When someone asks you that question, is your answer, "I sell Radio advertising." "I sell newspaper advertising." "I sell digital advertising."
Generally, this answer is enough to have people backing up from you like a plague sighting, especially if we use this description as the opening salvo to trying to book an appointment.
"Hello, my name is Pat and I work for XXXX station. I'd like to come out and learn a little bit about your business."
You lost them at "Hello".
Whether in person or on the phone, you just interrupted their day. And, believe me when I say that your prospect did not get up that morning saying to himself, "Gee, I hope a radio/newspaper sales person comes by today." We are the LAST thing on his mind. When we do approach the prospect, we need to answer the BIG question on his mind, "WHY should I give this person my time?"
Our opening lines should give them reasons, and those reasons are housed in what we can do for their business.
We don't sell radio advertising. We don't sell newspaper advertising. We don't sell digital. We SOLVE PROBLEMS FOR CLIENTS through the vehicles we represent.
When you first approach a prospect, you may not know what particular business problems that person has. But we can make some general assumptions, we can suggest some generic problems, based on what concerns we are hearing from our other clients. Most business people in a common market suffer from the same external influences that affect their businesses positively or negatively. We can use those concerns to entice prospects to give us their time.
Here are some of the business problems I'm hearing from most clients today:
1. Shrinking profit margins. The cost of running a business continues to go up. If top-line revenue is not raised, the profit shrinks.
2. Finding good employees.
3. Dealing with the Internet. How to use it? How to compete against it?
4. Competing with national chains.
5. Environmental problems by region: Floods, fires, price of oil, drought, road construction.
We develop strategies and campaigns to help our clients to deal with these business concerns. Which of these might our prospects have?
Chances are, your prospect will experience one or more of these. If they believe you can help them, because you have helped other business people who have had the same concerns, they will give you their time.
And, if they won't give you their time, they won't give you their money!
To see how a .30 second commercial is constructed by using the above ideas, turn to page 28 in my book, " A Road Map To Success in High-Dollar Broadcast Sales."
You don't have my book? It's available at the right side of the page where it says, "Buy it now".
