Yearly Archives: 2017

Your Competitive Edge

A friend of mine, remarking on my extensive library of books on advertising, sales, and management, said, “Wow, did you read all of those books? Your library must be worth a fortune.”

Yes, I did read them all! Advertising and sales management has been a passion of mine since I sold my first ad nearly 50 years ago. And, while over time, my library did cost a fortune, upon further reflection, I came to the painful realization that it’s no longer worth a fortune.

Why? Revisiting some of the landmark volumes, I quickly realized that most are dated and no longer pertinent in a rapidly changing advertising, sales, and business management world. The foundation marketing textbooks used by universities as recently as 10 years ago, for example, make no mention of social media or mobile.

Old-school thinking about motivation misses the point that most millennials are more motivated by technology, learning, contributing, and trying new things than they are by titles or dollars.

While some of the basics written by the likes of Al Reiss, Jim Collins, Jack Welch, Dale Carnegie and Jack Trout, to name a few, remain true, they are no longer ground breaking. They’re simply the basics and price of entry into a successful advertising, sales and management career.

You can bet your competitors know the basics as well as you do.

The winners in a rapidly evolving world, with changing demographics and motivations, will be those who don’t rest on their laurels or past experience, and who gravitate towards innovation and new competitive edges.

Can you be ‘cutting edge’ or will the ‘edge’ be a cliff that you fall off of?

Fishing vs Catching

I don’t get a chance to go fishing very often, so when I took a day off last week to go Muskie fishing I was reminded of some valuable sales lessons;

1.) Persistence pays off. We had fished hard all day from 8 AM until 6:30 PM without any luck, and were ready to quit when this lunker took the bait. All too often we quit calling our prospects just before they’re ready to buy. Make one more call a day, and I’ll guarantee you a better year.

2.) Bigger bait catches bigger fish. Presenting small radio packages does not capture your prospects’ attention as well as a larger multi-media offering. The lure I caught this Muskie on was bigger and certainly more colorful than some fish I’ve caught. Where is the ‘WOW’ and color in your presentations?

3.) Fish in non-traditional places. We had cast hundreds of times in the usual good fishing spots, with no luck. We started casting in a new spot on the way back to our dock when this fish surprised me. Fishing where no one else has fished can really pay off.

4.) Change your approach. I tried numerous lures and retrieval speeds before trying this lure and catching this monster. Do you have a new ‘lure’ or valid business reason for every call, or are you presenting the same old bait all of your competitors are using?

5.) Prepare. We had to ensure we were ready to make the catch with everything from extra lures to a large net. Do you anticipate and plan for objections in your presentation? And are you prepared to negotiate?

6.) Know when to let your prospects ‘run’. Once I set the hook, I could have easily lost this Muskie by pulling too hard, and not letting him have his way. Once you ‘hook’ your prospects’ interest, don’t push so hard that you break your connection. Ask questions, let them talk, and let them be part of developing your solution.

Radio, the ‘Last Click’ Promoter

Internet guru, Seth Godin says, “The last click someone clicks before they buy something isn’t the moment they made up their mind.”

The best marketers don’t rely upon online reviews or social media noise to make the sale for them.

Instead, they lay clues like breadcrumbs leading up to that last click. Everything from the word of mouth generated by creating a great customer experience, to building a brand with traditional and online media, casts a long pre-click shadow for a business…a shadow that doesn’t change with that last click.

Do your sales staff know how to position radio’s powerful role in that line of breadcrumbs? Or, are they out there claiming your station is the number one breadcrumb to advertisers who don’t understand the role of those clues and still credit the sale to that ‘last click.’

The secret to creating more revenue for your stations is to train your salespeople how to position the strategic role of intrusive radio advertising to create a pre-need pre-search preference for your advertisers in the minds of your listeners.

The Smartest Person You Know

Have you ever noticed that the smartest person you know, thinks just like you?

Think about that for a moment. If someone’s thoughts were contrary to yours, it would take real effort on your part to communicate effectively with that person.

Do you want to be the most marketing-savvy person your clients encounter? Start by finding out how they think so you can align your ideas with their thoughts.

One way to do that is to learn who their mentors are, and who they believe is a good marketer. Then use quotes from that person to demonstrate how your proposal aligns with ‘the smartest person they know’.

For example, if you discover your prospect follows motivational speaker Tony Robins, you can quote Robbins in your radio presentation when he said, “We’re not in an information age, we’re in an entertainment age.” Then go on to suggest a strategy of capturing their customers’ attention with radio as an entertainment media, and positioning the internet as an information media.

Or, if you know your client appreciates the teaching of Roy Williams, the Wizard of Ads, you might quote Roy in your presentation, “In marketing, you must choose between boredom, shouting, or seduction.” Then go on to suggest your creative idea is designed to seduce more customers into buying from your client.

Quoting people your clients respect to validate your proposals can make YOU the smartest marketer your client knows.

RAB Annoucement

The RAB has announced that Wayne Ens and Rick Fink of ENS Media Inc. will be featured speakers at the Sales Consultant Series at the NAB/RAB Radio Show, September 5th to 8th in Austin, Texas.

If you are there, please make a point of introducing yourself. We’d love to connect with all of our ENS on Sales readers.

ENSMedia Inc. 705-484-9993