8-9-2013
Just last week I was talking to a general sales manager about the struggles his sales department is having with winning business and holding rate these days. After I asked just a few more questions, he revealed to me that in his market, it seems that the competition is simply lowering the rates, or even giving stuff away for free.
Does that sound familiar? Are you experiencing the same thing in your market? In fact, I hear the same complaint from sales departments all the time; big markets, small markets, and medium-sized markets all seem to be in the same situation. And the problem doesn?t seem to be related to ratings ? I hear this complaint from both top-ranked stations and stations that are struggling.
In digging more deeply into the conversation about stations dropping rates ? or, another way to say it, ?the race to the bottom? ? something has become obvious: In almost every case, when the discussion with a client gets down to just the rate, you?ll hear a rationale for getting the business that sounds something like this: ?My radio station has more listeners,? or ?more men,? or ?more women,? or ?more moms,? or more this or more that. The seller will talk about how the station is better because it has a better exclusive cume, or the format is a better fit, or the morning show has been around longer.
You get the drift, right?
A Client Who Doesn?t Understand Your Value Will Decide Based On Price
When clients start talking about price and pitting stations against each other, it?s usually because they don?t see any difference between the two or three choices they have been presented. While each station has come to the table with its best schedule and all of its best ?Why choose us? one-sheets, in the end it all looks the same to the client. In the client?s eyes, every single station says it?s number one and is the best-suited blah blah blah for them to use.
And as long as all the stations look the same, the client will just pit everyone against each other. And what occurs then is the classic race to the bottom. Everyone scrambles to get the business, and in the end the client may or may not have gotten what he really needs ? but he certainly got the best price.
Focus On Results For The Client, Not Just On Making The Sale
In order for you to break this cycle, you need to change the focus. Instead of doing all you can to win the business by proving to the client that your station or your format is perfect, take a step back and think about how the client could get the results they need to grow their business. Stop racing to prove why you?re the best place for a client to spend the third-quarter advertising budget and instead ask them questions about what type of return they need to see in order to know they made a good investment. You might ask them how they will decide in the end whether the money they spent produced a good return for them.
Change The Conversation From Why To How
?How selling? is where it?s at. In fact, if you looked back at most of the great sales that have been made at your station, you?d most likely notice that in those cases more time and energy was spent working with the client on how they could use the station?s resources to drive the needed results, as opposed to proving why the station and its ratings are the best.
You need to change the conversation from ?Why you should buy my radio station? to ?Here?s how you can use my station?s capabilities and resources to get the results you need to see.? Radio station salespeople who go around just talking about their stations will sometimes win, but they?re setting themselves up for a conversation that will lead to lower prices. On the other hand, the radio salesperson who focuses on showing how their resources can drive results for their clients will make price comparisons a non-issue.
Matt Sunshine is EVP of the Center for Sales Strategy.
E-mail: mattsunshine@csscenter.com
(8/9/2013 10:40:57 PM)
If the station is unable to produce effective and listenable spots, that hole in the hull will continue to take on water and the race to the bottom will continue.
There are, after all, only so many ways to re-frame (read: bamboozle) a client or justify a situation that needs to be solved - at our end.
If a rep cannot repeat the following, they are doomed to playing the same game as everybody else - ratings or no ratings: "The commercial content we produce and which is exclusive to our station generates results for all our clients. In other words, our ROI is significantly higher."
It's a good thing that Matt is a Pro because most radio reps enter the game sporting a limp - and have to play "hurt".
I would say "Here is how you can use our radio station" Let them feel part of the station, and emphasize your local and community involvement.
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