Tag Archives: Clients

Halftime Interview 2021

Wow! Where did the 1st half of 2021 go?

Over the holiday weekend, I read the book titled Talking To GOATs by the famed sports broadcaster/journalist, Jim Gray. It inspired me to write this week’s ENS on Sales using a sports analogy.

The following is a mock interview between a reporter and the GM or SM (coach) of a media sales team as they head back onto the field for the second half of the game/year.

Reporter: Hey coach, the game/year started pretty slow in Q1 as you were still comparing to pre-COVID numbers. What was your game plan for the first quarter? Can you tell us what happened?

Manager/Coach: We came into 2021 pretty optimistic, even though we were still in a state of uncertainty. The plan was pretty much the same as Q3 and Q4 of 2020. We knew that some business categories were doing great and others not so well. Our focus was to first see and help as many businesses as we possibly could.

Reporter: How about the second quarter (Q2) of this year? Did you change your game plan at all?

Manager/Coach: We did a little bit of adjusting. A lot of clients seemed to be searching for something new. We had to bring our best game and all our tools to the table, traditional media, digital, and we even implemented some promotions and events.

Manager/Coach: We experienced some losses but also some big wins too. Of course, we were going up against smaller comps. Even though the goal is to get back to pre-COVID numbers, a win is a win at this stage!

Reporter: What’s the current temperature of the business owners?

Manager/Coach: It varies, but one consistent thing is that they don’t want to buy advertising… they want IDEAS and they will buy if you have an IDEA that they believe will improve their traffic, and ultimately their sales.

Reporter: Going into the second half, what are your goals?

Manager/Coach: To Win and Win Big! I don’t mean by just beating the 2020 numbers. I mean by surpassing the numbers we were at in 2019, pre-COVID. It’s very doable, but we won’t get there unless we execute, work hard, and bring better ideas to our clients than our competitors are. 

Reporter: Anything else?  

Manager/Coach: You know, radio is in a great position to help these business owners. We just have to get out there and work hard. There are some real opportunities out there right now. Recruitment should be on everyone’s radar! But you need to execute it correctly or it’ll backfire on you. In addition, the combination of digital/social and radio can be very powerful. We just need to get out there and tell our story to anyone and everyone willing to listen. Then Execute!

Reporter: Good luck with the second-half manager!

Manager/Coach: Thank you! Go Radio! 

At ENS Media, we wish everyone good luck as we start the second half of 2021.

We appreciate that you are a reader of ENS on Sales and we hope that you find the topics useful.

If you know of someone that you think would enjoy receiving ENS on Sales, click here and send us their email address. We will add them to our mailing list and send them an email letting them know that you suggested them.

Go Radio!

Increase Your Approval Ratings

In the political world, politicians are rated two ways, by approval ratings while serving their term, and then ultimately at election time when their constituents either vote to keep them in office or send them packing.

In our world, advertising sales, we too are rated by our constituents, better known as our clients and prospects. How they perceive you will ultimately determine whether they choose to do business with you in the future, continue to do business with you, or increase the amount of business they do with you.

So, what’s your approval rating with your clients and prospects, and what are you doing to ensure that it’s not only strong now, but growing stronger?

If the only things your clients ever receive from you are proposals and invoices, your approval rating is probably low. If so, at some point, they’ll use their voting power by saying “no” to you!

The key to creating and maintaining a strong approval rating is by being something more than just another media sales rep. Are you educating them? Are you a resource for them and their business? Do you bring value to their business? Do you care only about their advertising or do you show concern for their overall business?

When you walk through their doors, do they make excuses to not see you, try to hide, or try to put you off? Or do they stand up and greet you warmly knowing that you are there to help them and not just sell them?

One of the products that we offer at ENS Media is called SoundADvice. SoundADvice is designed to do exactly what we are talking about today. It’s a four-part e-Marketing program sent each week to your clients and prospects on your behalf. It includes the media rep’s photo and the station logos, positioning them and your stations as the “advertising experts” in your market.

SoundADvice covers a wide range of topics related to running a business. Topics such as employee motivation, hiring and firing, customer relations, promotions, sales, all forms of marketing and advertising, and everything else related to running a business. Nearly all issues have a well-disguised spin on radio and advertising that provides an opportunity for you to start a conversation with your clients and prospects.

If you are interested to learn how the SoundADvice program can help you and/or your sales team increase your approval ratings with your clients and prospects, and ultimately increase your sales, click here to see samples with brief explanations of each part.

To see the true test of how effective SoundADvice is and how it can help you, click here to see testimonials from sellers and managers.

For a more detailed explanation of the SoundADvice program, additional examples, and pricing, call (605) 310-2062 or email [email protected].

Annual Contracts – It’s Easy!

Whether you’ve been in the media sales game for six months or 60 years, one of the battle cries has always been, “Get more 52-week business on the books”.

There are two main reasons why stations don’t have more “52-week” business or annual contracts on the books. Before we discuss these reasons, and this may ruffle a few feathers, but I suggest being very careful with using the verbiage of “52 weeks”. Not only does it scare the business owner, but the media rep as well. Let’s be honest, for the most part, out of the small to medium-sized businesses we work with, a large majority cannot afford an “effective” 52-week schedule.

This isn’t to say that you should never present 52-weeks. If they have the ability, present away. Instead of referring to it as 52-week business though, try 12-month or annual contracts. It doesn’t sound nearly as long and is less intimidating to all involved.

So, back to the two main reasons why stations don’t have more 52-week advertising contracts on the books:

Reason #1: It’s simple, we don’t ask or present them. Rarely will a business owner say, “Instead of this 3-month schedule, can you show me what an annual agreement would look like?” A large majority of proposals presented to clients are anything but 12-months. Instead, we present monthly packages and schedules, quarterly packages, and if we get crazy, we might shoot for a six-month schedule. By simply preparing and asking for annuals, you are sure to increase the number you sell. Ask for them!

So why do we present more short-term proposals and contracts instead of 12-month or even 2-year contracts?

Reason #2: Media reps don’t have the confidence to ask. This can be attributed to many things, but I might suggest that the main reason is that they have not been taught or trained on how to make radio work, and therefore are hesitant to present something that they don’t believe in.

Taking action and implementing a plan to do something about reason #2, will dramatically affect reason #1.

Simply putting a 12-month schedule together is not the answer. To make radio or any medium work, we must first understand why and how to make it work.

Do you or your reps understand “strategy”, what it means, and how it can have a major positive impact on a business’ advertising success? Once they understand “strategy” their confidence will soar!

Do they understand how to craft a strong message or are they simply “writing ads” that have little impact on the consumer? Once they understand “strategy” they will be able to write and craft better messages.

There’s more to it than just strategy and message, but being able to talk the talk and walk the walk will increase the response to ads, and again ultimately increase the confidence of media reps.

Media reps that understand how and why radio works will have more confidence in their products and ultimately will present and sell more annual contracts.

It really is that easy!

ENS Media consults, coaches, mentors, and trains managers and account executives at radio stations across North America to increase their local direct sales. To learn how ENS Media can help increase your revenues and train your sales team, contact us.

Selling Your Sellers

No one ever said selling media, or specifically radio, was easy and if they did, they either have never done it or were lying!

Likewise, no one ever said being a sales manager was easy. As a sales manager, the list of duties, tasks, and expectations is long. But, the number one job of a manager, the task that will determine your success, is the job of maintaining, growing, and building your team of sellers.

Media reps by nature are beaten up on the streets every day. They’re being told and reminded regularly things like your rates are too high, I tried radio once and it didn’t work, nobody listens to radio anymore, and of course more prevalent today than in the past, the economy is tough.

Over time, some media reps can and will begin to believe all the claims and excuses the advertisers make, and because repetition sells, they begin to lose confidence in radio and ultimately themselves!

As a manager, you had to sell them on a career in radio sales and that part of your job never ends as you must keep selling them on the merits of radio every day. Here are a few things you can do to sell yourself and your sellers:

  • Actively search for and distribute positive news on the economy, business, and the strengths of radio.

  • Use advertiser testimonials on-air, online, in sales meetings and presentations.

  • Celebrate success! New clients, up-sells, saves, successful promotions! Make sure the entire staff is aware of how and why radio worked.

  • Provide tools and information that address the strengths and power of radio.

  • Motivate – Motivate – Motivate. The mind is a very powerful thing. Display motivational quotes around the office. Share and watch motivational videos. Encourage reading positive mental books.

Negatives should be handled behind closed doors and one-on-one. Positives need to be shouted from mountain tops and shared throughout the building!

Done only once in a while, all of these things will have little impact. Doing them on a regular basis, over-time can and will create the antidote needed to handle the constant objections and negative comments from clients and prospects.

“Having a positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances rather than  your circumstances having power over you.”

All of the training, education, systems, and tools in the world will never produce more than attitude, effort, and enthusiasm can generate.

Henry Ford said it best, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right”.

Many of the best media reps do this on their own. For the rest, it’s up to managers to help create a culture where they… “think they can!”

Create a culture where they “think they can” and watch the magic happen!

Two Ears and One Mouth

Whether these infamous words were spoken to you by your parents, a teacher, or a sales trainer, at some point we were all taught a lesson through this expression, “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. Listen more and talk less”.

Talking “too much” and not knowing when to “shut up” is one of the most common mistakes made in sales.

As true and profound as that statement normally is, this week, I am going against the grain a bit and suggesting that instead of listening more and talking less, you are going to need to talk a little more than normal to get your clients and prospects to say “Yes“!

Bear with me before you go and say, “He must have ‘lost it’ over the last few weeks”! Hear me out. In normal times I agree, talking less and listening more is nearly always the best recipe for success, but in case you have forgotten, we are in the “new normal”, at least for the time being.

Continuing from our last ENS on Sales topic, Ideas and Plans = Courage, we know that as you return to the streets and start making presentations, you will be greeted with a different tone.  That tone will be the sound of hesitance, stalling, reluctance, fear, anxiety, and trepidation, just to name a few!

Talking more does not mean rambling on about things that are not important. What it does mean is being prepared to go deeper than you potentially normally go. Be prepared to answer more questions and objections. This means you will need to be better prepared with testimonials, facts, and words of assurance. Instead of accepting the client’s first or second “no”, be willing to go the extra mile to explain that advertising is the right thing to do, all while answering their objections and calming their fears.

With all this said, there is another old expression that needs to be adhered to which is, “Don’t win the battle, but lose the war”. We are in business-to-business sales and there is always tomorrow!

The moral of this story is not to talk more, but rather, be more prepared. In the near future, it’s going to take better ideas, better proposals, better presentations, and a little more talking to get your clients and prospects to say, “Yes“!

Be Prepared!