Here’s the scenario. A media rep meets with a client, completes the fact-finding meeting, and the client tells the rep, “I would like to promote this event or this area of my business and here is my budget. Let me know what you come up with”!
The media rep goes back to the station and they begin to brainstorm ideas. During the session, they come up with a great idea but, to promote it correctly, it will certainly take more budget than what the client suggested. The media rep is hesitant to ask for more investment than what the client originally stated.
The question is, “Now what?”
1) Do you put the great idea together and show an investment of only what the client stated?
2) Do you scale the idea back to match the stated budget? Or…
3) Do you layout the great idea and show the investment that it will take to implement it?
The correct answer is, of course, #3. Ask for what is it worth! Business owners are starving for good ideas and if the idea is strong enough and they are convinced that they will have a successful promotion, the client will find the money.
The worst thing that can happen is that they won’t be convinced, and they’ll say no. Then you either go back to the drawing board or you can have option two prepared for the level of investment the business owner initially suggested.
When the client says, “let’s do it”, the upside is huge! Besides the obvious of making a larger sale, campaigns with more bells and whistles, i.e. increased frequency, remotes, promotions, etc., will always have a better chance of being successful than a basic schedule, if executed correctly. But, the larger lesson is that the confidence gained by the media rep and lesson learned will be invaluable. The fear of asking for more or adequate dollars is often-times a key reason why campaigns fail to work as well as they could or should. Overcoming this fear can be key to becoming a successful media rep.
Come up with a big idea. Ideas = Dollars! Then, ask for what the idea is Worth!
Most commonly used in the context of medicine and law, malpractice is defined as, “improper, illegal, or negligent professional activity or treatment”. But malpractice is no stranger to the advertising world either. You can google “advertising malpractice” and find many interesting stories, mostly regarding fraudulent advertising claims.
The one word in the definition of malpractice that I want to focus on is negligent. First, so we are on the same page, the definition of negligent is, “failing to take proper care in doing something”, and I would add to this definition, “that we know should be done”.
As a media rep selling advertising, what is your job? Is it to sell ads? Is it to help your clients get results from their advertising investment? Is it to service the account so they have the best chance of achieving success? The answer is, “Yes!”
Once you convince a prospect to do business with you, they become your client. It’s then your job to service that client so they have the best chance of getting a return on their investment. Anything less is negligence, or “Media Rep Malpractice”.
The most common case of MRM (Media Rep Malpractice) is not updating copy. The only excuse for not updating copy on a regular basis is because your client asks to keep the same ad running. Even then, you’re responsible to advise them that airing the same ad over and over isn’t in their best interest. When you do, you are no longer negligent. Equally as common is once the sale is made, we don’t show up again until the schedule is over.
Media reps are just like doctors and lawyers; there are good ones and bad ones. Are you doing what you should to make sure you’re a good one? Always provide solid and truthful information, never over-promise, and always over-deliver. If you do, you’ll never be accused of “Media Rep Malpractice”.
It’s really more of a pay “period”. January 27th through April 15th for U.S. residents, and January 1st through April 30th for our Canadian friends, these are the days a majority of us will file our 2019 taxes. This graph (U.S. tax refund statistics) shows that a large percentage procrastinate and file during the last week. Now, and for the next 3 months and beyond, many checks will be pouring in.
In 2019, 95.7 million Americans received a tax refund, and the average refund was $2725.00. In Canada, 18.7 million receive a refund with the average being approximately $1740. 2020 is expected to be very much the same.
So, what does everyone do with all this money, and more importantly, are you prepared to help your clients capture their fair share of it? This graph shows that regardless of what type of business your clients own, they stand a decent chance of being on the receiving end of some of this refund bonanza.
After realizing how much money is available, we now understand why auto dealers, furniture, bedding, and appliances stores all run “Tax Refund” events. But nearly every category whether it’s retail, service, or professional can get a share of these monies. As simple as it may sound, telling and specifically asking for part or all of their refund is the best way to increase their chances of getting it!
Now, your only job is to come up with an idea and present it to your prospects and clients. By doing so, you can turn America’s/Canada’s payday into YOUR payday!
If you would like help in creating a successful “Tax Refund” event for your clients, click here and we’ll send you our “14-Tips to a More Successful Tax Refund Sales Event”.
Today, hiring good people is a challenge in itself; keeping them is a whole different ballgame.
When it comes to hiring and adding new people to your sales team, it’s imperative that they get off to not only a good start, but a GREAT start.
In the human resources world, bringing on a new employee is referred to as “onboarding”. A definition of onboarding is, “the action or process of integrating a new employee into an organization”.
A new employee should never show up to work on their first day and sit around for an hour trying to make themselves useful because the manager didn’t have a plan or wasn’t prepared.
An article by Process Street, an onboarding company, quoted a survey that stated, “Employees who participate in a structured onboarding program are 69% more likely to stay with an organization for 3 years”, and “15% of employees said the lack of an effective onboarding program aided in their decision to quit”.
Don’t confuse onboarding with orientation. Orientation is a one-time event. Onboarding is a series of formal, well-planned training programs and events that start the day they are hired and can last from one month up to a full year. This includes everything from having their workstation ready with business cards printed on their first day, to a pre-planned daily training program. In addition, weekly and monthly reviews are part of making sure employees feel welcomed, know what’s expected of them, and lets them know how they are doing every step of the way.
A good onboarding and training program only needs to be created one time, then it can be used over and over with only minor tweaks going forward.
To see 9 Tips for Successful Onboarding, click here. If you would like help preparing an in-depth and very focused onboarding and training program for your sales team, contact Rick at [email protected].
As an advertising sales rep, what are you known for? Is it for providing great customer service? Coming up with brilliant business strategies and ideas for promotions, sales events, or ad copy? Is it for helping your clients in other areas of their advertising beyond your medium, like digital, social, core customer mailings, etc.? Or… is it for being the sales rep that delivers cookies and treats, i.e., “The Cookie Lady”?
There’s nothing wrong with being nice and delivering goodies to your clients and prospects – once in a while! Just don’t become known for it! After all, people buy from people they like, and who doesn’t like someone that brings you cookies!
When you become known as the “Cookie Lady (or Man)” that delivers great cookies instead of the “Advertising Expert” that delivers great ideas, the problem isn’t that they won’t buy from you, it’s that they will never buy as much from you as they can or should. Why? Because you’re known for delivering cookies and not ideas and results!
There’s a true story behind this that I have used many times to make a point about being a professional advertising expert. Many years ago we had a rep that loved to bake, and she was very good at it. She baked often and delivered these fresh baked goodies to her clients. They loved the treats, and her, because of it. We finally had the conversation with her about this and the fact that many of her clients bought from her only because of the cookies. She didn’t agree, until one day while making calls with her, we walked into a business and the person at the front desk hollered out loud to the other employees… “Hey, the Cookie Lady is here”. I didn’t have to say another word and going forward, she saved a lot of money on sugar, butter, and flour, and her sales improved too.
The moral of this story is… become known as an “Advertising Expert”. Deliver VALUE to your clients by providing strategies, ideas, and solutions that in turn give them positive results on their advertising investment. They’ll love you every bit as much, or even more, than if you deliver cookies.
On the other hand, if you would like to deliver me some cookies, M&M are my favorite, and my address is below!
