How Well Do You Believe in Yourself and Your Product?

A top manager at a media company asked me: Do sales people believe in their product? I called a number of managers and was able to take a close look at several orders from different companies. The first order shows the agency got a 26% reduction of rate because the sales rep and the manager did not want to lose the business even though their stated share of the schedule was less than 20%. That was either an example of the traditional diving for share or a lack of confidence in delivery? Definitely wasted energy for the amount of time and effort spent .

Taking that kind of business would further reaffirm what the media buyer already thinks about the company.

Why do media companies do business that way since managers have told us their share was, in fact, not what they really got?

In 2005 television’s share of local ad dollars grew to just 6% while radio got a flat 3% increase.
While print is losing share they still command the lion’s share of the budget. So what is 6% share of a segmented budget? A waste of time and effort! Could the circumstances have been that the rep and the manager didn’t want to lose share, lose that small piece of business which contributed to only a bantam part of the month’s sales budget? Did both the sales manager and the rep not have confidence and believe in their company’s product? Why didn’t the sales manager stand up for the company’s value? Why did the sales rep give in so early ? Perhaps the next time the rep goes into the buyer they’ll stand up for and re-establish the true value of their media.

Why don’t sales reps sell the true value of the company? Are they scared of losing a piece of business? It may be best to lose a piece of business rather then setting yourself up to become an “easy mark.” Why do salespeople constantly give away the company’s inventory in the name of “added value”? Once you assert yourself as a rate leader you’ll never need to take a backseat to the competition.

When dealing with the direct client or ad agency, if you position your company correctly by communicating a good reach and frequency or circulation, you’ll get the rate/price you deserve. The client is really only interested in getting results, not whether they bought the number one rated company or the number five. If you charged them $500 per commercial or $8,000 for a print ad and your media company’s customers went in and bought their inventory, would the client think it was worth the price paid? You can never make any real financial gains if you allow clients to tell you what they think you are worth. Why don’t the majority of sales reps and their managers make the “big money” in what I know is the greatest business of all? Is it because they don’t really believe in the product they are selling? Managers revealed to me in private that might be the case for the majority of ad agency transactions.

Sometimes I think that if some of these reps were put in the position of owning the business of their client, they would never buy what was offered. We think that’s because they really don’t believe in what they are selling. Additionally, do they have the passion and commitment for their careers or are they just trying out media sales until something else comes along?

I am told by managers the labor pool of available qualified sales candidates is quite scarce. What they wind up hiring is mediocre at best. Could that be a reason why some reps do not have the passion or toughness to say “no” to a low rate; no to a schedule a client or agency wants ‘value added’ or are they strong enough and BELIEVE in their product to the extent to walk from a piece of business that is not in the interest of the client or their company? Has management allowed the client to dictate the terms for so long that the rep will never get more than what they always got? Was the “value added” given because neither the manager nor the rep truly believed the circulation/reach and frequency was good enough to generate the desired results? An example in one such order, within a given demo, women 35-54 in $50,000 HH incomes, the reach for each week was 26.8% and the frequency was 2.4. The net reach in the demographic was 38,400. That means that 38,400 women 35-54 in households whose income is $50K will be exposed to a specific offer 2.4 times without a special sale or event. Clearly, the offer made to the client would certainly bring a respectable amount of success and smiles for all concerned. But because someone in the mix didn’t have enough confidence in their product, they had to give them the traditional “bonus,” now the client will always expect a bonus next time.

Many sales managers and their sales reps are taking us into the middle of the 21th Century directly into the path of an oncoming freight train. They don’t have faith in their product. With the myriad of changes in the way the consumer consumes their media the entire industry need to take a harder look at what they sell and how they sell it.

Unless reps start believing in their medium and standing up for it in the face of losing a mere 20% share of a buy that represented little, they and the entire company are in for a bad time as DVR, VOD, Podcasting, IPTV, Internet Television, the Internet and demographically targeted promotions scrape the traditional dollars off the table. The direct client or ad agency can only believe in the rep if they are willing to walk away from a piece of business that is not good for the client, or the company. When one is willing to walk away from business, then the client or agency media buyer may realize the true intrinsic value of your medium.

Reps shouldn’t be afraid that their manager will give them a bad time because they turned down an inferior piece of business. When both the manager, the rep and the client agree that the results will be so poor the client may never come back then walking away was not a bad idea.

I am proud of each media company and marvel at the opportunity those with low ratings or circulation may have, as they have the most upside potential. But even the media companies who are truly at the bottom of the food chain in ratings or circulation have more than plenty to offer a direct client or ad agency or ad agency at a good price without all the trashy, so-called “value added” packaging. Wouldn’t it be great if the client believed that your company was worth the highest price in the market? They will if you position it right.

People always believe that the highest price also represents the best quality. Then why are reps selling for the lowest price and having to throw in the “bonuses”just to make it seem valuable? Let us join in making the media business the great place it is, an environment of fun and excitement for everyone. For after all, when you think about it….we’re all in show business.