Last week I read a cartoon in one of the trade journals that said; “In a desperate fight for ratings, Survivor producers have returned to marketing. In their next series, Management Consultants, Creatives, Researchers, and Media people battle each other for dominance. The losers will forfeit their egos and the winners become insufferable.”

          The joke reminded me how integral my attitude towards ‘losing’ has been to my career. You see, if someone doesn’t buy my proposal, I have always conditioned myself to believe THEY are the losers, not me.

          And it’s true. If you have integrity, identify and understand your clients’ problems and opportunities, and present the best possible solutions and ideas to them, it really is they, who lose when they say “no”.

          Understanding and believing this not only helps you to present more confidently, it also prevents you from having to “forfeit your ego”.

          How many of you remember the movie Armageddon? It’s the movie where Harry, played by Bruce Willis, and a bunch of rag-tag oil drillers are drafted to head off into space to blow up a huge asteroid which is headed for a collision with earth.

          Just as these rough necks are sitting in their rocket ready for take-off, one of them turns to Willis and says, “Hey Harry. Did you know we are sitting on two million pounds of rocket fuel and a nuclear bomb in equipment which was supplied by the lowest bidder? How’s that make you feel?”

          Everyone from Mercedes Benz to Rolex knows that your image is impacted by your pricing policy.

          How do you think your clients feel about your station if you are, “the lowest bidder?”

          I’d rather be saying “I’m the most expensive, proud of it, and worth every penny.”

          Let me ask you, which of the following sales people would leap over tall buildings for you?
Sales Person A, who has  “an intense liking or enthusiasm.”
Or
Sales Person B, who has “a psychological state with regard to dependability and confidence.”
         The description of Sales Person A came from the dictionary definition of passion. Sales Person B’s description came for the definition of morale.
          I think the answer is obvious….it is sales person A, the one driven by the passion to win, who will take you to new heights.
          Very often when I’m dealing with amiable-type sales managers they place “staff morale” or “keeping the staff happy” at the top of their list. And there is no disputing that you can not win in an environment which breeds low morale.
          But often, what appears to be good staff morale manifests itself into contentment, comfort zones and even complacency. If “comfort” is our goal we will not win the hard battles.
          True leaders have learned how to stretch their people beyond their comfort zones and ignite their team’s passion to succeed.
          Pushing the envelope and causing change invariably creates momentary discomfort. Staff resistance to that discomfort can be misinterpreted by staff and by management as poor morale.
          Picture the morale in the dressing room right after your team won a game that was easy to win. Now picture that same team in the dressing room after they won a game against all odds.
          In the end, it is passion that motivates us to succeed. Nothing is more rewarding than achieving what we thought could not be done. Just being “dependable” is not very uplifting.
          If good morale is your only driving force, be on the lookout for comfort zones and complacency.  
          When there is passion in your building, great morale will always follow.

P.S. It is unrealistic to think you’ll ever have a team completely comprised of A players. And having some B players with “dependability and confidence”  is a GOOD thing……but let’s not confuse them with our A players.

Most of our media consulting projects begin with an eye-opening Marketing Audit.
      Our audits include an advertiser perceptual study, as well as sending “mystery shoppers” into your market to solicit presentations from our media client and all of their competitors.
      In the markets we audit, these four failings consistently rear their ugly heads:
1.       Not Reaching Decision-Makers
Media sales reps seldom make an effort to contact decision-makers.
Our mystery shoppers make it very clear that they are NOT the decision makers but — less than 20% of the media reps they meet make an attempt to get to the real decision-maker.
The other 80% rely upon the mystery-shopper “agent” to sell their product for them.
2.       Falling for Low Rates  
Competitor rates are seldom as low as our media-clients think they are.
Media reps appear to find it easier to persuade their sales managers that the competition is selling low than trying to sell prospects on established rates.
These line of least resistance reps fail to realize that clients have a vested interest in convincing them they can buy cheaper elsewhere.
3.       Failing to Build Trust
Most advertisers do not trust their media reps.
Our audits find that nearly 90% of advertisers feel their media reps are a little more than space or spot brokers. 
Our audits reveal that clients desperately want to find someone they can trust to help them make their advertising decisions……..perhaps that is why so many unqualified small ad agencies are able to thrive across North America.
4.       Cookie-Cutter Presentations
Our mystery shoppers clearly outline what they require from the media reps we contact.
More than 75% of the resulting “presentations” they see are generic media kits or off-the-shelf packages that do not address the criteria we prescribed. 
A shocking 11% of the advertising sales people we contact never make a presentation at all or fail to return our phone calls.        

          Opportunity is knocking!  If your organization can be the exception to our typical marketing audit by building a culture where sales people know how to reach real decision-makers, have rate integrity, build trust with prospects and make customer-focused presentations, there is undoubtedly plenty of room to increase your sales.       

          I had such an overwhelming response to last week’s Selling By Seminar, I felt I should clarify one point.
          Achieving buy-in from your sales staff to any company initiative is absolutely critical if you are to achieve long-term sustainable success.
          Please do not confuse your sales force’s attitude towards facilitating legitimate customer-focused seminars with the various revenue-generating sales pitches that are out there.
          Sales people with integrity will have moral difficulty attracting prospects to a sales pitch disguised as a seminar. The most professional sales people will also have philosophical difficulty selling your unsold inventory in “packages” or at deep discounted rates.
          If you are establishing an inventory-focused culture, designed to sell out at all costs, the aforementioned revenue-generating schemes will help you achieve your goals. And if that’s your goal, there is nothing wrong with the group sales-pitch approach.
          If, on the other hand, you are evolving a more customer-focused culture, then the only way you will achieve buy-in from your sales force to selling by seminar, is to facilitate legitimate customer-focused experiences.
          Remember the caution we highlighted in last week’s Selling By Seminar memo?
Caution: Never let your “seminar” degenerate into a sales pitch. The attendee will invite you to make a “sales pitch” if your seminar has been truly educational and enlightening.
The goal of the really great advertising seminar presenters is three-fold:
1.       To introduce your clients and prospects to proven concepts that will help them to grow their business with your medium.
2.       To introduce your sales staff to these same proven concepts so that focusing on results for your customers becomes a permanent and ongoing part of their culture.
3.       To establish your station and your account executives as business partners to your clients. 
The relationships that evolve in a customer-focused culture will result in your clients wanting to buy, rather than in your account executives having to hard-sell.