It’s one of the most common objections a salesperson receives… but when a customer or prospect poses this objection, is it true? The answer… maybe, or maybe not!
Recently, several media reps posed this question to us, “I’ve had a lot of people say to me lately that they don’t have the budget. How do I reply to that?”
You might try this, “O.K., Mrs./Mr. Business Owner. I appreciate your honesty in sharing that with me. But, let me ask you… If I had an idea that you felt would help grow your business, would you be interested in hearing it?”
Then… wait for their response.
They can either reply by saying, “Well yes, I guess I would.” Then you are free to either present your idea or get busy and come up with one. Or…
They can say no! If they do so, well… they simply aren’t a very good prospect and it’s time to move on to prospects with more potential. I would suggest saying thank you and asking if you could reach out to them from time to time to see if things might have changed.
If you’ve found success using another response to this objection, we’d love to hear it. Please click here and share your thoughts.
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I’m sure that, like me, your dad at some point in life said to you, “I don’t care if you dig ditches for a living, just be the best ditch digger there is!”
At the time, I’m not sure that statement had a lot of impact on me, but much later in life a quote by Mark Twain did, “A man who can read but doesn’t isn’t any wiser than the man who can’t”.
Through unscientific research, that is observing people and doing self-analyzation of why some people are more successful than others, I can tell you that the most successful people in media sales are those that have the discipline to learn their trade and are either consciously or unconsciously focused and determined to get better every day. They have the knowledge, ability, and a deep-down desire to help others.
For some, this is a built-in personality trait. As managers, you’ll be lucky to have one or two of these “Type A” personalities on your team, but for the others, it needs to be taught. They need to be motivated to be better. They need someone to show them and prove to them that it is worth the effort.
This is where management comes in. Leaders Lead! Are you reading books and articles on marketing and advertising, business, leadership, motivation? Are you devoting part of your day to getting better? If not, Start! Make sure they know that you are doing what you ask them to do. Leaders lead by example.
Getting better every day doesn’t mean hours and hours of reading and research. Just 15-minutes a day can mean the difference between mediocrity and being Great!
If the radio industry could rewrite history, the main thing that it should do (or should have done) is train our sellers better. It starts with motivating them to be better. It starts with having the desire to Get Better Every Day!
P.S. Want to Get Better?I suggest reading the book, RESTORING the SOUL of BUSINESS: Staying HUMAN in the Age of Data, by Rishad Tobaccowala. (I gave it 5+ stars. One of, if not the best, books I have ever read on management, leadership, and business.)
If you or your team has the desire and is looking to get better, I’d like to visit with you about sharing the knowledge I’ve learned over my 30+ years of radio sales and management which helped me guide one of the largest billing small-market radio stations in America. Click here to arrange a call.