(By Loyd Ford) We talk a lot about sales. Who doesn’t, right? Revenue makes the world go round.
How much does confidence and our own behavior change the amount of income we make and how can we bend our universe (our efforts, our contacts, our relationships) to grow revenue and income?
1. Economics impacts your business. What people you see every day and what people are thinking impacts your sales. It has to impact how you perform because in sales….it’s about the buyer. It isn’t about you. Only your effort is about you. Especially right now inflation and the question, “Will we go into a recession?” are dominating fear “under the bubble” (subconsciously) with business owners at all levels. This means listening is more important than it has ever been to your sales. You should be trying to access how people are really feeling about their current environment (instead of only what they say). Do this well and frame your pitches to solve those problems (or fears) and your sales will rise.
2. Everyone’s subconscious mind loves the status quo. Your subconscious likes predictability (and your potential clients are no different). While you’re trying to sell someone on the surface, their subconscious likes to know things that have worked. Are you answering, “Has this worked? Does this work?” In your work as a seller, you must be a communicator to the subconscious because the subconscious is often the faster decision-maker. You also have to be open to go in the direction that your client wants to go and forming your own pitch to place your product or services into the path they see creating success for themselves.
3. How you shape your conversation around price impacts how buyers see you, your value and the value of your product. Be careful with presentation of price, but stop being afraid of it. If you want to make your life easier, you will form your pitch to build value for the subconscious (There’s that word again). Framing is about how you say something. Often, we run across someone who says advertising doesn’t work or radio doesn’t work or digital doesn’t work for them. When that happens, what you do next is critical. If you can take a beat (don’t respond immediately but let that moment pass so the potential client has a moment to question their own doubt), you can then ask them questions about what they tried. Then, ask them if there was a strategy attached and a goal. Then, you can share how what you have is different, has a strategy, a goal and – hopefully – you will share that this kind of advertising solution has a high percentage of clients who swear by it in other markets, in businesses just like theirs and that other clients in your market have confirmed again and again that this is the effective way to use radio to reach the goal.
4. We talk a lot about the need to touch potential clients 7 to 11 times before they are ready to consider buying (on average) and that the average radio salesperson touches potential clients 1 time. See the problem? Touches can be an in-person visit (with helpful tips to help a client with information important in their industry and business), email, texts, social media, monthly email newsletter and more. To this end, always be presenting questions at the end of your emails to encourage engagement. Emails that end in things like, “I hope this is helpful to you” don’t require thought or response. They also don’t get as much engagement because they are more easily thrown out. End with a question and you will encourage a response. A response encourages more questions, answers and relationships. That leads to sales.
5. Priming can have a powerful impact on your sales losses (or victories). A lot of sellers feel uncomfortable about price. Some salespeople really get weak around price. If you prime by saying something like, “I know that this is a lot and you might want to choose a different option, but I want you to know this is available at $5,000,” you are likely to see clients – even if their budget is $5,000 – pull back. Why? Because you primed them that this was expensive. You didn’t show them something more expensive and lay out the $5,000 as “something that works for most people.” That would be priming them to go with the herd (people have a herd mentality).
6. All plans are great until someone shoots at you. Even salespeople that plan often miss that every plan needs variables for when advertisers shoot back at them an unexpected objection. A well thought out plan takes into consideration variables that could develop so you are prepared to pivot to help an advertisers solve problems their way.
7. Give first. So many people go out looking to sell, sell, sell. But the real winners in our business have a giving nature and they are generous with knowledge. Their focus is truly on helping others first. For these people, sales will come. It’s inevitable.
8. Create patterns of great experiences. Think about it. What do people like? They like effective solutions, and they like to have fun experiences. When your clients begin to experience the effectiveness of radio or events or digital with your company, creating great client experiences and giving clients steady extra benefits (again – experiences) for being associated with you is powerful. It’s like a hidden multiplier. In fact, it will help you retain your customers over a longer period of time and attract others like them because businesspeople will not want to give up those steady great experiences.
Having a plan, paying attention, having a giving first attitude, asking questions, creating better experiences for your clients and never taking a plan without pivots with you on sales calls will make you a better seller. This will boost your confidence and it will positively impact your income, too.
Loyd Ford is president and chief strategic officer at the branding consulting practice Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works (RPC). They help solve programming and sales challenges. Reach him anytime at 864.448.4169 or [email protected].
