I’ve heard a saying in media sales many times over the years: “The work begins when they say yes.” Translated, this means once you make the sale, the work you put in to enter the order, get copy, plan the promotion and service the account is going to make getting the sale look easy. I think that saying needs to be retired or at least updated to something like: “The work begins way before they even know who I am.”
To me, this draws a comparison to getting ready for the baseball season. Back in the day, players would spend their offseason working odd jobs to make money and, I would imagine, doing a lot of drinking. Spring Training was for getting in shape and getting ready to play the season. The idea of spending any time during the offseason training for the year didn’t pop in to many player’s minds. Looking at you, Mr. Ruth.
As time went on, players started realizing they needed to train year round, and the salaries they were now being paid would allow them to put the time in and not have to work in the offseason. Players now come in to Spring Training ready to go from a conditioning standpoint and use the time to get their timing down for the season. Too much is at stake and too many players are ready to take your job if you are not prepared BEFORE you even begin to think about Spring Training.
In our sports media sales world, this compares to the amount of time we spend prepping for meetings with prospects. Back in the day, there wasn’t the amount of information we can find today. We weren’t sure what clients were spending in the market, we didn’t know their annual gross sales or have the ability to look up the name of the Marketing Director on LinkedIn.
One of the great things about technology is all of this information that is out there. With that, however, now comes the expectation that you will have used the information to know about the company and the people you are talking with at the company.
I mentioned this recently about those applying for jobs. I expect that, at the very least, those that are interviewing have looked up information about our stations and company.
We are not the experts on someone else’s business and we should never portray to know more than we do about their industry, but a quick Google search or glancing at an RAB.com Instant Background should provide us with a couple of nuggets to ask about that show we did our homework.
Additionally, we have to be looking at the prospects website, find out where they rank in organic search, figure out if they are doing any Pay-Per-Click, see how they position themselves, what their social following is like and more. If, for example, you have someone in a service industry that doesn’t show up well in organic listings for basic industry terms, you have a great reason to pick up the phone and call for an appointment.
The bottom line is that our work no longer begins after the sale, it begins before you ever pick up the phone to call. As sellers, we are always taught to use any advantage we can find. I tell reps all the time, there is nothing that makes this job easy, but there are things that can make it easier.
Putting in a little effort prior to talking to a new prospect can make all the difference in the world. The payoff to this will be a higher closing ratio and that is always worth going the extra mile for.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
