What is the impact of value that you bring to your marketplace?

Feb 12, 2018

Your salespeople are telling your prospects and customers that you are the best newspaper in town or if you’re the only newspaper, you’re the best media choice in town. They go on to say you have the best customer service in town. But what is your major value? What is the value you bring to the marketplace that no one else can bring? What impact does that value have on the prospect, not intellectually, but emotionally? What value do you bring that will compel your prospect to ask you to fix their problems?

Principles of contemporary selling
Cut down on selling emphasis and begin using psychology and philosophy to translate your value. When you stop selling, your prospect will feel prone to open up and give you the reasons why he or she needs you to fix his or her problems. Isn’t that what we want anyway? Salespeople who sell hard and relentlessly sometimes don’t understand human nature—and it costs them. If you still do your dog and pony show to sleepy eyes. Stop the show and ask questions about their problems and existing conditions.
“What conditions exist in your company that caused you to be interested in our publication?” Let them talk.

Never underestimate the propensity
to purchase
You have seen this happen. A prospective advertiser will balk at spending $1,500, then turn around and spend $2,500 with a competitor. Why? Because the belief was there. The energy was there. The money is always there. Money is conceptual. Many times, the danger is that salespeople will make decisions for the prospect before they do. Don’t make the decision for the prospect before they do. Don’t make the decision for the prospect about anything, especially money. Also, sometimes the more one pays for something, the more value they attach to it—providing the value is actually there. The world is full of buyers who have bought half a solution only because of the salesperson’s fear to talk in larger terms that would have solved the entire problem of the prospect or customer.

Never let your fears affect your selling
Often, we won’t ask the question because we’re afraid of the answer. The prospect is telling you about a severe problem he has. You need to ask, “Why haven’t you learned to solve this before?” By asking, you will be finding out an important part of his values—his own fear. From that, you can determine the best corrective action to take.

Don’t overwhelm your prospect
You have tremendous knowledge about your publication—type styles, printing press capability, demographic statistics, website benefits, etc. You feel good about what you know and you want to start spouting all this information to the prospect. Many times, the reaction to all this rhetoric is actually wearing the customer out. Never wear out the one with the check.
So, you know everything there is to know about newspaper advertising. But many times you don’t know the customer’s compelling problems that need to be solved—and you need to know them. © Bob Berting 2018

Bob Berting is a professional speaker, advertising sales trainer and publisher marketing consultant, who has conducted more than 1,500 live seminars, tele-seminars and webinars for newspaper sales staffs, their customers, and print media associations in the U.S. and Canada. His newest offer for the newspaper industry is a package of his two e-books, “Dynamic Advertising Sales and Image Power” and “Advanced Selling Skills For The Advertising Sales Pro.” Both books can be ordered on his website www.bobberting.com individually for $19.95 or both for $35. Contact Bob at bob@bobberting.com or at 800-536-5408. He is located at 6330 Woburn Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46250.