“The idea that repetition, doing some small thing over and over again is not boring but is essential at becoming good at anything, any craft.” – Writer John Irving
If I could give a gift to any radio seller without suffering pushback or resistance, it would be the knowledge that no one really wants to ever be sold anything. What they want is to feel proud and confident that they make good decisions and that they choose the best solutions for themselves.
Everyone you meet wants to win. In fact, they are doing what they think winning looks like. This is why you sometimes meet a client who resists because they think they are an expert at advertising while they are doing something that is hurting their own results. That’s where you come in. You see, they are an expert at their business. Not yours.
We are in a servants’ business. We are never the most important character in our exchanges.
This is why great sellers are great active listeners. They carefully research potential clients, their businesses, competitors, their industry, and competitive environment before they meet with them before they “pitch” them. They always prepare in advance so they have the confidence they need to help no matter how many variables may pop up in an interaction. But they also key on every visual and spoken communication that can indicate what the client is thinking and what leads them to purchase. They are searching for openings, searching for pain, searching to hear or see something that indicates they have a product or service that can solve the potential client’s most pressing problem.
As John Irving suggested, maybe the most important role of any salesperson who wants to overperform is understanding the math, the discipline, and the consistency necessary to regularly throttle up active CNAs and real proposals.
You may not be able to control who buys or when, but elevating those numbers in CNAs and proposals – focusing your attention on time spent selling – is where you will actively grow revenue. Doing that well is where you find success. I used the word “real” above with proposals because it is human nature for sellers to sometimes want to fool themselves. They may even convince themselves that something is a real proposal when they really know deep down inside it isn’t likely going anywhere at all. And why not? Because they haven’t done the work needed to find the right problem and match it with the proper solution.
Less never has been more and it never will be. Always do the prep.
It is always about the numbers. That old saying, “The more people you see, the more people you sell.”
It’s not boring to do the fundamentals of making sure your CNAs and proposals are significant enough to support your sales goals this week, this month, this quarter, and this year. If you want more income in 2025, elevate your active proposals. Knowing the math and focusing on creating excellent experiences that prospects and clients then have with yourself and your company is the most consistent way to become a top salesperson wherever you work.
The gift is this. Don’t buy into any narrative that says potential clients don’t want to see a salesperson. In fact, stop seeing yourself as a salesperson. Start seeing yourself as an influencer who knows how to connect advertisers with the active consumers these advertisers want and must have to survive.
Start talking about the customers your products and services can deliver. That’s your value.
If you buy into anything that causes you to spend less time in front of potential clients, you are buying into the slow ride to the bottom.
Instead, always key on elevating the activity that puts you in front of more and more people. Network, help people even when you receive no benefit in the moment. Pay attention to what business owners, community leaders, and advertisers do on their social media and comment on their posts. Join a local business networking group. Look for opportunities to craft your images in your market as someone who helps business owners and advertisers, in general, get what they want: more customers and more occasions of interaction with their most profitable customers.
If people like to feel confident that they make good decisions, lean in to make them feel confident about their advertising choices by being an all-around set of resources for them. Not a salesperson who wants to sell them something. Constantly focus on building and deepening your relationships.
Listen closely. Self-educate on anything that helps you add to your tools and opportunities to be more valuable in front of clients and potential clients today and tomorrow. People don’t leave wise and profitable advisors.
And don’t buy into radio being any “second-class advertising citizen.” We are no such thing. Radio and all we bring with us as sellers provide you with significant and robust opportunities to teach advertisers to maximize their leverage by renting our listeners for a great ROI. It’s not just customers; it’s customers they want already on the move.
This isn’t as complex as we sometimes make it. Business owners and advertisers of all kinds must make a choice. Sell their business and go to work for someone else or solve the problems that can regularly get in their way of growing their business. Be a relationship magnet. Elevate your constant activity (especially CNAs and proposals) to always be the most active face-to-face seller your clients and potential clients know. Work to make their experiences with you and your company exceptional and results undeniable.
