(By Pat Bryson) If you’ve ever been around children between the ages of 3 and 6, you’ve probably grown to hate hearing the question, “Why?” Children have an innate curiosity about the world and want to know “Why?” about everything. But perhaps we should take a lesson from them when dealing with our clients.
One of my sales managers recently recommended a book to me by Simon Sinek called Start with Why. I’ll pass along that recommendation to you.
Simon talks about selling, leading people, and creating great companies. Top people in all of these fields start with understanding why they do what they do. The “Why” drives actions and plans.
So, let me ask you, “Why do you do what you do? Why are you in the radio business? Why do you come to work each day?”
Without a firm understanding of why, we rarely keep our focus on accomplishing great things.
We also need to know why our clients do what they do. Why are they in the business they are in? What drives them? And, of course, if you study my book concerning Level 3 questions, the answers to those questions are truly the “why” our clients will advertise with us. It explains what correcting “pains” or helping them to achieve “gains” will mean to them personally.
Achieving this level of trust and understanding means being able to sell more effective campaigns without being limited by what clients think they should spend on us. When we earn their trust, we can create the kind of schedules they need to be truly effective.
Perhaps the topic of your next sales meeting should be: “Why?” It’s a good time to create your “Why?” script. The answers you uncover may be astounding!
Pat Bryson is the CEO of Bryson Broadcasting International, a consulting firm that works with sales managers and salespeople to raise revenue. She is the author of two books, “A Road Map to Success in High-Dollar Broadcast Sales” and “Successful Broadcast Sales: Thriving in Change” available on her website. Read Pat’s Radio Ink archives here.
