management insights · frequency with which small- to medium-business (smbs) owners use their...

MANAGEMENT

INSIGHTS

MARCH / APRIL 2016

2 Selling Goes Mobile

2 Preparing for the Major Move to Mobile

3 Selling in a More Diverse World

3 Early Success Steps for Rookie AEs

4 Use the Words Clients Want to Hear

5 Sales Phrases That Result in Dial Tones and Closed Doors

6 It Takes More Than Money to Motivate

WHATS INSIDE

MEDIACENTERONLINE.COM

2 MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS MARCH / APRIL 2016 MEDIACENTERONLINE.COM

Selling Goes MobileNo doubt, mobile devices, especially smartphones, are critical tools for your sales staff and among the many reasons why, the frequency with which small- to medium-business (SMBs) owners use their mobile devices for business purposes is one of the most important.

Like consumers, many of these business owners are starting to use mobile devices as part of the research process leading to a purchase decision. March 2015 research from IDC of US B2B professionals show how fast they are adopting the mobile channel for this purpose – and you can bet the ranch it will only increase.

Frequency of Use Percent

At least once per hour 25.3%

Almost 10 times per day 17.3%

3 to 5 times per day 11.0%

Once per day 26.9%

3 to 5 times per week 4.1%

Once per week 5.0%

Never 10.2%eMarketer (Manta, 2015 Small Business Wellness Survey), July 2015

Preparing for the Major Move to MobileThese trends clearly indicate that your sales team and even the way they sell must transition to more of a mobile focus. To be the first local media sales team that “goes mobile” in a big way requires preparation and planning, and now is the time to start.

• Optimizing for the mobile environment. As often cited in THE MEDIACENTER’s New Media Insights Reports, an existing Website must be redesigned for easy viewing and navigation on a mobile device. If your sales team has a separate Website (which it should) or at least a sales team page, then make this the first step.

• Acquire a sales presentation app. Mobile is a world of apps, so provide your sales team with an app that makes it easy to create and share presentations with prospects and clients that look their best on a mobile device.

• Reframe the process for your team. In today’s business environment, prospects and clients have less time for meetings, and to talk. Mobile selling in the form of meaningful and helpful content allows your team to maintain engagement, although direct communication is limited.

• An example of mobile content. Instruct your sales team to gather information from long-term clients that can be presented in short case studies and success stories. Reps can send prospects a mobile presentation that fits the screen, consisting of a photo of the client and/or his or her business (or better yet, a photo with his or her AE) and a short headline, such as “Learn how ABC business increased sales XX% Advertising on WXYZ-TV.” The headline is a live link to the page with the complete case study or success story, but optimized for the small screen.

Mobile Use in Research Percent

Use mobile more than 75% of the time 19%

Use mobile 50% to 75% of the time 37%

Use mobile 10% to 49% of the time 31%

Use mobile less than 10% of the time 13%eMarketer (IDC), March 2015

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS 3 MEDIACENTERONLINE.COM MARCH / APRIL 2016

Selling in a More Diverse World It’s important that you field a sales team that is able to communicate and establish relationships with the growing diversity of business owners.

It’s no surprise that the Pacific and South Atlantic regions have the largest number of Latino-owned businesses; however, during 2015, the West North Central region (+30%) and the East North Central region (+29%) were the fastest growing.

Not only are US small business owners more diverse, but also African Americans, Latino Americans and Asian Americans are younger than all small business owners.

Research from The Kaufman Index 2015 revealed that the rate of new entrepreneurs in the US increased 10% during 2015, and 28.5% were immigrant entrepreneurs.

Include discussions in your sales meetings and training sessions about how ethnic differences affect the sales process. Ask members of your sales team to search online for research and share it with the group.

Early Success Steps for Rookie AEs

As you replace AEs or expand your staff, you will likely find a few candidates with limited experience (mainly because they are young), but with so many excellent skills that they deserve to be hired. You can improve their likelihood of succeeding by helping them avoid these mistakes.

1. Concerned with closing ratios instead of prospecting and cultivating leads. Yes, you want even your rookie AEs to close as many deals as possible, but they should spend proportionally more of their time laying a foundation for future sales.

2. Work hard, but don’t burn out early. To earn respect and prove their value, rookie AEs can overdo it. Working a few more hours is OK, but trying too hard causes mistakes, increases stress and makes it more difficult to focus on the new job.

3. Gain experience with sales contests, not championships. Rookie AEs should certainly participate in sales contests, but as a learning experience instead of trying to beat the veterans.

4. A closed mind to critiques and guidance. Rookies can’t be afraid to ask basic questions and accept constructive criticisms and, more importantly, apply what they learn.

5. Losing sight of the value of relationships. Closing sales is important, but rookie AEs must understand that establishing, maintaining and strengthening long-term relationships with their clients is what keeps the closes coming.

6. Misinterpreting rejection. All AEs experience client rejection; the successful AEs don’t take it personally, view it positively as a learning experience and investigate why the client rejected the proposal to improve the next one.

Ethnic Composition of US Business Owners, 2003 vs. 2014

Ethnicity 2003 2014

European American 68% 59%

African American 9% 9%

Latino American 16% 22%

Asian American 4% 7%

Other 3% 3%Geoscape, 2015

Change in Composition of New Entrepreneurs by Ethnicity, 1996 vs. 2014

Ethnicity 2003 2014

European American 68% 59%

African American 9% 9%

Latino American 16% 22%

Asian American 4% 7%

Other 3% 3%Geoscape, 2015


Use the Words Clients Want to HearThe power of language can never be underestimated, so it’s important that your sales team know and use the words that are more likely to grab the attention of prospects and clients, cause them to listen more closely and act accordingly.

Share these first 7 of 14 words from a February 2016 Huffington Post article with your AEs. Look for the second 7 in the May/June Sales Management Insights Report.

Make these words part of your training program, enlarge them and display them on the wall and record your team’s phone calls and pitches to note if they are using them and if they make a difference.

• Advantage – All too often AEs present a pile of reasons why a prospect should buy, but citing one clear, concise advantage for advertising on your station and using that word in the pitch is more likely to close a sale.

• Amazing – If what is being offered can be genuinely described as “amazing,” then it’s a word that will elicit good feelings. Avoid using it to oversell, which is often a mistake many AEs make.

• Avoid – Avoiding lose is almost as important as gaining goals (sales, profit, etc.) for most businesspeople. AEs that can present ideas/solutions that can deliver both have an advantage.

• Because – Research has discovered that using the word “because,” or providing a reason for a certain

action, is more likely to motivate someone to take that action. In a sales presentation, this takes the form of linking a specific result that the prospect desires with the product or service being offered.

• First – Using this word in a sales presentation suggests that you’ve selected the prospect to be the first to view a new product or learn something new that will help him or her. Sharing information, ideas and insights from THE MEDIACENTER reports about a prospect’s industry that he or she didn’t know, but you bring to him or her first is another competitive advantage.

• Fix – Using this word will attract interest because most people would love to have someone fix their problems instead of themselves; it’s just so much easier. Of course, claiming you have the “fix” for advertisers is not enough; your fix must actually do the job. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a big fix, but solving a problem for a prospect/client will do more to earn his or her loyalty than an over-the-top dog and pony show.

• Free – Operating in the advertising world, you and your staff know how compelling the word “free” can be. It’s much better to offer an add-on or a special gift to a first-time advertiser or a long-term loyal one, than to devalue your product by discounting it severely just to close a sale.

MANAGEMENT INSIGHTS 5 MEDIACENTERONLINE.COM MARCH / APRIL 2016

Sales Phrases That Result in Dial Tones and Closed DoorsJust as the words on page 4 make for positive sales presentations and potentially better results for AEs and clients, the following phrases from another HubSpot blog post will have exactly the opposite effects: an ear filled with dial tones and staring at closed doors. (These are the first 4. Look for the next 4 in the May/June report.)

Many of these phrases have become so ingrained in the sales jargon that it will take time for your AEs to remove them from their vocabulary. As with the positive words on page 4, however, the bad ones should be part of your training program and sales meeting discussions.

1. “Thank you for your time.” It sounds like a nice, respectful close to a sales conversation/presentation; however, from clients’ perspective, it infers that they were freely offering the AE some of their busy time just to be nice. Instead, an AE should want some of prospects/clients’ time because the AE “fixed” a problem, which is a stronger motivation for them to continue to allocate time to speak with the rep.

2. “Just checking in.” This is a clear giveaway that the AE is impatient or frustrated that the client hasn’t followed through on an action that the AE expected to be taken by now: sign a contract, return a call, etc. This phrase won’t be necessary, however, if the AE asks for and establishes a specific commitment from prospects/clients.

This phrase can be a positive if it’s paired with providing added value instead of sounding like the AE is trying to pressure the prospect/client to act. For example, an AE can tell the prospect/client he or she is checking in because he or she has an idea or additional information the prospect/client will find useful.

3. “I want to...” It sound innocuous enough, but thinking about it from clients’ perspective, it implies the AE is focus on what he or she wants and not what prospects/clients need. Their focus is on their problems and needs and that better be the focus of the AE. The more positive alternatives are “Would you like to (discuss)…” or “I suggest (we discuss)…” Relate the lead-in phrase and the entire statement to a particular need or challenge the prospect/client has mentioned.

4. “Do you have the budget for…” This is not only a deal killer, but also could easily eliminate the AE and your station from the prospect/client’s future considerations. Just as with

B2C consumers who research many purchases thoroughly on their own, B2B customers are also better prepared with information prior to the first contact with an AE. It is likely prospects/clients know what your station’s TV time costs, at least generally, and, also the competition. Not only does this phrase make it easy for prospects/clients to simply answer no, but also it is premature if an AE hasn’t established what makes the station different from all others.


It Takes More Than Money to MotivateIn a society with a capitalistic economic system, cash in the pocket is always a prized reward for outstanding performance, but new research has found that money is not the only factor that will motivate a sales team to excel. What the data shows is that a financial incentive is still king, but not as much as it once was, and as recently as 2013.

The research also discovered that companies that are adopting these other motivators, and in larger proportions, are benefiting from more productivity and bottom-line results compared to those companies that focus almost exclusively on financial rewards.

Not only do companies experience better overall performance with “internal recognition,” but also AEs become smarter in the methods they use to engage with customers.

Sales managers who proactively adopt this multi-dimensional approach to sales performance rewards and recognition are also better prepared for the flood of Millennials who will be joining the team.

According to another Aberdeen Group study, Millennials will account for almost 75% of the global workforce by 2025. In addition, Millennials are 250% “as likely to commit to employers if they are challenged by their work compared to a competitive salary.” Millennials are not averse to maximizing their financial compensation, but they are attracted to companies that also are committed to helping them grow professionally and personally.

(THE MEDIACENTER is not affiliated with or endorses any of the resources, authors, speakers, companies or their content noted in this report and shares the materials for purely informational and educational purposes.)

2016. THE MEDIACENTER. All rights reserved.

Change in Importance of Various Sales Performance Motivators, 2013–2015

Motivator 2013 2014 2015

Individual financial compensation 98% 76% 64%

Internal recognition 57% 41% 52%

Employee engagement program aligned with company values

15% 26% 44%

Learning, developing new skills 25% 22% 44%

Promotional opportunities within company

18% 11% 24%

HubSpot (Aberdeen Group), December 2015

Better Outcomes with Multi-Dimensional Motivators, 2015

OutcomeAdopting

Companies

Non-Adopting

Companies

22% higher marketing-to-sales lead acceptance rate

60% 49%

21% stronger customer retention rate

75% 62%

8% better annual team attainment of total sales quota

67% 62%

Twice the annualized improvement in customer relationship adoption

6.8% 3.4%


Smart-Selling Proficiencies Improve with Engaged, Recognized Sales Management, 2015

ProficienciesInternal

RecognizersAll Others

Mapping products, services to buyer’s business challenges

59% 50%

Personalizing sales conversations to needs of buyers

57% 50%

Providing mobile access to mission-critical sales data and content

39% 15%

Prioritizing data and analytics’ drives sales best practices over guts and guess work

38% 20%


Employees in Best-in-Class Companies Commit to Work for Intrinsic Reasons, 2014

Reason Percent

Challenged and intrigued by their work 48%

Quality work-life balance 43%

Strong relationships with their colleagues 38%

Strong relationship with their manager 33%

Foresee a future in the company 29%

Competitive salary 19%Aberdeen Group, January 2014

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