Yearly Archives: 2007

Managing the Customer Experience

Last week we discussed that value is perceived, and how to manage the customer expectations side of the value equation.

 Managing both the Expectation and the Experience sides of the Value Equation results in more sales, better customer satisfaction levels and more repeat business.

            Managing the experience, however, takes more intestinal fortitude than most media reps have.  It involves being confident enough to ask how a campaign measured up to the expectation you built.
            Most media reps are afraid to uncover how the client feels about their campaign.
            And when the clients report “disappointing sales”, most reps retort, “It’s only our job to bring them to your door…you have to sell them.”
            It’s this kind of thinking that results in us running a “promotion” to win a free trip for everyone who comes to a men’s wear store. The “traffic” we generate wants trips, not suits!  Shouldn’t we be giving away a free suit and building the brand for the men’s wear store instead of selling “traffic” comprised of unqualified prospects?
            If you’ve managed the expectation, explained lifetime customer value and manage the experience with a customer-focused post campaign analysis, you will build customers for life…..for your client and your station.
            The best way to manage the experience, and to improve each campaign, is to do a complete post campaign analysis at regularly agreed-to intervals. Your clients will respect the confidence you have in your product, and you will learn how to make each campaign better than the last.

Creating Value

“Value” is a perception, not a reality.

             If the expectation your sales people create is too high, or unrealistic, or the experience of advertising with your station is disappointing, your clients will not perceive that your station delivered value.
            The good news is that you can manage both the expectation, and the experience.
            To manage the expectation, explore “lifetime customer value” with your client, rather than promising to “reach 100,000 people”. (unless your prospect has 100,000 sales people, they can’t handle 100,000 customers tomorrow morning).
            With planned strategic questioning, you can actually create realistic expectations for your prospects and customers in any business category.
            Let’s take the case of a men’s wear store which invests $3,000. in a campaign to sell suits.
            Ask your men’s wear account, “How much profit is in the suit you are advertising?” They might say, “$150”. Then ask “And how much profit is it reasonable to assume you would make from any add-on sales such as ties, belts or shirts?” They may add $20, bringing each customer value to $170. Now ask them to consider how many times that customer might return each year over the next ten years if the sales person does a good job. Maybe it’s twice per year for a total of 20 times, for a lifetime customer value of $3,400.
            Then explore how many people could a typical customer refer to that store based upon their excellent service. They might allow you to multiply that figure by five referrals, resulting in one customer being worth $3,400 per customer, times 5 referrals, or $17,000.  (Don’t you wish the stock market gave you a return of 5.6 to one?) 
            Helping your clients understand lifetime customer value and the power of word of mouth advertising, will create much more realistic expectations than promising them that thousands of customers will flock to their door when they come on the air.
            In this case, one customer from a $3,000 investment returns a profit (not just sales) of $17,000 over time. 
            Next week, we’ll talk about managing the Experience portion of the Value Equation.
 
 Look what people are saying about  Wayne’s Power of Radio R.O.I. Seminar:
“I’ll buy the tape so I can re-visit every word!” –  Baldwinsville NY
“The best workshop I’ve seen so far” –  Atlanta GA
“This makes more sense than any ROI training I’ve ever had” –  Champaign IL
“It was so good he left me wanting more!” –  St. George UT
“Loved the anti yellow pages ammunition” –  Geneva NY
Contact [email protected] to bring his Power of Radio ROI workshop to your team.

Catch ‘Em Doing Something Right!

 

            There has been much written and debated about the proverbial carrot versus the stick, motivational methods.  The truth is, you don’t have to plan to manage with the stick….it just happens.  Every time someone makes a mistake or misses a goal it is human nature to focus on the problem rather than the cure.
            In my book, 101 Ways to Get Luckier (In Advertising Sales) I explain it this way. “When you give your kids a curfew and they miss it, you will intuitively reprimand them. And yet when they arrive on time, that’s probably taken for granted and not acknowledged.”
            I’m not suggesting your staff should not be reprimanded when commitments are not met. But, you need to systematically plan for regular carrot occasions if you want the desired behaviors and results.
Behaviors that get rewarded get repeated!
            So here are four tips to insure that the carrot does become a routine part of your motivational strategy;
1.         Mark it in your day-timer or palm pilot to “catch someone doing something right” every day! Even if it something as simple as writing a great presentation, helping a newer team mate make a sale or completing an assignment on time.
 
 2.         Make sure all of your compliments and commendations are sincere and well-deserved. Kind words for kind words sake, quickly become meaningless.
 
 3.         Publicly recognize achievements and behaviors you want to encourage. Save your reprimands for behind closed doors.  (There is no room for leaders or coaches to be sarcastic or to take shots at people in the hall ways.)
 
 4.         Sales department bulletin board announcements and regular awards are great methods of publicly recognizing achievements, but don’t forget it is behaviors and actions that result in achievement. Don’t be afraid to reward actions and behaviors that you know will pay off in the long run, rather than always rewarding the end result. (Your commission or bonus structure already recognizes results)
 
             In summary, we do not have total control over results. What we can control are behaviors and habits, and it’s those behaviors and habits which good leaders are always on the look-out to recognize and reward.
            Having a corporate management conference? Contact Wayne if you would like one of the professional trainers from Noll & Associates, Sausalito CA, to speak to your managers about best practices in leadership and coaching skills.  Check out the Noll & Associates link at www.wensmedia.com.   

Jump Start Your Sales Contests

 

 Have you noticed that some sales contests get more buy-in and participation than others? Here are three tips you can use to design sales incentives and contests that get everyone selling.

1.  Offer a “jump start” incentive. Very often account executives take a “wait and see” attitude, not participating in your contest until they see others have some success.  Or, sometimes they just procrastinate, not reaching their full potential because they wait until the final hour to begin selling.
An incentive for the first eligible sale in your contest  will get everyone selling earlier and more throughout the entire time-span.

2. Your sales people are already paid commissions for “results”. Try introducing activity-based incentives versus incentives for bottom line results.  Often, account executives believe that the reps with the big account lists will automatically win your results-focused contests. This attitude can curtail the efforts of both the “junior” reps, and the reps with the “fat” lists.
By offering a prize for the most activity you want to encourage, the most presentations for example, everyone has an equal opportunity to win.
Here’s a little trade secret…every time I run a contest where first prize goes to the person with the most “no’s” and second prize goes to the person with the most “yeses”, both prizes are always won by the same person!

3.  Prizes and incentives do NOT always have to cost big dollars. Learn what motivates each of your account executives as individuals, and offer well thought out incentives that appeal to each of them. In some cases it might be recognition, a plaque or a celebratory dinner with their spouses or significant others. In others it might be the opportunity to further their career by sending them to a training course or seminar.
 
If you want to have a sales contest that captures more non-traditional business categories, check out TOMA Research at www.wensmedia.com. TOMA campaigns coupled with well-designed “activity” incentives have been proven to bring hundreds of thousands of new business dollars to stations across North America.  

Good News

Good News

            Your sales people get beat up on the street all day long with “Business is bad” or ”Your rates are too high” or “Radio doesn’t work”.
            Sometimes they are even beat up back at the station with “Your accounts receivable are in terrible shape” or “That rate is not high enough” or “We can’t do that for your client”.
            Your sales meetings should be a haven of positive energy and optimism.
            Positive energy is contagious and can be fostered at your sales meetings by requiring every sales person to share a piece of “good news” at every sales meeting. 
            Qualifying good news could include:
1- Recounting a big or new sale they’ve made.
2- Sharing a success a client had using your stations
3- Discussing a great new creative concept.
4- If none of the above occurred this week for a given account executive, they can share a news story or information they have uncovered about growth in your market, or an upbeat story about the local economy that every one can use.
            Bringing “Good News” to the sales meeting table should not be optional, it should be a requirement. There is always good news available if we just look for it and sharing it allows for more staff participation in what might otherwise be a one-way communication session from management to staff.
            The opportunity for everyone to share their successes can be a huge boost for the story-teller, plus give evidence to the others that success is possible.
            Good News about the local economy can be the lift your entire team needs in the face of adversity.