Tag Archives: Ideas

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!

How to “Upsell” More

The most common time to upsell a current client is at renewal time. While this is an opportune time to do so, it’s not the only time that we should be looking to upsell.

As media reps, it’s our job to look for opportunities to help our clients grow their business.

The question is why don’t we upsell more? We have found there are two primary reasons; one, we’re afraid to ask for the additional dollars while the client is already spending money with us, and two, we don’t have a reason to ask for additional dollars!

The key to overcoming both reasons can be summed up with one word, IDEAS!

All business owners really want from their media rep is “ideas”. Ideas to help them grow their business. If you can bring a good idea to them, they will spend the money to engage that idea! Even if they don’t have the money in their budget, they will find the money if the idea is strong enough!

The ideas can come in the form of a sales event or in-store promotion. It can be a great creative idea that will enhance and make their current campaign stronger. It can be a cross-promotion with another client or your radio station. If it’s an idea that will help them grow their business, present it to them, chances are they will buy it!

One last key to successful upselling is that you don’t just “tell” them the idea, but rather you present it to them in a “formal presentation”. Explain your “idea” in detail. Lay everything out from beginning to end and show them what the successful outcome looks like.

If you want to upsell more and help your clients more, come up with more “Ideas”!  Ideas are the answer to upselling!

I love to help come up with ideas, so if you ever need help, reach out and let’s talk!

Stop Blaming New Media

What’s New?

I’m hearing more and more stations grumbling about the loss of revenue as advertisers switch to new media.
But maybe it’s not new media to blame…. maybe it’s ‘old’ media.
Advertising, by nature, is supposed to be dynamic, exciting, fresh and even somewhat adventurous.
If you haven’t presented anything ‘new’ to your clients recently, perhaps your clients are just plain tired of same-old, same-old.
Look at each of your clients and ask yourself, “When was the last time the client was excited about something new I presented?”
New ideas?
New promotions?
New schedules?
New research?
New strategies?
New creative?
Maybe it’s time for you to ‘re-new’ your advertiser relationships. Sometimes we seek change for change’s sake, even if what we’re doing has been working.

 

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