Monthly Archives: March 2018

How Did You Do It?

If you are a sales manager, you probably started in this business as a sales rep, and it was all about the math of selling. The number of cold calls and the number of “packages” you presented became part of your success formula.

Now as a sales manager, with probably very little management training, you’re expected to train the troops. Your idea of “training” might go something like this; “When I was on the street I …”.

          Stop it!   No one cares how you did it “in the old days”.

You know there have been dramatic changes in the world; changing technologies, changing station ownership, changing economies, changing, changing, changing.

What is it that makes you think the marketing and sales arena is the only thing that hasn’t changed from “When I was on the street”? Let’s look at old world cold calling as an example.

How do you feel when a telemarketer interrupts your dinner to sell you something you haven’t felt a need for? How do you think your prospects feel when your reps embark upon a door to door cold-call campaign to sell them a one-size-fits-all package of the week? Most salespeople don’t like making cold calls, and certainly, most clients view these interruptions to doing business as rude! So why do we do it?

 We’ve focused on cold calls because traditionally, that’s the beginning of the sales process.  Every step in modern strategic selling has changed today, and sales training has changed as well. Training is no longer a manager’s “show and tell”.

Like with all other aspects of your business, you can either embrace the changing world of sales and sales training or continue doing the same thing over and over. I’m sure you’ve heard what Einstein has called doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result…that was his definition of insanity.

In the new media world, there is a better way of training and selling. It involves creating warm calls rather than cold calls, using technology to build stronger customer relationships, and it’s been proven to grow your long-term revenues.

Business guru Jack Welch says, “There is always a better way. Find it!”

 Click here if you would like to discuss implementing our “better way” for 2018 and 2019.

Take Responsibility for Sales

When sales organizations are not achieving their targets, they often point their fingers at individual salespeople. The three most common criticisms these organizations default to are:

1.) Our people don’t prospect enough; not enough cold calls.

2.) They don’t know how to handle objections.

3.) They don’t know how to close.

Of course, they do need to do more prospecting, learn to handle objections and increase the number of “asks” to increase their sales.

The two most common solutions these organizations pursue to achieve these objectives are:

1.) More training for the salespeople

2.) New sales compensation plans

Seldom do these failing organizations take responsibility and take a close look at themselves.

In addition to the two basic solutions prescribed here, the most successful organizations we see, ask themselves these important questions;

1.) What are we doing to warm up those cold calls for our account executives?

2.) What can our organization do to prevent objections rather than asking our salespeople to “handle” them?

3.) What can we do to reduce the need to exert closing pressure and encourage our prospects to enthusiastically buy?

Our SoundADvice radio e-marketing system is helping stations answer all three questions;

1.) SoundADvice creates trust and credibility for account executives with new prospects every week warming up those cold calls.

2.) SoundADvice educates advertisers on how to get a higher return on their advertising investment, minimizing objections.

3.) SoundADvice invites advertisers who are ready to buy, to make an appointment with your account executives FIRST.

Are you ready to take responsibility for your organization’s sales?

Click here to arrange a free online demo to discover what SoundADvice can do for your organization.

Career Opportunities

We have broadcast clients across Canada and the US, poised to increase their local-direct sales. We are looking for salespeople and sales managers, and those ready for a move into management, in small, medium or large markets.

If you’re looking for a move upward, or simply to another market or a more customer-focused sales culture, please forward your resume to [email protected].

We also have entry-level positions if you know of anyone wanting to enter this exciting industry.

All resumes are held in strictest confidence and never presented or discussed with any of our clients without your permission in advance.