A medieval knight is standing guard outside the gates of a village. Armor on. Sword ready. Watching the road… making sure nothing dangerous reaches the people inside.
Knights lived by a code…
Protect the innocent. Defend those who cannot defend themselves.
Now before anyone starts ordering chainmail for the sales department… let’s bring this into your world. Because the best reps operate by a code too.
Protect Your Clients
Business owners get “attacked” constantly. Digital agencies. SEO companies. Social media “gurus.” New platforms promising magical results.
Most business owners don’t fully understand everything they’re being sold. They just know they need customers.
That’s where YOU come in.
A good rep isn’t just trying to sell airtime. You’re there to help them wade through what’s valuable and what’s just another pitch. You’re there to help them see the bigger picture of how to truly grow a strong local business.
Yes, Local SEO is valuable – but not to the tune of thousands of dollars a month.
Display and Search marketing may have their place, but they need to be part of a larger strategy and not consume more of the budget than necessary.
Social media can help local businesses stay in front of current customers and even potential ones… but it’s not how they become top of mind in their community.
Print and outdoor media can remind people of the Radio or TV ads they’ve heard or seen in the blink of an eye (Roy H. Williams calls it “anchoring”)… but visual-only media doesn’t come close to branding a business like the power of Sound.
Keep a Sharp Edge on Your Blade
Marketing knowledge is one very sharp edge of your sword.
Never stop learning.
When you become more than just another radio salesperson, your value to your client skyrockets.
Be real with your clients. Be brutally honest. The same goes for your prospects. The client you land with a song and dance—or with nothing but rankings and numbers—will usually be a temporary client.
But if you educate them from the start about what truly makes a business a household word in their community… you can have a client for life.
It means doing your homework—researching their category, watching their competitors, and bringing them ideas and information that might help their business… even if it has nothing to do with advertising.
When a business owner realizes you operate that way… something important happens.
You stop being a vendor. You become someone they trust. And when that trust forms, the relationship gets a lot stronger. Business owners are constantly asking themselves whether you’re just there to sell something… or actually help them grow.
Protect Their Results
Protecting your clients also means protecting the quality of what goes on the air.
Bad ads waste money. Great ads build businesses (and keeps them).
That’s why the best reps spend time helping create ads that are memorable, emotional, and effective. Ads that don’t blend into the background. Ads that are unexpected and can’t be ignored.
Because creative is the biggest driver of advertising success. The #1 skill you could sharpen as a radio salesperson that gives you a major edge up on any other media rep in the area… is copywriting. Period.
#2 would be to increase your overall marketing knowledge.
Yes, it takes a certain skill or quality to “get” a sale. But what will make you, your radio group, and your clients more money is by creating better ads.
Be the Knight
When you’re the “knight” who protects and defends your clients…
You won’t need to chase renewals or wonder if they’ll renew. You’ll already know.
You don’t have to have all the answers, but you should become the person your clients never hesitate to call when they have a question about marketing or growing their business.
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