Selling Radio Direct with Pat Bryson
Time marches on!
We are now 6 months into this year, and, if my math is correct, we have only 6 months left to hit our goals for 2022. Are you on target? Are you ahead of projection? I thought it might be time to review some “best practices” to meeting and exceeding our goals.
How we spend our “billable hours” daily will determine whether or not we reach our goals. That will determine our paychecks. Unlike attorneys or accountants or doctors, we don’t bill clients for our time. I’ve often thought we should, but nevertheless, we have only so many hours in the day. They must be spent productively if we are to succeed.
What activities should we be doing daily?
Every day: X number of new calls. How many the number “X” represents depends on where you are in your tenure as a salesperson. Are you tenured, carrying a large list of clients? Then perhaps making 4 or 5 new calls each day will be enough to cover any attrition and grow your list. If you are just starting out and have very few existing accounts, 15-20 new calls a day will not be too many. It takes a lot of “suspects” to end up with enough good prospects that result in orders.
Every day: Appointments to do Customer Needs Analysis meetings. Ideally, that would be four a day, but I’d settle for two. Two needs analysis meetings daily would probably result in one presentation.
Every day: Ask for money! Be in the position to present to one or two clients. These presentations are NOT for small dollar, short term sales. They are for larger, long-term sales. Long-term sales are the only way to build a base of business that prevents you from starting over each month. Plus, consistent advertising is better for our clients. They can’t reach their goals by short term ad bursts either!
Every day: Take care of your existing clients by providing extraordinary service. Define what “extraordinary service” means to each one. Then, make sure you do it! Find ways to go above and beyond. Surprise them. This will cut down on attrition and provide you ways to upsell them along the way.
Every day: Spend some time “sharpening your saw.” Whether you read, listen to audio books or podcasts, grow yourself. Learn new things. Keep up with business trends. Invest time in increasing your skill level.
Every day: Make sure those paperwork tasks we all love to hate get done. Keep your forms flowing correctly. Keep your workspace organized. Your internal staff will thank you. They might even bring you cookies!
Every day: Plan your day. Work your plan. Don’t wing it. Think strategically. Prospect strategically. Work strategically.
How we spend our billable hours determines our success. Ultimately, no matter what type of daily planners or CRM’s you use to please your boss, YOU are responsible for your success. You must use self management. No one is looking over your shoulder 8 hours a day.
Say it together, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.”
Time for a course correction if you need one. Doing so will put the next six months on track for a successful conclusion to 2022.
Happy Selling and Happy Planning!