Knowledge is power and the more knowledge you have about the clients on your list the better.
Do you use index cards, manila folders or electronic data base software to keep and store information on your accounts? Any system will work but the idea is to have a system and keep it current. Every little tidbit of information should be recorded and filed away. Birthdays, anniversaries, spouse names, children’s interests and your client’s hobbies including golfing, hunting and music are valuable opportunities to take your relationships to higher levels.
The next time you drop off two free concert tickets to a client try this … Leave the George Straight tickets at the station and deliver two tickets to Lady Gaga for your client’s 14 year old daughter and you’ll have a client for life. When your client least expects it, arrange dinner and a limo ride for their wedding anniversary. A subscription to Golf Digest will set you back $14.95 but is a very nice thank you gesture for your new 52 week order. People have passion for the oddest things like collecting frog statues, exotic empty beer bottles, Christmas ornaments, baseball cards … My thing is Frank Zappa. I love anything and everything about Frank Zappa.
I’m sure there are no reps in your sales department doing this let alone your market … It’s a very powerful sales concept and a valuable tipping point in establishing you as a class act that really cares.
December 15th, 2009
admin
Professional sports teams all enjoy the Home Court Advantage and it shows in the statistics. The Home Team wins a high percentage of games (NBA 59.8%, NFL 56.5%, NHL 55.4% and MLB 54.8%.) When you go the prospects place of business to make the big presentation, you are working at a disadvantage. Whenever possible, get the client to come to your Radio/TV Station.
Invite your prospects to a fun afternoon of entertainment including a limo ride to the station, an informative tour of your facilities and let them say “Hi” to their friends and family over the airwaves. Finally, serve them a catered lunch in your conference room while you make the presentation. This is just what we did in Grand Rapids, Michigan with 21 different prospects and all 21 clients bought a jingle and a 52 week marketing program.
Use your Home Court Advantage with key accounts whenever possible … You will be in charge of the meetings, there will be no distractions and your clients will like the way you treat your customers.
Tom Hopkins teaches sellers to tap into all the human senses whenever possible when making a presentation … Sight. Hearing. Touch. Taste. Smell. Intuition.
When you make formal client presentations follow the advice of Tom Hopkins. Your written proposal should be neatly typed and import the clients logo into the paperwork (Sight.) Sound will always spice up a radio sales presentation so make sure to present some audio including a station demo and client spec spot (Hearing.) I present my audio with a set of Bose Computer Music Monitor Speakers and I let clients work the sound volume controls (Touch.) A quick stop at Starbucks before the presentation is always a nice gesture (Taste. Smell.) And Finally … The all-time greatest close line … “Mr. Obama, if you have a good feeling in your heart about my presentation, you should join our family of clients. When can we get started? (Intuition.)
The more senses you work into your presentation, the better your odds are of making a sale. This is very sound theory from Tom Hopkins and it works!
I had some fun last week telling my radio friends in Montana about “The Right And Left Theory.” “The Right And Left Theory” is a very powerful sales strategy and will triple your sales in the New Year if you stick with the program … Starting January 1, 2010.
Very simple … When you make calls call, visit the clients neighbor on the right and then stop in to meet the client to the left. Keep a stack of sales materials handy including business cards and a nice collection of station success stores. When you cold call on the neighbor to the right, drop off the materials and schedule an appointment with the person that owns the business. Do the same with the neighbor to the left … The strategy will instantly triple the number of prospects you see on a daily basis and will triple your sales for 2010.
There is no denying the logic … Your 33% closing ratio guarantees that you will triple your sales with this program. This works … give “The Right And Left Theory” a test run through the end of the year and it’ll be part of your daily routine by New Year’s Eve!
I’ve always made it my business to be the first one in the office every morning. There are many advantages to starting your day early. Here are five great ones:
1. The office is quiet and you can really concentrate on planning your day.
2. The computers, copy and fax machines are all your’s.
3. Knocking out a batch of prospecting emails early morning can really add up over the days and weeks.
4. Business owners are always in the office early morning without receptionists and gatekeepers.
5. Starting your day at 7:00 AM instead of 8:00 AM gives you an extra six and a half weeks of selling time over the course of the year.
When the other AE’s in the department are hitting the snooze button, you’re building your account list. Starting your day an hour earlier is a little tipping point that will yield you very big results.
Roadblocking has always been a secret weapon for AE’s and Clients.
Roadblocking is a method of scheduling a week, a day or even a daypart with heavy frequency while keeping within a limited budget. The concept is pretty simple … set up a Marketing Roadblack so there’s no way for your listeners to get around it. They will hear the heavy frequency of commercials and they will respond to a good offer.
A restaurant launching a new Sunday Brunch sets up a Roadblock on your stations Saturday 3:00 PM – 12:00 Midnight ROS. Make sure the copy reads about limited seating and reservations required. The trick to making a Roadblock campaign successful is consistency. The client needs to stick with the program for 52 weeks to make this work.
Growing up in the North East meant eating spaghetti on Wednesday’s. Prince Spaghetti saturated Radio/TV on Wednesday’s only and it really worked. Everyone was trained to eat spaghetti on Wednesday because “Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti Day.”
Roadblocking is a very effective strategy especially for clients on a limited budget. Try it … It really works!
Do you specialize in a particular area? The superstars in Radio/TV sales have an area of expertise. It’s good policy to go after one business category with a vengeance. Let’s say you have a personal hobby of taking pictures. You love photography and everything about it. Doesn’t it make sense to call on every camera shop in your market?
Think of the potential when you start calling on manufacturer reps from Minolta, Cannon and Kodak. You’ll be in a great position to brainstorm product moving promotions because you’ll know what motivates photographers. You’ll love organizing Photo Contests, Camera Shows and Workshop Seminars for camera people.
What’s your passion? Sports, Music, Gardening? How about Computers, Electronics or Home Improvement? Whatever you’ll find yourself doing in your spare time will help you generate more income with your career. Look for a category to specialize in and go after that business with reckless abandonment.
Let’s take a look at an idea that will increase your monthly billing by 10% … guaranteed!
The concept is to create additional billings with your overnight inventory. America’s best Radio Stations use the system, “Double Your Impact For 10% More” and it’s very difficult for clients to refuse. Simply ask for the 10% increase and your clients will say “Yes” most of the time.
The moment your client agrees to your proposal, invite him to double the schedule on the overnight shift for just 10% more. 50 commercials per month becomes 100, 100 becomes 200 and so on … The extra schedule runs 12:00 Midnight through 5:00 AM. It’s really too good to pass up!
Remember these two facts and repeat them word for word to your new clients … 1) According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, 40% of all adults are exposed to overnight radio over the course of the week, and 2) 10% of the work force works the overnight shift. Doctors, nurses, truckers, convenience store clerks, police and firemen, lab technicians … While we’re sleeping, the overnight is drive time to 10% of the work force.
This is a surefire concept that generates a guaranteed 10% increase to your billing … try it, it works!
We spend all our time in Radio/TV Sales telling clients and prospects to market their services …. “Marketing pays! If you don’t market, your competitors will! How can you grow without going after new business?”
Do you market yourself? Do you market your services over and above your prospecting telephone calls? There are several ways you can spread the word even without a marketing budget. One of the most efficient and effective ways is with your own sales newsletter. Deliver your newsletter to clients and prospects via email and it’s free. Speaking at Rotary Clubs and Chamber functions are great opportunities to share your ideas with influential business people … and again, there’s no charge. Don’t forget, your own company owns Radio and/or TV Stations … that’s valuable airtime to market and promote your services. There’s not a Sales Manager in America that won’t free up some unsold inventory for an idea that will increase sales.
WCBS, News Radio 88 in New York runs their own monthly Business Breakfast Workshops. Bring in guest speakers for your Business Breakfast Workshops on topics from recruitment to computer training and promote them for free over your airwaves and internet streams. You can video the Workshops, YouTube them on your Web Site and have the video stream sponsored by your local Staples or Office Max. Market your workshops with email and billing inserts, with no additional costs. A Monthly Series of Business Breakfast Workshops will position your stations as the business focused leader in your market. There are 100+ Radio/TV Stations in the New York City Market but when asked which station cares the most about local direct business … WCBS News Radio 88 wins every time. Finally, don’t forget to sell a corporate sponsor for your Business Breakfast Workshops to companies like American Express or Pitney Bowes.
You can and should market your services … just like you tell your clients and prospects!
Let’s take a look at a concept that can help you close contracts with new accounts … Gift With Purchase Programs. GWPP’s are easy to set up and prospects love them.
Start by collecting incentives from your current accounts … You’ll need incentives with lots of value to the person getting them but literally no value to the person giving them. Free passes to a local waterpark, tickets to a minor league baseball team, and sneak peeks at a new movie premier are all good examples. We’re conditioned to turn these incentives into programming but let’s hang onto some of these for our GWPP’s.
Offer the 100 free passes to the local waterpark to a local bathing suit retailer in exchange for a paid 13 week marketing schedule this spring. Drive your listeners to the swimsuit store to make a purchase and pick up their free pass to the waterpark. A point of purchase display at the register in an acrylic counter stand is a very professional touch and you can put your stations logo on it, too.
An auto repair shop would jump at the chance to team up with the local baseball club … And what home theater dealer wouldn’t want to cross promote with a new major motion picture from Hollywood?
GWPP’s demonstrate your creativity and marketing savvy … while your competitors are hawking spots, you’re bringing interesting promotional opportunities to the marketplace.
