Tinkle on Prospecting

    • 993 posts
    January 16, 2012 2:05 PM PST

    From today's (1/16/12) Small Market Radio Newsletter, a remarkable compendium of ideas and places for finding radio advertising prospects, from broadcaster par excellence, Paul Tinkle.  

     

    Looking for Leads in All the Right Places

    By Paul Tinkle

    If you’re a rookie sales rep and still trying to find leads, or you’re a veteran who is trying to rekindle your prospecting campaign, hundreds of precious leads are right in front of you!

    Here are some places to look for new prospects:

    THE WHITE AND YELLOW PAGES OF THE PHONE BOOK. Hundreds of businesses are in the phone book that are overlooked by radio reps. Take an hour and look closely at every business in the phone book. You’ll be surprised how many are not being called on.

    BILLBOARDS. These are everywhere, and usually include a phone number. Local merchants who use these will pay a monthly charge and a setup charge and usually are locked in for 90 days to a year.

    BUSINESS CARDS. I have found these at cash registers at many of our local hometown businesses.  Often found on a town hall wall in a supermarket or just left on a counter, be sure and pick these up and ask the owner of the business where the cards were left behind who these prospects are and if they are someone they could recommend. Pick up enough business cards and you’ll make a sale!

    CHURCH BULLETINS. A number of churches sell advertising on the back or front of a church bulletin. By the way, every church has a budget for advertising. Treat churches like a business; they are a business and they have a budget.

    FLYERS. These include auction flyers, real estate show bills and coming soon attractions. You’ll even find some of these located on telephone poles and trees, depending upon ordinances.

    CLASSIFIEDS. Classifieds continue to have small businesses and help wanted ads. These include nursing homes, assisted living, truck drivers and a number of other categories. The classified section of a newspaper is their number one money maker, in most cases.

    RESTAURANTS. Many have placemats and menus with advertising sold on them. Go eat and take home a placemat or menu (and while you’re there, sell the restaurant!) This is also a place where business cards are left behind.

    BENCHES. You’ll find these in front of the big box stores, grocery stores and even in local parks and down towns. In smaller towns each of the six ads on a bench sells for about $200 and is good for a two year contract and it’s always money paid on demand. This is done by an outside telemarketer and delivery is made at a later time.

    BUSINESS VEHICLES. Cars and trucks are moving billboards; they include a phone number and often a website. If you’re following a truck, have a recorder handy to speak the number instead of trying to write it down. (Or use your phone to leave yourself a message.) There are thousands of these on the road every day, and they are very good prospects.

    SIGN SHOPS. If you don’t have a relationship with a sign company, begin one! They are the first to get the advertising for mom-and-pop businesses, political candidates and churches. In many cases they have the first contact with a new business. Get to know the sign company personnel.

    SPORTS MEDIA GUIDES, FESTIVAL AND BEAUTY PAGEANT PROGRAMS. These are terrific for learning who supports specific teams, charities and festivals. Save these for the future. You’ll likely be able to turn these into your customers for sponsorships.

    YOUR HOME TOWN CITY HALL. Practically every city issues a business license for a new business. They have a list with contact names and phone numbers.

    YOUR HOME COUNTY COURTHOUSE. In most rural and metropolitan areas a county business license is required. Both City Hall and the County Courthouse will make these available to you for free or for a small copying charge. This will tell you about every business in your city or county…many you didn’t know were there. Some will be small businesses such as day cares and individuals but every one is a prospect until they are disqualified.

    CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. Your local chamber and city business association will have numerous leads on new business members from both industry and retail. Join your chamber and you’ll receive get a great deal of information.

    BUSINESS LISTS. There are companies that are in business to sell business lists for a handsome price. These companies are available on the web and can provide valuable information.

    THE WEB. The Internet is a terrific resource for information about business categories and your leads. After finding a lead, use it to find out more about the business you plan to call on. Never call on a new business without doing some research on the category and on the business.

    OTHER WAYS TO FIND PROSPECTS. Subscribe to each paper in your area of coverage (in print or on line) and review every ad in the paper each time the print publishes. Tune your car radio button to your competitor’s stations to know if you’ve missed a new business to your competitor. (Aggressive sales people are already doing the two things I just mentioned.)

    Good News: if a business is advertising in other media, that’s good for you because the people placing the advertising believe in advertising! All you have to do is show them the benefits of doing business with your radio station and with you to help them grow their business!

    The Way to Make More Money

    One important element to succeeding and making more money as a sales rep is asking for long term orders!

    After a sales rep fully understands the importance of having a customer on a long-term schedule and giving good service regularly, the sales process becomes much easier. Advertisers must advertise forever or until the customers retires, closes or dies.

    Here are my personal keys to achieving goals:

    • Always be asking for long term orders!

    • Ask for bigger orders! Ask for enough money to become important to your customer.

    • Keep good track of your time and the number of calls you make on the phone and in person.

    • Make more face-to-face calls.

    • Prospect every day!

    • Stop returning to home base every hour.

    • Stay on the street. Make the Left Right Rule a part of every call (Look to the left and then to the right to see if there is a prospect!)

    • Make cold calls count.

    • Develop relationships!

    • Plan your day, then overload your plan with additional calls.

    • Take ideas to your customers, not the special of the day.

    • Spec ads sell! Use them. They help to begin the conversation about the customer instead of the sales rep.

    • And finally, use the RAB every day!

    BONUS TIP: Insurance agents don’t sell month-to-month. Practically everything they sell is an ANNUAL.  Bankers don’t sell month-to-month. They make 30-year, 60-month, 36-month and 12-month contracts. Follow these recommendations - you will make money—and you’ll make lots of it, too!

    Paul Tinkle is president of Thunderbolt Broadcasting, owners of WCMT, WCDZ, WCMT-FM, WYVY-FM and WQAK-FM, in the Tennessee towns of Martin, Union City, South Fulton and Dresden.  -Reprinted by permission from SMALL MARKET RADIO NEWSLETTER. 

     

    P.S.  I've been a subscriber to, and an advertiser in Jay Mitchell's weekly Small Market Radio Newsletter for many years.  An annual subscription is just $99, or $169 for two years--a small price to pay for the content you'll receive each week.  Email: [email protected] - ask to receive a sample issue - and see what you've been missing.


    This post was edited by Rod Schwartz at March 22, 2024 10:22 AM PDT
    • 4 posts
    January 19, 2012 1:03 PM PST

    Do not forget REFERRALS!

    • 53 posts
    June 24, 2012 7:52 PM PDT

    I find this extremely helpful, Rod.