Renewal!
I recently had a conversation with a media rep who has been successfully selling radio for a little over two years. She indicated that she was renewing nearly 100% of her annual contracts, however, she was not having any luck at all in upselling her clients.
After probing with a few more questions, I asked her the ultimate question, “When and how are you starting the renewal process?” In this week’s topic, we will focus on the “when”. Like many reps, she explained that she makes her renewal presentations two to three weeks prior to the contract “end date”.
I then asked her why she had decided on this two to three-week time frame. Her answer, which matches many other reps that I’ve had this same conversation with, was “I don’t want to come across as being too pushy”.
I can understand her stance on this. I too will go to extra lengths to not come across as being pushy. However, I really cannot think of a situation where the timing of making a presentation will come across as being too pushy.
So, when should the renewal and upsell process begin? I would suggest that you “start” the process a maximum of 3 months out and a minimum of 2 months out. Why so far out? Let’s be honest, how many times have you approached your client saying you’d like to present next year’s plan and the first thing they say is, “I’m too busy. Let’s look at it in a few weeks”. They’ll say this or provide some other objection whether it’s three weeks or three months prior to the end of the contract.
When you started the process only weeks in advance of the contract date, how many times did the client ultimately end up saying, “Let’s just do what we did last year.”?
The fact is, if approached correctly, starting 2 to 3 months out will allow you to be less pushy than if you start only weeks in advance.
There is much more to the proper process of getting renewals signed on time, especially when asking for an upsell. We will save that for next week.
Until then, as you approach renewals of your current contracts, keep in mind, the early bird has a much better chance of catching the worm!
There are lots of little things that managers and sellers can do to improve their sales. One of the most overlooked things we do in sales and management is also one of the easiest things we can do to improve sales… yet it’s one of the hardest things for sellers to do.
I’m sure you’ve heard the old proverb, “It’s better to give than to receive”, and these…
“If you want something, give it.” – Deepak Chopra
“No one has ever become poor by giving.” – Anne Frank
“Life is a boomerang. What you give you get.” – Anonymous
“Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.” – Jim Rohn
“Don’t expect to receive if you are not willing to give.” – Anonymous
Giving is a GREAT lesson in all walks of our lives, but today I am talking about giving up accounts on account lists. Seems like an easy enough thing to do, right? Wrong!
One of the hardest things to get a media rep to do is to give up an account that is on his or her account list.
There are two main reasons why account list management is overlooked: First, to some, it doesn’t seem important and they believe it offers little return for their effort. Secondly, it ruffles media reps’ feathers like no other. Giving up an account, regardless of the last time they were called on, can oftentimes seem like asking a child to give up their favorite toy; they tend to throw a fit, promise to call on them right away and offer up every other excuse they can think of as to why they should keep the account.
In truth, there is really only one reason reps don’t want to give up an account. They fear someone else will get that account on the air, which in turn, would make them look bad.
Show me a station that actively and regularly moves accounts around and does it for the right reasons, and I will show you a successful, strong billing station.
It takes a little prodding and pleading to get media reps accustomed to giving up accounts. The key to getting them to buy into moving accounts around is getting them to understand that if everyone in the building is willing to give up accounts, ultimately, everyone will have fresh accounts to call on.
Ask your reps to work with you on this experiment. Keep track of the results on an individual and team basis. Once you can show the positive results, the task of managing accounts will become much easier.
“Give and you shall receive!” Not only are these good words to live by, but they are good words to use when managing account lists. This way, EVERYONE wins!