Welcome to Part Two of Reigniting Advertiser Conversations! If you missed Part One last week, here are the first four ideas for getting back to ad sales business:
Idea 1: Start Sales Conversations Now
Idea 2: Recognize a Lot of People are Still Working at Home
Idea 3: Prospecting and Marketing Call Times Have Changed
Idea 4: Work with People on Their Deadlines
This week I’ll share the final three ideas to increase sales success as we move forward into this post-COVID world.
Idea 5: You are more likely to do business with somebody post-COVID that you’ve already done business with in the past.
Why is that? That’s because there are two things in media sales that really stop us.
No 1., with new customers there’s that “stranger danger” effect, and stranger danger is real.
And no. 2, there are going to be valid health issues—safety concerns that your prospects and customers have.
Some of you in the past have been really big on getting face-to-face with your customers. And I’m going to say that over the next six months or so, getting face-to-face is probably going to be pretty unlikely.
The good news though, as I said last week, is that people are getting very proficient with Zoom, GoToMeeting, Google Meet, and that kind of thing. So I think that video selling is very important for all of us to embrace.
In addition, you truly are more likely to get a referral from a past customer. So, what’s your referral program? Personally, I like to refer people to partners I trust. I think it’s good for business and that people appreciate it. But you have to ask yourself, “What am I really going to get in terms of a referral?” And then you have to consider whether or not you have a good referral program.
Idea 6: You must set time blocks and create a good rhythm.
Doing this can really help you get focused. When you’re setting these time blocks, ask yourself, “How has the time zone changed in a post-COVID world?” (see last week’s post). Think of that, and then realize that you need to get fanatical about those time zones and time blocks.
Block them out in your calendar. Pay attention to those time zones. And really live and die by them. Get consistent. Randomness is really not going to help you.
I share in my media sales training that I also use lists in my CRM to keep me focused. Whether you tag customers in those lists, or whatever you do in your process, in those customer time zones I like to work a lot of lists in my media sales efforts. And I think that’s vitally important for sales success.
Idea 7: Sales is a numbers game that you can use to your advantage.
I love relationships, but when push comes to shove math doesn’t lie. So make sure you understand how many media sales calls you will need to make and how many emails you will need to send to get a meeting booked with somebody.
And then once you book that meeting, how many sales meetings does it take for you to actually get a closed deal? Use that math to reach sales success.
So to close, it’s OK to sell in a post-COVID world. Of course, be sympathetic, but just realize that now is the time to sell. Get back to work. Stay ahead of the game. And I think we’re going to be successful in a post-COVID world. Remember, if ad sales was easy, everyone would be doing it!
