Last week, I wrote about how to bring structure to the very first sales call to give myself the best chance of making a sale. (And to enjoy that heady feeling as often as possible!) The first 3 steps I take in every single sales call are to:
- Build trust.
- Share success stories.
- Determine market presence.
Combined with these three above, there are two more important steps to take for a successful first sales call:
Present ideas on the spot.
What if you could go on your sales calls with prepared proposals all ready to present? I admit this calls for faith in your own judgement, and you might get it wrong, but what I generally find is that when I look at a prospective advertiser, I can make a reasoned judgement about which category I think they will opt for; present, competitive or dominant. (See my past post, “How to Close More on the First Sales Call” for more on that.) Then I look at what other advertisers in the same category are doing. I am then able to prepare proposals that will give my advertiser an edge in the marketplace, including pricing, before I go to the meeting.
I’m presenting ideas, on the spot, that are based on what others in the same industry, (present, competitive or dominant), are actually doing. And you know what? I find that no matter how creative the advertiser would like to be, they usually end up buying what other people in the same category are doing.
You may occasionally have a client who has different ideas, who wants to be unique or really over the top. However, I have to say I haven’t found many yet. The bottom line in this step is do your research on the advertiser and then use your informed judgement to prepare your sales proposals BEFORE that first sales meeting.
Use this super-effective closing technique.
It’s called the ‘Match Game Close’, and one of its great strengths is its simplicity. Having gone through the first four steps of how to host killer sales calls, you now say to your customer something like, “Mr or Mrs Advertiser, you said you need new customers. I have 13,500 customers with incomes high enough to buy your product/services. You told me you tried this before, advertising with us, and got no return on your investment. I’ve shared with you three examples of business owners, like you, that are really, really happy with us. They renew month after month. You also said that you now only do social media and I showed you how expensive social media can be, and how what we can do for you is more targeted – and more affordable. I think we’re a perfect match. Don’t you agree?”
- If your advertiser agrees: “Great! Let’s get rolling together.”
- If they don’t agree: “Okay. Can you tell me why? Because I really feel like we could have a great marketing partnership together.”
This is a close I have practiced and used over and over and over again. Having established where they want to be in the market, (present, competitive or dominant), I simply match their needs to the solutions I can provide.
The steps and order of this process are important.
From an ad sales training perspective, none of this is rocket science. You have to be aware how important the process is as you work through these five steps. Think about what you can do within them to be crazy successful.
- Build trust.
- Share success stories.
- Determine market presence.
- Present ideas on the spot.
- Use my”Match Game Close” technique.
Finally, you now have your 5-step blueprint to closing more business right now, and doing it very, very fast. Don’t waste it. Don’t over-think it. Ad sales training is all about practice. Practice everything within the steps that you need to and use it. It really does work. Remember, if ad sales was an easy job, everyone would be doing it.
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About Ryan: Ryan Dohrn is an award-winning ad sales training coach, a nationally recognized internet sales consultant and in international motivational speaker. He is the author of the best-selling ad sales book, Selling Backwards. He is the President and founder of Brain Swell Media and 360 Ad Sales Training, a boutique ad sales training and sales coaching firm with a detailed focus on ad sales training, internet consulting and media revenue generation, as well as the Publisher of Sales Training World.
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