Friday Poll: How Do You Qualify Prospects for Your Station?

    • 1373 posts
    November 19, 2015 11:29 PM PST

    Happy Friday, everyone!

    This week's poll question comes from a RSC member who prefers to remain anonymous:

    A topic I would like feedback from others on is: qualifying prospects, before the CNA is even considered.

    1. What are your "qualifying" questions for qualifying prospects for your station?

    2. What is your style of asking them?

    Looking forward to reading your replies!

    • 2 posts
    November 20, 2015 1:29 AM PST

    Interesting topic:

    When I go into a prospect for a CNA  I am 80%-90% sure they are a good fit for my station/cluster. I am confident in this because I know the cost of running an effective campaign on my station/s and by the research I do online and with social media like LinkedIn and Facebook before I make that first call.

    1. I research the business category the prospect is in and get a pretty good idea of who their target consumer is. If that target is not a close match to my P1 listener for one or more of my stations then they are not qualified. If the product or service is not of interest or affordable by my P1 then the campaign is destined to fail no matter how many spots we run. We are not going to sell a lot of  RV's to 18 year olds. Can you say "I tried radio and it didn't... "   IF the client's target and the P1 are a match then on to the next phase.

    2.I try to find out what the typical percentage of gross or net revenue that is spent on marketing/advertising in in the prospects business category. EX: Car dealers spend about $600 per new car sold on marketing.

    Looks something like this:

    a. Internet services/ads at 25%
    b. Newspaper ads at 20%
    c. TV ads at 20%
    d. Radio ads at 16%
    e. Direct Mail at 10%
    f. Other at 10%

    So you gotta estimate how many cars you think they are selling for an approx. budget. Works for all categories that you can get the info on. Some categories you can't get clear info so you have to make a judgment call but most of the time you can at least get a pretty good idea. Then on to number 3.

    3.  I see what sort of current/recent advertising the are doing, if any.  Since I know my competitors general pricing structure I can get a pretty good idea what sort of money they are spending on TV/cable, other radio, SEO, Social Media, etc. If they are prolific in any or all then there is a pretty good budget being spent and they are most likely a quality prospect so I make the call.

    4. I also look for things like: multiple locations, new store opening, remodel of the current store/locations, etc, these are qualifiers as well.

    When I call it is only about getting the appointment nothing else. I am not trying to get a contract on the phone. (but I would take it if it fell out of the sky.  :)  To your point I want to get in to do a CNA or present my promotion.

    This research only takes 5-10 minutes and is well worth the pre-call work.You can often find out who the decision maker is as well during your research. It will save a ton of time NOT talking to the wrong businesses and it gives you direction for your first meeting with the prospect so you can verify and build solutions with what you have discovered.  It shows the prospect and future client that you know a bit about their business, are interested in their business and you just might be able to help them  "sell their stuff".

    That's my story and I am sticking to it!

     

    • 2 posts
    November 20, 2015 1:47 AM PST

    Oh yeah and don't forget about the client's website when researching like I did in my reply! HA HA!

    • 19 posts
    November 20, 2015 6:27 AM PST

    Qualifying questions should be simple:  "If I could come up with a plan that you believed could increase your business, would you be willing to look at it with me?" Then ask your questions.

  • November 20, 2015 6:31 AM PST

    We qualify Prospects Three ways:

                       1) Would our listeners be interested in their Products or Services.
                           (Do our demos match?)

                       2) Do they practice the Marketing Bridge (A visit to their store will tell you that)

                       3) Do they pay their bills on time.
                       

    • 8 posts
    November 20, 2015 10:15 AM PST

    Maybe I'm not thinking clearly, but what is a Marketing Bridge?

    • 21 posts
    November 20, 2015 10:27 AM PST

    Budget, budget and budget.  Sometimes their pain is greater then their budget.  In order to do them a service they have to have a budget to buy a schedule that gives them the frequency needed to get results.  

    Mr. Advertiser, what are your expectations from this radio campaign?  What budget do you have allocated to make this happen?

  • November 20, 2015 10:40 AM PST

    Sue;

    Give me your email and I will email you The marketing Bridge.

                                            [email protected]

    • 993 posts
    November 20, 2015 10:46 AM PST

    http://www.municipalbev.com/articles/marketing/marketing_bridge.jpg

    • 993 posts
    November 20, 2015 10:53 AM PST

    Sue,

    The Marketing Bridge was conceived and developed decades ago by radio station owner and sales trainer Norton E. Warner.  It's explained in detail in his remarkable book, DAVID CAN STILL BEAT GOLIATH - Radio Advertising Is David's Slingshot.

    The Marketing Bridge has been copied and widely circulated by so many advertising professionals, salespeople, businesses, sales trainers, etc. (typically without attribution to its author) that it can be found all over the Internet. But to find a detailed explanation of how it works and why it works, along with a step-by-step plan for achieving great success in radio advertising sales by helping advertisers achieve success using radio, you won't do better than picking up a copy of Norton's 375-page book. Highly recommended!

    • 8 posts
    November 20, 2015 11:18 AM PST

    Thanks for the info.  

    • 58 posts
    November 23, 2015 1:51 PM PST

    This is how you qualify prospects, before the CNA is even considered.  Make a list of all your accounts in three categories.Annual, event, and calendar. Rank  accounts in categories  by annually amount spent A,B, OR C . This should give you a idea as to how best to spend your time. Next, call all your prospects and say something like this. I want to send our listeners to your store to buy something. We have about ( X) number of listeners each week. I would like to come by to see which of your products our audience is likely to buy  next week, would Tuesday AM or Thursday afternoon be okay? First words to the owner, 'this is a fantastic business,how long have you been doing this. Get the prospect to talk about himself, and his business. Conclude the conversation with something like, I have enough  to put something together that will send our listeners to you to buy something. I will call when I have it ready for you.

    Most all the major categories of advertisers have been identify. Put your proposal together, have a spec spot and a schedule prepared and present it to the owner, then ask for his business. That's it, make the calls, prepare a good presentation and CLOSE.

  • November 23, 2015 1:57 PM PST

    Marketing Bridge

    • 118 posts
    January 14, 2016 5:03 PM PST

    I love that.  So often we forget we have a product that can make or break a business (at least somewhat).  The idea that I want my listeners to come buy from you is something that is hard to turn down when you own a business.  I admire your creativity.