Advertising: The sales person who didn’t have a chance
(c) Copyright 2010 by John Foust. All rights reserved.
By John Foust, Raleigh, NC
On an out-of-town trip, I walked through a shopping center to kill a little time before a meeting. While browsing through one of the smaller stores, I couldn’t help but overhear a brief conversation between the store owner and a local media sales person. Here’s a recap:
Sales person: “I’m here to talk about your newspaper advertising.”
Store owner: “We’re tightening our budget this year.”
Sales person: “Yeah, we’re hearing a lot of that lately.” Then he tucked his notebook under his arm and walked out of the store.
End of conversation. That sales person wilted before he gave himself a fair chance. I felt sorry for him. In the face of resistance that wasn’t even stated as a direct objection, he quit. He walked out of the store thinking that he was a victim of the economy, when in reality he had been victimized by his approach (perhaps I should say his lack of approach) to selling.
The damage didn’t stop there. In addition to losing a potential sale, the sales person inadvertently reinforced the store owner’s concerns about the economy.
Here are some lessons to learn from that unfortunate incident:
1. Have a positive attitude. Author Earl Nightingale wrote, “You become what you think about.” There is great truth in those words. If you wake up every day worried about the economy, it will show in your words and in your actions. Your advertisers will sense your anxiety, and – sure enough – they will be likely to make your worries become reality.
On the other hand, if you think about all the ways your paper – your advertising product – can help businesses thrive in today’s economy, you will have a spring in your step and enthusiasm in your voice. When prospects talk about their marketing problems, it will be easier to keep your focus on positive solutions.
Obviously, a positive attitude can’t guarantee that you will make a sale. But in most cases, a negative attitude will guarantee that you won’t.
2. Ask questions. Your positive attitude should be accompanied by an investigative mindset. See yourself as a detective. Don’t be afraid to dig down to the answers.
Was the store owner really tightening his ad budget? Or was he simply attempting to dodge a sales pitch? The sales person never found out, because he didn’t try to find out. What could he have done differently? For starters, he could have asked the store owner to clarify the vague statement about the budget. For example:
– “You’re tightening your budget?” (Rephrase prospect’s statement as a question to invite explanation.)
– “Does that affect all advertising, or just your newspaper advertising?” (Narrow the focus.)
– “How are you deciding what to keep and what to cut?” (Open-ended probe for specifics.)
Later in the conversation, the sales person could have asked for details on budget amounts and results of past ad campaigns.
In the world of selling, knowledge is power. A statement like “we’re tightening the budget” isn’t the end of a sales call. It’s the beginning.
E-mail John Foust for information about his training videos for ad departments: jfoust@mindspring.com