(By Loyd Ford) If you’ve sold radio for a significant period, you probably think you’ve heard it all: “Always be closing.” “Focus on the client.” “Don’t take rejection personally.”
How about these?
“Over-prepare before you see a client, before you present to a client, before you try to close a client.”
“Plan your attack for the week in advance every week and hit the ground with a great game plan Monday morning.”
“Preparing to be successful is making sure you present enough proposals each week to allow you to reach your goal.”
“Bring value to your potential client every time you see, email, call or even leave a voice mail.”
“If your sales manager asks you what you did this week, be prepared to show him or her that you presented actual opportunity to more potential clients than anyone else on your team. Don’t tell them you “visited” with a potential client. Who cares about that? This ain’t the Welcome Wagon. Show them you mean business every week.”
“Don’t accept no as a final answer.”
“Find a way to think of a no as a checkmark on the way to the ultimate yes.”
“No is part of the process. It isn’t the end.”
“Constantly update your knowledge. Not just about radio, but about your clients, their business, their industry.”
“Clients won’t buy unless the value is overwhelming, so build your presentations to make the value point.”
“Consistently focus on your skills in the area of building real relationships with every prospect you come in contact with each week.”
“Don’t let anything get in the way of your time spent selling. Make sure you present more proposals again and again and again and keep your pipeline flowing to bring certainty to success.”
Finally, I leave you with these words that the old Hollywood actor John Wayne said to TV reporter Barbara Walters. “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”
Sales is a business that rewards effort, tenacity, and fortitude. It rewards being relentless and unshakable. The word no comes to every seller. Send it packing. Sales rewards those who won’t be held back by a million answers of “No.”
No doesn’t matter in sales.
Instead of thinking you have to close all the time, perhaps you can think of yourself as a detective. Your job is to uncover the right information. To do that, know thy potential client. Learn what they fear, what they want, and what they buy. Not just what they say. And give it to them.
Listen more than you talk.
Be prepared, be creative, and be ready and willing to tell a story and bring ideas to clients that they do not want to walk away from.
You are in a meaningful profession. What you do matters. Believe in the power of local radio. Go have a great week because you set it up to be productive.
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.
