One of the most iconic advertising slogans ever produced was for Fram Oil Filters, “You can pay me now, or pay me later”. The simple but powerful message was, proper maintenance of your vehicle will save you lots of money and headaches down the road.

So, how does that translate to media sales? Imagine for a minute that one of your biggest accounts just announced they intend to make some drastic cuts. They currently use several radio groups, outdoor, and TV in their traditional media portfolio. When this happens, sometimes we know they are simply fishing for a “better deal”.

However, if they are truly making cuts, more than likely the client was already forming hard-to-change perceptions on which media or media rep they should cut long before that cut-back announcement was made.

“Preventive maintenance” is always more effective, and less costly, than “damage control”. It will not only save you money, but also a ton of headaches and heartaches!

Do you have a preventive maintenance program or does all of your energy go into making the sale, looking for new business, and damage control?

A well-planned system of bringing “value” to your customers and being a resource to them rather than simply selling them and sending them invoices is key to keeping them, especially when it comes time to make cuts.

ENS Media’s SoundADvice Program is a proven system that will help media reps and stations build powerful relationships with their clients and prospects.

If you’re surprised by a cancellation or cutback, it’s probably because you didn’t have a preventive maintenance program. Here’s a recent testimonial that speaks directly to how SoundADvice can help keep YOU from the chopping block:

Good morning, Rick.

Thank you for the scripts. We record them every week featuring a different sales team member and they are being well received by clients.

We had a local body shop that had pulled his 15+ year consistent annual ($xx,000/year) at the start of all this COVID craziness. A few weeks ago, he called our team member to have him come back in to talk about getting back on because he said he AND his staff have been listening to the SoundADvice messages and they really speak to them. 

Great stuff!

One of our most recent subscriber’s comments on the pricing of SoundADvice was… “Wow, why wouldn’t we do it!”

If you would like to implement a preventative maintenance program, click here to arrange a time to visit, or call Rick at (605) 310-2062 to learn more about our SoundADvice Program.

Show me a good prospector and I’ll show you a good media rep.

When working with and training media sales reps, we always suggest that there are two styles of prospecting… prospecting “hard” and prospecting “smart”.

The question is, which one is better and which type do you want on your team?

I suggest the answer is… both!

Prospect “hard” when you are new and trying to build a base or when billing is struggling and you need to rebuild fast. Prospect “smart” once you’re established and you can focus on finding clients with bigger and better potential. There are positives and negatives to each.

If I were to go into any radio station and ask this one question, “Which rep(s) prospects the hardest on your sales team?”, I would then be able to tell you several other things about them. First and foremost, I want them on my team! I like reps that work hard and aren’t afraid of rejection. It would also tell me who has the most “new clients” on the air at nearly any given time… but, at the same time, it would tell me who has the most cancellations. This is not always true, but most of the time it is.

On the other side of the prospecting coin, the sales rep that prospects the “smartest” usually has a much better closing ratio, larger contracts, more annuals, better relationships with their clients, and therefore fewer cancellations, and, they don’t have to work nearly as hard. But… more often than not, they have fewer prospects in the sales funnel and when they do get that dreaded cancellation, it can hurt.

Prospecting is a little bit like the story of The Tortoise and the Hare. They are both worthy of being in the race, but the one that is always moving and consciously makes prospecting a part of their weekly plan, and never lets up will usually win the race.

Understanding where the sales rep is in their career and their current level of business can most often determine what approach or tactic they should be using.

The moral of the story… ALWAYS be consciously Prospecting!

The definition of average is, “a number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number”.

If you’re an Account Executive, do you know what your average invoice is? Sales Managers, do you know what the average invoice is for each seller and your entire team?

Before you can “increase” your average, you must first know what your average is, and knowing your average invoice is a great place to start to increase your billing.

“The goal is not to be better than others; it’s to be better than your previous self.”

– Dalai Lama XIV

I’m going to assume that if you are in the sales world, you didn’t come into it saying, “I just want to be average”, or as the definition suggests, “typical”. The goal should be, at minimum, better than average. Of course, as we all achieve to be better than average, that average rises… but then, so does your income!

Here are a few quick examples of knowing what “average invoice” is and how shooting to be better than average can and will increase your billing.

Senior Seller “A” has on average 30 accounts on the air each month. His/her average billing is $45,000 per month. Their average invoice is $1,500.00. Going forward, if Seller “A” increases their average ask by $120, they will increase their billing by $3,600 a month and their income by 8%. Not bad for asking only $120 more per proposal.

Small Market “A”, on average, has 420 invoices that go out each month. Their monthly billing averages $82,000 which equates to an average invoice of $193.00. By simply increasing their average proposal or package to $211 per month, an $18 increase, this station would increase its annual billing by over $90,000.00.

Your current average invoice is, in essence, what your sellers believe your stations are worth. By simply paying attention to the average invoice and focusing on increasing that average, you and your sellers will be well on your way to better days ahead.

Averages can be deceiving, but understanding your average invoice and managing your average invoice will yield revenue results. Focusing on even the slightest improvement in average invoices each month, over time, will produce huge results.

Don’t be an “Average Joe”!