Sales Tip: Rushing to Judgment

As a salesperson, you should work to focus all of your attention on your customer and his/her needs. It's all too easy to swoop in to present a solution instead of listening to your customer's complaints and the specifics of his/her situation.

In this rush to cut to the chase, you're in danger of coming across as arrogant, and your customers end up feeling their input is unimportant and unappreciated. This understandable mistake happens for two reasons:

* You want to come off as the "expert" or "hero," showing off all your knowledge by providing the solution before your customer even has a chance to finish her thought.
* You're in a hurry and don't have the time and energy to devote to your customer.

For example, let's say you're about to leave for a week's vacation when a prospective customer calls. He starts to go into a long story about his business and all the problems he's encountered in the last five years. You realize that you have heard his story -- or at least a similar one -- many times before, so you interrupt him to give your answer to his problems. You try to end the call as soon as possible so you can leave for vacation.

In this case, even though you might have given your prospect a good solution, chances are he won't feel satisfied with the conversation. He didn't have an opportunity to tell you about his business, so he feels shortchanged.

What should you have done? Next time, embrace any information your prospect gives you, whether you believe it's valuable or not. If you truly didn't have time to talk at length with this prospect, you should have requested the opportunity to call him back after you returned from vacation. Otherwise, you should have put down your briefcase, closed your office door, and listened to him for as long as he needed.

Remember, even if you hear the story all the time, it is unique and personal for each customer. Instead of interrupting your customer with your standard solution, let him have the floor and explain his problem. Only then can you proceed with the process of finding a solution for whatever ails him.

Sales Tip: Who Gets Past Gatekeepers?

A recent survey asked gatekeepers how they determined who gets through to a decision-maker. The top answer was, "People I like."

Treating gatekeepers with respect is in the salesperson's best interest. This person is very close to the decision-maker, and has a lot of valuable information.

So work with him or her to establish a friendly rapport. Use a conversational, yet confident tone of voice. If you were standing in the lobby of his or her office, the gatekeeper would first size you up based on your appearance and the way you sound.

Early in the conversation, ask for the gatekeeper's name. Use it, put it in your notes and greet the screener by name on your next call. You will seem much less like a stranger on subsequent calls.

You won't believe how big TV still is!

The study, conducted with ad targeting firm Simulmedia, contains plenty of insights, but among the most striking is the size of either industry. Nielsen rarely pulls back the veil on exactly how big the TV and video worlds are (they do mint the currency in the former, after all), but here it is in black and white: There are 283 million television viewers monthly (the population of the United States is 313 million), each watching an average of 146 hours of TV. Compare that with 155 million online video viewers averaging just shy of six hours monthly on mobile and almost six and a half hours over the Web. So while TV’s audience is still almost twice that of digital video, the amount of money in digital isn’t even 5 percent of the mammoth $74 billion chunk of change in television. What’s going to bring about growth in the former, said Amit Seth, Nielsen’s evp, global media products, is equivalency.

ABC already offers digital options for audience deficiency units (ADUs, or makegoods), and Fox said last year it would provideHulu inventory for the same purpose (neither network was able to provide comment by press time), but Seth said he foresees greater porousness between digital video and TV. The company isn’t just hoping for that—Nielsen’s DPR product, which measures non-mobile streaming video, is set to finally launch in the spring after a delay. Nielsen also will be continuing to refine a tool that other third-party data miners are already selling: purchaser data that gives a measurable ROI to advertisers. “We have access to 90-plus percent of credit card transactions, anonymized through a third-party data provider,” said Seth. “Do you shop home improvement? If so, do you shop at Home Depot or at Lowe’s?” Nielsen now knows.

Content producers likeNBCUniversal have pioneered similar initiatives, but it’s impossible to overstate the importance of third-party measurement as the analytics world gets more complicated. Lest this sound like too much progress too quickly, Dave Morgan, founder and CEO of Simulmedia, says not to worry. Business as usual will probably continue apace for a while. “The silos aren’t coming down anytime soon,” said Morgan. “There’s a Silicon Valley expectation that there will be a desilo-ization of TV imminently, and nobody who took part in these dinners and discussions, not even the most ardent online people, thinks that’s the case.”

Morgan and Seth agree that the industry’s best hope is in more granular data. “The fuzzy intermedia metrics can lead to nothing but more debates at the ARF and the 4A’s and the NAB and forever,” said Morgan. “But what you can’t argue with is what happened after they saw the ad. What happened at the cash register?”

4 Warning Signs That Your Sponsorship Proposals Suck

I've lamented on a few occasions about the bad news I often have to give to sponsorship seekers. A lot of it has to do with the quality of the sponsorship proposals they're creating, so I've decided to do this little self-diagnostic to see if your sponsorship proposals suck.

There are a hundred ways to get it wrong, but these are the big ones, and if you stay away from these warning signs, you'll do a lot better.

Search-and-replace

Do not EVER re-use a proposal for another sponsor simply by searching for one sponsor name and replacing it with another. It's a dead giveaway to sponsors that you a) don't know what you're doing; and b) don't give a crap about what they need to achieve.

Don't even do it for potential sponsors in the same category. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways don't need the same thing. Neither do Bupa and Medibank, Brother and Canon, or Kellogg's and Uncle Tobys. Their jobs as marketers are to differentiate their brands and encourage preference and loyalty in their target markets. They don't do that by marketing themselves in the exact same way as their competitors, so at the very least, sending the same proposal is counterproductive, and you could well be burning a bridge. Plus, more often than not, you'll miss one.

More than 25% is about you

If you're saying to yourself, "Of course it's about my event. What else would it be about?", you need to pay close attention here. You should only include enough background information about whatever it is that you're selling so that the proposal has context -- usually no more than a couple of pages. After that, the entire proposal needs to be about the sponsor, including...

• Who your target markets are, why they care about what you're doing, and how the sponsor can add value to that experience.
• How the sponsor can achieve their specific objectives -- research, research, research -- with this sponsorship. That's right, you need to include creative ideas for leverage.
• Fully customized benefits list and the investment required.

You use the term "general audience" or "broad audience" 

Sponsors don't want to reach a huge audience of people who don't really care about what you do, but might cast their eyes on a few logos. They want to connect with an audience that is passionate and involved, as those are the people who will be receptive to win-win-win leverage activities and achieve big results for the sponsors.

"It's just a teaser" 

I see a lot of uncustomized, often search-and-replace, proposals and letters. Often, the lack of effort put into these unsophisticated offers is dismissed with "It's just a teaser." Here's a bit of insight for you: Sponsors don't respond to teasing. They're not going to request a meeting. They probably won't even respond to your calls. They surely won't say "yes."

The mindset behind this is somewhere in the vicinity of wearing sweatpants to your first job interview, with the intent to wear a suit for the second interview. As with job interviews, you get one chance. You need to do your homework and put in your best effort the first time.

Tracking Data Boosts CPMs on Ad Exchanges

Online ad exchanges command higher rates when they have access to data about other Web sites that consumers have visited, per a Digital Advertising Alliance study.

"The results of our econometric analysis corroborate and extend an emerging body of empirical work documenting the value of information sharing in online advertising," authors Howard Beales of George Washington University and Jeff Eisenach of Navigant Economics write in a study commissioned by the trade group Digital Advertising Alliance. "Our estimates indicate that advertisers place significantly greater value on users for whom more information is available."

For the study, the researchers examined 3 million transactions conducted by two companies that run ad exchanges. One of the companies had cookie data for 89% of the impressions, with an average cookie lifespan of seven weeks. The other company had cookie data for 96% of ads served, but the average life of the cookie was just eight days. The study took place during a one-week period in August.

Overall, ad exchanges were able to command between three times and seven times higher cost-per-thousand impression (CPM) rates when serving ads to users with tracking cookies than without them, according to the study. Companies paid the highest CPMs to reach people with older cookies, the researchers reported.

The average CPM for all ads examined -- those served with and without cookies -- was 29 cents for the company with the shorter-lived cookies, and 47 cents for the company with cookies an average of seven weeks old.

The study only examined rates for ads sold by exchanges; it didn't look at how those rates compare to ones for ads sold directly by publishers.

Lou Mastria, managing director of the DAA, says the organization commissioned the study as part of an effort to quantify the impact of consumer data on the online ad industry. He says it shows that publishers can command more ad revenue when they have data about the types of products consumers want to purchase.

"Understanding whether someone's in market for a car, or in market for a vacation -- those are the things that are going to be important toward monetizing content," he says.

(Source: Online Media Daily, 02/10/14) 

Sales Tip: Words to Avoid During Your Sales Presentation

Needless to say, it's essential that sales professionals are comfortable in their roles, but when comfort turns into complacency language barriers can start to appear.

In sales training what to say to customers and how to say it is covered extensively. These keystone skills are the backbone of any sales career and every good salesperson knows that they need to be constantly sharpened in order to remain effective.

Communication is the sales expert's main tool. In negotiations a good communicator can make the difference between a non-sale and hearing the words "sold." When following that age-old advice "ABC -- Always Be Closing," the only way this is possible is by being able to freely and naturally talk to clients and customers.

Becoming too comfortable can be just as much of an issue as being too uptight, however, as complacent language has been found to be one of the biggest complaints among customers. Here are the most misused words in sales pitches which can turn-off clients in an instant.

Obviously
"Obviously" sounds vague at best and patronizing at worst. If you have to explain something, it probably wasn't obvious to the client. Dissect your pitch and find out where your explanations could be clearer. If you are using this word just to fill up your sentences, don't. It's a messy way to use your speech and off-putting to customers.

No problem at all
If you find yourself using this tired old phrase fairly often, it's probably because you feel obliged towards your customers for the job you are carrying out for them. Sales jobs can be challenging and some clients can demand more than others, but in their opinion, what you are doing for them is a part of your job. So naturally, it isn't (or shouldn't be) a problem. Try to limit this phrase to once a conversation, towards the end. Remember: The more you use it, the less genuine it sounds.

To be honest...
Either you're lying now or you were lying before. Your entire conversation should be genuine and pointing out that you're being honest only makes you sound dishonest. Honestly.

Erm
"Erm," "Umm" and "Ahh..." are all noises a client hates to hear. Filling up the spaces in your pitch with background thinking sounds appears unprofessional and can be very off-putting. The worst thing is the more you say it, the less you realize how prevalent it is in conversation. Practice confidence skills in telephone and 1-to-1 conversational situations and learn that short, snappy sentences and silent pauses sound so much better than a long thread of unbroken speech.

Basically
A lot of the things said in a sales pitch might be simple for the salesperson to understand, but especially in cold calling this might be the first time the customer or client has heard of anything like what you're proposing. "Basically" is often used wrongly in place of more helpful terms like "in other words" or "to put it another way" by well-meaning sales professionals. Unfortunately the word itself can sound like quite a put-down, especially when combined with a confident attitude and pushy manner. Your customers are not stupid, so don't treat them as such!

All of these words and phrases can easily be substituted and omitted from sales pitches and conversations, so there really is no excuse to be breaking the rules laid out here. All salespeople should be enthusiastic about providing the best services to their clients and this relationship starts from the very first phone call.

Cut these know-it-all phrases out and see what a difference it makes to your sales figures!

Sales Tip: Be An Olympic Salesperson in 2014

With the Winter Olympics just around the corner, I'm reminded that the preparation, discipline, focus and training necessary to qualify for those Olympic games is akin to how your business should be approaching the new year.

Think about it.

For your business to be successful in 2014, you need goals to shoot for and a strategic plan for achieving those goals. You need to decide if it's worth investing the time (and money) required to win a proverbial gold medal, or if a top 10 finish is sufficient. You need the right people, processes and technology in place to help you achieve the highest level of performance.

So, with all of that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to share some tips for how to approach 2014 like an Olympic athlete and make this year one of your best yet:

1. Set a goal. What sales goal do you really want to accomplish in 2014? Spend time thinking about that first and then establish a plan by identifying what (or who) can help you get there and what (or who) you should leave behind.

2. Use technology to your advantage. The very best athletes need technology to succeed and you do, too. Make sure that you have the best tools in place -- CRM, email system, productivity tools, mobile software, web research tools, prospecting lists, calendar invitations, etc. -- and that you know which social networks your prospects frequent.

3. Don't take things personally. Be like a duck and let things slide off your back. If you encounter a rude gatekeeper or difficult decision-maker, it's probably not about you. Don't give up on yourself just because a prospect interaction goes poorly.

4. Perfect your craft. At the Olympic level, athletes are obsessed with improvement. Try to take the same approach with your business this year. Maybe you were the top sales rep in 2013, but if you stand still, others will pass you by. Learn even more about your prospects' industry, work on improving your listening skills and dive deeper into your competition's strengths and weaknesses.

5. Practice positive self-talk. You're good at what you do and you can be the best. But do you really believe that? If you don't, what needs to change? No Olympic athlete won a gold a medal without believing in him or herself first.

6. Identify a good sales coach. Even the best athletes in the world rely on advice and insight from other people. Find someone who can stretch your thinking and take you to an even higher level than you already are.

7. Find sponsors and collaborate. Your sponsors could be alliance partners, your network or the vendors you work with, but try to think more broadly than that. What about the commercial real estate agent who knows which new companies are moving to town? Or the VC that funds growing startups?

The simple reality is that making quota and winning Winter Olympic gold doesn't just happen. If you want to have a memorable 2014, then your preparation must begin TODAY -- not a few weeks or two quarters from now.