Monthly Archives: June 2019

Before Every Call, Ask Yourself This…

It seems simple, sales reps make sales calls, and we make sales calls for a variety of reasons.

At the beginning of the sales process, we make cold calls to introduce ourselves. Beyond cold calls, we make calls to conduct the interview or the Q&A or CNA. We make presentation calls, follow up calls and calls simply to keep in touch. Once the person becomes a client, we make service calls. The types of sales calls and reasons for calls go on and on.

Prior to every call we make, whether in-person, via the phone, email or text, we should ask ourselves this question, “What do I want to accomplish with this call?”.

Every call should have a clear objective. For some calls, the objective will simply be to set up a meeting or get them to say “yes” to considering radio or whatever else you might be offering. Other objectives might be to get them to agree to consider a promotion, adding another station, increasing their frequency, approving a script and starting the schedule. The reasons are endless, but your objective for each call should be to get you to your next step.

It seems obvious, after all, you know why you’re going on the call, but if you consciously (physically and mentally) ask yourself the question before EVERY call, “What do I want to accomplish with this call?”, I can assure you that you’ll have a better understanding of what you want to achieve and how to go about it. And, by doing so, every call from this day forward will be more productive.

Good Luck!

How to “Upsell” More

The most common time to upsell a current client is at renewal time. While this is an opportune time to do so, it’s not the only time that we should be looking to upsell.

As media reps, it’s our job to look for opportunities to help our clients grow their business.

The question is why don’t we upsell more? We have found there are two primary reasons; one, we’re afraid to ask for the additional dollars while the client is already spending money with us, and two, we don’t have a reason to ask for additional dollars!

The key to overcoming both reasons can be summed up with one word, IDEAS!

All business owners really want from their media rep is “ideas”. Ideas to help them grow their business. If you can bring a good idea to them, they will spend the money to engage that idea! Even if they don’t have the money in their budget, they will find the money if the idea is strong enough!

The ideas can come in the form of a sales event or in-store promotion. It can be a great creative idea that will enhance and make their current campaign stronger. It can be a cross-promotion with another client or your radio station. If it’s an idea that will help them grow their business, present it to them, chances are they will buy it!

One last key to successful upselling is that you don’t just “tell” them the idea, but rather you present it to them in a “formal presentation”. Explain your “idea” in detail. Lay everything out from beginning to end and show them what the successful outcome looks like.

If you want to upsell more and help your clients more, come up with more “Ideas”!  Ideas are the answer to upselling!

I love to help come up with ideas, so if you ever need help, reach out and let’s talk!

The More They Know, The More They’ll Buy

The reason most business owners don’t like advertising is because they don’t understand advertising.

Do business owners understand the importance of having Top of Mind Awareness (TOMA) in their business category?

The more you educate your clients and prospects, not only are they more LIKELY to buy from you, but they will buy MORE from you!

If we are simply talking to clients about OUR stations, OUR ratings, and why advertising on the OUR stations is a good deal for them, they may buy, but chances are they will never buy as much from us as they can or should.

Educate them on the “How” and “Why” advertising works and watch your sales grow!

While the digital media world seems to receive all of the limelight today, our ENS Media Share of Mind Surveys and Seminars educate business owners on the important role that radio plays in creating Top of Mind Awareness, how important creating TOMA/brand awareness is in today’s competitive New Media world, and how radio works in conjunction with digital and social media in the buying process.

And…these Share of Mind Surveys and Seminars may be one of the best training and educational tools your sales team has ever seen!

To learn the top 12 ways your advertisers, and your sales team, can benefit from facilitating Share-of-Mind Surveys and Seminars in your market, click here.

The Powerful Point

7 Criteria to Effective Advertising

Hopefully, over these past 4 weeks, you now have a better understanding of how to use and explain the 7 criteria to clients and help them better understand how important each is to advertising.

In the first issue of this series, it mentioned we use this piece to make two specific points; One is to explain to clients how to get a better return on their advertising investment, and two is how to use it to build trust with your prospects and clients.

I also stated that I would share a powerful point that is intended to position the media rep and/or your stations in a very positive light. That is what we are covering today and how we will conclude this series.

At some point during the CNA or one of the first meetings with a client, the conversation will lead to a point where you can bring up the 7 criteria. When it does, we suggest you either pull out a prepared “7 Criteria to Effective Advertising” form on your station letterhead or simply write the 7 criteria on a sheet of paper or a restaurant napkin.

After writing this out and going over each of the criteria is when you make your powerful point, by saying…

“Mr./Mrs. Client, actually, the most important criteria is #6”. (Draw an arrow from #6 Media Rep up above the #1 position and write “#1 Media Rep!”)

Continue by saying…

“If you find a media rep or media group that understands criteria #1 through #6; how to create Strategy, how to create and write effective messages/ads, how to use your advertising budget to dominate, and the importance of Consistency and Frequency… If you have someone that ‘gets this’, then the medium or the station that you choose really doesn’t matter. If you follow these criteria, your advertising will be way more effective. Mr./Mrs. Client, I understand how to do this, and I can help you get a better return on your advertising dollars”.

You have just established yourself as something different than the average media rep who talks about their stations, their media, and their ratings, and you’ve also taken rates and ratings out of the equation.

I hope that you have found the 7 Criteria for Effective Advertising useful. If you have any comments or questions, simply send me an email or give me a call.

If you would like to receive the one-page form of the “7 Criteria for Effective Advertising”, click here and we will be happy to send it to you. You can use it on ENS Media’s letterhead or feel free to transfer it to your station’s letterhead to use in your sales calls and presentations.