(SALES) Smart Sellers Always Calculate ROI

6-5-2013

Nobody in media sales likes this surprise: ?Cancel my advertising. It?s not working.?  Wouldn?t it be a shame if the only reason the client called to cancel was based on false information? And more shameful because the seller, unaware that the false information was the only reason, timidly accepted the cancellation without any argument whatsoever.

This article will help you erase this problem forever, and at the same time triple or quadruple your local direct sales. At the end of the article you?ll find a link that contains gross margins of profit for 80 different product/service categories.

Cancellations based on false expectations about advertising results needlessly occur every single day. The decision-maker for a manufactured housing lot falsely assumed that spending $2,000 on your station should generate six new sales, when in reality he needed 0.17 new sales. Yes, that?s POINT 17 new sales. Here?s what I mean. Let?s say a new doublewide costs $60,000. The client?s gross margin of profit (what?s left over after the cost of the home) is at least 20 percent. That would be a $12,000 return on the $2,000 advertising investment. Yes, and that $12,000 would be less than one-twentieth of the cost of one new home.

Incredible. And the client didn?t think he got his money's worth? At 515 percent return on his advertising investment, I would certainly think that he did. So whose fault is it that his expectations were so inaccurate? Well, you could try to blame the client, but if you are the one doing the selling, you?d have to look in the mirror when assigning blame.

Understanding and discussing average sales and gross margins of profit are critical to managing the client?s expectations about results. But it?s also important to know these things if you want ammunition for asking for more money, possibly tripling or quadrupling what the client thinks he should be budgeting for your station.
Here?s what you get from selling smarter and discussing return on investment (ROI) with every single local direct client?

-- You are managing the client's expectations about results of your station. Remember that the client's perception means everything. If you do not explain ROI, then the client has no effective way to calculate an effective response to his advertising campaign. If you do not ask the client what his average sale and profit margin are and then compute the calculated risk, the client might have unrealistic expectations. If you do not educate him, he might think that 80 people should be lined up at his door spending $100 each, when in reality he only needs three new customers to break even. By educating your clients properly, you will manage your relationship with your client instead of your client managing you. You'll have fewer nasty phone calls where the client says, "Cancel my advertising. It's not working." This "tail wagging the dog" syndrome causes a lot of unnecessary grief for media salespeople. However, when you know what you're doing, you have more credibility and the client is more likely to listen to you, trust you, and confide in you, as they would listen to, trust, and confide in their accountant, doctor, or lawyer.

-- You could double or triple the amount of money your client "perceives" he should be spending on your station. By properly educating the client, he will better understand how to realistically measure the effectiveness of his campaign. When the client understands this kind of logic, he might decide that instead of breaking even with just 20 customers, he might go for 40 or 60 and double or triple the amount of money he is spending with you. An "uneducated" client probably has no logical basis for the amount of money he is spending. To him, advertising on your station is perceived more as a crapshoot than a logical calculated risk. "Uneducated" media salespeople usually do not have any logical basis for the budget they are asking for. In fact, most broadcast salespeople just pull a number out of thin air.

-- You'll sell more local direct whether you're number one or number 20. One of my favorite client objections is, "Well you're not number one." When I hear that I like to say, "What a coincidence. You're not number one in your product or service category either, and I don't have to be number one in mine. I still represent thousands of pairs of eyeballs, ears, and legs with wallets. Why wouldn't you want to reach these potential customers? Let's look at these Mediator numbers. See? We only have to reach (X ) new customers and you break even. It looks like a good calculated risk to me." Then, by explaining return on investment, your market rank really doesn't matter anymore.

-- You'll sell more long-term contracts. When you properly explain return on investment to a client, advertising on your station looks much less like a crap shoot and much more like a good calculated risk. When the client has confidence in your ability to deliver realistic campaign goals, he is less likely to balk at signing an annual contract on your station.

Here?s a bonus?a link that explains more about ROI and even has a chart with 80 product/service category gross margins of profit. http://www.paulweyland.com/gross_profit_margins.pdf

Once you start selling this way, you?ll never go back to the old way, unless you enjoy poverty, humiliation, and chronic disappointment. Know the truth and the truth will make you free?and make you lots of money. Learn more about gross margins of profit on my website, www.paulweyland.com . Go to Software, click on Mediator, and download the free help file.

Paul Weyland helps media companies make more money. Contact Paul about market visits, exclusive local direct sales training for your company, coaching, books, and other media training products at www.paulweyland.com or by calling 512-236-1222.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

(PODCAST) Why Does TV ALWAYS Get The Buy Before Radio?

Download this show

10/2/2012

Most big advertising agencies we interview say when placing buys, Television will always come before radio. It's just a fact of life. TV is more glamorous. Agencies get to be more creative. They need to see pictures. At the same time, advertising agencies rave about how quickly they can change their radio ads, to meet the needs of their clients. They also love the price, which translates to cheap. In today's Radio Ink Sales meeting Podcast, we speak to Drew Conklin and Guy Jacobssen of the Tombras Group in Knoxsville. They are big fans of radio and use it often. So, we wanted to know if there was anything radio could do change the thinking that TV must always come first.

Listen to our interview with Drew Jacobssen and Drew Conkline from the Tombras Group HERE

Our thanks to South Central Media VP/GM Terry Gillingham for introducing Radio Ink to The Tombras Group.

(10/2/2012 6:55:25 AM)
It is my experience both in field and in conversations with Agency execs that the reason that TV is bought first is that it is THE MOST EXPENSIVE. Agencies can spend the media budget fastest on TV with the smallest expense in staff. Radio takes significant time and staffing because it is cheap. The solution is, and has always been: Rais the rates.

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

SALES)Limit Your Pink Slips. Always Recruit.

2-20-2012

Let me start by saying there is no doubt that a sales team needs to be fired up versus being fired. If firing someone is the best answer, then something was missed in the recruiting process. Many of the mistakes made in hiring a sales force start with a desperation move. The problem begins because a bench of potential ?1st round draft picks? is not available. A sales manager must take the time to continuously look for superior talent. That means a sales manager must recruit every week.

A sales manager should invest 10% of his/her time each week recruiting, which is about 4 hours per week. Talk to the potential hires. Check on them. Know where they are. I know of a cluster that has not dismissed anyone in over four years. How can that be? It's because these broadcasters typically take 18 months to 2 years to locate top sales talent. Hiring and recruiting is an on-going process.

Tips for Recruiting
1) Use a farm system. Recruit from another department within the company as a farm system to outside sales. Think about the promotions department or a sales assistant?
2) Hiring Assessments. Conduct hiring assessments as part of the hiring process. Make them 20% of the hiring process, and they do count.
3) Check references not on the resume. Take the time to call people who might know the potential recruit. When was the last time you checked a reference referred by the candidate that was not positive?
4) Involve your top reps. These reps know a good rep from a bad one. They will also be more responsible in helping them succeed in the sales bullpen if you have a team oriented culture. Have potential reps shadow the top performers in the field for a full day.

Recruiting is a key component, but there are still times when we need to dismiss an employee. As a manager, it's the most difficult thing you'll ever do. I do not know of any managers that like to dismiss an employee. I am reminded of an event that occurred recently. One morning, a rep found an article on the printer from Business Week titled: ?Three Types of People to Fire Immediately. Want a more innovative company? Get rid of these folks. Today.? The sales rep brought me a piece of the article and asked, ?Was this left intentionally on the printer?? I said, ?Not that I know of.? We did not have anyone at that property on the ?firing line?. Some managers will actually send a signal or motivate by fear. In my experience, I feel these types of exploits have the opposite effect. We never did determine who left the article on the printer.

If someone needs to be fired, they should not be blindsided. All sales departments should have standards for performance. Sales Managers should make sure those standards are being met. Do we give our managers lessons on how to terminate an employee? In most cases, we do not. Upon receiving my promotion to local sales manager, my first order was to fire a sales rep that I had spent time with him in the same bullpen. I was unprepared. I spent two hours walking him around the block, and he finally asked me, ?Are you going to fire me?? I was able fire him, but it took two hours in the hot San Antonio sun. I wanted to fire myself for not knowing how to fire an employee.

We hire good people. Unfortunately, we tend to put them in the wrong jobs. Sales is a skillset. Once we know a rep is not cut out for the job, we add to the suffering by allowing them to continue in that job. When was the last time you wanted someone back that you fired? In most cases, a manager knows after 30 days if the new hire is the right fit. Be honest, you do know!

The key to longevity in a sales staff is in the hiring. The process will take more time to implement correctly, but the time will be well spent. If it becomes necessary to fire a rep, do it immediately. Attrition to a sales staff kills the bottom line. Hire slow and fire fast.

Sean Luce is the Head National Instructor for the Luce Performance Group and can be reached at sean@luceperformancegroup.com.

View the original article here

NYT: Public Can't Always Access Public Files

December 6, 2011: In a story by Meredith Hoffman headlined "At TV and Radio Outlets, Little-Known Trove of Kudos and Complaints," the New York Times reports on its efforts to get access to radio and TV stations' public files -- efforts that weren't always immediately successful.

FCC regulations requires that any member of the public be given access to the public file on request during regular business hours, but the NYT reports that a receptionist at Emmis' WRKS and WQHT "looked puzzled at the mention of a public file" and asked the reporter to leave a message, to which the reporter never got a response. At the Clear Channel/New York offices, an employee "chided a reporter for trying to enter without an appointment." Comcast's WNBC-TV also asked that the reporter make an appointment, and insisted on knowing who the reporter worked for. Public outlet WNET-TV, however, granted "instant access" to the files.

FCC Media Bureau spokesman David Fiske told the paper, "We don't have study hall monitors running around trying to enforce every single rule," but added that the public file is "an especially important rule" because it offers insights into how stations function.

The Times did ultimately get access to the public files, and reported on some of what was found there, including a "thick stack" of pleas that WRXP -- flipped from Triple A to news after it was purchased by Merlin Media -- change back to its old format.

Add a Comment Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here

(VIDEO)"Radio Is My Life. It's Always Been My Life."

Those were the words of the late Rick Buckley just a few weeks ago when he entered the N.Y. State Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Now, for the first time, you can watch Buckley's acceptance speech from Lake George New York and the accolades he received from his broadcasting peers and Buckley radio employees. Buckley spent over 50 years in radio. In the video, he discusses his first trip to a radio station, WLS in Chicago.

The Broadcasters Foundation of America has established the Rick Buckley Memorial Fund to honor the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Buckley Broadcasting, who was a longtime member of the Foundation?s Board of Directors and served as its Treasurer.Buckley, who passed away suddenly this past weekend from a brain embolism, had led his family-owned company for four decades. 

The Rick Buckley Memorial Fund will benefit the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation to provide aid to broadcasters in dire need.?Rick was a highly respected community leader, broadcaster, and a dear friend,? noted Phil Lombardo, Chairman of the Broadcasters Foundation.  ?Rick believed strongly in the concept of ?giving back? to fellow broadcasters in their time of need.  His commitment to the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation will live on with this memorial fund which honors his name.?  

In addition to running Buckley Broadcasting, which includes WOR Radio in New York, Buckley was a past Chairman of the Board of the Radio Advertising Bureau and a past Chair of the Southern California Broadcaster?s Association.  A member of the Board of Trustees at his alma mater, The University of Miami, Buckley was instrumental in establishing the Richard D. Buckley Audio Lab at the University Of Miami School Of Communication.  Rick was inducted into the New York State Broadcasters Hall of Fame this past June at its annual meeting.

Rick is survived by his wife Connie and their daughter Jennifer, Director of Sales at WOR Radio in New York City. Donations to the Rick Buckley Memorial Fund are being accepted at the Broadcasters Foundation website at www.broadcastersfoundation.org, or by calling 212-373-8250, or emailing info@thebfoa.org.   

(8/4/2011 9:48:13 AM)
here's to the great times we had at WIBG in Philadelphia. Dragsters, dune buggies,
and the first GM who allowed "Scott Walker" to become John Records Landecker.
R.I.P
(8/4/2011 9:46:40 AM)
Thanks for allowing me start my talk radio career. You were a pioneer and I am proud to have known you. Best to your family...You will be missed!!!
(8/4/2011 6:43:03 AM)
Rick, we miss you so much already. Thank you for all you've done for this business and how you have helped all of us, your extended radio family.

Jaz McKay
KNZR
Bakersfield CA

Add a Comment | View All Comments Send This Story To A Friend

View the original article here