7 Things The Best Radio Salespeople Do Differently

    • 54 posts
    July 19, 2015 8:49 AM PDT

    Radio sales isn't complicated. To paraphrase author Dan Jenkins (who was writing about baseball), if sales was half as complicated as some trainers try to make it, we'd never be able to sell.

     

    Sales skills can be taught, and learned. But what separates the best and most successful salespeople from the mediocre isn't technique -- it's the willingness to do the work, and practice some very simple steps consistently.

     

    Here's what the best salespeople do all the time that that the others don't.

     

    1. They are constantly on the hunt for new business. No matter how secure it feels, your account list is temporary. In a good year, 20-25% of your list will turn over no matter what you do -- attrition happens for many reasons outside your control.

     

    Businesses get bought and sold. They reorganize, downsize, close entirely. The contact you've spent years cultivating suddenly takes another job. These factors are completely out of your control.

     

    In a bad year, it can be a whole lot worse than 25%.

     

    The best salespeople subscribe to their local newspaper -- on paper -- every day, looking for leads. They tune in to commercial radio in their car... listening for new advertisers. They don't fast-forward the commercials on TV -- they watch the commercials on TV. And they follow up on what they find.

     

    2. They read constantly. Books, magazines, blogs. They read about sales skills, networking, effective advertising techniques, copywriting, technology, business.

     

    During training sessions, I am often asked what books I recommend. I point people to this post on my blog: 5 Great Books Every Advertising Salesperson Must Read (Or Re-read) in 2015

     

    The best salespeople I work with buy the books....and read them.

     

    3. They "think like a rookie".  Rookies will try anything -- they don't know any better. The longer we do the same job, the greater our tendency to dismiss a new technique by saying, "That'll never work." Top sellers recognize that they don't know everything. They try things.

     

    4. They learn from their failures. There's something to learn from every call, and the bad ones sometimes have the best lessons.

     

    When I was a new radio seller, someone taught me an exercise to do in the parking lot after every sales call. I'd take my notepad out of my briefcase, turn to a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. I'd label the left column "What Went Right" -- even the worst call had something redeeming. The right column was titled "What I'd Do Differently". writing the lessons down right after the meeting helped me retain the lesson long enough to act on it.

     

    5. They keep their commitments. I've been doing a hybrid seller/trainer gig for nearly six years. In that time I've met with over a thousand advertisers in 31 states. In every market I've visited, clients have told me stories of Account Executives who didn't return phone calls, or deliver the information they promised, or get the copy produced on time.

     

    In fact, this has often worked in our favor -- the reason we were let in is because the other guys dropped the ball.

     

    It hurts to say this, but if you promise to call with information on Tuesday and you actually call with the information on Tuesday, you will be the exception.

     

    6. They present solutions from the client's point of view. Years ago, a Dale Carnegie Sales Training seminar leader put me through the "Which Means to You" drill. I had to take every claim in a proposal and add the words "...which means to you" to it. If I couldn't articulate why the client would care about a specific point, I had to take the point out.

     

    I hated having the instructor interrupt my presentation over and over again with the words, "WHO CARES?", but the lesson has stuck with me for a couple of decades.

     

    You have a budget to hit, your manager's got a quarter to make, and corporate gave you a package to sell. Your clients don't care.

     

    You know why you want to sell that package -- why would your client want to buy it?

     

    The best salespeople develop a deep understanding of their client's problems and goals. They position their offerings as tools to solve those problems and achieve those goals.

     

    Can your proposals pass the "Which Means to You" test? How about your media kit?

     

    7. They are selective about who they work with. The late Jeffrey Mayer taught me that sales is a process of disqualification (For a story about how he got me to dump a prospect, click here.)

     

    He taught a three-part formula:

     

    • No Money = No Sale
    • No Authority = No Sale
    • No Need = No Sale

    Make a list of the people you're calling on. Do they they have a need for what you're selling (and do they know it)? Do they have they authority to buy it? Do they have the money to spend what it takes?

     

    All of these steps are simple. The sales skills are easy to learn. The hard part is practicing them every day. 

     

    The best salespeople perform the steps and make the real money. Can you?

     

    Will you?


    This post was edited by Rod Schwartz at March 5, 2024 12:03 PM PST