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).

Greg Murray for Radio Ink Magazine

Today there are dozens — if not hundreds of advertisers that have not heard from one of your reps in months. The sick feeling is ahead when you hear them on the air across the street, see them in print, or on cable one evening. Sure, AE’s tell you they see all the clients on their lists. But, you know they don’t. When is there time to reach everyone when they need to get the car washed, swing by the dry cleaners, meet their friend at the book store for coffee, or of course, just pick up a few things up at Target?

The good news has arrived through technology. There is a universe of eMarketing you probably are familiar with but don’t realize the game. Learn the game, and you will personally stay in touch with more clients, prospects, and decision makers than you ever dreamed possible. And that will make attrition slow, repeat business rise, and revenues soar.

In upcoming issues I will touch on these new tools for staying in constant client contact. They include (1) spam-free e-list building, (2) autoresponders, (3) audio postcards, (4) eNewsletters, and (5) TeleClasses. For now, let me tell you how the game works. In fact, if you have email, I bet you are part of some other company’s eMarketing efforts. The best ones you don’t notice because they spend more time providing helpful information and less time pitching you. This way you stay on their list longer and give them time to build top-of-mind-awareness on you.

eMarketing begins with building a database of email addresses. This is not about SPAM. This is about getting people to voluntarily offer you their email address. Why would they do that? Because of the valuable information you posses and they need. The information you quickly turn into a simple eNewsletter every month. Provide snippets of advice on marketing, business building, customer service, or anything else appealing to business owners and decision makers. Now that they are receiving helpful tips…you can find some room on your eNewsletter to list upcoming specials or sales opportunities. Cha-ching! Let me say this, even if the eNewsletter is all you provide advertisers, it will do wonders for you. You will be in touch with as many prospects, clients, and local business people as you can get email addresses for. Then you will be in constant contact. A milestone that no one else in your market can claim (unless their reading this too).

Now, let’s take this eMarketing to the next level. Let your list of subscribers get to know you…the boss. How? Audio Postcards and Tele-classes! You have a studio nearby, right? Cut an audio message of what specials and promotional opportunities you have coming next month, then turn it into an audio file and email them out to your list. In fact, you can even do two, one for prospects and one for clients. The other option for getting yourself in front of clients and prospects are Tele-classes. A new way to share information with your invited guests to a central phone “bridge line.” Everyone calls in, and you conduct your class just like a big conference call, only with dozens of prospects who are interested in the valuable information you are about to share (perhaps, “How to build TOMA,” or “How to develop radio commercials that sell”). You can even do a TeleClass with your business manager to discuss billing procedures, or invite happy advertisers to share their stories and techniques for advertising success. These audio eMarketing concepts will build a bond between you and advertisers…a bond that could have never existed before the power of automation, email, and the internet.

Let technology put you in touch with up to 10, 20, or 30x more businesses. Use the technology so they get to know and trust you. Build a bond through eMarketing. Use eMarketing tools and you will always be in touch and share a unique, constant bond with your clients (even if your reps don’t).
Sales Imaging’s, Greg Murray is a Radio Ink Columnist, RAB Speaker, CRMC Diamond, and Microsoft Certified Specialist.

Greg Murray for Radio Ink MagazineIt was 25 years ago this week that “WKRP in Cincinnati” and Herb Tarlek made their debut. Thanks to Herb, we have learned not to do two things in our careers: don’t do a promotion that ends up with you saying, “I didn’t know turkeys couldn’t fly,” and never wear an orange polyester blazer with plaid pants. Since it was Herb Tarlek that warped our image for so long, the advice to follow is for the guys (since we realize, as do the ladies, need the most help). However, if you are a professional woman and want to take your business image to the next level, pick up, “Dress Smart Women” by Kim Johnson Gross.

Your specific market and clientele will always play a large role in the style that is best suited for you. But, there are some business wardrobe guidelines that we could all use on occasion. First, never buy anything at full price; it will always go on sale. If you dislike department stores or find specialty shops too pricey, great on-line and catalogue sources exist, including Paul Fredrick, Jos. A. Bank, and believe it or not…eBay (don’t get me bragging on the new “Hart Schaffner & Marx” suit I got online for eighty-seven dollars!). Also, a good tailor is your friend. Professional tailors make the most of your business wardrobe. Finally, play it safe and buy conservative suits and trousers that won’t be out of style next year. This means “worsted” wool suits and jackets in solid or pinstriped navy blue and charcoal gray, as well as pleated trousers in wool or gabardine. You can always use your dress shirts and ties to add some pop and personalize your own style.

SUITS & SPORTCOATS

-Buy the best you can afford; quality will always look better and last longer.
-“Worsted” wool does not wrinkle easily, can be worn year round and will last for years.
-Two button, three buttons, and even the occasional double-breasted are acceptable.
-You only need to dry clean a suit occasionally. Just don’t suffocate them in your closet.
-Sportscoats in gray, navy, brown, tan, olive and black provide a great deal of flexibility in matching shirts. The navy blazer is always good. Just loose the gold buttons for now.
-Keep seersucker and linen suits, as well as anything in light tan or beige in the closet over winter.

SHOES

-Invest in good well-made leather shoes (usually $150+).
-Take care of your shoes. Use cedar shoe trees and make certain shoes are always shined.
-Black shoes black belt; brown shoes brown belt.
-Black shoes can be worn with just about every suit. Dark brown and burgundy also compliment navy/charcoal suits and trousers very well.
-Penny loafers with a suit is always a bad thing.

PANTS/TROUSERS

-Flat fronts and no cuffs are in style today, but pleated and cuffed trousers are always safe.
-Check that trousers are lined to the knee for increased comfort and longevity.
-Leave corduroys and cotton pants for the occasional casual Friday.
SHIRTS

-100% cotton shirts…that’s all, including new “wrinkle resistant” choices.
-Solid white or blue dress shirts are easiest to work with, but strips and patterned shirts also look great with the right combination of tie and jacket. Save shades of light blue, peach and lavender for spring and summer.
-Collar options include button down (for sports jackets, not suits), point collar (good for an oval or round face), spread collar (very popular now), and tab collar (more formal).
-Short-sleeved dress shirts do not exist…repeat twice.

ACCESSORIZE

-Belt matches shoes; socks match pants.
-Braces (aka suspenders) are never clip on…same thing for the tie crazy man!
-Full-length topcoats are the norm. ¾ length is iffy and anything else is bad with a suit.
-Unless you’re in a sophisticated selling environment, leave the French cuffs, pocket squares, and contrasting white collars to the boss. They love the power!
-Showing a little leg is never good. Buy “mercerized” socks in at least mid-calf.

It really does not take a lot to raise your professional image and get you feeling even more confident. You don’t need to look like you just walked out of Esquire magazine and you do not have to spend a fortune. Just follow the guidelines above, always be comfortable with what you are wearing, and remember that simple is always the best choice.

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

Gregg Murray for Radio Ink Magazine (Part 1 of 2)

Asking the right questions to a prospect in your initial meeting solidifies your credibility as a marketing professional. A relaxed conversation instead of an uncomfortable needs analysis is step one for achieving rapport and a long-term business relationship.

Let your prospect know what is to come in this meeting. It will relieve tension that you are going to make a pitch. Tell them you appreciate their time, how long the meeting will take, and what you hope to accomplish in your conversation, including matching up the right audience with their business, getting an appropriate budget, and what style commercial would best deliver customers.

In pre-appointment research you should already know their phone number, location, web address, hours of operation, and how long they have been in business. The remaining questions you can modify into your own words to create a conversational interview that is natural for you.

This opening question will allow you to connect future recommendations to benefits they can already envision.

Q: “There are many reasons our clients advertise with us, from name awareness to promoting specific products to counter attacking competitors, or utilizing co-op dollars. Help give me some ideas how you could see advertising on radio helping you? ”

Gain a detailed description of their target customer. Knowing whom they want to talk to allows you to match up the appropriate format or dayparts to their desired target audience. It will also give you an idea of what style would work best for a demo commercial. Find out how the answers to these questions match up with their current customers. Let them give you all the information to each of these questions one at a time.

Q: “Give me an idea of who we want to talk to…are they male or female?” “What would be their age?” “What would be their household income?” “Would they have a college degree?” “What would their hobbies be?” “What kind of car would they drive?”

The line of questions surrounding competition and unique selling positions often gets a prospect emotionally charged into the conversation. Getting detailed answers will allow you develop the right presentation idea and a winning demo commercial.

Q: “Who do you see as your primary competitors?” “What do you offer that they don’t?” “Why would I want to do business here rather than your competitors?” “Are there any misconceptions potential customers might have of your business?” “What would you say are your unique selling position(s)?

Get deep with the USP. Don’t allow them to cop out on the typical “we have great service” or “we’ve been in business for twenty-five years. Think niche marketing! Finding even the smallest extras they do for a customer is a great hook that can sound terrific in a demo commercial.

Know some geography surrounding their business to help reinforce your coverage area with the areas they want to reach.

Q: “How far away do people come to business with you?” “Is there a specific area that we would want to focus on in a commercial?”

Find out the prospects best and worst times in which they do business. This will allow you to arrange your presentations to the times in which they want or need to be advertising.

Q: “What are your best months for doing business?” What days of the week are best?” What are your slower days of the week or months of the year?” “Do you think focusing a campaign or a commercial on improving your slower times could drive new traffic?”

By this point in your conversation you should have achieved some rapport. It is time to ask some touchier questions. Just keep it conversational and don’t let their answers or lack of answers phase you.

Q: “What types of advertising have worked best for you in the past?” “What would you say has worked least?” “What did dislike most about (what hasn’t worked well)?”

Knowing their problems with other advertising mediums gives you terrific leverage when you are presenting radio against their choices in the past.

In Part II we will discover the prospects budget, the style of commercial that would sell, their expectations, and a smooth wrap up that will prepare us to deliver a well-constructed presentation and demo commercial.

Commit all your questions to memory. Having a conversation instead of an interrogation on your first appointment will solidify your reputation as a professional, and give you the cleanest opportunity to gain a new client and business partner.

PART 2 of 2

In Part I of “The First Appointment” we discovered asking the right questions in your initial meeting would help solidify your credibility as marketing professional. A relaxed conversation interview is your first step for achieving a long-term business relationship.

Our first appointment began with relieving prospect tension by telling them what you hoped to accomplish, including matching up the right audience with their business, getting an appropriate budget, and what style commercial would best deliver customers.

In pre-appointment research we found out phone numbers, locations, web address, hours, and how long they had been in business. Then in our meeting we discovered how they could see advertising on radio helping, details of their target customer, an overview of competition and unique selling positions, peak and slow business times, as well as previous advertising ventures.

It’s now time to talk budget. Discovering what a prospect can spend is essential. If you can not establish a budget by finding out average sale, closing ratio, weekly sales, and desired growth percentage, you may need to play high-low!
Q: “We have heavy clients that invest up to (high-end average) each month on a station and demand strong results. We also have clients on a tight budget who just want some name recognition and spend as little as (low-end average). That is a big difference, but considering the results you want to achieve, what investment range would work best for your situation.”

Now be quiet and let them give you an estimate they would like to invest. If it is too broad for a three-option presentation, lead them in narrowing down their figures.

Now your prospect can begin thinking about how they envision their potential commercial sounding on the air. Knowing what style radio commercial they want gives you the best opportunity to write and produce one that will sell.

Q: “What style of commercial do you think could be most effective for generating business?” How would it sound and feel? Perhaps fun, or a hard sell, a straight read, slice of life, testimonial, or something highly creative with all the bells and whistles?”

Q: “Some under the radar boasting can sound good in a commercial. Are there awards, recognition, certifications or customer accolades you could tell me about?”

Q: “Besides sales, are there other sources of your revenue we should focus on (such as repeat customers, referrals, financing, service, delivery fees, etc….)?”

Q: “Is there anything else you can tell me that would help us put together an effective campaign? The more details I know, the better the ideas I can provide you.”

Find out the prospects expectations for results. Knowing what they expect can give you a wider view of what you are going to need to ask for in terms of budget and time commitment to their campaign. Meeting client’s expectations is the only way you will achieve their business for the long haul.

Q: “Tell me your expectations of a successful run on radio?” “What would you really like to achieve?”
Here is an easy way to wind up your conversation while finding out if there is more than one decision maker.
Q: “Thanks for your time and all this helpful information. Your openness sure makes it easier to put together ideas that will work. I’ll get with the creative people back at the station and put together some ideas for you to consider. Is there anyone else I should make copies for that are part of your decision making?”

Get your follow-up appointment set before you leave.

Q: “Would this time next week work for you so I could bring back some ideas?” If not, “When would work for you.”

End: “I hope you won’t mind if I need to give you a quick call for some follow up information as we go to work. Thanks again for seeing me. I appreciate it and hope we can help you __________ (think back to what they wanted to achieve by advertising on radio).”

With the detailed questions from above and Part I, you should have enough information to move ahead with a marketing-plan or what you should present in your next visit. Remember to reintroduce what your prospect told you in your initial meeting. Your recycling of what they have told you during your pitch will give you amazing credibility.

Commit your questions to memory. Having a conversation instead of an interrogation on your first appointment will give you the cleanest opportunity to gain a new client and business partner.

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

Greg Murray for Radio Ink MagazineHow is that client newsletter coming along you promised to send out every month? Not done yet? Haven’t even started? You’re not alone. In a recent SalesImaging.com survey, only 10% of radio managers have got around to utilizing newsletters to maintain constant contact with clients and prospects. There are substantial image building and sales benefits to distributing a monthly newsletter to clients and prospects, including:

You stay in touch with clients and prospects on a regular basis.

Unless your reps are following up with 100% of their clients and prospects, those advertisers will one day forget about you and fall into the arms of another.

Your sales organization will finally become a consistent advertising resource?

Only with constant contact will you ever become a true advertiser resource. In a world of instability with maintaining the same account executives year after year, your newsletter can become that stability. They’ll feel they have a relationship with you and the station because you are always there for them. That monthly newsletter spans a bridge of consistency between your organization and the advertiser, even if you suffer from personnel turnover.

Your newsletter promotes upcoming sales or promotional opportunities.

There is nothing wrong with sharing upcoming specials in your newsletter. Just don’t make it the focus. Provide helpful content to your reader, and subtly throw in a pitch as an afterthought. Make them aware, but don’t force the issue. If you do, your newsletter will loose credibility and become a sales piece instead of an advertiser resource.

There are many types of newsletters for advertisers. Long form, short form, faxed versions, snail mailed copies…and thanks to email, eNewsletters or eZines. Whatever the name and distribution method, the most important element is to get something out there in front of your advertisers. But, what about content? Who has the time? You just might if you keep reading.

- Start with facts and articles from business and marketing publications. Just remember to source the magazine and watch for copyright issues. It is ok in most cases to share information, if you source it to the appropriate publication.

- Throw in a paragraph or two about a previous radio success story. You can even feature a happy advertiser in each newsletter.

- Have an AE each month write a few paragraphs on how they help other local businesses grow. This will train your reps to continue their marketing education.

- Mention those upcoming promotional/sales opportunities (subtly…this newsletter is about them, not us).

Finally, never forget your contact information…that means you personally, the boss. Sign the newsletter along with a couple sentences thanking them for their attention. That personal touch gives them a direct relationship with you. Don’t forget some call to action. Offer something free if a reader contacts you for an appointment. Perhaps a “Special Report” on hiring-techniques, or “10 ways to keep employees motivated.” There are lots of quick resources like these available online.

Doing a newsletter does not need to be a major undertaking. Just start collecting articles and content you think your clients and prospects would be interested in. Then, throw them in a big folder. When the time comes, you can find enough material to do four or five newsletters at a time. Then, you just need to add your upcoming specials information each month before you send it out.

A note about design. Don’t beat yourself up over a professional design for your newsletter. Keep it simple - one page, your logo and contact info on top. Then add a few headlines and paragraphs of content, followed by a few upcoming sales opportunities. It can be that simple. Sure, we want it to look professional, but that can be done well enough through its simplicity.

So when you are ready to retackle that newsletter you’ve wanted to do, keep it short, keep it simple, and get it out so your prospects and clients have an opportunity to know you are there for them. In a sales environment of changing reps and stations, your newsletter can be one consistent piece of the sales puzzle that advertisers will come to know and rely upon. And when it becomes advertising time for them, who do you think will get the call? Not your competitors. It will be you!

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

Gregg Murray for Radio Ink MagazineIf our world were full of perfect CNA’s, followed by annual presentations, and new cheering clients, our lives would be much more simple…and profitable. But, the reality is the majority of our prospects and clients do not buy annuals, so you are left presenting ideas and packages. All is not lost! Designing a simple, well-constructed package pitch can be an efficient way to keep revenue streaming in with all sizes of clients and prospects.

Get The Power!

PowerPoint has become the standard software for putting together professional looking presentations. PowerPoint allows you to create a more tangible idea, which results in more opportunities for a sale. Below we will look at the elements your packages should contain to create more interest and excitement.

Your Logo

If your package is for a specific station, use the top left hand corner to insert your logo. If you’re utilizing more than one station, you can anchor a couple logos in the top corners or place them along the bottom of your PowerPoint presentation.

Graphics

Having a graphic as well as your logo creates a more appealing package, and at a glance reminds your prospect what you are presenting. Let us pitch NASCAR for the upcoming season. Utilizing either the top right hand corner or one of the bottom corners gives you an available space to place your NASCAR logo, a checkered flag, or a pic of the cars racing on the track. Just don’t overdue it. Your logo and a graphic or pic of what the package is about is all you need on each page. If you are producing more than a one-page presentation, keep your artwork in the same place on each page for continuity.

The Headline and Teaser

Along the top of your page, type in a simple 2-4 word headline in a 30 point font to let the client know what this package is all about, for instance…“NASCAR 2004.” The teaser line underneath the headline should be a catchy benefit in an 18-24 point font. How about, “The Fast Track to Increased Sales.”

Primary text

Now it is time to provide a few sentences about what this package is all about and how the client can benefit. If you want to develop more than a one-sheeter, you can list this information in bullet point form to take up the remainder of the main page. Your text could be as simple as, “The Daytona 500 is around the corner, and in 2004 you can associate your business with WXYZ radio and the power and loyalty of a tuned-in, on-the-go audience for every exciting NASCAR event.” If you go with bullet points, an 18-20 point font should be fine. If you are creating a one-sheeter a 12-16 point font is all you need for your primary text.

Feature Bullets

In bullet point form, it is time to highlight the primary features to the client as the meat of your presentation. A 14-18 point font should work just fine. Information such as, “America’s Fastest Growing Sport,” “Immense loyalty from listeners to your product or service,” “4, thirty-second commercials in every race,” “Your name in 20 “Brought to you by…” promos every week,” ““Brought to you by…” name recognition inside every race,” and “15 bonus commercials every week…including drive-times.”

Price Point

After you have created your benefit bullet points, it is appealing to center the pricing plan(s) at the bottom of the page, or perhaps on its own page if you create a multiple page presentation. A 14-16 point font should work well. “Your Investment, only $200 per race.” “Flat billing available for only $880 net per month, January-December.”

Your Bottom Line

Under pricing, utilize the bottom of the page to reinsert an essential benefit for your prospect to remind them why this is a great buy. A bold 18-24 point font will get the idea across and take your presentation out on a high note, “148 race commercials, Over 500 bonus commercials, and hundreds of “Brought to you by announcements. GET IN THE RACE!”

Presenting the dreaded package pitch to a client can create interest, excitement, and tangibility if done with a bit of forethought. Creating a package as we have discussed will provide you an effective and professional piece to present in-person or via fax, email, or online. The key is to keep it clean, highlight your plan’s benefits, and maintain continuity in all your pieces. A dreaded package is never a bad thing…especially if it results in a sale and happy client.

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

If you’re an old timer in technology years (that means you’re over 35), you once upon a time used a typewriter. Oh, how we remember the days of “Wite Out” and black ink on our finger tips (yes kids, they spelled “Wite” without the “h”).

For those of us that used to peck away on a typewriter, we’ve carried with us some unnecessary habits from the old days. The one that I still see most often is double spacing between sentences.

According to a great reference book, “The PC is Not a Typewriter” (you can search it by clicking the Amazon Sales & Marketing Books’ link to the right), you only need one space between sentences (not two as you’re used to). This is because computer typefaces use proportional characters, where typewriters were monospaced.

could bore you with the details, but will spare you. Bottom line is…don’t show your age! Stop double spacing between sentences. You’ll be following proper computer etiquette, and your kids will find you much cooler.

Best of Business!

Gregg

Ad sales have turned around and risen briskly for West Virginia Radio Corporation of Charleston, after the superduopoly’s sales force began to focus on one basic tenant - - professionalism.

Greg Murray (pictured), Director of Sales & Marketing for the seven-station cluster, told RBR that he took his cue from the pharmaceutical salespeople he had observed.

“They’re so well rehearsed. They’re well dressed. They have great premiums that they take to the doctors. They always have to have a plan of attack when they go in,” Murray said. “If one media company in our market took those principals and put them to use, imagine how much better off they would be than the competition - - so it’s kind of how we got started.”

West Virginia Radio Corp. (WVRC) reorganized management at its Charleston operation last August, putting one person - - Murray - - in charge of the entire sales force. To turn around declining sales, he set out to make his radio sales force as professional in appearance and preparation as the pharmaceutical salespeople who pitch drugs to doctors. He developed scripts for various scenarios - - to get appointments, to do a customer needs analysis, etc. and got his sales force to rehearse and use them. Murray said he wanted the WVRC sales reps to look sharp, go in prepared and sound professional.

“It’s amazing how much more respect you get from business people in the marketplace,” he noted. “Doctors are used to it. The local guy at the flower shop isn’t.”

In the beginning, Murray didn’t try to teach the old dogs new tricks, but focused on the new pups. “What was interesting was, we had nine people who’d been here for a while. We didn’t try to go out and change everything that they were doing overnight. You have the veterans and they have their way of doing things - - and so many of them are successful. What we tried to do was we brought in new people and those new people were the people that we really started from the ground up in terms of being scripted and doing business and marketing plans and being adamant about doing demo commercials and asking a lot of questions. We didn’t bother the veterans so much about it. We got all of our new people to do it,” he explained. ” What happened is that the new people started having so much success that the veterans started picking up on that. So then you end up with a staff where everybody is trying to do the same thing - - because they see that it works.”

What developed was that the new hires - - who didn’t know that advertisers don’t sign annual contracts - - started bringing in new business and signing long-term contracts with their clients. The veterans took notice and began working up business plans and pitching annual contracts to clients who’d never before made long-term commitments.

The result is that Murray expects total ad sales to be up 25% this year, with annual contract business running 33% ahead.

All this didn’t happen overnight. After starting the new approach last August, Murray said nothing much happened for the first couple of months - - and he began to worry that his staff might lose confidence in the plan and his leadership. But gradually those CNAs, business plans and demo commercials began to translate into real contracts and real dollars.

“All of a sudden you’re holding to some rate integrity and you’re doing some demo commercials. Before you know it it’s January and you realize that we are at a higher percentage for the year than we were by the middle of the year last year because you’ve built all of that long-term business,” he recalled.

More long-term business means tighter inventory and keeps upward pressure on rates. No more need to cut deals and offer specials to move inventory at the last minute. “Now you don’t have to worry about selling specials. Now you don’t have to worry about giving up your rates to the local car dealer who wants your spots at one-third of what they should be. You don’t have to take those deals anymore,” Murray said.

Long-term contracts are also a morale booster for the sales force. “It’s a lot easier to deal with a media sales job if you can look on the books and see that you already have business down seven months from now instead of looking three months from now and just seeing zeros down the column,” Murray noted.

Sure, the occasional advertisers who always insisted on chiseling rates resisted for a while. “Sooner or later they have to come back and do some advertising. And they pay the rate,” he noted. Meanwhile, the solid, long-term business being built was giving WVRC the strength to grow.

“The rates have gone up because we’ve booked longer-term business and because you’re going into months knowing that you’re going to hit your sales goal - - you don’t have to do all of the specials,” Murray explained. He noted that it also helps the lesser stations - - since not every station in a seven-station cluster can be a top biller. “They get the spill-over effect. When our Adult Contemporary station is sold out, all of a sudden our Oldies - - which reaches baby-boomers - - that starts to fill up, whereas that used to never fill up before.”

There’s also a positive impact on national sales, since Murray no longer has to take bad deals to fill up unsold inventory. He said he’s been surprised, now that he has the ability to say no, at how often a national or regional advertiser comes back and pays the higher rate.

Murray laughs that his expectations are now so high that he’s sometimes disappointed by results that would have been thrilling a year ago. “We’ve gone into half of our months this year already at goal,” he noted. Although WVRC hit its July goal on 7/6, he was disappointed that the rest of the month didn’t go gangbusters. “You become spoiled. You break records month after month and then you don’t break the record of the month before - - even though it was a five-week month - - and you’re disappointed. I guess that’s a good problem to have.”

Murray’s staff still rehearses their presentations every week - - meeting for lunch on Tuesdays. “I don’t make everybody come. I just make the people come who want to get the leads,” he noted. “If a business calls up and wants to ask for advertising, the person I want to send out to them is the person who’s been practicing the scripts and who’s been doing these things - - because I know that they are the ones who have the best opportunity to get long-term business from that advertiser, which will also make them more successful as well - - the rep and the advertiser.”

And businesses are calling up - - in addition to being tracked down by Murray’s sales reps. In addition to instilling a culture of professionalism on the sales staff, Murray has constructed a detailed website for advertisers and potential advertisers, and is promoting it with spots on all seven stations. He said calls from businesses interested in advertising have tripled since the website went up a couple of months ago, with some even emailing requests to be contacted by a sales representative.

Meanwhile, Murray still has his sales reps out prospecting for new business. Rather than the norm of just calling on businesses that are already advertising on other media, he tells the new reps not to think about people who are already advertising. “Don’t think about the retailers that you see over and over. Think about those contractors, think about the architect in town, the laser eye surgeons - - which wasn’t a big radio category a year and a half ago - - the paving companies. Those are the people who you are more likely to go in and make an impression on and get new dollars from.” As a result of that non-conventional approach, Murray says the new reps have had great success in bring in new non-traditional advertisers.

As part of the focus on professionalism, WVRC has encouraged its sales reps to study and pass RAB certification as a CRMC - - Certified Radio Marketing Specialist. “If they have been here over two years, they’ve gotten their CRMC,” Murray said. “We want them to get their CRMC because I remember how I felt when I got mine. I felt more professional because I had it.” Sales Imaging’s, Greg Murray is a Radio Ink Columnist, RAB Speaker, CRMC Diamond, and Microsoft Certified Specialist.