Yearly Archives: 2022

Chick-fil-A’s Lesson in Sales

Is faster better? Not always!

Over the last few weeks, the headlines from the restaurant industry and even some major news sources have stated nearly the same thing. They read “Chick-fil-A has the slowest drive-thru”.

You would think that this would be a black eye for Chick-fil-A. Not at all. If you read further into the articles, you also find that Chick-fil-A was also #1 in customer service. Do you think it’s a coincidence? Probably not.

Have you ever considered those same dynamics might impact your selling cycle? In your haste to capture an order, you may be missing some greater opportunities and not doing the best possible job for your clients.

Chick-fil-A is not even the most accurate in fulfilling orders. They rank #7 at 83% accuracy. But where they do shine is how they handle customer connection and interaction, and it’s a strategy.

Matt Abercrombie, Chick-fil-A’s senior director of service and hospitality, told QSR Magazine, “We know in the drive-thru the guest wants speed and accuracy, but they don’t want to feel rushed,”   Abercrombie also stated, “We want to know our customers, we want to connect with them, we want to make sure that they’re not only getting great food, accurate orders but that they feel cared for in the process, personally and connected with.”

Your clients can sense when you are “just trying to make the sale” and not taking the time to understand their goals, their business, and even their fears of making a bad decision. Trying to rush the sales cycle is one of the symptoms they link to fear. 

The one-call sale not only leaves money on the table, but it also often fails to correctly identify your client’s objectives, thereby missing their goal, and more importantly, missing the renewal.

The fast one-call close might satisfy your need to make your budget, but slowing down to learn more about your client’s business, and their competitive situation, will inevitably result in helping your advertisers achieve their budgets. Better pre-call preparation, questioning, and more research over a series of meetings to advance the sale will inevitably lead to better service, better results, and more solid annuals.

Take a lesson from Chick-fil-A…Faster isn’t always better!

 

“It’s better to be slow and careful in the right direction than to be fast

and careless on the wrong path. Be sure that you are on the right

path before you begin to take your steps!”  

– Israelmore Ayivor, Author and Leadership Coach

Understanding CLV

Business owners, especially when dealing with advertising, seldom factor in the lifetime value of gaining one new customer. The same, unfortunately, may be said about advertising reps as well.

The definition of CLV, Customer Lifetime Value, is the total worth to a business of a customer over the whole period of their relationship.

In many conversations with business owners, we have all heard them say, “Well, in order to get a good return on my advertising investment, I need to sell x-number of units or x-amount of dollars”. What they are failing to take into consideration is the value of a single new customer over the lifetime of their relationship.

The challenge is not just understanding how to accurately calculate CLV but how to explain the long-term impact to a client so that it makes sense and is believable.

The basic CLV formula is simple; the Average Purchase Value x Average Purchase Frequency x How Many Purchases a Year x Average # of Years they remain a customer.

For example: Average Purchase of $300 x 3 purchase a year = $900/year x 7 years as a customer = $6300 Customer Lifetime Value.

The ENS Media formula that we suggest using goes a bit deeper and is more accurate and believable when dealing with the ROI of advertising. We use 5 factors in determining the Customer’s Lifetime Value:

  • The average “profit” per unit/sale (of advertised product/service)
  •  Add-on sales
  •  # of purchases per year
  •  # of years they remain a customer
  • Word of Mouth (# of people they persuade to purchase from the business)

The two things that make this formula so powerful (and believable) are steps one and five. In step one we use “profit” instead of price. Business owners will relate and appreciate that you use this instead of the actual retail price. In addition, we recommend using the word “advertised”, which resonates with them as well. The word advertised is used when running a sales event or advertising a specific product or service. If you are running a long-term branding campaign, you can simply exclude the word “advertised”.

In step five we factor in the value of Word-of-Mouth. Far too often media reps fail to mention or suggest this. Creating Word-of-Mouth is one of the things radio does best, and we absolutely should get credit for it. It takes people or customers to create Word-of-Mouth advertising. If your ad campaign brings in new customers, who in turn tell their family and friends, you should at least get some of the credit for the initial introduction.

Part of the secret to the success of this is when you meet with your client, don’t use your numbers. Ask them what the numbers are for each part of the formula. Typical clients/prospects will knowingly lowball you on every factor. Despite that, they will arrive at a very high customer lifetime value figure.

They will place much more value on every customer your advertising generates, in part because they believe they lowballed you and will do even better than their figure shows! 

Take credit where credit is due. Helping your clients and prospects realize what a single new customer is worth will go a long way in helping them understand your true value!

Planning For 2023

 

 

Whether you are a media rep or in management, we appreciate you reading ENS on Sales each week. We hope that you find the articles helpful.

 

We know that this is the time of year that you start making plans for 2023. With that in mind, one time a year we take the opportunity to present to you a complete lineup of ENS Media’s products and services. This is that week.

 

If you’re considering any outside training, revenue-generating programs, or workshops, give me a call anytime. Of course, no obligation. We can simply visit about your situation and what you’d like to accomplish.

 

Here is a line-up of our products and services. Click here to read some of our testimonials.

 

TOMA Surveys and Seminars: These local market surveys and seminars provide your clients and prospects, along with your sales team, valuable knowledge on the power of radio combined with the new digital media. Following the seminar, Rick stays in the market and meets 1-on-1 with clients and reps. This entire program is designed to generate new annual revenue and provide your media reps with hundreds of new prospects and information on how to sell in the new media world.

 

SoundADvice: Our 4-part weekly E-marketing system is designed to brand your media reps and stations as the advertising “experts” in your market. This completely self-sufficient system keeps your media reps in weekly contact with clients and prospects by providing valuable bits of information on running a business. Every true marketing professional should use SoundADvice. It is market exclusive when purchased as a group, but is also offered on an individual rep basis.

 

Recruitment Advertising Seminars: New in 2020. These 45-minute mini-seminars (we suggest 3-4 per market visit) will conquer 3 things: 1) Answer and provide a solution to your clients’ and prospects’ biggest concern… how to attract, hire, and retain “good” employees, 2) Increase your sales and revenue with this proven system 3) Train your reps to sell more Recruitment Advertising in the future and further position them as true advertising experts with their prospects and clients.

 

*Workshops and Presentations: We create and conduct workshops that cover nearly every area of the radio sales cycle. Here are individual topics on which we do 1 or 2-hour presentations/workshops, or combined, ½ day or full-day workshops:

  • Prospecting / Cold Calling: Main Street is Shrinking
  • 1st Meeting / CNA: Ask Better Questions to Get Better Answers
  • Creating Presentations/Proposals
  • How to Create Strategies and Why Strategy Wins!
  • 20 Tips for Creating Better Ads
  • Customer Lifetime Value
  • Selling Radio vs Digital (How to embrace digital)
  • How to Sell Radio “MORE Better”
  • 7 Criteria for Effective Advertising
  • How to Create TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness)
  • Marketing Funnel: Passive Media vs Intrusive Media

      *We can and will create specific workshops to match your unique needs.

 

If you would like to talk, contact me and provide the best day and time to call, or, simply call me anytime at the number below.

 

Again, thank you for reading ENS on Sales, and thank you for allowing me to present our company. 

What’s Your Value… To Your Clients?

 

 

As a media rep, whether you like it or not, you are being judged by your prospects and clients; not just at the beginning of your relationship, but all the time.

 

They are not just judging you on whether you are nice and professional; they are judging you on whether you bring value to themselves and their businesses.

 

Have you ever walked into a client or prospect’s business and when they see you, they dash out the nearest door? Or when you ask to see a client, the person at the front desk returns with, “They’re busy right now”?

 

Granted, sometimes it’s legit and they really are busy. However, more often than not, it’s an excuse! I have always suggested that when we walk into a business and the owner looks up and sees us, they make an immediate conscious decision. It’s either, “GREAT, there’s Rick and he brings value to my business, I love talking to Rick”, or “There’s Rick and I don’t have time to waste today. I know he’s going to try to sell me something!”

 

Are you bringing value to your clients, and what constitutes value? It may be articles about their business category, how to keep employees satisfied, or healthcare regulations. Anything that pertains to the many hats they wear as an owner/manager. You can find information on any topic, just Google it. But be careful not to deliver information about your product (radio) or your stations too often. And no, cookies have little to no value and DO NOT qualify! 

 

How you deliver value is equally as important. Always emailing or dropping it off, in the same manner, will lose its flair. If you know they are not in the office/business, drop it off and leave a short note, “Joe, I ran across this article and thought you might find it interesting”. Even using “snail mail” is a good option. Be CREATIVE!

 

I challenge you to be honest with yourself. Do you bring VALUE to your clients and prospects, or do they see you as just a “salesperson”? How much VALUE you bring to your clients will be in direct proportion to how willing they are to see you, and more importantly, how much they will invest with you! 

 

Starting today, make sure you’re always increasing your VALUE!

 

Our SoundADvice E-Marketing system is the best way to bring value to your clients and prospects each week. It helps brand your reps and stations as the “Advertising Experts” in your market. If you would like to learn how to take advantage of SoundADvice, click here to see a few testimonials, and let’s talk! SoundADvice is market exclusive, so be the first in your market to call.

Hard to Write – Easy to Fix

 

If you’re a seasoned writer, you may not agree with this. However, if you are an untrained media rep or a new rep, writing a basic ad can be frightening and hard. Writing a good ad is even more difficult. And writing great ads takes a unique talent.

 

I think everyone would agree that there are way too many “bad ads” on local media. This isn’t just radio; it very much includes newspapers, magazines, digital, and especially local TV ads.

 

Many times in small and medium markets, it’s the sales rep that is writing the ads for their clients. While I actually subscribe to this, most reps aren’t trained on how to write basic ads, much less on how to insert meaningful creativity into an ad. And, creating effective campaigns is almost unheard of.

 

When I work with media reps and we are discussing the creative side of their job, I always emphasize that writing an ad is the hard part. Fixing an ad is easy and I teach them ways to do this.

 

In most small to medium-sized markets, the average rep has way too many clients on the air each month, with way too small of schedules (that subject is for another day) to devote the required time and effort to write good, effective ads.

One of the things that make radio stations sound bad is all the boring, redundant, cliché-filled ads with useless words, and oftentimes, way too many words. Here is a simple example…

“Ben’s Bargain Barn – Located at the corner of 10th and Main in Downtown River City”.

 

This sentence has a total of 15 words, 6 of which are useless and not needed. It should read, “Ben’s Bargain Barn, 10th and Main, Downtown River City”.

 

The words “located at the corner of” and “in” have no bearing on the message you are trying to get across. The only reason we write them into a script is that we assume we should use proper grammar while writing radio ads. 

 

When it comes to writing ads for radio, using proper grammar can, and often times will make the ads too “wordy”. Taking the connecting words out and instead using a pregnant pause will have a more dramatic effect and will grab the listeners’ attention. 

 

It’s the biggest dress sale of the season. You will find hundreds of dresses in all sizes and colors at drastically reduced prices. The sale ends this Saturday, so hurry in today while the selection is at its best”.

 

It should read…

 

”The biggest dress sale of the season… find hundreds of dresses – all sizes and colors – drastically reduced prices! Sale ends Saturday – hurry in

today while the selection is best”.

 

In this example, it’s 10 words less than the original, and that’s only two sentences. If you do this with three or four of the sentences in a typical 30-second ad, you could find an additional 10 to 20 words that could be used to say something more profound to grab someone’s attention. 

 

Keep in mind that these are basic ads. We didn’t take a bad ad and make it great; we simply made it a little bit better.

 

It’s hard for untrained media reps to write an ad, but if you know the process, it’s easy to fix bad ads and make them respectable.

 

If you want your team to create and write better ads, click here to visit with Rick about our training workshops on How to Create, Write and Produce Ads that work MORE Better! 

 

Your clients will get better responses and your stations will not only sound better, but you’ll make more money!