(By Rick Fink) The majority of business owners, managers, and media buyers who deal with media reps have heard nearly every song and dance there is about why they should buy from you and your stations. What a lot of them haven’t heard is… the TRUTH!
Most business owners are savvy people, and they can sniff out the “bull” pretty easily.
If you are not doing so now, here are some of the TRUTHS about radio that we should be sharing and using in our presentations with the decision-makers:
“Good advertising won’t make a bad business a good business.”
“We suggest fixing the inside of your business before you consider advertising.”
“No one listens to our radio stations for the ads.”
“When the jock stops talking or the song ends, and the ads come on, people actually lean back and subconsciously turn their ears off.”
“The radio station is not the most important element in determining whether your campaign will be successful or not.”
“When we air sports on a music station, our audience goes down, not up.”
“Nobody cares that you’ve been the ‘servicing dealer since 1969’.”
“No, we are not the most listened-to station in town.”
“Yes, we play more ads than the stations across town, but there is a reason.”
“It’s true, radio is not listened to as often as it once was.”
…and the list can go on and on.
Answering objections abruptly and making exaggerated statements will deteriorate trust. Telling the truth and having a logical explanation for your “TRUE” statement will dramatically lead to a greater level of TRUST in you.
I am not suggesting that anyone is intentionally lying about radio or their stations. However, in an effort to defend our industry, sometimes the reality or truth gets stretched and important details get left out in order to make the sale.
In sales, TRUST and KNOWLEDGE are two extremely powerful traits.
In nearly all situations, the list of “honest” statements above is true. Understanding how and when to use these statements and how to follow up with them can be extremely powerful. In your next training session, we suggest you go over these statements and rehearse when and how to use them.
If you have questions as to when and how to use or follow up on any of these statements or others, simply give me a call.
Rick Fink from ENS Media can be reached at 605-310-2062 or at [email protected]. Read Rick’s Radio Ink archives here.
