(By Alec Drake) Does your sales team take advantage of all the assets you promote as a sales manager? Is your sales narrative worn out and tired? Where can you find common points of interest that lead to more vital communication skills?
Follow the money!
Step outside the typical media sales lane and examine how financial investment strategies can help define a 360-degree marketing approach for prospects. We are not discussing day traders, short-sellers, or derivatives; we are looking at a balanced investment approach that includes individual stocks, mutual funds, category sectors, and ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds).
Experts promote that you must diversify to minimize losses, and you can expect to see gains over time. This principle of diversity can apply when building an advertising strategy too. When thinking like a businessperson, we are not in sales; we manage risk for our customers and ourselves.
Similarly, reliance on one marketing path to deliver performance with an ad budget weakens results. It leads to renewals being at risk, just like putting all your money in one stock is risky. How do we translate these ideas into a story for our radio sales teams and prospects?
The “Media” Portfolio
In your next sales meeting, review how you can offer prospects a “balanced portfolio” of media assets. Use an investment strategy instead of selling tactics. Give your sellers a different point of view to help them communicate in business terms with prospects instead of media jargon. Build your portfolio of marketing assets and provide a prospectus on how each can work together to optimize return on their marketing investment.
Here is an example of how I might build a portfolio of assets as a baseline for sales marketing content.
Takeaways:
• Use abstract examples to shift the focus from your product to an experience familiar to your prospect. Illustrate examples where your prospect can find value based on a common thread.
• Use your facts, research, figures, and stats as support after you build an engaging narrative.
• The overriding goal is to find a shared appreciation for a value-based idea and bring this idea to life in your asset mix.
Alec Drake is President of Drake Media Group, a revenue management consulting company. Alec can be reached at [email protected], by phone at 214-529-2007 or visit his “Sales Success Library” for more helpful articles at drakemediagroup.com.
