(By Loyd Ford) Believe it or not, there are a lot of “belief problems” in sales departments. If you believe what you see on social media (you shouldn’t), you can become even more confused about what you should or shouldn’t be afraid of in the world of scary sales.
That’s one of the key areas that fascinates me in the area of digital and digital sales: fear. Fear that customers know more than you. Fear that you don’t understand “it.” Fear that it isn’t like radio.
Well, it isn’t like radio. It’s something else.
Digital advertising is different than radio. Just like radio is different than TV and TV is different than billboards. And billboards are different than newspapers. But there is something other than difference to consider.
When I was 15, I became a big fan of a duo called Hall & Oates. In 1980 they released an album (as we used to call them) called Voices. On that album was a song that impacted me. It wasn’t a hit. The song was called “Big Kids.” The song essentially lays out that all adults are big kids in disguise. Google the lyrics or listen to the song.
I want you to think about this idea of “Big Kids” because it’s true. It doesn’t sound true. It IS true. The song goes on to say who your heroes and your leaders are today. They’re only big kids.
Every businessperson you see has doubts, worries, and challenges and every person you see is a “big kid in disguise.” Before you allow yourself to be intimidated by what someone might know, remember that we are all big kids. Most of what people know they only think they know.
In sales, our job is to prepare. We must be prepared with knowledge about what we are selling. Being prepared often means being successful, but I ask you to consider that whoever you are facing in sales has problems. I don’t mean they might have problems. They do have problems.
Of course, you want to be overprepared with knowledge about every product and service you sell, but I recommend you focus on the most important aspect of sales. It isn’t exactly what you are selling.
The most important aspect is being nimble enough to pivot when you identify a need that your potential client to find a fast solution. This is the reason to sell digital. It’s the reason to sell radio. Whatever you sell, you sell it to provide a solution to a problem.
We are calling on potential customers to find out their worries, fears, and what keeps them up at night and then provide a solution to their worry, their fear, their problem.
The more you seek to find the problems the “Big Kids” are having and provide them with an easy solution, the more successful you become in sales.
Please remember I said this: “People give you money for a lot of reasons. It’s not just one thing.” Everyone is different. Find their key and you will unlock big sales to the big kids you see every day and become even more successful for you… and for your clients.
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.
