WHAT RADIO MANAGERS CAN LEARN FROM A GOOD TELEMARKETER
I spent part of the day recently in the sales office of a local telemarketer. The object was to see what a successful group of telephone sales professionals could teach radio station managers about making money on the phone. You probably have a stereotyped view of these operations and, for the most part, your conception would be accurate. Not in this case, though.
The reasons why give us valuable insight (and reinforcement) into how radio can be sold by phone.
This wasn’t the kind of boiler room operation where a hundred headset-wearing automatons pound the phones relentlessly cold-calling strangers who don’t want to talk to them. Those companies are a dime a dozen and virtually invented sales force turnover simply by their business models. Burnout comes fast and furious along with the caffeine drinks and blasting rock music.
This operation began with a basic way to avoid cold-calling that I’ve championed for years: create circumstances that compel customers to call you, rather than the other way around. I won’t go into exact details about this company but suffice to say they sell a reputable e-commerce service that attracts customers from English-speaking countries around the globe.
The way they attract those customers is through Facebook and Google ads. In the case of local radio, the same thing could be done with flyers, one-sheets, postcards, ads on local websites and, of course, on our own air.
The point is: in not one case did a telemarketer call a customer cold. In every case, the call went out in response to an individual who had first seen the ad, then clicked on the company’s website—and from there had purchased a very inexpensive (as little as $5.00) web template with a credit card. That prospect then immediately became a customer. And that customer agreed to take a call from the company to get set up to use that little website template.
That’s it.
Their customer will now speak with two people.
The “Pre-Qual” or Pre-Qualifier
This individual, in a very friendly and conversational way (even though the conversation is entirely scripted) asks for personal financial information: what credit cards the customer uses, what their credit limits are, what balances they’re carrying, whether they own a home or rent, any outstanding auto or student loans and so on.
Prospects willingly provide all that information, too.
Why? Because they really want the service. And remember, they’re already customers, even at the five dollar level.
If the customer has too much outstanding debt or little room on credit cards, he or she is told that perhaps when they’re in better financial shape they might like to subscribe to the packages of services being offered. Then the call is politely ended whenever that can be comfortably done.
In most cases, sufficient funds are available to make a business pitch worthwhile.
That’s where the second person comes into the conversation:
The “Closer”
For this company, three packages of services are pitched:
- $6,000
- $4,000 and
- $2,000
In other words, about the size of modest-to-good radio advertising packages.
Before price is ever mentioned, however, the closer asks numerous questions about the customer’s dreams for that website, what they would like to sell, what their likes and dislikes are, perhaps something about their family if that seems appropriate.
Every answer gives the closer an opportunity to point out how his service uniquely and excitingly (without those hard-sell words) fulfills those needs and desires.
It’s only after many minutes of this (the pitch can take an hour at times, depending on how chatty the customer is—no one is ever hurried along) that the packages are offered, large to small. From there it’s a matter of dealing with price objections and questions, as with any sales proposal.
Rising Above the Pitch-Close Cycle
Radio salespeople are too often trapped in the pitch-close-pitch-close cycle, often preceded by endless days of cold-calling. My hours with these telemarketers convinced me of the wisdom of farming for customers rather than beating them over the head with cold calls.
And of being patient, establishing relationships and then making the money pitch. Top salespeople and managers already know this, of course.
Should your station make a serious stab at telemarketing? Depends on your market area. If you have a large, spread-out business community and a small sales staff, a well-thought-out and managed telephone sales effort could pay big dividends.
And no, this does NOT include phone blitzes with classics like “Back To School Safety Reminders”. Come on. Let’s sell meaningful dollars to clients who would like to speak with us again and again. That’s relationship selling. And we’ve now witnessed how it can be done with the right approach to selling by phone.
SALUTE A VET TODAY. IT’S VETERANS DAY IN THE U.S. AND REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA AND GREAT BRITAIN
