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Obama vs Clinton

Why Obama Has Raised More Money Than Clinton

 
            There really are only two motivators in life and in buying decisions….fear of loss or hope of gain.
            Hillary Clinton’s campaign clearly focuses on solving problems and minimizing pain while Barrack Obama clearly focuses on selling hope and a brighter future.
            While Clinton offers the ‘experience’ to solve problems, Obama holds the torch for a new and brighter future seldom talked about by traditional politicians who focus on solving problems.
            It remains to be seen which strategy will win, but it is interesting to note that a recently ‘unknown’ has been able to raise considerably more funds than the established Clinton.
            Those of us in sales need to recognize that both ends of the scale, fear and euphoria, hold opportunities for us as well.
            Most solution-oriented sales training or traditional consultative selling often focuses only on the pain side of the questioning continuum.
            The moniker of some of these courses is; “When the price of the pain exceeds the cost of your cure, you have a sale.” While this is true, it is a mistake to under-estimate how much wider the purse strings open when your presentation appeals to advertisers’ visions, hopes and dreams, rather than focusing on solutions to short-term problems.
            Our Becoming a Master Questioner Workshop can help your account executives master the skill of opening doors through problem solving, then building relationships by uncovering your prospects’ dreams and long term-goals.

Morning Head

Morning Head
 
          Have you ever heard the expression “Things will look better in the morning?”
          It’s not just an expression, it’s true!
          God sent us this wonderful thing called sleep that erases all of the unimportant crap that our brains absorb during the day.
          If you want to sell more 52-week business, make your presentations when
‘Things look better’ to your clients.
          According to our records, 75-80% of all major media sales are made between 8 AM and 11:15 AM.
          It appears that by the time afternoon roles around, busy decision-makers have had staff problems to deal with, their show rooms are busy, and their brains are full…too full to consider exciting new ideas or directions with an open mind.
          Educators have also proven that the human mind captures and retains new concepts better in the light of a new day than during a late afternoon seminar.
          Want to make more major sales?
Then make sure your weekly planner is packed full with face-to-face pro-active presentations every morning. Do the stuff that makes you “busy”, although not necessarily productive, later each day.  
 
P.S. Want to make an important uninterrupted presentation in the morning? Try scheduling an off-premise breakfast meeting.

Top Of Mind Awareness is NOT Enough

          I hate to burst your bubble, but your clients and prospects do not want top of mind awareness, they do not want a better image, they do not want more traffic….and here’s what might be a real shocker, they do not even want more sales……..

          Your clients know they cannot send their kids to college with ‘awareness’, they can not pay their mortgage with ‘traffic’ and the can not build their retirement plans based upon ‘sales’.  They can only achieve their goals with PROFITS.

          It’s strange that we seem to understand the difference between selling features versus selling benefits, but yet somehow over the years we’ve come to think that features like awareness and traffic are benefits. Frankly, they are the features which can deliver the benefit, that benefit being profit.

          Many media are frightened to take responsibility for profits, and claim their only job is to deliver traffic. Clients have grown weary of that message. They want media partners who are courageous enough to discuss increasing profits.

          Morris Saffer built a hugely successful retail advertising agency on the premise “It does not take a genius to increase sales. Just drop your prices in half and they’ll beat a path to your door. The genius,” said Morris, “is in increasing your sales at a profit!”

          Here’s the good news. The features which we deliver, like awareness, image, traffic and branding can achieve the profit benefit.

          Many of our passive media competitors, like coupon envelopes, can only deliver sales with discounts or inventory clearances at a huge cost to the bottom line.

          Do you have the guts to sell the profit benefit?  More importantly, has your sales staff been trained to dodge responsibility for profits? Do they default to selling features like awareness or branding?

Or have they been trained to partner in profits?

 NOTE: Selling to the profit motive is one of the key differences of the ENS Media Inc. training and consulting program. If your stations want to experience  percentage sales increases consistently double and triple the industry average, let’s talk!  (All ENS Media radio clients have increases in excess of 20% this year.)

The Story of Civilization

           Mel Gibson’s new movie, Apocalypto, begins with a quote from Will Durant, the American philosopher and historian who wrote, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.”
          Think of all the civilizations from the Roman Empire to Hitler’s Germany, and you’ll understand what he meant.
          I think that each business, including broadcasting, is in itself a civilization.
          If your infra-structure, staff morale, training, mission statement, vision and all of the other components which comprise your ‘civilization’ or culture are strong and in tact, no external competitor or market condition can destroy you.
          Stations which blame their competitors for their low rates or that blame their market or any other external conditions for their shortfalls should look inwardly rather than pointing outwardly.
          The other advantage of focusing on strengthening your civilization is that you control it. You have no control over what the marketplace or your competitors throw at you.
          You do, however, control your own beliefs, convictions, systems and culture.
          Those other civilizations can not bring about your demise if you do not destroy yourself from within.

What a Way to Make a Living!

         Have you ever noticed how negatives seem to jump right out at you and smack you in the forehead, while positives can go unnoticed or be taken for granted?
          Your sales team hears the negatives everyday. “No one listens to your station”, “Your prices are too high”,  “I don’t like your creative”,  “My budget is gone ….” They get beat up on the street daily.
          At your next sales meeting, try opening a discussion about, “What I like most about my career” (say ‘career’, not ‘job’).
          You’ll get an amazing array of answers from, “I get to be creative”, to “Helping businesses succeed” to “It’s challenging” to “ I learn something new every day” or “I get to manage my own time and accounts.”
            This exercise will achieve three important objectives for you;
1.) It will remind each account executive about the positives in their daily lives.
2.) Some of their peers will present positives which others never thought of.
3.) You will gain valuable insights into each individuals’ personal motivation to help you in your coaching sessions. 

P.S. You might have to seed the discussion well with something you appreciate about your career or company.