(Taken from Radio Ink Magazine, written by Peter Chimento)
First, you must realize that getting clients is a profession and as with any profession, to become an expert, to rise to the top in the field, requires time, practice and study. A successful surgeon does not become one by simply reading a book or a few articles on surgery. So, if you expect to find a magic formula here that will instantly transform you into a sales guru and make you rich overnight, you are sadly mistaken. However, if you desire to be a true radio sale professional, with an income four times higher than the average wage earner, AND if you are willing to invest the time and effort necessary, then the information contained in these few pages may change your life.
You have probably heard the old adage, “You must plan your work and work your plan,” and “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” While this may be a simplification of a model for success in sales, they are true. To rise above your peers in the profession of selling, requires a plan. You must have a distinct and easy to follow set of rules that help guide your career towards a single objective and keeps you on track. You must have a systematic set of principles that ensure you maintain a consistent and strategic work ethic at all times. The following is a simple and basic blueprint for sales success. Though these principles are simple, they are not easy and will require dedication, hard work, intense study and persistence. However, whether you just began your radio sales career yesterday or been in the business for 20 years, if you adhere to the following BASIC guidelines, you will make revolutionary strides in your career and income. Just follow the B.A.S.I.C. and I will see you at the top of the sales charts!
If you will demonstrate each of the following principles every workday, you will succeed.
B – Believe A– Ask
S – S.O.S
I – I.T.
C – Care
We will explore each of these simple concepts individually and you will see that the ingredients for sales success are as much about the way you work, as they are about the way you think. To change your results, you must change your method of operation.
To change your method of operation, you must change your thinking.
B – Believe: Believe In What You Sell
Here is a model of how you should feel about the radio station that you sell.
“Can you take your radio station and sit down with a cherished loved one and give that person a full presentation and if you had to, feel comfortable in being persistent that he or she buys your station?
Can you then sell the proposal to him or her without a discount and then feel good about the commission you made on the sale? If you cannot do something like this, you do not truly believe in what you are selling.”
First and foremost, you have to believe in what you sell—wholeheartedly. If you do not, then actually you are not a “sales professional.” Enthusiasm means, “God within,” and the only way to exude true enthusiasm is to have the conviction in your heart that what you are selling is honestly the best thing for your retail client.
The reason there is so much burn out, stress and turnover in radio sales is that too many sales people choose a station based primarily on the money they think they will make, while giving little regard of the products and services you offer. This is a mistake. Whether you are new to the world of selling radio or been in the business for many years, if you do not truly believe in your radio station, QUIT NOW!
Do you honestly feel that when you make a sale, your retail client gets the better end of the bargain? Do you feel that the benefit to the retailer far outweighs the commission you earn? If you can answer yes to those types of questions, you are on the right path. True heartfelt belief in your station will make up for years of experience and dozens of “sales techniques.” Show me a sales person who is a true believer and I’ll show you a winner.
Daily Steps to Believe
You want to do something every workday that helps to strengthen or exercise your belief in your station. Here are a few examples:
1. Continued study or research on your station
2. Continued study and research on the history and future developments of your station
3. Continued study and research of your competition—why are you better?
4. Continued contact and feedback from retail clients: likes dislikes, why they bought
5. Continued feedback from non-customers: why they did not buy
6. Continued participation in company and radio conventions and seminars
7. Continued personal listening to your station
What did you do today that helped to strengthen your belief in your Station? What will you do next week in this area? At the end of every workday, you want to have something constructive to input in this area.
A – Ask: Ask For the Order
This step may seem like common sense in that everyone knows that you have to ask for the order to make the sale. However, many sales people fail because they do not ask for the order often enough or with enough conviction. This goes right back to believing in what you sell. If you do not truly believe in your station, it becomes difficult to ask for the order with confidence and conviction. Once you believe in what you are doing, then you can ask with strength because you know it is for the benefit of the retailer.
How many times did you ask for an order today? How many times should you ask for an order every day?
S – S.O.S: The Science of Selling
Contrary to popular belief, selling is not an art. Selling is a Science and once you learn to understand the nature of the science, you can literally guarantee success. The Science of Selling (S.O.S.) is the understanding of the mathematics of your profession: the numbers, the equations. You have to come to learn how you are paid. By that, I do not mean how you receive your pay or your commission structure. I am referring to how you EARN your money and what your time is worth. You have to understand your closing average, average sale, and average earnings. You need to be able to attach an exact monetary figure to every sales call and activity. You need to figure out not only how much you earn when you make a sale, but what you lose when you do NOT sell.
Based on your past performance or on company records, how many sales presentations must you make to close one sale? How many telephone calls should you make every day? How many customers should you see every week? You must find out these numbers and strictly adhere to them to develop a consistent work ethic.
What do you need to do every day? Perhaps you may enter the number of sales calls you should make every day or the number of appointment calls you need to make. Fill in as many daily SOS activities and their numbers as you can.
I – I.T.: Information Technology
You may have noticed that each of these steps relies on the previous step. That is, for you to successfully perform step two, Ask for the Order, you must first adopt step one in believing in your product. Then to consistently exercise the SOS, you will have to consistently ask for the order. Likewise, to exercise SOS you must keep excellent records. You must rely on factual data and this is where information technology comes in.
Efficient Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is critical. You must learn to use a sophisticated database software system such as ACT, or any of the many ones on the market today. This does not mean that you need to simply learn to use one of these programs, but you need to become an expert in using one of these programs. Go to school, take classes on-line, do whatever you have to do to learn to maximize the power of a relational database management system.
Learning to use other technology to enhance your productivity and time management is also recommended. Do something EVERYDAY to help increase your knowledge and expertise with information technology. What did you do today in this area? What will you do next week?
C – Care: Care about Your Customer and Your Mission
I dare use the age-old adage, “People don’t care how much you know, until they first know how much you care.” But it is true. When a prospective retail client can see that you truly have their best interest at heart and that you care more about their welfare than you do about the money---you will begin to see success beyond measure. Caring about what you do is more than just believing in your station. You must believe in your mission. What are your company’s (and your) Vision and Mission Statements? You must feel that what you do serves the greater good beyond the immediate benefits to the customer and yourself. Does a buy on your station stimulate the economy? You have to look at the BIG Picture.
Here is an example of a BASIC plan for a radio sales person upcoming week.
B – Believe
1. Every day this week I will check with a client as to the actual return they received on the investment in their ads.
2. I will research some of my competitor’s claims
3. I will do more research as to the demographic of my station
A – Ask for the Order
1. I will ask for the order during every presentation this week
2. I will ask for a second order from at least ten current retail clients
3. I will ask for an order from at least five past no-sale prospects
4. I will ask for an order from at least two referral prospects this week
S – SOS
1. I will make a minimum of 10 appointment calls everyday
2. I will design and present at least six major proposals this week
I – I.T.
1. I will complete two on-line classes on the introductory-level of the ACT database
2. I will meet with Bill Jones for advice as he is an expert
3. I will invest at least four additional hours this week practicing with the software
C- Care
1. I will remember that when I make a sale, I help increase the economy and job outlook for this entire county.
2. When I help my clients’ businesses succeed, they hire more people
So that’s it…..
Just the basics…
That’s all you really need…
Simple, yet powerful….
