Radio Sales Café

Happy Friday, everyone!

This week's poll question was suggested by Alex Mann of Oshkosh, WI:

When you cold call in person or on the phone, what have you found to be the most effective approach for setting an appointment with a prospect -- a spec ad, or something else?  How do you justify getting on the decision maker's calendar?

Alex adds, "I've started to notice my closing ratio go up since I started doing more spec ads but my calendar of weekly appointments isn't where I want it to be so I'm always looking for new (practical and realistic) ideas for better appointment setting tactics. Nobody these days is responsive to, 'I have a great idea for your business that I would like to share with you....' but I am wondering if you actually come to the table with a great sounding spec ad ... will that get a prospect's attention?

Thanks for the question, Alex.  Looking forward to reading everyone's replies!

Spec ads are a curious concept to me as they are highly risky without benefit of a good discovery process in advance. Too often, the writer is clueless about the appropriate copy points and most of us fall far short of Don Draper in the storytelling department. An unsolicited spec ad becomes the intellectual property of the recipient and it's altogether possible that a version of your spec ad could end up on your competitor's air without you benefitting at all. My best new business sellers always got the most appointments from identifying general business challenges within an industry and local market and framing it in a short series of statements and questions that piqued enough curiosity in the decision maker to earn an appointment by phone or in-person.

if you are walking in to a client location, there is a good reason, you think they are a qualified prospect that matches with your station profiles. That can only be done by doing some homework, so with the help of google, go find out as much as you can. Then, your opening remarks are simple, Could we possibly schedule some time to discuss your business, I have done some preliminary research on your company and can discuss several things of interest to your company's growth,

we sell our expertise, not things, that is what the client wants, more knowledge,

From Mary Ellen Moss on the RSC Facebook page:

...I have tried so many techniques. What's worked "I'm so and so with xyz station. Can I make an appointment with you" and "have you ever thought about partnering with xyz medium before?" You'll get 1. It's too expensive- "I know a lot of my customers thought that too, we customize for your budget. Do you have 15 minutes?" 2. No, I haven't thought about it. 3. We tried it before and it didn't work- "can I meet with you and maybe learn why it didn't work?" Typically it was the schedule or creative, but the number one reason it didn't work is because the salesperson didn't set their expectations correctly. Also, I would NEVER create a spec ad before doing a CNA.

Making the field salespeople do cold calls means having your highest-cost (per hour) sales resource perform the lowest-value (per hour) activity. (Also, some of the best closers I've employed were terrible at cold calling). So I always separate the two jobs by defining cold calling as marketing and get AEs to follow up on the resulting pre-qualified leads. I would never ask an AE to copywrite an ad so why would I get them to sit at a phone all day.

I am not a fan of spec ads, especially as a door opener. They can draw the whole business in far too early in the sales process. If they work for you - great! I suspect they worked better back in the days of the cassette than now when we are selling a more sophisticated solution. I also found that they brought in the wrong kind of client - short campaign, underfunded, no focus on ROI, ego-driven, etc. I always say, leverage the work you've done for your existing clients and testify to the results they achieved. Only later, when you have reached the short list then spec your campaign. That bit hasn't changed since he days of Don Draper!

As Jim says above - 'we sell our expertise'. Very true.

Alex, congratulations on surviving two years in this business!  I have worked in radio off and on since I was a teenager and in the sales side for about 15+ years.  Last year I returned to this business to join as the 5th person on a 5 person sales team.  I wasn't given a list of on-air clients, I've had to generate my own business and it's fun.  Challenging, but easier than my first few years in sales 25 years ago when we didn't have all the web tools and social media resources we get to use now.

Cold calling, in it's rawest form is one of the worst ways to find a prospect.  Cold calling where you know nothing about a person or business except their phone number and the name of their business is both stupid and worthless these days.  Yet there are radio stations that still insist on having their under performing sales people make 20 to 50 blind "dials" per day.  I worked for one briefly.  Please don't do it and don't insist your sales people do this.

So what's the alternative?  Working smart, building relationships and connections.  Decide what business categories you want to work in.  Just as important, decide which types of businesses you DON'T want to work with.  Your time is valuable and limited.  When you put an advertiser on the air, you are making a commitment to them to do your best to produce results for them...forever.  Not for a few weeks, but for as long as they are in business and you are helping them.  Do it right and you will have lifetime clients.  Do it wrong and you'll sour them on using radio advertising ever again.

With that in mind, you get to choose who you get to work with.  Be selective.  Just because they have a few bucks to spend does not qualify them to be your client.  Set your standards. 

Then pick one of those categories that you want to work with.  Let's say you decide on home improvement.  It's a big category with many off shoots.  Develop a list of everyone in that category and do your homework on each of them along with the industry.  Know what their margins are, what their problems are, what their challenges are. Then start contacting them to set up a meeting to see if THEY QUALIFY to work with you.

You are only looking for advertisers that are honest, trustworthy, and provide a good value for your listeners.  If you would not recommend them to friends and family, then you don't want to recommend them to your listeners via an ad campaign.

This is what I tell my prospects, that I only work with those types of businesses and I want to see if they qualify.  Other factors I want them to have is a commitment to long term regular advertising, not a "one-night stand".  I also want to have regular access to them, to continue to work on keeping their campaign current and timely.

Despite all of what I just said, I did some "cold calls" this month, but they were more like "warm calls".  I visited a trucking company that had a sign out looking for drivers.  I stopped in and told them who I was, and asked who I should talk to about helping them find qualified drivers.  Turns out the person I am meeting with this week is an acquaintance that knows me and while she has never considered using radio before, it was because no one ever invited her to use radio.

On the subject of spec spots, I usually don't use them at the beginning phase, but may later.  One business I am working with was going to advertise, but needs to hire more help first.  So I sent them samples of other employment ads that I've done for others to show them what we can create for them.

Finally, don't worry about those who don't want to see you, there are enough businesses that are looking for new customers who are looking for a way to get those customers.  When you have a new client, treat them like gold.  Continue to work with them on ideas that will help their business in areas outside of radio advertising.  Become their marketing consultant. They are often too close to their business to see things that someone like you can see that can be improved.

I mentioned that when I started my current position last year, I was starting fresh and from scratch.  I have been contacting my past clients and connections and also relying on my LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook connections as lead sources. http://about.me/scloho

Great advice and fits 100% with what I believe are best practice. I will save this for reps/AEs to read.

You must give them a compelling reason to meet with you and it has to be about them. 

"If I could put you in front of a full house at the _______ Theater would you be interested in talking to me? What if I could do that every day 365 days a year.

Larry,

I don't believe that an unsolicited spec ad automatically becomes the recipient's property simply by presenting it to them.  It's always a good practice to protect oneself though, by preceding the spot with an audio disclaimer:  "The following radio commercial is the property of XXXX Radio and is provided for demonstration purposes only; it is not authorized for broadcast."

While a good uncovery/CNA interview is likely to yield an abundance of useful information for creating a demo spot, there still may be good arguments for initiating a presentation with a demo prior to the uncovery. ("I have an idea that I'd like to present to you.")

The late, great Jim Williams was a huge proponent of going into calls armed with demo tapes. His "Smart Call Demo Presentation" sales training series (available here without charge) is filled with examples of many different types of demos that he recommended be a part of every salesperson's tool kit. 

Great analogy, Jack!

I work out of rural southwest Wisconsin and I am usually welcome on most of my cold-call visits to business prospects. Then again, I think pre-calling by telephone for an appointment is much more of a common requirement with business owners and managers, in a large city.  I don't know how cold calling in person would be received in a small-medium city market like Oshkosh and the Fox Valley cities.

When I cold call in person - which is more than 95% of my cold calling experience - I like to approach as gently as possible.  I usually hand them my business card and say something like this, "Hello, M ________________, my name is Jeff Duff and I'm an advertising representative for WDMP Outlaw Country Radio, out of Dodgeville.  Have you ever listened to our station?"  

I wait patiently for them to answer my question as I don't want to exhibit any "pushiness", which is an absolute NO-NO in our socially-conservative rural area.

No matter whether they've heard our station before - or not - I then ask them a key question: "I've stopped to find out if we could help increase the revenue of your ________(type of business)_________ ?"  Then shut up and let the prospect talk!

He or she will usually give you a pretty quick idea as to whether or not this prospect is EVER going to buy ads from you! 

Hey Stephen! Glad to see a fellow Wisconsinite on here!

I would imagine SW rural WI is pretty similar to the Valley. Our station is based in Oshkosh but I do most of my prospecting in Appleton. I drive up from Milwaukee everyday, I'm on full commission, and I know I'm not going to build a good list by spending a lot of time on businesses who can barely afford to spend $1,000 a month (heck, most hardly have the revenue coming in where $500 a month makes sense). Appleton is another story.

I've had a pretty decent success rate with in person cold calling for smaller retailers, especially if they've gotten an email or letter from me with some info the week before (it eliminates their ability to use the "send me some information" objection...) but with larger businesses (larger medical groups, banks, etc) an email or typed letter to the decision maker followed by a phone call seems like the way to go. With the smaller retailers, I try to make time to visit their store (I may not even say anything when I go in the first time) and learn a little bit before approaching anyone. There are usually marketing materials on the walls (posters, etc) and of course online... you can get a feel for what they're trying to push. Seems like when the decision maker or gatekeeper gets the vibe that I've done some homework... they're more interested in talking to me as opposed to when I open up with something I could've been using on everyone.

Hey everyone! Thank you for all the responses. I just wanted to say that I have been trying the spec ad approach the past week and so far... 100% success rate. But I would tell you the ads are based on research. I attached two examples. One prospect was heavily promoting online and on Facebook a fashion show they're doing next month and another (an Orthopedic clinic) is highly focused on the fact that Ortho is all their doctors do and how patients can get in a doctor the same day they call without a referral. For the ortho one, I sent it to the marketing department followed with a phone call... got the appointment. Walked in to the other with the ad on my phone... also got the appointment. It clearly established that I've taken quite a bit of time to do some homework. I had some similar success with other prospects using the same approach this week too. The ads CANNOT be generic. With all the information businesses share on Facebook, Twitter, their website, heck look at Yelp and other online reviews.... you can get the info you need to at least put a good first ad together.

 

Now you can't do that for EVERYONE (it's a time eater for sure) but the ones I've made the ads for are the ones who I am confident can spend at a Key Account level. And hey, if they do use my ads on another radio station but not mine, then I don't want to do business with them anyway!

Rod,

 

I completely agree that there is validity to a demo prior to the CNA. You can find good info about the client on their website, Facebook/Twitter, online reviews, if you're in the local business chamber... your fellow chamber members, etc. So far it has worked well for me, but I don't think it's an approach to use on every prospect because there's an opportunity cost with putting them together: time. So best to use it with ones you know could become large annual accounts.