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Creating Low-Hanging Fruit

 

Creating Low-Hanging Fruit

 

          Our new VP of Marketing Communications, Craig Rosart, wisely points out how farmers created more ‘low hanging fruit’.

          Farmers have long known how cost-effective and efficient it is to pick the easy, low-hanging fruit. Broadcast account executives have also been very adept at harvesting the low hanging fruit; traditional retail advertising categories like car dealerships and furniture stores have been the mainstay of many senior account lists.

          But farmers also recognized that the hard-to-reach fruit at the top of their trees was often more bountiful and sweeter and going to waste.

          The farmer’s solution? Grow shorter ‘dwarf variety’ trees.

          The smartest radio and TV account executives have also recognized the value of hard-to-reach, non-traditional advertisers in the services and professionals categories. Some of the advantages of capturing these categories include;

1.)   They are accustomed to making annual advertising commitments in directories like yellow pages, and to making those commitments focused on results, not rates.

2.)   While traditional retail categories have come under extreme margin pressures from big-box stores, online shopping, and daily deal sites, non-traditional advertisers in the lucrative services and professionals sectors, still maintain enviable margins and have no big box or online competition.

3.)   Share of voice equals share of market.   When a new advertiser doesn’t have to out-shout any competitors on the air, their share of voice and their results, are amazing.

          Many of the previously hard-to-reach advertisers were content with their yellow directories advertising. But with the demise of Yellow Pages caused by online search engines and diminishing results, they are now low-hanging fruit; on shorter trees, easier to reach and willing to listen to new ways to increase sales.

          Although the old printed directories are going the way of the dinosaur, their sales people are desperately trying to ‘switch-pitch’ these former gold mines onto their online versions.  Like all harvesting, timing is critical to picking the ripest fruit. Radio and TV reps need to harvest these prospects now, before the online and digital directory folks put them in their baskets!  

          Click here for an online demo of how our Selling Against Printed and Online Directories system can help you intercept the migration to online directories and increase your sales.

Research?

 

Research?

Does ‘research’ really sell?

        I’ve seen the convincing research the print folks use that ‘proves’ reading an ad is much more powerful than hearing it. And I myself have used the ‘scientific’ research that unequivocally verifies that hearing is much more influential than reading.

        Then of course there is the research we use when representing our TV clients that proclaims the combined power of ‘sight, sound and motion’ is unbeatable.

        You’ve probably heard the program directors who blame a ‘bad book’ on the research sample size, but the sample size seems to be just fine when they have a good book.

        Here is the bottom line when it comes to presenting media research;

        1. Every media can demonstrate they are number one (even if it’s only with left-handed grandmothers at midnight).

        2. There are four basic buyer styles, and only one quarter, the analyticals, give a darn about research and statistics. The rest simply want to know “What are you going to do for me?”.

        3. Even those analyticals who seem to care about research will only believe the research which confirms their previously held beliefs. Often, when they ask for research, they do so in the hope that they can find an excuse to reject your proposal.

        4. Opinion surveys only reveal what respondents believe influences their purchase decision, from a conscious logical left brain perspective. Dreamy right brain motivation is seldom understood and almost never revealed in opinion surveys.

        In a rapidly changing media world, all surveys are a snapshot through the rear view mirror. A view through the windshield of what lies ahead is much more valuable to advertisers.

        So before you go counting on impressive pie charts, spreadsheets or reams of data to make the sale, maybe you should present the big idea to help your prospects achieve a higher return on their investment with you.

        Demonstrating what you are going to do for me is always more powerful than showing me research that is all about you.

Prospecting versus Stalking

 

Prospecting versus Stalking

 

            Thomas Szaky shocked his parents a few years ago when he decided to drop out of Princeton University to start a business marketing worm poop. To their dismay, he explained his organic plant food would be made from worm droppings and be packaged in recycled pop bottles as house plant fertilizer.

            But the 26-year-old Canadian had the last laugh when his fledgling company landed the Wal-Mart account. First-year sales from the Wal-Mart exposure and distribution exceeded $25 million!

            Each week, thousands of inventors, manufacturers’ agents and sales people try unsuccessfully to get their products stocked on Wal-Mart shelves. So how did a young Mr. Szaky nab the business at mighty Wal-Mart?

            “I don’t know” he says.  “I made sixty one phone calls and the last one finally worked. I guess it was just sheer persistence.”

            Selling is often defined as ‘a transference of confidence’. Your persistent pursuit of product knowledge in a changing media landscape coupled with a clear understanding of how your products can achieve your prospects’ goals will build the confidence that in turn creates persistence.

            But do you understand the difference between persistence and stalking?

Calling a prospect 61 times in pursuit of an order for your station can be stalking.

            How do you feel if every time you see a particular individual they are trying to sell you something?

            Preparing a series of valid business reasons for a prospect to meet with you separates stalking from persistence.

            A valid business reason for every customer contact means creating an agenda or having a mission which benefits the customer, whether they buy during that meeting or not. It may be a helpful tip to grow their business, you might give them a lead or some useful marketing statistics, or deliver news that affects their business.

            Consistently planning a valid business reason for every call demonstrates respect for your clients’ time and clearly positions your interest in growing their business.

            Click here to arrange a free online demo of how we can help you create more valid business reasons for prospects to meet with you, and to increase your sales.

 

Your help

A special thanks to all who completed the survey last week to help us create the most relevant ENS on Sales content.

If you did not complete our survey last week please take 5 minutes to do so here; Click here to do a short online survey to help us do a better job for you.

 

 

Secrets to Ads that Sell

 

The Secret to Ads That Sell

 

          In a recent survey we asked 540 locally owned and operated business “What is the number one reason you advertise?” The answer? 82% said they advertise to ‘increase sales”.

          Yet in audits of local media presentations in those markets, less than 10% addressed how the media proposal would ‘increase sales’. Most danced around the issue with benefits like ‘increased traffic’ or ‘increased awareness.’ Many presentations offered no client benefits at all and merely talked about how great their stations were.

          There are huge similarities between effective ad copy and sales presentations that work.

          One of Sears’ premiere copy writers, Shirley Shea, consistently wrote copy which out sold the ad copy written by her peers. In catalogues, print ads, and radio and TV scripts, her ads were able to produce results beyond any of Sears’ other writers’ ads.

          Her secret?

          Typically, Shirley would arrive at Sears’ ‘ivory tower’ for a meeting to discuss the launch of a new product. The engineers who designed the product, the manufacturer’s head of marketing, Sears’ marketing people and various other experts would explain all of the technical features of the new product.

          For the launch of a new washer and dryer, for example, Shirley would take notes while the experts talked about details like the BTU’s (British Thermal Units), the RPM’s(Revolutions Per Minute), the gauge of the metal and composition of the enamel finish.

          Upon leaving the meeting to head back to her office, Shirley would look around to make sure no one was watching while she threw her notes in the trash!

          So where did Shirley get the information to write such successful ad copy? She would go onto the sales floor and listen to the questions customers were asking about the washer and dryer.

          Customers weren’t asking about BTU’s, RPM’s or the other technical information the ‘experts’ thought was important. They wanted to know how much laundry the machine held, how fast it did the laundry, and how quiet the machines were.

          Is your sales presentation all about you, your audience and your features, or does it answer the questions your prospects are asking?

          This is a special ENS on Sales, because we want to know the questions you’re asking and the hurdles you’re facing so that we can write more helpful and useful ENS on Sales tips for you in 2012.

Click here to do a short online survey OR Click hereand we’ll arrange a short telephone questionnaire to help us do a better job for you.

 

Your Ten Best Investments of 2012

 

 Your Ten Best Investments of 2012

            In an economy plagued with uncertainty, there is only one investment you can count on consistently giving you huge sustainable returns.
            The safest investment you can make in 2012 is an investment in you!  
            In a rapidly changing world, the only sure constant in your life is you.  An investment in yourself, your tools and your career makes huge sense in the new economy. Why?

• An investment in yourself stays with you forever, long after you have left your current position.
• An investment in yourself gives you a competitive edge over your external and internal competitors.
• You control the return on an investment in yourself.

Here is my Top 10 List of Investments you can make in yourself to succeed in 2012 and beyond.

1.) Training – The media world is changing, and like the old cliché says, “Whatever got you where you are today won’t be enough to get you where you want to be tomorrow.” Look for innovative training that stretches you beyond the tired industry standards your competitors have been exposed to.
2) Finances – It is hard to think when your knees are knocking. Get your financial house in order no matter how much effort or sacrifice you have to make.
3.) Breath Mints – You are a brand and the way you package and present yourself is part of that brand. An investment in good grooming and apparel creates a powerful first impression for your personal brand.
4.) Thirty Dollar Consultants – Make a point of reading at least one business book a month to keep your knowledge ahead of the curve.
5.) Accoutrements – Everything you carry or use, from your pen to your car, and from your laptop to your presentations, speaks volumes about the way you feel about yourself and your career.
6.) Networking – Membership in strategically selected clubs, like Chamber of Commerce or Ad and Sales Club can be fun, educational, provide great contacts, and enhance your social life too.
7.) Health – Joining a fitness club or investing time in a daily workout will improve your physical and mental capacity.
8.) Spirituality – Whether you get your satisfaction from family time, religion, charitable work, or any other aspect of your life that makes you a contributing member of society, you need to invest in a balanced life to have a successful career.
9.) Online –Consider developing your own website, blog or newsletter to become known for what you know, or subscribe to services like our SoundADvice to do it for you.
10.) Vacations – A vacation is an investment in your health and your career. You’ll come back refreshed, re-charged and with some brand new ‘out of the box thinking’ that will dramatically enhance your productivity.

You are the biggest benefactor of an investment in you. Regardless what happens to your company, your market or the economy, you will never regret investing in yourself.

p.s. Any investment you make in ENS Media Inc. business development systems or sales workshops is guaranteed to give you a minimum ten to one return, or we refund your investment in full.