A Book and a $1 Bill

Are you an Advertising Salesperson or are you an Advertising Consultant? There is a difference. One simply sells advertising and the other helps a business with its marketing and advertising.
 
One of the primary topics we cover in the ENS on Sales articles is how to stand out and make yourself or your stations become known as the advertising experts in your market. I have heard many media reps “say” they want to help their clients get a better ROI or help them grow their business. But, at the same time, I know these same reps aren’t doing anything outside of trying to sell them advertising.
 
They talk the talk, but they don’t walk the walk!
 
There are many things media reps can do to prove they are there to help their clients and prospects. Things like:
 
  • Providing articles about anything business-related, not just advertising, that can help them run a more successful business
  • Recommending other media and mediums, when appropriate
  • Bringing ideas for other areas of their business that can help them grow
 
It’s not just enough to talk the talk of being truly there to help them grow their business. You MUST walk the walk and do the things that prove it. You must do it day in and day out, month in and month out. The moment you stop is the precise moment you’re your clients will start to consider other options.  The SoundADvice program that we often speak of is designed to do just this.
 
I’m about to share with you how a $1 bill and a book can help you grow your business.
 
Years ago, my general manager started to purchase books for the sales team to give away to our clients and prospects. It was magic! In addition, he created bookmarkers that had very nice pictures and powerful words printed on them.
 
To put my own brand on giving the books away, I took the book marker idea one step further. I began to put a $1 bill in every book I gave away to be used as a book marker.
 
Over the past 15 years, in addition to the books our GM purchased for us, I guesstimate that I have given away nearly 400 books to business owners and graduating seniors. Every one of them has a $1 bill sticking out the top.
When I hand the book to the business owner, without fail they ask me what the $1 bill is for and if I want it back. I then explain to them that the dollar bill represents the value of reading and learning. I jokingly say, if I had more money, I would use $100 bills, but you’ll have to settle for $1. 
 
In many offices spread throughout my city, you will find books with $1 bills sticking out of them. I know that most of the books were never read. I know this because the bookmark never moved. However, what I do know is that when they look at the book(s) in their office, they will always remember who gave it to them.
 
It’s the power and value of a book and a $1 bill.
 
Do your clients and prospects feel that you’re there to HELP them, or SELL them?
 
If you’d like to learn how our SoundADvice e-marketing program can help you build better relationships, secure more appointments, sell more advertising, and train your media reps and clients, click here to arrange a no-obligation follow-up call.

IDEAS = DOLLAR$

 
How do you get advertisers to invest more money with you or renew with a rate increase, and how do you get that hard-to-sell prospect to consider adding your station? 
 
It’s really simple – just come up with an IDEA and present it! Every day, business owners and managers drive to and from work thinking, “How can I grow my business?” 
 
They’re looking for IDEAS; small ideas, medium ideas, and BIG IDEAS. Ideas that make sense for their business. The bigger and better the idea, the more they will invest.
 
If we are asking for more dollars (increased frequency) or asking for a rate increase (just because it’s renewal time), your chances for pushback and resistance are greatly increased. However, with a well-thought-out “IDEA”, you’ll increase your chances tenfold.
 
Your IDEAS can be a campaign ad strategy, a musical image, an audio signature, a promotion or event promoting a specific product or area of their business, or a new positioning statement or slogan. It can be anything that benefits THEM, and not you or your radio station. Your summer car giveaway might be your station’s biggest promotion of the year, but it must be presented from the advertisers’ perspective to increase your chances of selling them.
 
We suggest you view every proposal before it goes out the door to ensure it has a customer-focused “IDEA”. Selling “radio” can be challenging; selling ideas is easier, and selling BIG IDEAS… easier yet! After all, all business owners want are IDEAS on “How to GROW their business”.
 
IDEAS = DOLLAR$
 
Stop selling radio and start selling ideas!
 
If you’re looking to GROW your business in 2022 and beyond, click here to arrange an online overview. We can help grow your revenue, and help train and brand your stations and your account executives as professional marketing consultants.
 
There’s never any pressure. If you decide it’s not for you, we’ll just call it a good conversation. I’ll bet we’ll both learn something and will have made a new friend!

The Name is the Game!

Do you have an advertiser who is infatuated with their digital “expert” or agency?
        
Here is a question you can suggest they ask their digital consultant or advisor, “What is the most common word internet searchers use to find your business?”
        
If they’re honest, the answer won’t be a keyword or other SEO tactic. They’ll have to admit that the most common word used for consumers to find them through search is their name or their business name.             
                 
Digital experts, at least honest digital experts, will tell you that 70% of people doing an online search will click on a name they are familiar with. Only 7% will click on the biggest or first ad they see, and 23% will click on both.
 
Your business name IS the most powerful tool they have when it comes to SEO!
        
You can bet that until they were asked, they did not tell your advertisers about the role of branding & creating pre-search name awareness in driving more online traffic.
        
There is no substitute for name recognition when consumers search for a business online. And there is no disputing the intrusive power of broadcast advertising in creating top-of-mind awareness and name recognition.
 
Digital and Social are big, no question about it, but they cannot create TOMA (Top-of-Mind Awareness) like intrusive broadcast media.
        
That’s not to say there is no value to some of the online tactics implemented to capture more leads. But if the advertiser’s marketing has been effective, nothing will trump name recognition and nothing builds name recognition like RADIO!
        
Our local TOMA (Top-of-Mind Awareness) Surveys consistently validate the power of broadcast advertising to create top-of-mind awareness and drive more online traffic, leads, and sales.  
        
Click here to arrange an online meeting to discuss how conducting a TOMA study in your market will increase your local revenues.

A Little Dose of Good!

 
A friend of mine, whose opinion I value very much, sent this video to me the other day and I thought it was worth sharing.
 
In a world that seems divided, it’s a message like this that affirms there is a LOT MORE good than there is bad.
 
The video is short but powerful! I hope it inspires you and everyone that watches it to look for and see the good in people and in our world, more so than the bad.
 
 
Thanks for sending this to me Jim!
 
Keep Smiling!

What’s the Purpose of THIS Call?

As media reps, we make sales calls for a variety of different reasons. Depending on the stage of your relationship with a client, each call has a different purpose.
 
At the beginning of the sales process, we make cold calls to introduce ourselves. Beyond cold calls, we make calls to conduct a Q&A or CNA. We make presentation calls, follow-up calls, and calls simply to keep in touch.  Once the person becomes a client, we make service calls. The types of sales calls and reasons for calls go on and on.
 
Prior to every call we make, whether in-person, via the phone, email, or text, we should consciously ask ourselves this question, “What do I want to accomplish with this call?”. Doing so will put you in the “right frame of mind” so that you know exactly what it is you want to accomplish.
 
Regardless of the level of importance, every call should have a clear objective. For some calls, it may simply be to set up the next meeting or get them to say “yes” to considering radio or whatever else you might be offering. Other objectives might be to get them to agree to consider a promotion, add another station, increase their frequency, approve a script, and start the schedule. The reasons are endless, but your objective for each call should be to get you to your next step. 
 
It seems obvious, after all, you know why you’re going on the call, but if you consciously (physically and mentally) ask yourself the question before EVERY call, “What do I want to accomplish with this call?”, I can assure you that you’ll have a better understanding of what you want to achieve and how to go about it. 
 
By doing so, every call from this day forward will be more productive.