Sell on every call

I was in the field with a rep who was responding to a phone in lead. The customer, a new florist shop, had called in to place "a grand opening ad." The rep went in sure of a sale so he decided to coast. After introducing himself he launched in to a discussion of what type of an ad they wanted and what they wanted to say. He bypassed the discovery phase of the call and asked no questions about their business. I believe this is bad practice as the call did not teach him anything about the customer's goals or plans. He also did nothing to build his relationship with the customer. He was functioning as an order taker rather than as a consultant. A good salesperson sells on every call. A good sales call leave the sales person and the prospect with a better understanding of what the other has to offer and builds their relationship. A "Kiss Me" lead is tempting but can lead to a quick sale instead of a long term business relationship.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

What do they expect to pay

One of the managers I work with recently traveled from Pittsburgh to Boston on the "Mega Bus." The Mega Bus is a low price inter city transit company that advertises prices as low as $1. My friend's wife waited too long to get his ticket so he had to pay the exorbitant price of $3 for the trip to New England. What I found interesting was that his wife was upset at having to pay $2 more than she expected. Two dollars is hardly worth complaining about but she had expected to pay only $1. This is why you should avoid giving a customer a price too early in the call or start with a small ad. You will never be able to get the customer to raise the price once they have a "set point" price in mind even if you can prove the value of your product is worth the expenditure. Hold off offering a price until you have identified the customer's needs and established the value of your product.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

Consistant varety

Today I saw a piece on CBS Sunday morning about the team of artists would design the "Google Doodles." These are the creative treatments of the Google logo that they feature on their home page. This is a good illustration of what I call "consistent variety." We tell our customers about the benefits of consistency but the downside is that the ad can get boring. Like the billboards we pass everyday, after the first time or two they fade into the landscape. I like to use a standardized format for an ad using a logo and the same basic layout. This makes the ad easily recognizable to the regular reader. The key is to change our the offer to keep the ad fresh. Using this combination helps the reader to find the ad quickly and makes them to want to find it by offering them something new. If it is good enough for Google, it is good enough for your advertisers.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

Quote of the week

"Discipline is remembering what you want" David Campbell

This quote is deceptively simple. It is about how we achieve our goals, one action at a time. Lots of people go to great pains to set goals but then file them away and never act on making them become reality. We must constantly remind ourselves of our goals and take myriad small steps toward them every hour of every day. As Mr. Campbell says we must discipline ourselves to keep our goals in sight.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Trivia Questions What business is the most profitable?

Here is a question. What small business is the most profitable? The answers--Dentists. Typically a dental practice brings in over a half million dollars per year and has a profit margin of 17 or 18%. While setting up a practice is an expensive undertaking, in the long run this is a very lucrative field. More and more dentists are promoting cosmetic services such as tooth whitening and enamels. Make sure you don't overlook dentists when working you're territory. Newer practices are particularly good prospects as they are building their patient base and sill paying for their overhead. Other good targets are pediatric dentists, cosmetic practices and orthodontists since they constantly need to replace the patients they have completed.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Happy Halloween

Halloween is just two months away. Halloween used to be a children's holiday but the grown-ups have taken it away for themselves. Halloween is the #2 adult party event just after New Years Eve (Taking the #2 spot away from St.Patrick's Day). Now is the time to get in front of party and costume store owners. You should also contact the bars and clubs in your area to talk about their plans for the holiday. Don't forget to talk to municipalities about community events, parades, costume contests etc. If you start working these accounts now, you'll beat the competition to the punch and get a head start on this lucrative business.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Start with a story

One of the best ways to break the ice and start a call is to use a testimonial story. This allows you to start with a benefit supported by a success story. I often start a call by saying "We work with a number of businesses just like yours and they've been getting great results. Can I ask you a few questions to see if we might be able to do the same for you." You can also use something like "I'd like to show you some examples of what's been working for them." Using a third party story at the beginning of a call is a great way to engage the customer in conversation.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Sell Step by Step

Sales is a process. By managing the process you can increase your chances of success. Throughout my sales career I have used the following steps to sell advertisers

1. Call opening (Engage the prospect)
2. Probing (Uncover needs)
3. Paraphrase (Restate customers problem)
4. Solution (Sell the customer in principle)
5. Close (Ask for the order)
6. Handle Objections (Can occur at any point)

I will discuss these steps in detail in future blogs.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Quote of the week

Well I am back from my vacation in Central Pennsylvania with my wife and my grandson. While in the Lancaster area we stopped at a Mennonite farm stand to buy some peaches. This week's quote comes from a sign I saw in the farm stand:

Today's Special

So is tomorrow!

This sign brought a lot of smiles to the faces of the tourist/shoppers browsing the fruits and veggies. It expresses an outstanding way to see the world.. Everyday is special when we adopt the right attitude. If doesn't matter if you are a Mennonite farmer or an advertising sales rep, it is up to us to live special lives, one day at a time.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Don't forget R & R

Our business is addictive, sometimes we get so wrapped up in deadlines and hitting our numbers that we forget to take a break. Stephen Covey talks about the P/PC balance. P stand for production and PC stands for Production Capability. If we stay focused on productivity, staying constantly on the go, we put our selves at risk for the negative effects of stress and burnout. Every now and again we need to step away, and take a break. We need to do something completely different. The change of pace wipes our minds clean and gives us a new perspective on our jobs as well as our lives. This restores our PC, our productive capability. To this end I will not be blogging for the next few days. I will be taking my grandson away for a few days and I plan to forget all about work.

Keep Smiling Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B

Weekly Quote

"It is very clever to hide one's cleverness"--Francois Le Rochefoucauld

As sales people sometimes it makes sense to play dumb. If you come on to a customer as the expert that knows everything about their business you may cause them to clam up. The best way to get prospects talking is to ask them about their business. Even if you've worked a hundred similar businesses each customer is unique. It is better to listen to their ideas than to try to impose your ideas on them, Often playing dumb is the smartest thing you can do.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Wee

Small retailers need our help

There was an interesting article in today's USA Today (August 11, 2010) about the effect of the recession on small retailers. The article states that the economic contraction has hurt small local retailer much harder than their big box competitors. It also talked about small retailers inability to locate in the best shopping areas. Check this article online. It offers some good conversation starters and highlights the importance of advertising. Our papers permit small retailers to be "Big Frogs In A Little Pond" and by attracting people to their locations we can help them offset their less favorable locations. In short we level the playing field for the little guys.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Variety is the spice of sales

Routines are a good thing. They are comfortable and help you to be effiecient. Breaking your routine is also a good thing. If you take a different route when driving through your territory you may see a business opportunity that you would otherwise overlook. If you start earlier or work later than usual you may meet some prospects that aren't around during your normal business hours. If you mix up the questions you ask on a call and use different approaches you may get different results. As they same the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Changing a few things in your regular routine may generate some new business. Variety is truly the spice of selling.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

What's important to the reader?

I was helping a rep work out the copy for a customer's ad. The customer felt that the headline should tell readers "Family owned since 1949." The customer was very proud of the longevity of his business but is this a good lead for the ad? Do readers really care how long a business has existed? Will they look at the headline and think "So What!" or even worse think "They're probably out of date." An ad should speak to the reader and tell them how our customer's business can help them. Our job is to create the best ad for our clients. Sometimes we need to confront our customers and challenge their assumptions. Remind them that we are the advertising experts and that we know what we're talking about. They can still tell people they've been in business for 60 years, but they need to tell customers why they are better than the competition if they want to survive for another 60.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Are you a part of the business community

Since we cover the entire metro market, my company belongs to dozens of different Chambers of Commerce and similar local business groups. Some of our reps never attend, other religiously go to the meeting, eat the bad chicken and leave. Our best reps actively participate in these groups. They join committees and give some of their time to the organization. If properly used these memberships can can lead to some serious sales and referrals. If you are not participating, your membership dues are money down the drain. Sales is about relationships and working with people on Chamber projects is a great way to build relationships. Typically the people who get involved in these projects are the most successful, best connected persons in the community. Even if these people come from industrial firms that are unlikely to advertise a word from them will open many doors that may be closed to you. The key is to actively take part, showing up is not enough.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Quote of the week

"Optimists do not wait for improvements, they achieve it."

Paul Von Keppler

I like this quote because it is about "making it happen." Being an optimist is a lot more than believing that things will turn out right. Optimists roll up their sleeves and work toward making things right. Pessimistic people think that optimists are clueless, that they are in denial, that they are out of touch with reality. In truth optimists are true realists, they see the obstacles in their path but work hard to remove them or to find an alternative route around them.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

"Vivid" Description

I am currently reading Dan Arieley's "The Upside of Irrationality". I have read some of his other books and I always find his information interesting and useful. In his new book he touches on two things which make messages memorable. Number one is the message should be personal, it should discuss a recognizable individual. We remember people, The second point is that the more vivid the description, the more memorable the message. Specific detail makes the story believable and burns the story into the listeners brain. So the best way to get a point across is to tell a detailed story about an individual.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim B.

The rolling classroom

As sales people we spend a great deal of our time in the car. You can put this time to productive use by listening to audio books in the car. Sales training legend Zig Ziglar termed this "Automobile University" I can listen to 1 1/2 to 2 books per week during my travels. About half of these books are sales/business related and the other half are histories or biographies (which also offer lessons for sales people. This means that I listen to 50 or more business books in a year. The old proverb knowledge is power is especially true in sales and this has helped me to become a better sales person and a better manager. I get most of the books I listen to at my local library though their are online book rental companies. As Benjamin Franklin said "An investment in knowledge, pays the best interest."

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch

Sellabrate National Coupon Month

September is national coupon month. With the change in the season and the back to school rush coupon redemption peaks at this time of year. This is a great time to run coupon sections or promotions. Remind your customers that most people who redeem coupons actually spend more than customers who don't. This is a great time for advertisers to ramp up their revenue.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling.

Thanks Jim Busch

What are you talking about?

There are 3 things that are generally discussed on a sales call, your publication, your customer's business and the customer's customers. Most sales people spend most of their time talking about their publication which I believe is a serious mistake. If you want to keep the client engaged, you need to talk about what interests them--their business and their customers. These subjects also should be of supreme interest to you, because we are there to help their business by attracting more customers. The more you know about these things the more likely you are to make a sale. Most reps spend most of their time talking about their publication because this is what they are most familiar with. You should only talk about your product in relation to how it can help the customer. The only thing the customer want to know about your paper is how it can help their business and solve their problems. Pay attention to what you talk about on a sales call and keep the focus on the customer.

Keep smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks Jim Busch