"There ain't room enough for both of us in this town pardner"

The title of this blog posting reflects the way a lot of sales people look at their competition. Like most good sales people I am very competitive. I want to get every nickel of my customer's advertising budget. Unfortunately this is both unrealistic and unfair to my customers. I have competitors and though I believe my product is superior in many ways, I know they have readers and offer value to their customers.

Sometimes our competitive spirit gets in the way of making a sale. By giving the customer an either/or choice we sometimes force them to put all their eggs in the competition's basket. If some consumers are reading the daily paper and others are reading your shopper, it makes sense for the advertisers to split their budget between the two publications. When making a proposal I talk to the customer about allocating their budget between me and my competitor. This tells them that I am being honest with them and that I have their best interests in mind. It also gets them to think about the wisdom of giving their entire budget to the competitor. Most people are reluctant to change, they are more likely to buy if you don't recommend completely dropping their current program and making a 180 degree turn to buy from you. Advertising is not a zero sum game, advertisers should invest in any product which produces sales in excess of the money spent to advertise.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

OOPS--Part 2

As we discussed in yesterday's blog, mistakes sometimes happen when we place a customer's ad. When a problem occurs it is important to think about the customer's emotional state. How you handle the situation will have a big impact on your future relationship with the client. Here are some things to remember:

• No surprises! As we said yesterday, let the customer know about the problem as soon as possible. Hearing about it from you will show them that you are not trying to hide from the problem and that you have their best interest in mind. If they hear it from someone else they may feel embarrassed and betrayed.


• Apologize! Whether the problem is you fault or not, make a personal apology to the customer.


• Customers don't want explanations they just want if fixed! Don't waste time trying to explain what happened to the customer. Frankly they don't care and your explanation may come off sounding like an excuse.


• I'll make it right! Tell the customer exactly what actions you are going to take to correct the problem. The sooner you do this, the sooner you will have this problem behind you. An unresolved problem is like a festering wound, it will poison your relationship with the client.


• Go above and beyond! Give the customer some added value when doing a "make good" ad. This shows them that you value the relationship. If you give them free color of additional coverage, the customer may see a better response and purchase these items in the future.


• Take steps to see the problem doesn't occur in the future. Look at what you can learn from the incident. Can you system be improved? Do you need to add another quality check?

A prompt response to a problem can actually serve to strengthen a customer relationship. Problems give you a chance to demonstrate your concern to the customer. It is far better to have the customer saying, "My ad was wrong, but they took responsibility for the error and made it right for me." rather than "Those BLANKETY BLANK IDIOTS screwed up my ad."

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling

Thanks

Jim Busch

OOPS! What to do when their ad is wrong.

In a business as complicated as ours, mistakes are unavoidable. Try as we may, there are too many places for something to happen. How do we deal with a problem in a customer's ad? Many reps, especially good ones, are embarrassed and angry when this happens. It is not wise to let your emotions influence your reaction. I have seen reps who made a big deal out of a minor error in an ad, They made a mountain out of a molehill and the customer got caught up in their emotions. This can cost you a lot of money and in the long run, cost you customers. Look at the error logically. A incorrect phone number is a much bigger problem than a misspelled word in the body copy. Always try to be proactive and be the 1st one to let the customer know about the error. Apologize for the mistake and assure them that you will make things right. Maintaining a calm professional sets the tone for the entire interaction. More on this subject tomorrow.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

It's about time

Punctuality is on of the hallmarks of a professional sales person. When you tell a customer you will be there at 9 am, you should be there at 8:55 am. This sends a number of signals to your customers. If you do not arrive when you said you would--can they trust your other statements? Punctuality is an easy way to demonstrate that you mean what you say. Nothing is more valuable to a prospect than their time. This is what entrepreneurs bring to their enterprises. Most business people hate to waste time. If you make them wait or ,even worse, forget to show up, you've will have a very hard time getting back into thier good graces. The key to punctuality is keeping in touch with reality. Take a realistic look at your schedule before making an appointment. Allow enough time for each call and for travel time. If you schedule too tightly, you will find yourself trying to catch up all day long. You need to maintain a balance between trying to do too much and doing too little. Use gaps in your schedule to cold call or phone customers. If unavoidable circumstances put you behind schedule, call you customer to notify them or to reschedule. Do this early enough that they can make alternate plans.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

Shoot for the moon

When making a recommendation always ask for twice as much as you think the customer will buy. There are several reasons for doing this. First this gives you some room to negotiate. If the customer wants to cut back on the proposal, you can do so and still give them a program that will work. Once you quote a price, this becomes the "set point." This will position you smaller program as a "savings" in the customer's mind. Think about the late night info-mercials that say "you would expect to pay $100, many have paid $75...", this is exactly what they are doing. Selling "big" also protects you from leaving money on the table. Research has found that most sales people under-estimate what their customers are willing to pay. A bigger ad will give the customer dominance and a bigger space to tell their story. I believe that more advertisers are lost because they were undersold than were lost because their rep sold them too much. Larger program produce bigger more noticeable responses. You'll be surprised how many customer will respond with a "YES!" when you recommend an aggressive program.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

Weekly Quote

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Dr. Wayne Dyer

I have seen the effect described by Dr. Dyer's statement above many times in my life. I have seen it when a new rep takes over a territory. Where one rep focused on the challenges in their area, the other looked for opportunities. Consequently the first rep ran into nothing but problems, while the other was constantly discovering new business opportunities. We all look at the world through glasses colored by our life's experiences and attitudes. When we change our "glasses", we change the way the world looks. I choose to look at my world with a positive attitude.

Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!

Thanks

Jim Busch

Benefit Lacing

When making a recommendation don't forget to "Lace" a benefit to your statement. "Benefit lacing" is the practice of reminding a buyer why the purchase is a good idea when asking for a commitment. For example instead of saying "

You can have a 6 inch ad in the Anytown Shopper
for $100."

say

"We can put you ad in the Anytown Shopper which
reaches every home in Anytown, Sometown and Nowhere, a total of 30,000 homes. A 6 inch ad will allow you to list your weekly specials and tell people about your new showroom. This will only run $100 which is only 3/10 of a cent per
home."

You can see how reviewing the benefits and selling points when proposing a customer solution put the focus on the value rather than the cost of the program. This reassures the hesitant customer that they are doing the right thing and will greatly improve your closing ratio,





Keep Smiling, Keep Selling!





Thanks





Jim Busch