(By Loyd Ford) OMG! I have been reminded that I don’t give enough time (equal time) to excuses for why “we can’t sell.” So, I thought I would dedicate this week to the reasons you can give for not selling enough advertising should your sales or market manager start questioning you.
Congratulations. If you sell radio, you probably hear “no” a lot. We share encouragement for you because you are the backbone that generates revenue and profits for your company. Every sales professional faces challenges when it comes to meeting their targets. It’s not just you.
To be fair, there may be times when will fail to reach your sales goals, despite your best efforts. In such situations, it is essential to have a good excuse for not selling enough (LOL).
Here are some of the best excuses that you can use:
Economic downturn. “The economy is stopping me. Customers have to pull back during a recession (also you can substitute: inflationary period, tornado, hurricane, bad weather, et all).”
Competition. “I just can’t sell it because XYZ has higher ratings (also can insert here: “They have a better morning show,” “They got that special feature” or something else”).
Lack of leads. “I just ain’t got no good leads. If I had some good leads, I’d sell a lot more advertising. I’d tell you that right now.”
Poor product quality. “Management doesn’t understand. Our stations just are not good enough. If we were better, I’d sell more.”
Ineffective sales strategies. “We just keep doing sales like we’ve always done it. They ain’t buying like they used to though.”
Lack of training. “We have not been trained on how to do this well. If I had training, I could crush any of this new digital and other products.”
Personal issues. “I’ve just been having these problems with family lately.” (You could also insert: money problems, challenges with transportation, problems with marriage, health, and a wide variety of other things of a personal nature).
Changes in the market. “Some of these buyers are changing their minds about radio. It’s harder to sell em today”
Lack of motivation. “I just don’t have the passion for selling like I used to. It used to be a lot more fun.”
I must be clear here. Sales can be a tough job and requires mental toughness to overcome a wide variety of challenges. If you sell radio today, I admire your effort, your position, and how challenging it can be for you to overcome the obstacles to achieve your ongoing sales goals. It is – in the end – a battle of inches. Tenacity is what gets the sale when others stop short.
I am reminded of a story I heard about the old Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz. I don’t even know how much of this story is true. His team had just lost the national championship. As you know, losing isn’t ideal. Lou had left the locker room (according to the story I heard). Now, Lou is not a large man, but what came next was surprising (at least for me).
When Lou Holtz comes back into the locker room he overhears his players moaning and complaining about the officials and how they “called the game.”
What does Lou Holtz do? He picks up three (3) or four (4) folding chairs and throws them into the center of the room.
Huge crash!
Everyone gets quiet.
Lou says (and this is my memory and not a direct quote), “You play football for Notre Dame.” The room stays silent.
“At Notre Dame,” Lou Holtz yells out, “We don’t complain. We are champions. We congratulate our opponents when we fall short. We do not blame it on other factors. We are responsible.”
Lou Holtz has everyone’s attention as he adds, “And we then go back to work fixing our problems and figuring out how to win.”
Look. There are many obstacles that can get in the way of hitting sales numbers. We all know it. Your sales manager and market manager know it, too. This isn’t the real question. The real question is: Are you a champion? Champions take credit for the challenge in front of them and they go to work fixing the problem.
You can control exactly two (2) things in sales:
- Your effort
- Your attitude
Are you willing to get back up? Are you willing to try different approaches to solve problems? Are you willing to learn from your sales manager, from your market manager, from other sellers? Are you participating in self-education? There are many reasons you might not reach your sales goals. If you are doing these things and you keep your focus on the process of improvement, you become a champion.
One last thing. This is for sales managers and market managers and it is about people, motivation, winning, and effort.
It’s a recent sports clip that kind of says it all.
Mic drop.
Loyd Ford is president and chief strategic officer at Rainmaker Pathway Consulting Works (RPC). They help local radio with ratings and revenue. Reach him anytime at 864.448.4169 or [email protected]. Read Loyd’s Radio Ink archives here.
