(By Rick Fink) Are your clients buying from you because you have the lowest prices, highest ratings and because they “kind of” like you? Or do they buy from you because they trust you and you bring the most knowledge and value to their business?
Business owners who make advertising decisions are no different from consumers buying products and services. There are two types of buyers: “Transactional”, those who buy on price and perceived values, and then there are “Relational”. They make decisions based on emotions and relationships.
Yes, “liking you” is an emotion, and on some level, they need to like you before they’ll buy from you, but they will never buy as much from you as they possibly could. “Liking you” is one thing, but only when they fully believe and trust that you bring value to their business will they commit at the highest level.
Chris Lytle, the author of The Accidental Salesperson, says, “If you become known for what you know instead of what you sell, buyers will come to you for help and advice instead of the lowest price.” The good news is that they will pay more for your knowledge than they will for just the product!
The question is… other than experience, how do you present yourself as a knowledgeable, professional, and trustworthy rep? A big part of the answer is “time”. It doesn’t happen overnight. In fact, it’s a never-ending, ongoing process. If you only rely on your conversations with your clients and prospects, it’ll take even longer. You must do something about it.
Lytle further explains, “To become known for what you know, you have to actively market your knowledge instead of your product.”
There are several ways you can actively market your knowledge. Here are a few thoughts and ideas:
- Create your own website
- Public speaking – Offer to give talks to groups, organizations, and clubs
- Newsletters – Create one each week/month and send to all your prospects and clients
- Paid Media – Buy space on city buses, benches, billboards, direct mail, or your own stations if management will allow
- Create a handout – Tell your story, list business categories that you have worked with and even popular campaigns you have created or helped create, list educational things you have accomplished like workshops, seminars, books, and lastly, show testimonial letters from clients.
- Attend seminars and share
The old saying, “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care” is true. However, the business owners that have the greatest potential ultimately want to work with and spend their advertising investment with the rep who has the most knowledge.
As they say, “Knowledge is power, and the more knowledge you are perceived to have, the more people will look at you and your company as the ‘experts’.”
Our weekly SoundADvice program is designed to do exactly what we mentioned in this article. It will help position your radio station and/or individual reps to be known as the knowledgeable advertising experts in your market. There are other values to it as well. To learn more about the minimal pricing and the entire SoundADvice program, click here to arrange a short phone or video call with Rick to discuss.
Here’s a testimonial from a long-time SoundADvice client:
“Good morning, Rick. Thank you for the scripts. We record them every week featuring a different sales team member and they are being well received by clients. We had a local body shop that had pulled his 15+ year consistent annual ($XX,000/year) at the start of all this COVID craziness. A couple of weeks ago he called our team member to have him come back in to talk about getting back on because he said he and his staff have been listening to the SoundAdvice messages and they really speak to them. Great stuff!”
To see more testimonials on the power and effectiveness of the SoundADvice program, go to our website: https://ensmediausa.com/soundadvice.
NEVER Stop Learning – Get Better Every Day!
Rick Fink from ENS Media (www.ensmediausa.com) can be reached by phone at 605-310-2062 or e-mail at [email protected]
