The Ultimate Sales Machine

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.

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