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ENS on SalesENS on Sales is Wayne's weekly media sales tip. You can signup below to get your free copy in your email every week, and you are welcome to view our archives. To request more information please complete the following form:**All requests are submitted only to Angela and Wayne of ENS Media Inc.**
More Feet on the StreetNo Excuses. Every Station Can Sell More We take great pride in the success of our media clients. While the ad industry as a whole experienced a decline in revenue during the economic downturn, our media clients have experienced modest, or in some cases spectacular, revenue growth.
There are four basic pillars upon which we build our clients’ success. The first of which is ‘More feet on the street always equals more sales’.
I’ve heard all of the arguments against hiring more sales people, but frankly we have consistently proven stations are missing opportunities by not hiring more sales people.
Consider why some stations don’t beef up their sales departments, and why they should;
1.) Cost of sale? The next 20% of your sales will be much more profitable than the first 80%. While cost of sale for new recruits is high with start-up guarantees, management time and training, once your fixed overhead is covered, every new sale these new recruits make goes almost entirely to your bottom line.
2.) No new business? There are approximately 50 prospects for every 1000 population in your trading area. If you do the math, and understand how long it takes to prepare, prospect, follow-up, present, negotiate and close, you’ll soon realize there are not enough hours in a year for your current sales team to approach every prospect in your market.
3.) Protect your current sales people? The myth that protectionism creates a more productive sales force is just that…a myth. Your best sales people have built lists that have so much growth potential they don’t have time to prospect aggressively, and they certainly won’t let a ‘rookie’ out-perform them. Protectionism can also create complacency.
4.) The smell of staff turnover? I admit there can be a negative connotation to staff turnover at the entry level. But that ‘smell’ is always overpowered by the sweet smell of success. Even ‘failed’ recruits will leave the lasting residual value of accounts they got on the air that will still be on the air long after they leave. And the new categories they open will see other advertisers in that category follow suit.
5.) There are no good sales people to recruit? Most new rep turnover is a failure of management, not a failure of the recruit. We give them crappy prospects that our best seniors couldn’t sell, no training, and kick them out into the market with a rate card or package and no training or plan. If you hire for attitude rather than ‘experience’ and train and work with new recruits to develop productive plans, you’re helping another human being, your company, your clients and our industry!
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