Old-school training often begins with the importance of “getting people to like you”.
          The first new law of sales is not getting people to like you but rather it is learning to like the people you are selling to. This law, over time, will result in more positive reactions to you and your presentations.
          Out of touch sales trainers often talk about the golden rule, that is, “Do unto others as you would have done unto you.”
          In his book, The Platinum Rule, Tony Alessandra explains why the Golden Rule no longer applies and is replaced by his Platinum Rule.
          The Platinum Rule is “Do unto others as they would have done unto themselves.”
          And there is a difference.
           Psychologists have identified four basic behavior styles that you need to learn how to communicate with; Analytical, Expressive, Amiable and Driver.
          When it comes to presentations, there is no one size fits all.
          If your style is that of an Analytical, for example, you are inclined to be impressed by facts and figures in a presentation. If you are presenting to an Expressive buyer style, however, they are bored with figures and want to focus on exciting ideas in your presentation.
          When you like your customers enough to study and cater to their buying style, you will forge stronger relationships and sell more advertising.       
          Beginning with liking your customers,  you will have the desire, patience and passion to sell them the way want to be sold.
          Everyone has a preferred buying style, and caring enough about your prospects to sell them in their style will yield amazing results.
    

P.S. You can learn more about Behavior Styles from a variety of books, including The Platinum Rule by Tony Alessandra, or you can contact ENS Media Inc. about facilitating a Noll & Associates Styles Sales Training workshop in your market.

          Many of my Canadian friends will get the results from the latest ratings sweep next week. For them, and for my American friends when their ratings are due, I strongly recommend you schedule a staff ratings celebration as soon after ratings release as possible.
          I have seen stations that only release ratings to the staff when they are good, and hide behind closed doors when they are not.
          Worse still, I have seen station management meet behind closed doors to analyze ratings results leaving staff in the halls to assume the worse.
          Regardless of the results in your next ratings, schedule a Ratings Celebration, complete with champagne, to toast the efforts of EVERYONE for the last sweep and to build confidence in the results from the next effort.
          Everyone on your staff, from the janitor to the receptionist, should be invited. And everyone from the producer who participated in your Santa Clause parade float to the sales rep who obtained prizes for your ratings promotion should be saluted for their contribution.
          In every team-building workshop I facilitate, station staffs identify three keys to success; communication, communication and communication. Ratings releases are perfect communications opportunities. Some key communications objectives for your ratings celebration might include:

1.)   Don’t sugar-coat your position. Your staff is not stupid, tell them the good the bad and the ugly. And most importantly prepare rational explanations for everything.
2.)   Where you rank is not as important as recognizing your staff contributions and achievements on and off air.
3.)   Do not look surprised. You need to have logical explanations for every turn in the ratings, and more importantly have a credible achievable plan for continuous improvement. (Losses are easier to accept if it appears there may be wins on the horizon)
4.)   Publish a salient explanation for every conceivable objection your latest results might raise…..and NOT just for the sales department.  
5.)   Focus on the positives (and they are always there if you look hard enough)
6.)   Your general manager, sales manager and your program director should each communicate their perspectives and show a united front.
7.)   And most important of all, don’t let ratings have more importance than they deserve. The lowest rated station in any town can create results for their customers.
So here’s to your team, your vision and your results at your upcoming celebration!
P.S. If your station is not rated, or if your competitor tries to put a public spin on ratings, make sure your staff in every department knows how to handle the subsequent questions your audience and clients will have.

          The next time a heavy print advertiser talks to you about “the power of the printed word” ask them this question.

“If you had the opportunity to send a prospect a sales letter to tell your story or to talk to them on the phone about your company, which would be more convincing?”

          Invariably the avowed print advertiser will recognize that the opportunity to talk to a prospect will always be more effective than sending a printed sales message. Radio and TV offer the most powerful selling tool in the world.….the power of the human voice.
          It’s time to quit letting print, like yellow pages, mass mail and newspapers, get their unfair share of the local advertising pie.
P.S.  Newspaper reps love to proliferate the myth that Confucius said “A picture is worth a thousand words”. What Confucius actually said was “A picture is worth a thousand pieces of gold”.  I guess that is why their rates per ad are so high.

                   In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, and its follow-up book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding, Jack Trout writes about the importance of “exclusivity”, of “creating your own category” and of “owning a word”.
                   But many product and service categories today are already owned by someone. Home Depot might own building supplies in your market, and Coke probably owns colas.
                   If you look in the Yellow Pages under restaurants, for example, you will probably see someone already claims steaks, another claims seafood, another claims pizza, someone probably claims home-cooked burgers and yet another claims Chinese or Italian cuisine.
                   Here is a tip that will help you to uncover a category your clients can own on your airwaves.
                   Look for an experiential category to own instead of a product or service category. By choosing an experience to own, rather than a product or service, your clients can actually broaden their target audience.
                   In restaurants, for example, who owns the “romance” category in your market? Probably no-one. In the romance category, you have the ability to offer steaks, seafood, Italian or Chinese.
                   Who owns the “private business luncheons” category in your market? Or the “served in less than 10 minutes” category?
                   Does someone own fun and parties?
                   By choosing an experiential category which no one owns in the minds of your audience, your client has the opportunity to become a market leader. Wal-Mart, for example, doesn’t own a product or service category, they own an experience….low prices. Michelin doesn’t own tires, they own safety. Another tire manufacturer, Pirelli, owns performance…again, an experience, not a product or service.
                   That does not mean if you promote the romance category that the only time people will go to your restaurant is on a first date, Valentines Day or on their anniversary. It just means your restaurant now has a chance to stand for something and to be remembered. In today’s advertising maze, it is no longer adequate to just “keep your name in front of the public”. You have to stand for something to be remembered.
                   If you can help your client to discover a unique experience they can own, you will help their advertising to work harder for them and assure yourself of more renewals.
                    As always, your unique experiential offering must actually be delivered by the client, not just advertised.

          Now is the best time to approach your lucrative New Year’s Resolution Market prospects.
          Near the end of December each year most people reflect on the years gone by and tell themselves “In the New Year I’m going to do something differently.” Some choose exercise, some choose cooking or computer classes, some choose more travel or reading. What ever they choose, it’s too late to try to win them over once they already have their check books out.
          The categories you can target include; adult education facilities, fitness clubs, health food stores, Karate clubs, quit smoking clinics, travel agencies, upscale clothing stores, financial planners, diet plans, sports organizations and more.

Approach these categories now to;

          a.) pre-sell the New Year’s Resolution market
          b.) sell holiday gift certificates for their goods and services
          c.) schedule their peak-season January campaign

          Your New Year’s Resolution prospects need to capture top of mind awareness BEFORE the consumers actually make their New Year’s Resolution, and the consumer who receives an adult education gift certificate is not likely to register with a competitor when that important first two weeks of January comes around.

          Happy New Year!

P.S. If your New Year resolution includes increasing your sales, consider the consulting, training and revenue generating opportunities offered by ENS Media.  We guarantee a minimum five-to-one return on your investment.