Don’t you hate it when you call a prospect to close a contract and they tell you that they have decided to go with your competitor because they got a “great deal”? What kind of great deal you ask? And then you get an earful on how much more expensive your rates are and how they have a limited budget.
This happens to me a lot. Almost.
I routinely get the objection that we are more expensive than either of my other two competitors. Not necessarily on the rate card, but they do a lot of deals. The fact is, we are more expensive and I certainly don’t apologize for it.
Does anyone walk in to a Ritz Carlton hotel and complain at the front desk that they could have gotten a better deal at Motel 6?
I like to compare my media offerings with The Ritz. We are the best. Our award-winning editorial is second to none, our audited circulation is the best in the business and we have a sold-out e-newsletter, opt-in only with almost a 45% open-rate and a quarter of a million unique visitors to our site each month. Yes, I can brag about all those things!
But I need to be able to do more than just toot my horn. I’ve got to back all of this up with proof – solid research that lets the advertisers know that my media offerings are worth the extra money. We do a lot of research every year, some third party but mostly in-house surveys that are easy and inexpensive to do.
Here’s just a sampling of the research I provide to clients:
- Reader Preference Study
- Brand Recognition Study
- Tradeshow Intercept
- Studies of attendees
- Market studies
- Brand Preference Study
- Advertising Effectiveness Study
- Reader Profile Study
By conducting these studies each year, we know what our readers want and like and that we rank above our competitors in most categories.
Our show dailies score three times better than our competitors in intercept studies because we invest in a fully staffed press room and high-quality printing and distribution models, all of which are reflected in surveys that we do. In fact, there are very few benefits of advertising in our products that cannot be proven through research. The reason we are the best is we have been getting feedback from our readers on what they want, through research, for decades.
So, there it is. Research is the fuel that can overcome most objections – even price. I suggest you sharpen your survey skills and start building your library of results. You will be amazed what it can do for your revenue.
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More about Nancy: Nancy works for Aviation International News as Associate Publisher and Ad Sales Guru. She also co-teaches Camp Niche Ad Sales Training. She’s a B-to-B publishing vet and previously worked at Petroleum Engineer, Oil & Gas Journal, and Electric Light & Power and been involved with aviation publications for the past 20 years.
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