A funny thing about breaking records……while we might beat our chests about doing so, it’s what has to be done to win!
          Sales people who break an all time record should be congratulated for the moment. On the flip side, however, we MUST always be breaking revenue records because we are also breaking expense records. As our electricity bills, taxes, salaries and other expenses continue to rise, our revenues must rise to meet the challenge.
          But where does it all end? Is there not some point at which we just can’t do any better? I think not. Just when we think we’ve achieved the impossible, there is always room for more.
          Consider this. In less than a hundred years, the men’s 100-meter freestyle record has been cut nearly in half. 
          1896    Alfred Hajos, Hungary                        82.2 seconds
          1906    Charles Daniels, USA                        73.4 seconds
          1920    Duke Kahanamoku, USA                  60.2 seconds
          1972    Mark Spitz, USA                                 51.2 seconds
          2004    Pieter Van den Hoogenband, Nthrlnds.    48.2 seconds
          All that is required is you jump in the water and swim as fast as you can. 
          Clearly, to win the Olympic Gold Metal it is not enough just to swim faster than this year’s competitors. You must beat the all time record.
          Also clearly, no matter where that record stands, it can always be beaten.    

Your account executives can dramatically reduce their client attrition rates by asking themselves four simple questions once a month.|
1.  What is the last good thing I did to help the client grow her business?
2.  When?
3.  What is the next good thing I am planning to help the client grow his business?
4.  When?
The things we do to help our clients to grow their business can be anything the client did not negotiate nor expect, including everything from proactive creative suggestions to providing leads.
The “when?” must be within the last thirty days or strategically-planned for the next thirty days for all of your key accounts.
P.S.These questions can also serve as the litmus test for whether an account executive has earned the right to continue managing each of your key accounts.   

         Today, virtually every business is under increased competitive pressure from large national corporations and market fragmentation. In this environment, it is increasingly important for media sales executives to help their clients to establish realistic goals and to measure their advertising results by those carefully-chosen yardsticks.
          I recently met with a small-market furniture client who was disappointed with the results of our 2006 TOMA, Top of Mind Awareness, survey and was about to cancel his broadcast advertising schedules. The client had been to a TOMA presentation nearly three years ago and as a result had decided to increase his awareness and sales with a consistent high-frequency broadcast campaign.
          The 2003 TOMA survey for that market had revealed this particular furniture retailer had a 24% awareness level. In anticipation of increasing competition this entrepreneur committed to increase his advertising investment by more than $50,000 per year, scheduling 20 announcements per week every week on three stations.
        Nearly three years later, having increased his advertising investment substantially, the client met with me to discuss what went wrong when our most recent survey indicated his share of mind had slipped from 24% to 23%.
          Oops! What was his original goal? He had increased his advertising to combat new competitors coming to the market. In the last three years the number of furniture retailers in the market had doubled, and there was nearly 200,000 more square feet of retail furniture space vying for the attention of consumers in this market.
          For this advertiser to virtually maintain his share of mind amidst that kind of increased competition was, in my mind, a huge coup! Once we reviewed his original goals, his competitive situation and his advertising results he decided to hold the course with his campaign.
          Your clients often become disenchanted with their advertising by using the wrong objectives and tools to measure their success. It is up to you, the professional account executive, to help your clients establish the right goals and to measure their results with the proper tools rather than measuring by ego or emotion.

TOMA Surveys are just one of the proven monthly revenue tools an ENS Media  consultant will bring to your stations when you participate in our Sales Fitness training and consulting program. Looking to dramatically increase your sales every year?
Contact Wayne to discuss including our Sales Fitness program in your marketing plan next year.  

          One of the things I like best about marketing is the way what works, changes so rapidly. Remember when a furniture store in your market advertised, ‘Nothing to pay for thirty days?’ It worked!
          But then someone else countered with, ‘nothing to pay for ninety days’ and then, ‘don’t pay till next year.’
          I’m still waiting for the campaign that says, ‘Never pay a dime! Leave the darn debt to your heirs!’
          But seriously, our business is no different. The old consultative opening sales line, “I’d like to make an appointment to learn about your business………” used to actually get us in the door.
         Today the receiver of that over-used door opener is thinking, “My time is too valuable to teach you about my business” or “You want me to teach you in an hour what it took me twenty years to learn?” or “Yeah, yeah, I took that consultative selling course too.” Or worse still, “The last guy who told me that just asked questions until he saw an opening to sell his package of the month.”
          Recently I had one client say to me, “If one more media rep asks me ‘who is your target demographic’, I’m going to scream!”
          In his ground breaking book, Selling to VITO (Very Important Top Officer), Anthony Parinello proclaims that today we must ‘Earn the right to ask questions.’
          VITO wants to deal with business equals, not opportunistic sales people. VITO wants you to know more about his target demographic than he does, before you make the call.
          In his book, What Clients Love, Harry Beckwith suggests account executives need to “touch” the client in a meaningful way seven times before the client will trust you enough to give you honest and candid answers to the important questions about his goals and objectives.
           Isn’t it time you went beyond old-fashioned consultative selling techniques and developed a “seven touches” plan to build customer trust and loyalty? Or do you still want to use the same tired approaches as you competitors? 

Contact [email protected] to inquire how your sales team can learn how to take their client relationships to the next level. We guarantee a minimum 5 to 1 return on your consulting and training investment.

        In broadcasting, we have three primary customer groups upon whom we depend for our success…..we have external customers in the form of audiences and clients, and we have internal customers in the form of staff.
        If you do the math, you will soon recognize that on a per capita basis, your staff members are by far your most valuable customers. In fact, isolating your sales staff as an example, your bottom-billing sales person probably delivers more revenue for your station than your top-billing client.
        And if you divide your annual revenue by your cumulative audience, you’ll see that in order, your staff members are your most valuable customers, clients are the second most valuable, and your audience ranks third on a per capita basis.
        While each customer segment is hugely inter-dependent upon the other, it is our internal customer whom often is under-sold.
        What are you doing to sell your staff on: your company, your market, and your target audience?
        One of the best sales tools to reach and influence your staff is professional development training. Studies have proven that career professionals respect and appreciate companies who make an investment in their professional development and they respond with higher productivity levels.
        The poorest excuse I’ve heard for not investing in training and career development is staff turnover. We have audience turnover and client attrition, yet we continue to cater to and sell these customer groups. Why not make a similar investment for our most valuable customers… our internal customers.
        Investing in your staff can actually reduce turn-over levels!
        As you budget for a successful 2007, I recommend you plan to invest 2.5-4.5% of your revenue target in training and development.
        I can almost guarantee it will be the most high-leverage investment you can make.