Greg Murray for Radio Ink MagazineI love a perfect composition: a Van Gogh painting, a Frank Lloyd Wright building, a Tiger Wood’s two-iron…a well constructed marketing plan?!? Granted, perhaps not all are works of art. But while Tiger, Frank, and Vincent are nice to look at…it’s the latter that can put money in the bank.

Creating The Perfect Marketing Plan is easy when you have a system. And with a system you can turn your prospects into clients. The Perfect Marketing Plan is a balance of pages and material that turns a dispassionate prospect into a long-term advertiser.

A prospect only wants to know if you can help them generate revenue. They don’t care about our stations, our morning team, or the latest ranker. They want you to listen, they want you to come up with a well thought out plan; they want to have confidence in your ideas.

To develop The Perfect Marketing Plan you must first know two key ingredients. First, the prospects needs and second, their budget. Without asking efficient questions in your initial meeting, your marketing plan will fall on apprehensive ears. Through a comprehensive needs analysis, you will discover all the answers that will allow you to create The Perfect Marketing Plan.

When it is finally time to sit alone at the computer, incorporate the following ingredients and create your stations next big client.

Introduction Page

A prospect appreciates their name and business logo large and up front. Under their heading add your station logo, the date, and your personal contact information.

Team Commitment Page

Providing names of key staff members from business, traffic, continuity, production and management creates a personal touch. This will also allow your prospect to feel there is a team working for their success.

The Timeline

Include your prior needs analysis date, the presentation date, your proposed start date, and several follow up meeting dates. This will assure your prospect that you have a start date in mind to begin the campaign, and clear intentions to follow up and keep the campaign fresh and effective in the future.

Analysis Recap

This is your opportunity to show how much you have listened. Include a recap of the needs analysis in bullet points. Include details regarding their business profile, customer profile, competition, sales territory, current marketing partners, and most importantly…their unique selling positions!

Research Page

Show off key statistics regarding their industry from sources such as Simmons or the Radio Advertising Bureau. Sharing a few industry facts will display the depth of your knowledge regarding their business category.

Station(s) Page

Now it is time to discuss your stations. But, not without expressing how your audiences tie into their needs. Don’t allow yourself to share a station feature without a corresponding benefit to your prospects business.

Creative Plan

If you’ve been wise enough to create a demo commercial, now is the time to let them hear the final product. By playing their ad and providing them a written script, you may just sell your plan right now! Remember, if the prospect begins reworking copy, it’s a major buying sign and you are on your way to a new client!

Promotional Plan

Have any promotions tied to the campaign? Let them know and make your ideas as tangible as possible.

Return on Investment

By discovering your prospects desired growth, closing ratio, average sale, and weekly gross sales, you can create a ROI that will make your proposal an undeniably efficient investment.

Recommended Schedules

Show me the money! Based on all you’ve learned, show your prospect three easy to comprehend campaign and investment options. After you’ve shared your recommendations, ask your soon-to-be-client which one he or she feels would work best. Then…shhhhhhhhh!

Signature Page

Always be ready with a contract. Having an agreement with the flexibility to write in the chosen campaign will create an immediate opportunity for your new client to commit to your plan. Congratulations!

There are several ways to add spice to your work of art; present your plan with a flip chart or go pro with a PowerPoint slide show on a laptop. Displaying your plan professionally gives you an edge when you want to ask for more money and a longer commitment.

Show your prospect you’ve listened and your plan just might sell itself. Follow these tips and you’ll end more presentations with a handshake and the words, “I like it…let’s do it!” And that is the ultimate conclusion to The Perfect Marketing Plan.

Greg Murray for Radio Ink MagazineThe Internet is the greatest information resource created. We utilize it everyday and so does nearly every business owner and decision maker in your market. I know your station has a web site, but is your sales department online?

By developing and promoting a first-class sales department web site, you will stun your competitors while achieving undeniable TOMA for professionalism, innovation, and efficiency. The result is a substantial increase in call-in business, new advertisers, and multi-month commitments.

Your sales department web site can become the first 24/7/365 rep ever employed in your market. It will meet more prospects in a day than your entire staff can see in a week. It will provide thousands of prospects instant access to your media kits, special promotions, sponsorship opportunities, demo commercials, contact information, and most importantly…your philosophy of how multi-month and annual commitments can create terrific ROI.

To create the ultimate sales machine, consider the following pages for your web site…

Online Brochures

Producing media kits online is a simple procedure thanks to Acrobat Reader and pdf files. If your station media kits are on Word, PowerPoint or nearly any presentation document, it can be viewed instantly by all your interested prospects. Plus, it sure cuts down the time and expense involved in faxes and mailings.

Frequently Asked Questions

“Is Radio right for me?,” “How do I get started?,” “What mistakes do most beginning advertisers make?.” There is nothing more enticing than a softball question from a prospect. Creating a FAQ page allows you to answer all the hypothetical questions an advertising prospect may ask, but in your own carefully crafted words.

Demo Commercials

Making Radio tangible is an obstacle easily overcome through demo commercials or “spec spots.” By allowing prospects to hear your most successful commercials online, they can begin the process of imagining their own businesses features and benefits sailing across your airways. Adding commercials online is easily done by turning them into simple mp3’s.

Success Quotes/Stories

The effectiveness of a local advertiser singing Radio’s praises is undeniably persuasive. Don’t be shy to ask your most successful clients for a short quote or story about how your station has helped their business. Their story can sell a campaign as fast as any rep on the street.

Interactive Marketing Analysis

By providing a marketing analysis online, you can develop a campaign for someone who truly wants your help. Prospects love to answer questions about their business. An online marketing analysis, either interactive or through a pdf file, is a great way to get the information needed to develop an effective campaign and demo commercial.

There are other pages and features to consider that can add special dimensions to your site, including one that displays your coverage map or current special packages, a contact page with station directions and information about your staff, a rate request form, pics of your studios and facilities via a digital tour page, and a links page to sources such as your programming sites, the RAB, and other advertisers.

Remember, the most important aspect in development is to create an easy to navigate, polished site…then market it creatively via your unsold inventory. Remember, your sales department web site will meet more new prospects than all your reps combined. Professionalism is paramount.

Developing a complete and comprehensive web site representing your sales department is a remarkably worthwhile and valuable endeavor. However, not everyone can obtain the resources to make such an enterprise reality. If you can’t do it all, do something online…even if that means adding a special section or a few pages to your current programming site. The objective here is to influence prospects and provide a useful marketing resource. In turn you will raise the awareness and image of your sales department, your organization and advertising on Radio.

Sales Imaging’s, Greg Murray is a Radio Ink Columnist, RAB Speaker, CRMC Diamond, and Microsoft Certified Specialist.

Greg Murray for Radio Ink MagazineAttaining the dreamy state that is Rate Integrity can appear as allusive as a fulfilled New Years resolution. However, creating a rate system designed for client equality is not difficult to establish. Shifting rates, which change at the whim of each rep, client, and situation is Radio’s unkept dirty secret. If our pricing practice can become a source of credibility, we will all profit immensely. This year we can begin to achieve Rate Integrity for our industry…one manager, one cluster, one company at a time.

Throw Out The Rate Card

The rate card has been given the dubious reputation equivalent to the sticker on a used car. Rate cards have become nothing more than an opening number to begin negotiations. To establish rates that are fair and make sense to advertisers, develop a “Rate System.” A Rate System displays prices that accommodate a variety of client needs, while maximizing inventory and profit.

A Rate System is based on volume and flexibility. The more you buy, the more you save. And the less stress on inventory, the cheaper the commercial. Built as an Excel document, your grid of rates will create impartiality for all clients and prospects.

Volume savings encourage long-term commitments. Selling commercials in “bulk” increase your number of clients who get better results while adding stability to your bottom line. Not everyone is comfortable with commitment so rates should be available for the weekly/occasional/seasonal advertiser. Charging a premium for those who are here today and gone tomorrow while giving back to those who commit becomes inherently fair when working through a Rate System.

Flexible clients should also be rewarded. If an advertiser is willing to buy thirties instead of sixties, early week instead of late week, or 5:30am-Midnight instead of 6am-7pm, they earn rate discounts. With an impartial Rate System you can demand top-dollar from an inflexible prospect, while creating remarkable value for the savvy advertiser. Your benefit is a just plan that squeezes maximum profit out of every week’s inventory.

Once your Rate System becomes a living one-page document, head to Kinko’s! There is nothing like handing out those laminated color copies to announce new standards are in place.

Prospects & Clients

Introducing a new Rate System to prospects is simple. You find out what is important to them and provide the appropriate rate options. No problem…and no exceptions! Remember, the rate is the rate, and if you allow one new advertiser on the air with a “cut deal,” then all credibility is lost.

Introducing current advertisers to your new Rate System does not have to be difficult. You may get clients with an initial resistance to change, but once they recognize the system is fair, everyone wins in the end! More than a low rate, businesses want to know they are working with a reputable organization. A Rate System provides that credibility. You will create more long-term clients through trust-worthiness than you will from whispered rate deals.

A gradual adjustment into your Rate System for active advertisers is fair to both parties. For the client who is on the air occasionally, this is a wonderful opportunity to get a commitment. For your big dogs, make your necessary concessions. Long time clients deserve to be grandfathered. Meet in between current rates and that which the system indicates. Showing consideration for your best advertisers will result in mutually acceptable terms.

Preparing The Troops

Nothing is more painful to an AE than change, especially when it involves their client’s rates. Approach your staff with honesty. Enlighten them that the quickest way for everyone to make more money is to maximize revenue, and that begins with balancing inventory and creating long-term advertisers. Sway them to view your plan as if they were managers. Not all may agree on day one, but results create quick believers.

Rate Integrity will not be achieved without a few growing pains. You will inevitably have to turn down a piece of business. You will inevitably tick-off your superstar rep by saying no to a cut rate. However, by sticking to a Rate System you will quickly gain credibility with your clients, as well as your staff. Creating an environment of respect and integrity begins with openness about the price of your product. Make this the year you develop a system that supports Rate Integrity. It can be the most profitable and fulfilling change you make in the coming year.

Sales Imaging’s, Greg Murray is a Radio Ink Columnist, RAB Speaker, CRMC Diamond, and Microsoft Certified Specialist.

Gregg Murray for Radio Ink Magazine

Today you may be at the NAB Radio Show, comfortably listening a speaker share their wisdom with the support of an overhead PowerPoint slideshow. Tomorrow, you may be back in the office, whipping up your own PowerPoint that needs to be pitched to dozens of business owners. Did we miss a memo? How in the world has PowerPoint become so prevalent in our professional lives?

In today’s business climate of, “impress me…don’t sell me,” PowerPoint presentations are a visual representation that makes the process of marketing Radio more tangible. Question is, what are the PowerPoint’s that your staff presents…saying about you and your organization?

Imagine yourself in the seat of an advertising decision-maker. A sales rep comes into your business, goes through a needs analysis, and returns a week later with an anticipated sales/solution presentation. But, when you’re handed the presentation, it looks like a sixth-grader put it together. The result is an advertiser that’s thinking, “they want me to trust them with all this money to market my business, and this is how they market their business…no thanks.” Amateurish presentations won’t cost you every deal, but it certainly is costing you more large-dollar deals, and long-term contracts than you realize.

So, what to do?

Start here. Tear out this page, make copies, and put them on every seat in your sales office. Be sure your sellers avoid the following “7 Sins of PowerPoint Presentations.” Stay away from these 7 Sins and you can rest assured that advertisers will gain a much more favorable impression of your sales team.

Sin #1: Center Spacing
While using center spacing for the headline and the subheadline is OK, it should never be used on body copy as it can be too difficult to read and can create an unattractive presentation that does not “invite the viewer in” to read it. Keep the body of your work flush left to ensure ease of reading and to create consistency throughout your presentation.

Sin #2: Colored Text
You have enough color in your station logos for any presentation to pop. Not only can colored text look unprofessional, it can often be more difficult to read.

Sin #3: Too Many Fonts
Using too many fonts will make your presentation unattractive and uninviting to the viewer. Pick one easy-to-read font and use it consistently throughout your presentation. I am a fan of “Arial” for presentations. It’s simple, effective, and works well in all sales situations.

Sin #4: Too Much Text
Don’t cram your pages full of text. Use bullet points and short sentences only. Your slides should only help you get your message across; they shouldn’t tell the whole story. Complicated, crowded, hard-to-read pages compete with you for your prospect’s attention. Besides, if only the main points are covered in your presentation, the decision-maker will be more apt to realize their importance. Don’t overwhelm them with fluff. Keep it simple and they’ll grasp your most important selling points.

Sin #5: Not Staying Client/Prospect Focused
Remember that it’s about them, not us. Make sure that your presentation includes WIIFM – “what’s in it for me.” This is the important facts of your presentation that all clients/prospects desperately want to know. A good idea is before you finish your presentation, take a couple of mental steps back, and think about who you will be meeting with, and what they might be expecting from you. Use this time to make sure that your presentation is sharply focused on the needs and expectations of the advertiser. Also, use this time to make sure that your presentation is laid out in a logical structure. Meandering from point to point can be very frustrating to a decision-maker.

Sin #6: Word Art
There’s no room for negotiation on this one. PowerPoint’s Word Art doesn’t have a place in a professional sales presentation (though it looks great on a kid’s birthday invitation).

Sin #7: Cheesy Clip Art

There is a difference between “clip art,” “illustrations,” and “photos.” Feel free to use one photo or illustration per page of your presentation (along with your logos and your client’s logo). But, avoid the cheesy clip art that comes with PowerPoint. Again, good for an eight year old birthday invitation…not so good when you’re hoping to create a professional sales image.

So there you have it, “The 7 Sins of PowerPoint Presentations.” Follow the tips on this page, and I can ensure that advertisers will see you as more professional, which will result in larger deals, and more long-term contracts.

Receive free etips from Gregg Murray at www.salesimaging.com. Gregg is a CRMC Diamond, PowerPoint Certified Specialist, and RAB/NAB Speaker. He can be reached at gmurray@salesimaging.com or 304.43.RADIO (304.437.2346).