It’s an age-old adage we all know to be true. Unless our prospects invest time with us, they usually won’t invest money.
Pic: Valerie Geller and Pat Bryson at Radiodays Europe conference in Berlin
These opening lines may sound familiar to you:
“Yes, hello, my name is _________and I sell radio advertising for station KXXX. Could you please tell me who handles your advertising?”
“Good morning, my name is _____ and I sell radio advertising for station WXXX. I was wondering if I might come by and learn a little about your business?”
“Good morning, great to see you Mr. Prospect. Look at the great deal I’ve brought you today. You’re going to love these low rates.”
At one time or another, most sales people have used these openers. How’d they work for you? My guess is, not too well. At least, they didn’t work well for me. It took a lot of contacts to get an appointment. Getting new prospects to give us their time is vital to our success. What is our attrition rate this year? The state of the economy has increased our need for new business. The better we are at using “grabbers” to get our prospect’s attention, the easier it will be for us to funnel new people into our sales pipeline.
Somewhere along the line, I got a little smarter about how to catch the attention of a new prospect. I discovered that “People don’t buy advertising: they buy what it will do for them!” I learned to approach prospective new clients from THEIR WORLD, not mine. My ratio of appointments to new calls went way up when I added these “grabbers” to my repertoire:
“Mr. ____, my name is _____. I don’t know if we have anything to talk about or not, but I work with business people who are experiencing frustrations in several areas. Some are feeling the effects of the down economy. Some still have problems finding and keeping good people. Some have seen their profit margins shrink as the large box stores have moved into their area. Many are struggling with the increased competition from the Internet. Which of these might be a concern for you? (Wait for answer). Would it make sense for you to invite me over to discuss this? Would you be available on Thursday or Friday?”
The magic in this “grabber” is that you are positioning what you do in the WORLD OF THE CLIENT. You don’t sell advertising. You solve business problems. And, you’ve been successful in developing solutions for many other businesses. Can you help this client? Maybe, maybe not. But, you’ve helped others, and it would be worth his time to talk with you.
Think about what you’re hearing from your clients about the problems they are experiencing. You can list any of these frustrations in your “grabber”. High petrol prices might make your list. High unemployment figures might cause problems. Just remember to develop your list from the client’s point of view.
to be continued…….
About The Author
Pat Bryson is the founder of Bryson Broadcasting International, a consulting firm that works with radio stations around the world to increase revenue by raising the skill level of their sales staffs. Her client list spans from the United States to Canada, Europe and Central Asia.
Pat has spent her entire career creating a culture of over-achievement for her stations. She began her career in radio sales, becoming one of the highest billing sales people in her market. Her career advanced to General Sales Manager, and then to Market Manager. Since starting BBI 7 years ago, she has helped hundreds of radio stations to find, train and grow great quality sales people and managers.
Pat was the recipient of two prestigious educational fellowships from the Educational Foundation of the National Association of Broadcasters: a fellowship to the Executive Development Program and a fellowship to the Broadcast Leadership Training Program.
She publishes the Bryson Broadcasting International Newsletter twice monthly and is a contributor to Valerie Geller’s latest book, Beyond Powerful Radio: A Communicator’s Guide To The Internet Age.
You may contact Pat at [email protected] or visit her website at http://www.patbryson.com.
This article was republished with permission from Pat Bryson’s Newsletter