(By Loyd Ford) Every Monday I meet with my mentor. So much of our culture focuses on thinking differently. Well, Steve helps me to actually think differently about my work and life. Since I focus on programming and encouraging sales, we sometimes talk about sellers and sales managers.
Here is what he says about sellers and sales managers:
Salespeople focus on the transaction.
They get rewarded for selling ads.
Salespeople should be focused on building trust, connecting the customer to the salespersons’ consumer (consumer of the brand you are selling).
What About The Sales Manager?
He says, by the way, a great sales manager doesn’t manage sales.
The sales manager asks, “What makes the transaction work well for the customer?”
He or she makes sure the salespeople are effectively executing the right role.
Are local sellers motivated to do the basic things that build trust?
A sales manager impacts sales growth effectively by getting sellers to focus on the behavior of the customers they see.
These behaviors are “the things that cause a customer to purchase.”
By the way, your customer will always be representing their consumer (serving their consumer).
Think about kids and cereals advertised on Disney. Mom is the customer; the kid is the consumer.
A great sales manager works to give certainty that each seller is applying these three (3) things correctly regularly:
• Skill (do my sellers know how to solve problems, listen, make it easy for the customer to purchase my product?)
• Effort (are they putting enough effort and focused effort into selling?)
• Situation Facilitators (the company policies and technologies helping sellers make it easier for customers to buy?)
An effective sales manager wants “sellers to behave so they connect the potential client with the experience their customers have with their radio brand.”
The “Moment Of Buying”
• When does the customer become emotional? That is the moment of buying.
Top-flight sales managers know about the consumers and the customers of their brand or brands. These are two (2) different but equally important tribes necessary for successful radio companies today.
So, when does buying occur?
Customers Buy When They See The Power Of Consumer Experiences With Your Brand
What experience is your consumer having with your brand and can you help the customer see that?
Connect the transaction part of the business with the marketing, programming and the brand itself for the consumer.
What about your local cluster of stations?
• Are you leveraging the brand with the customer?
• Are you communicating that leverage of the brand to the salespeople?
Here is a blog about how to place your focus in a more effective space for actual selling:
https://profoncall.blogspot.com/2014/07/need-is-not-enough.html
When sellers are truly impactful at changing behavior of buyers, they share with potential clients what makes their brand important to the customer of the potential client.
If you want to read more, you can check out Winning In A Hostile Environment by Steven D. Caldwell, PhD.
Now, go impact some behavior!
Reach Loyd at 864.448.4169 or [email protected].
