of all
13 január 2022
"When I wake up, the first thing I hear (before I have breakfast) is a message from my assistant: "Hi Gilles! The agenda includes..."
I don't have breakfast after that either. I hurry to respond to the messages on Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp. People are very impatient! They want an answer here and now.
As a rule, I have presentations scheduled in various countries, tours are held often too. After all, I am a national representative in seven countries where events are held regularly. Therefore, the next stage of my day: I prepare announcements of the current events. There is a lot of information, you need to post it in the back office in advance.
Then the presentations begin. There are 4-5 presentations a week, which can last several hours. Moreover, after the presentation, I stay with the participants and help them register. While I'm preparing for the presentations, Barbara manages to give me something to eat. My business trips to Africa sometimes last for six months. Probably, no other partner does that. In Africa, having computers and laptops is considered a luxury, and everything is not always clear on the phone. So I myself, from my phone, together with Barbara, help people register, sometimes until nightfall.
After the presentation, I get to my computer because there's a backlog of new questions from the users. Next, I edit the video. There is not much video content provided in French yet, so I create it myself. These videos are shared by users on social media. I add content on YouTube on my own initiative. My announcements appear before everyone else's, I do not wait for translators. I see content in Russian, if I don't understand something, I ask my translator, make a video and post it.
And now I can eat! I can allow myself to go out of the house and have dinner when I come back. Then I also watch new appeals. At two o'clock in the morning I go to rest. I have about 6-7 hours of sleep. Also, I always take 1-2 hours a day to communicate with the translator and the supervisor. I wouldn't say I have a clear work and sleep schedule."
Hi! My name is Gilles Weber, I am the national representative of SOLARGROUP in France and Africa. I also represent the company in five other French-speaking countries.
I am an electrical engineer by my first education. Therefore, it has always been easy for me to understand how motors work, I feel comfortable in this area.
Since 2015, I have been working for a company that deals with transport innovations and has a crowdfunding platform. I have been cooperating with them since the foundation and have achieved the highest possible status there. In addition, I had my own company in France specializing in eco products for households. This enterprise is still successfully operating.
I have a permanent thirst for new things. I like the idea of continuous development. I had been looking for a new project – and found SOLARGROUP in 2018. And immediately signed the partnership agreement. I had to choose between two companies because I didn't want to work for both simultaneously. SOLARGROUP has obvious advantages: the ease of operating the partner program, remuneration, a low entry threshold for investments, the environmental aspect. And there are non-obvious ones: the company builds trusting and friendly relations with everyone. I have something to compare with: in the previous company, it was sometimes difficult to get help and answers to my questions. SOLARGROUP surprised me with its efficient, fast and comfortable work. Later on, when I was in Moscow, I was well received, given an interpreter for three days. I have never seen such an incredible attitude towards partners anywhere. This became the main motive for joining the company.
I wanted to take into account the mistakes I had made in the previous company, and completed additional education in marketing. During the course I learned the most effective tools, including those for working in the Internet, which helped me build and develop my partner structure.
The first thing I did when I joined SOLARGROUP: I created my own blog where I talked about the project. I spent 4 days creating content for it. It should be said that at the initial stage of the project launch, all the information was in Russian. I adapted it for the French-speaking audience. When someone had any questions, I asked for their phone numbers and e-mails, contacted people directly. I mean, the first step was not easy. But I came to a new company with the goal of achieving the highest possible status there, just as I'd done in the previous one. The status interested me more than money, although good money is also attractive.
The second step was calling my acquaintances who had invested a lot earlier and telling them about the project. Sharing information is not only beneficial, but also very interesting. At that time, almost nothing was known about our project. But I knew that I could captivate people, because I had a reputation for not offering nonsense like Ponzi schemes, I always offered a real product. People trusted me and joined the project, despite the fact that it was completely new. Talking about SOLARGROUP, first of all, I presented the company's product, motors. Novelty was the appealing feature. People were interested in getting more benefits, more advantages, buying investment packages at a high discount. And they got them.
I wanted to start building my team as soon as possible, I decided to develop the partner structure in depth. It's just that it's not so exciting to build a linear structure. I was curious how quickly I would be able to achieve my main goal - the highest status, helping other partners to reach a new level. It took a year. Thanks to the trust of people, I shaped my team without even having all the information in the right language.
Now, just like in the first year of work, I devote all my time to this. I work from daylight till night. I'm a workaholic and I enjoy it! There is no language barrier for me. I've been working with the translator supervisor for a long time, we can get on the phone and talk even at 2 a.m. without any problems if she's awake. So everything goes very smoothly with everyone I talk to in the company directly, like Pavel Shadskiy, for example.
I am sure that there is potential in every person, and I work with everyone. It is more interesting, of course, to work with the most active people. From experience, I realized that there are two types of people:
Proactive ones, who then become leaders. They don't need control. You can trust them. For example, in Cameroon, we have a leader who prints materials using his own money so that all people can get acquainted with them if they have no other opportunities to learn about SOLARGROUP. Although I didn't ask him to.
Those waiting for the initiative from another person. They always have a lot of questions for everyone around them. As partners, they are less effective.
While my structure was small, I personally worked with all partners, advised and helped with everything. But this is physically impossible to do with a large structure. Therefore, as a rule, I find leaders. We have the largest number of national representatives in our structure. I can already delegate the work with smaller-scale partners to the leaders I trust the most and whom I have selected myself. This is more effective for business development, from the point of view of time management.
Oddly enough, WhatsApp turned out to be the most productive tool I found for myself. I have created groups for each country. For example, in Africa, people do not open e-mail at all, do not work with it. But the WhatsApp group, where I constantly inform about offers and post news content, turned out to be more relevant. I run these groups on my own initiative, outside of the groups run by the company. I have a partner, a French-speaking coordinator, we run these groups together. I multiply people. I keep on adding members, they add new members – and thus the group is growing. In these groups, I also divide people by their status. For example, beginner partners require a lot of informational work, and with a higher status partner, the work is done differently, because they have other questions, they need more in-depth material to study.
However, I do not differentiate the information by the status of partners, it is the same for everyone. But there are people who need more. For example, those who are not yet ready to become experts, but they are no longer beginners. And the questions they ask are already more complicated. This is the criterion for dividing: the complexity of questions.
Technical support in company's chats is also not always enough. Therefore, it was decided to provide such support in our chats. I have an amazing assistant, Barbara, who does a huge amount of work. Together we answer questions, create pdf files, videos. For example, people in groups write: how do I add funds to my account? The money hasn't been credited, what should I do? They do not write to technical support on the company's website, because they need to first create a request on the website, it is not so fast. People experiencing problems write immediately to me. I have to work maintaining good pace, quality and quantity. It works, thanks to Barbara. I would say that Barbara is another Gilles Weber, virtually my alter ego. In groups, basically, there is precisely this kind of work - helping partners.
Each partner, when joining the project, says: I want money, I want to earn. People, in general, are primarily interested in money. And it is very important for a beginner to get the first dollar credited to their account. It is better to initially consider the financial component as the main motivation in any business, partner business is no exception. Therefore, it is better to start with promotion through referral links, posting news, and then use all marketing tools, if possible. Usually everyone knows that you need to work in a partner program, but they don't know exactly how. My task is to guide people, because I am an expert in marketing tools. In my webinars I exactly tell people what to do. And the first thing I recommend to beginner partners is to immediately promote the company informatively, share links on social media. It can be just texts with your referral links.
There are a lot of startups now that people can participate in. Our project is distinguished by reliability and transparency: documentation proofs and other guarantees. This should be emphasized. Usually people want to make money fast. And some people, when they hear that rival projects are already paying dividends, may go there. But these people do not pay attention to the fact that there may be incorrect positioning in such startups, the idea of quick earnings seems way too attractive. So you should always keep in mind the main motives of people, there are only two of them: a lot of money and a lot of money fast. This, unfortunately, is the case.
I am pleased when I have a chance to communicate with other national partners. It's not that easy, we have a language barrier. I speak German. Therefore, with partners who also speak German, we have a WhatsApp group where we discuss ideas for the project development. I really like the national partner in India Birdi Gulshan Kumar. He does not speak German, it is difficult to communicate with him. But he's a role model for me. My financial results are not as big as Birdi's yet. I would like to develop just like him! We met in Moscow at an international conference.
I believe that professionalism is when everything corresponds to what you are doing. Including the appearance. For example, at the presentation you are wearing a shirt with the logo, you also have the company's logo on the background. You have to know what you're talking about, and you have to convey that information in the right way and looking appropriately. It is very important to always be ready to answer questions in a positive way. If you don't know how to answer, it's better to clarify and then get back to this question.
I am glad that I am part of a company where so many people support an innovative project and open up so many opportunities to others. I am particularly pleased with the news about the progress of the "Sovelmash" D&E construction. This gives people maximum guarantees.
A huge advantage for me in my work is the fact that now it's possible to conduct physical presentations in Africa. Here, because of the Internet problems and very costly communication methods, physical presentations are especially important. We use them to conduct marketing campaigns that help people get additional benefits. Africa is a very specific market, the promo offers that the company gives need to be adapted for it. Especially in the beginning of working with this market, offers were a challenge, not all of them were suitable and understandable to the audience. Now this market is also mastered.
For me, recognition of my achievements is probably more important than money. Although one does not exclude the other. However, the higher your status as an expert, the more well disposed people are towards you. Earning recognition and earning money is the best thing. In SOLARGROUP, this is possible.
I don't have breakfast after that either. I hurry to respond to the messages on Facebook, Telegram, WhatsApp. People are very impatient! They want an answer here and now.
As a rule, I have presentations scheduled in various countries, tours are held often too. After all, I am a national representative in seven countries where events are held regularly. Therefore, the next stage of my day: I prepare announcements of the current events. There is a lot of information, you need to post it in the back office in advance.
Then the presentations begin. There are 4-5 presentations a week, which can last several hours. Moreover, after the presentation, I stay with the participants and help them register. While I'm preparing for the presentations, Barbara manages to give me something to eat. My business trips to Africa sometimes last for six months. Probably, no other partner does that. In Africa, having computers and laptops is considered a luxury, and everything is not always clear on the phone. So I myself, from my phone, together with Barbara, help people register, sometimes until nightfall.
After the presentation, I get to my computer because there's a backlog of new questions from the users. Next, I edit the video. There is not much video content provided in French yet, so I create it myself. These videos are shared by users on social media. I add content on YouTube on my own initiative. My announcements appear before everyone else's, I do not wait for translators. I see content in Russian, if I don't understand something, I ask my translator, make a video and post it.
And now I can eat! I can allow myself to go out of the house and have dinner when I come back. Then I also watch new appeals. At two o'clock in the morning I go to rest. I have about 6-7 hours of sleep. Also, I always take 1-2 hours a day to communicate with the translator and the supervisor. I wouldn't say I have a clear work and sleep schedule."
Hi! My name is Gilles Weber, I am the national representative of SOLARGROUP in France and Africa. I also represent the company in five other French-speaking countries.
I am an electrical engineer by my first education. Therefore, it has always been easy for me to understand how motors work, I feel comfortable in this area.
Since 2015, I have been working for a company that deals with transport innovations and has a crowdfunding platform. I have been cooperating with them since the foundation and have achieved the highest possible status there. In addition, I had my own company in France specializing in eco products for households. This enterprise is still successfully operating.
I have a permanent thirst for new things. I like the idea of continuous development. I had been looking for a new project – and found SOLARGROUP in 2018. And immediately signed the partnership agreement. I had to choose between two companies because I didn't want to work for both simultaneously. SOLARGROUP has obvious advantages: the ease of operating the partner program, remuneration, a low entry threshold for investments, the environmental aspect. And there are non-obvious ones: the company builds trusting and friendly relations with everyone. I have something to compare with: in the previous company, it was sometimes difficult to get help and answers to my questions. SOLARGROUP surprised me with its efficient, fast and comfortable work. Later on, when I was in Moscow, I was well received, given an interpreter for three days. I have never seen such an incredible attitude towards partners anywhere. This became the main motive for joining the company.
I wanted to take into account the mistakes I had made in the previous company, and completed additional education in marketing. During the course I learned the most effective tools, including those for working in the Internet, which helped me build and develop my partner structure.
The first thing I did when I joined SOLARGROUP: I created my own blog where I talked about the project. I spent 4 days creating content for it. It should be said that at the initial stage of the project launch, all the information was in Russian. I adapted it for the French-speaking audience. When someone had any questions, I asked for their phone numbers and e-mails, contacted people directly. I mean, the first step was not easy. But I came to a new company with the goal of achieving the highest possible status there, just as I'd done in the previous one. The status interested me more than money, although good money is also attractive.
The second step was calling my acquaintances who had invested a lot earlier and telling them about the project. Sharing information is not only beneficial, but also very interesting. At that time, almost nothing was known about our project. But I knew that I could captivate people, because I had a reputation for not offering nonsense like Ponzi schemes, I always offered a real product. People trusted me and joined the project, despite the fact that it was completely new. Talking about SOLARGROUP, first of all, I presented the company's product, motors. Novelty was the appealing feature. People were interested in getting more benefits, more advantages, buying investment packages at a high discount. And they got them.
I wanted to start building my team as soon as possible, I decided to develop the partner structure in depth. It's just that it's not so exciting to build a linear structure. I was curious how quickly I would be able to achieve my main goal - the highest status, helping other partners to reach a new level. It took a year. Thanks to the trust of people, I shaped my team without even having all the information in the right language.
Now, just like in the first year of work, I devote all my time to this. I work from daylight till night. I'm a workaholic and I enjoy it! There is no language barrier for me. I've been working with the translator supervisor for a long time, we can get on the phone and talk even at 2 a.m. without any problems if she's awake. So everything goes very smoothly with everyone I talk to in the company directly, like Pavel Shadskiy, for example.
I am sure that there is potential in every person, and I work with everyone. It is more interesting, of course, to work with the most active people. From experience, I realized that there are two types of people:
Proactive ones, who then become leaders. They don't need control. You can trust them. For example, in Cameroon, we have a leader who prints materials using his own money so that all people can get acquainted with them if they have no other opportunities to learn about SOLARGROUP. Although I didn't ask him to.
Those waiting for the initiative from another person. They always have a lot of questions for everyone around them. As partners, they are less effective.
While my structure was small, I personally worked with all partners, advised and helped with everything. But this is physically impossible to do with a large structure. Therefore, as a rule, I find leaders. We have the largest number of national representatives in our structure. I can already delegate the work with smaller-scale partners to the leaders I trust the most and whom I have selected myself. This is more effective for business development, from the point of view of time management.
Oddly enough, WhatsApp turned out to be the most productive tool I found for myself. I have created groups for each country. For example, in Africa, people do not open e-mail at all, do not work with it. But the WhatsApp group, where I constantly inform about offers and post news content, turned out to be more relevant. I run these groups on my own initiative, outside of the groups run by the company. I have a partner, a French-speaking coordinator, we run these groups together. I multiply people. I keep on adding members, they add new members – and thus the group is growing. In these groups, I also divide people by their status. For example, beginner partners require a lot of informational work, and with a higher status partner, the work is done differently, because they have other questions, they need more in-depth material to study.
However, I do not differentiate the information by the status of partners, it is the same for everyone. But there are people who need more. For example, those who are not yet ready to become experts, but they are no longer beginners. And the questions they ask are already more complicated. This is the criterion for dividing: the complexity of questions.
Technical support in company's chats is also not always enough. Therefore, it was decided to provide such support in our chats. I have an amazing assistant, Barbara, who does a huge amount of work. Together we answer questions, create pdf files, videos. For example, people in groups write: how do I add funds to my account? The money hasn't been credited, what should I do? They do not write to technical support on the company's website, because they need to first create a request on the website, it is not so fast. People experiencing problems write immediately to me. I have to work maintaining good pace, quality and quantity. It works, thanks to Barbara. I would say that Barbara is another Gilles Weber, virtually my alter ego. In groups, basically, there is precisely this kind of work - helping partners.
Each partner, when joining the project, says: I want money, I want to earn. People, in general, are primarily interested in money. And it is very important for a beginner to get the first dollar credited to their account. It is better to initially consider the financial component as the main motivation in any business, partner business is no exception. Therefore, it is better to start with promotion through referral links, posting news, and then use all marketing tools, if possible. Usually everyone knows that you need to work in a partner program, but they don't know exactly how. My task is to guide people, because I am an expert in marketing tools. In my webinars I exactly tell people what to do. And the first thing I recommend to beginner partners is to immediately promote the company informatively, share links on social media. It can be just texts with your referral links.
There are a lot of startups now that people can participate in. Our project is distinguished by reliability and transparency: documentation proofs and other guarantees. This should be emphasized. Usually people want to make money fast. And some people, when they hear that rival projects are already paying dividends, may go there. But these people do not pay attention to the fact that there may be incorrect positioning in such startups, the idea of quick earnings seems way too attractive. So you should always keep in mind the main motives of people, there are only two of them: a lot of money and a lot of money fast. This, unfortunately, is the case.
I am pleased when I have a chance to communicate with other national partners. It's not that easy, we have a language barrier. I speak German. Therefore, with partners who also speak German, we have a WhatsApp group where we discuss ideas for the project development. I really like the national partner in India Birdi Gulshan Kumar. He does not speak German, it is difficult to communicate with him. But he's a role model for me. My financial results are not as big as Birdi's yet. I would like to develop just like him! We met in Moscow at an international conference.
I believe that professionalism is when everything corresponds to what you are doing. Including the appearance. For example, at the presentation you are wearing a shirt with the logo, you also have the company's logo on the background. You have to know what you're talking about, and you have to convey that information in the right way and looking appropriately. It is very important to always be ready to answer questions in a positive way. If you don't know how to answer, it's better to clarify and then get back to this question.
I am glad that I am part of a company where so many people support an innovative project and open up so many opportunities to others. I am particularly pleased with the news about the progress of the "Sovelmash" D&E construction. This gives people maximum guarantees.
A huge advantage for me in my work is the fact that now it's possible to conduct physical presentations in Africa. Here, because of the Internet problems and very costly communication methods, physical presentations are especially important. We use them to conduct marketing campaigns that help people get additional benefits. Africa is a very specific market, the promo offers that the company gives need to be adapted for it. Especially in the beginning of working with this market, offers were a challenge, not all of them were suitable and understandable to the audience. Now this market is also mastered.
For me, recognition of my achievements is probably more important than money. Although one does not exclude the other. However, the higher your status as an expert, the more well disposed people are towards you. Earning recognition and earning money is the best thing. In SOLARGROUP, this is possible.