I had the opportunity to interview a bright, young sales manager candidate just before Christmas who had worked for three distinctly different broadcasting cultures.
          One of his employers was programming-driven, one was sales-driven and the other was customer-driven. The only cultures he had not worked in were a bottom-line or share-holder focused organization.
          I asked which of the three cultures he would cultivate if we hired him for our sales management position. Without hesitating he said “the customer-focused culture.”
          Right answer!
          Organizations with a customer-focused culture are by far the most productive and profitable.
          In the course of consulting broadcasters, I have the privilege of being exposed to the confidential figures generated by all cultures; programming-focused, sales-focused, profit-focused, shareholder-focused and customer-focused.
          I can state unequivocally that the top and bottom lines of the customer- driven broadcasters are always superior to the results generated by the other cultures.

          The companies I have seen that focus on super-serving the three customer groups ALWAYS outperform competitors who focus on programming, profits or sales.

          Every week I hear sales reps or sales managers complain that their bosses are “cheap”.
          Your General Manager or station owners are NOT cheap.
          All good owners and GM’s are willing to take calculated risks, but it’s your job to do the calculation and minimize the risk, NOT theirs.
          Here are four tips to make it easier for your GM or station owner to buy something you want:

1.) Share the Risk. If you are absolutely convinced the investment you are asking for is going to help increase sales, put your neck on the line. Offer to forfeit a portion of your bonus or make some other personal sacrifice if the investment does not achieve what you said it would. 

          This tactic clearly demonstrates your confidence in an R.O.I. More importantly, if you are not confident enough to share the risk, maybe the investment isn’t really that sound in the first place.
2.) Timing.  Make sure the climate is right before you make your presentation. If your board has just ordered a spending freeze or if you just experienced your worst ratings ever, maybe it would be more prudent to present your request on a brighter day. Also, choose your battles carefully and only fight for ones you are passionate about. Running the idea-of-the-week up the flag pole every week becomes tiresome.
3.) Make Your Request Fit Your Manager’s Objectives.  Treat your request like a sale, because it is. Make a full presentation outlining why the investment will help your manager achieve her objectives rather than focusing on your wants and needs.
Consider return on investment.  How does the expense fits the company’s business plan?  How does it fit your corporate culture?   And what is your alternate proposal?
4.) Communicate! Last, but not least, when your company does fill your request, make sure you follow-up by communicating the results. Let them know when they get an R.O.I. on an investment you recommend. I’ve seen many successful projects abandoned because management was unaware of their success.

          We often make our best sales people our sales managers, assuming both professions require the same skill sets. They do NOT.

          It is obvious that sales managers, who have been successful in sales, recognize what makes a good sales person. But recognizing or practicing those traits does not automatically qualify a manager to train and coach those skills.

          While I can’t turn you into a professional trainer with one short SoundManagement tip, I can give you a heads-up to one important skill the best trainers have mastered.

          It’s the skill of helping others to discover that they have the solutions to most problems within them, rather than pontificating about your solutions.

          Managers who have not been trained to train often try to train by saying “This is the way I did it.” Frankly seniors who feel they are already successful don’t care how you did it. And skeptical young rookies are thinking, ‘but that was in the old days, Pops.’

          The best way to train is through a guided discovery process. Plan ahead to develop thought-provoking questions and exercises to help your people to discover ideas and answers themselves.

          This guided discovery approach has the added advantage of staff taking ownership of the ideas and solutions they feel are theirs, rather than yours.

          Craft your sales meetings and training sessions to allow senior sellers the opportunity to share their experiences with newer sellers. This is a great ego boost for seniors, reminds them what works for them and allows less experienced reps to learn from their peers.

          In addition, you can bolster the confidence levels of your rookies by encouraging them to share their thoughts and ideas. Very often they will discover that they have the answers to sales problems within themselves if they are given the opportunity to think creatively about solutions.

          And occasionally they’ll come up with a great idea that you, and your seniors, have never thought of!

         Old-school training often begins with the importance of “getting people to like you”.
          The first new law of sales is not getting people to like you but rather it is learning to like the people you are selling to. This law, over time, will result in more positive reactions to you and your presentations.
          Out of touch sales trainers often talk about the golden rule, that is, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”
          In his book, The Platinum Rule, Tony Alessandra explains why the Golden Rule no longer applies and is replaced by his Platinum Rule.
          The Platinum Rule is “Do unto others as they would have done unto themselves.”
          And there is a difference.
           Psychologists have identified four basic behavior styles that you need to learn how to communicate with; Analytical, Expressive, Amiable and Driver.
          When it comes to presentations, there is no one size fits all.
          If your style is that of an Analytical, for example, you are inclined to be impressed by facts and figures in a presentation. If you are presenting to an Expressive buyer style, however, they are bored with figures and want to focus on exciting ideas in your presentation.
          When you like your customers enough to study and cater to their buying style, you will forge stronger relationships and sell more advertising.       
          Beginning with liking your customers,  you will have the desire, patience and passion to sell them the way want to be sold.
          Everyone has a preferred buying style, and caring enough about your prospects to sell them in their style will yield amazing results.
    

P.S. You can learn more about Behavior Styles from a variety of books, including The Platinum Rule by Tony Alessandra, or you can contact ENS Media Inc. about facilitating a Noll & Associates Styles Sales Training workshop in your market.

          Many of my Canadian friends will get the results from the latest ratings sweep next week. For them, and for my American friends when their ratings are due, I strongly recommend you schedule a staff ratings celebration as soon after ratings release as possible.
          I have seen stations that only release ratings to the staff when they are good, and hide behind closed doors when they are not.
          Worse still, I have seen station management meet behind closed doors to analyze ratings results leaving staff in the halls to assume the worse.
          Regardless of the results in your next ratings, schedule a Ratings Celebration, complete with champagne, to toast the efforts of EVERYONE for the last sweep and to build confidence in the results from the next effort.
          Everyone on your staff, from the janitor to the receptionist, should be invited. And everyone from the producer who participated in your Santa Clause parade float to the sales rep who obtained prizes for your ratings promotion should be saluted for their contribution.
          In every team-building workshop I facilitate, station staffs identify three keys to success; communication, communication and communication. Ratings releases are perfect communications opportunities. Some key communications objectives for your ratings celebration might include:

1.)   Don’t sugar-coat your position. Your staff is not stupid, tell them the good the bad and the ugly. And most importantly prepare rational explanations for everything.
2.)   Where you rank is not as important as recognizing your staff contributions and achievements on and off air.
3.)   Do not look surprised. You need to have logical explanations for every turn in the ratings, and more importantly have a credible achievable plan for continuous improvement. (Losses are easier to accept if it appears there may be wins on the horizon)
4.)   Publish a salient explanation for every conceivable objection your latest results might raise…..and NOT just for the sales department.  
5.)   Focus on the positives (and they are always there if you look hard enough)
6.)   Your general manager, sales manager and your program director should each communicate their perspectives and show a united front.
7.)   And most important of all, don’t let ratings have more importance than they deserve. The lowest rated station in any town can create results for their customers.
So here’s to your team, your vision and your results at your upcoming celebration!
P.S. If your station is not rated, or if your competitor tries to put a public spin on ratings, make sure your staff in every department knows how to handle the subsequent questions your audience and clients will have.