I stole the title and the majority of this article from one of my favorite authors and philosophers, Seth Godin. If you haven’t read his books or his daily writings, I highly recommend that you do.
Seth’s article that I am sharing with you today, I thought, fits perfectly into the philosophy of not allowing yourself, regardless of your success, to think that you’ve learned everything you could, and to not stop trying and working to get better every day!
Below is a copy of his post. I’ve added the lessons that I took from his words of wisdom.
I hope you enjoy it!
“You’re not that good”
“These are the three problems with creative work.”
“The first is that when we begin, we’re not that good. This is a fact. The breakthrough for anyone on this journey is adding the word “yet”.”
“It doesn’t pay to pretend that we’ve figured it out before we have. It’s counterproductive to adopt a brittle attitude in the face of criticism. In fact, during this stage, “you’re not that good,” is precisely what we need to hear, because it might be followed with insight on how to get better.”
Lesson: When media reps start out, they are not that good, and we shouldn’t expect them to be. The fact is that it can be dangerous if we think they know more than we do. However, if we train them, they will get there. We just aren’t there, “yet”!
“The second is that once we start to build skills and offer something of value, some people are going to persist in believing that we’re not that good. Fine. They’ve told us something about themselves and what they want and need. This is a clue to offer our leadership and contribution to someone else, someone who gets what we’re doing and wants it. The smallest viable audience isn’t a compromise, it’s a path forward. Find the folks who are enrolled and open and eager. Serve them instead.”
“The danger is that when you hear rejection during this stage, you might come to believe that you’ve accomplished nothing, as opposed to realizing that you might simply be talking to the wrong people.”
Lesson: Not everyone will buy into what we say or suggest. Patience really is a virtue in radio sales. Find the people that have the desire to grow their business and work with them.
“And the third comes full circle. Because it’s possible that in fact, we’re not that good yet, and there aren’t enough people who want what we’ve got. We’re simply not good enough for this part of the market. So, we embrace that truth and begin at the beginning. We’re not good enough yet. We haven’t practiced enough, found enough empathy, understood the genre well enough and figured out how to contribute. Yet. At least for this audience.”
“And then we get better.”
Lesson: Never get too big for your britches. Regardless of how good we think we are, we can always get better. Even when you have been doing this for years, you still have room for more knowledge. Never stop searching and learning different and better ways to help your customers.
“Sooner or later, these three problems become three milestones on the road to making a difference and doing work we are proud of.”
Lesson: NEVER Stop Learning – Get Better Every Day!
The majority of business owners, managers, and media buyers that deal with media reps have heard nearly every song and dance there is about why they should buy from you and your stations.
What a lot of them haven’t heard is… the TRUTH!
If you are not doing so now, here are some of the TRUTHS about radio that we should be sharing and using in our presentations with the decision-makers:
“Good advertising won’t make a bad business a good business.”
“We suggest fixing the inside of your business before you consider advertising.”
“No one listens to our radio stations for the ads.”
“When the jock stops talking or the song ends, and the ads come on, people actually lean back and subconsciously turn their ears off.”
“The radio station is not the most important element in determining whether your campaign will be successful or not.”
“When we air sports on a music station, our audience goes down, not up.”
“Nobody cares that you’ve been the ‘servicing dealer since 1969’.”
“No, we are not the most listened to station in town.”
“Yes, we play more ads than the stations across town, but there is a reason.”
“It’s true, radio is not listened to as often as it once was.”
…and the list can go on and on.
Most business owners are savvy people, and they can sniff out the “bull” pretty easily.
Answering objections abruptly and making exaggerated statements will deteriorate trust. Telling the truth and having a logical explanation for your “TRUE” statement will dramatically lead to a greater level of TRUST in you.
I am not suggesting that anyone is intentionally lying about radio or their stations. However, in an effort to defend our industry, sometimes the reality or truth gets stretched and important details get left out in order to make the sale.
In sales, TRUST and KNOWLEDGE are two extremely powerful traits.
The list of “honest” statements above, in nearly all situations, is true. Understanding how and when to use these statements and how to follow-up with them can be extremely powerful. We suggest in your next training session that you go over these statements and rehearse when and how to use them.
If you have questions as to when and how to use or follow-up on any of these statements or others, simply give me a call.