Infrequently a sale will backfire at the last minute although it would appear that the prospect is signed, sealed and delivered. Other influences can have an effect on the sale. Sales reps have been conditioned to call on people with the right titles : owners, general chiefs and agency purchasers. However , other influences could need to be identified.
Not so long ago, I made a call with a rep at a closing show for an auto dealer. The director pulled out his latest survey from the parts and service dept. The GM shared with the rep that his station was 12 on his survey, and he only acquired from the top 5 internet radio stations on the survey.
The survey method was to have his service engineers sit in the automobile and write down which station was playing on the vehicle’s radio. Each month the service dept turned in the results to the CEO. The general crib then placed his dollars with the top 5 vote-getters. After using each technique that the rep and I could think about to overcome the objection, we left to try another day. After the call we spoke about the beef. We popped up with the theory the engineers were doubtless finishing the survey without checking the car radios.
Over the next 3 weeks, the theory was tested. The sales rep delivered such stuff as pizzas and donuts to the mechanics in the service dept answerable for the surveys. Guess who was in the top 5 the following month? After ninety days, the rep’s station was number one in the survey. At this point, the general manager of the agency placed a once a year contract with the station.
I am really not suggesting that bribery is the way to shut a sale. In this situation, the service engineers were not filling out the survey properly. The real decision makers in this situation were the mechanics not the CEO. A sales rep should penetrate all levels of a prospect’s business. A rep wants to have a connection with all the contacts in that business. Those contacts have the potential to influence a sale as much as the individual that signs the checks.
Questions To Ask :
1 : Who gives the final approval to invest in the radio station? The choice typically reduces down to one person, but many elements can influence the decision maker such as current business conditions or prior experiences with the station or the rep. The sales rep also must decide the prospect’s budget.
2 : Who really benefits from advertising with the station? In many cases, it will be the company’s sales staff, service staff, delivery people, receptionist and maintenance people. Put simply, everybody interested in the business that could profit from the advertising.
3 : Who investigates the specifications of the offer? In coping with an agency, a rep may head in the direction of the “buyer” feeling that they have the most power. The rep will probably spend most of their time with a customer. However , who truly makes the decisions? Is it the AE on the account or possibly the media supervisor? The rep desires to form a relationship with each of these people. Otherwise, they’d find themselves cut out of the sale at the last moment.
The rule of thumb is to develop relationships with others within the business as well as the contacts that have the “right title”. The rep must sell deeper in an account as the decision maker is not unvaryingly who it seems to be as reported tagza.
