Ambro com 5 secrets of the masters webinar

5 Secrets
How the Masters of Media Sales Win More Business
by Daniel Ambrose, August 15, 2012

Selling at Being an Logical Loving the Asking for
the Top Expert Persuasion Objections Action

© ambro.com, corp. 2012

Agenda
Introduction

Why 5 Secrets?

What are the 5 Secrets?

How to improve your
ability to use the 5
Secrets?



My background
Advertising Sales;
 American Film & House Beautiful
Sales Management
 Hearst Magazines, Cahners, Ziff Davis
Publisher
 New York Times Co. -- Child
Consulting & Training
 Internet, Consumer magazine, B2B
magazine, Cable, Video, National, Local
 140+ clients in 18 years including About.com, BZ Media, Gulf
Publishing, Hearst, iVillage, Kaboose.com, MGM, New York
Magazine, Palm Springs Life, Parade, PC World, Primedia
Consumer Mags., Sporting News



My background
Some personal experiences with Internet
media:
 Beliefnet
 iVillage
 Kaboose
 Mediabistro
 Multimedia Digital, Pr
int,
Sampling,
Selling at
the Top
Being an
Expert
Logical
Persuasion TV, Video
Loving the
Objections
Asking for
Action


Why 5 Secrets?

“All in favor of putting the sales staff on performance-enhancing drugs?”

Reprinted with permission; Harvard Business Review.


What 5 Secrets?
Sales people too often call exclusively on „buyers;‟ not
enough on the influencers who hire or direct those
buyers, people who‟s opinion makes a big difference in
results
Prospects won‟t allow you the time to ask a lot of
questions until you have earned their respect
Sales presentations are like a bad blind date; sales people
start out talking bout their medium, then finally ask what
the buyers thinks of their property; ugh!
Objections are not a problem, they are a requirement of
successful sales interactions
If you can‟t ask for the business on the spot – because the
buyer can‟t give it to you – what can you ask for?



The Three Skill-Sets of the Masters
Time and Territory Management
 Get yourself to the right place at the right time with the right
information to make a sale
Your Presentation; client-centric and logical
 Whether delivered verbally, or through a presentation, it starts
with easy agreement and proceeds through logical steps to an
inescapable conclusion
Interactions
 Opening
 Probing
 Handling objections
 Closing
 Negotiating



The Five Secrets
Selling at the top

Be an expert

Use logic that is persuasive – starting with
agreement

Love the objections

Ask for action you can get



Masters of Media Selling

Draws from the most
successful media sales
organizations; including
Ziff Davis, 13-30, Time
Inc.
From the latest thinking in
selling to businesses in
the business environment
of the 21st century.
From the most up-to-date
approaches of the sales
best sellers.



Masters of sales know how to get to the top executives

Too many media sales people accept the “delegation”
Influence flows down, not up. Get to the top and you‟ll
win more business.



Your first call is always at the top Start at the
Where is your “top?” top and stay
in touch

Even a
delegating
boss has an
opinion



Do you know the top executive‟s language?

“I told you to screen my calls.”



Be an expert

You don‟t have to
know everything, but
you must know
something very well.
 Case studies of success
 Comparison metrics
Prepare yourself to
show you understand
your client’s business



“Marketing is in ferment as traditional advertising declines
in efficacy. With buyers increasingly savvy, how can
companies resist relentless commodification and
distinguish themselves from rivals? An increasingly
popular approach is to emphasize one‟s expertise in the
business, as distinct from the quality of ones product.
Such competence-based marketing is especially
persuasive in business-to-business relationships that
involve hard-to-assess goods and services.”

You can grow your business by displaying your
understanding of your customers‟ business and
what it takes to move the needle for them.

Source: Harvard Business Review, 2005



In order to sell at the top, you must deliver
expertise

One principle of sales is to show
your prospect you have earned
the „right‟ to be in his or her
office;
 You‟ve done your homework, you
understand his or her needs, you have
earned the right to be in their office.
 You won’t waste their time, so they’ll take another
meeting.



What can you be an expert upon?

How things are changing in the client‟s market
How purchase decisions are made in the client‟s
market
How the clients customers (your readers) are
changing
How to make their advertising more effective
How different advertising strategies perform
based on data from your media



How do we influence contacts to agree with our sales
pitch?
I‟ve tried
threats, they
don‟t work.
Successful
persuasion
starts with
shared
agreement



There are seven forms of influence; we use them all.

Reciprocation
Commitment and consistency
Social proof
Liking
Authority
Scarcity
Instant influence



Client Centric Logic

Logic of the sale
starts from a client
need you have
defined; that will
lead to the media
forms you propose,
your properties,
and to the specific
package you are
selling.



The irresistible logic of advertising sales

What is the
The client highly values
key part of information on his or her
the client‟s market
market?

Reach Define how the Show how Pitch your
agreement market makes your proposed
on the decisions- property package
client‟s where they go meets as
market for buying info. interests optimum
definition best impact

Change creates
How is the
market
opportunity, AND creates the
changing? „reason‟ or „excuse‟ to change
one‟s own point-of-view



Strategic Sales Logic Half the conversation
occurs BEFORE you
Must include mention your own
key details property.
that favor
your property

Reach Show how Pitch your
Define how the
agreement your proposed
market makes
on the property package
decisions-
client‟s meets as
where they go
market interests optimum
for buying info.
definition best impact

Encourage discussion & seek agreement on the details of the
marketing needs definition
In a long-sales-cycle you might only cover the first two parts in early meetings



The irresistible logic of advertising sales

Must include
key details
that favor
your property

Reach Define how the Show how Pitch your
agreement market makes your proposed
on the decisions- property package
client‟s where they go meets as
market for buying interests optimum
definition information. best impact

Be sure to include what buyers look for
in the way of editorial AND advertising



Another way of looking at their purchase decision process is the
„purchase funnel‟

Aim for
agreement
with your …and the
assessment client will
of how to buy your
increase solution
sales… that
addresses
that need



Three things about presentations
We know people “don‟t like” presentations
We know that audio + visuals communicates far
more powerfully than verbal only
We know we are supposed to ask more
questions

A properly developed and delivered
presentation solves these problems



What NOT to do with a presentation
Don‟t make it self-centered
 Make it about their „problem‟ & the solution you offer
Don‟t make it long
 Your job as a sales person is not to tell them
everything you know, but to make understanding and
buying easy. That means summarizing key concepts.
Don‟t read the presentation
 The presentation is a „visual aid‟ not a text.
Don‟t regurgitate the media kit



When you are delivering your presentation
Make it conversational
Breeze quickly through the early parts to achieve
consensus but not belabor any part without
invitation
Stop at the end of each section to probe for
discussion, input, objections or agreement
Try to “close” on agreement at each stage; you
get an easy “yes,” followed by more important
“yesses” as you approach the actual sale



Objections are your friends
There is a epidemic of
“good sales calls,” that
have no result, in the
media sales business
If there are no objections
or difficult questions in the
meeting you have not
engaged the prospect
Too often, there are no objections, just an agreement to
stay in touch. This means you have no traction in the
sales process.



Objection handling skills start with rewarding the prospect
Whether your prospect is telling you they are too busy to
see you, they are not buying your category, or your
property is too expensive; this is the crucial point of
engagement to make progress
Acknowledge the importance of even the most trivial or
obviously evasive objection to draw out more key ones
Know key probing questions to draw out the objections
that will be hidden – and preventing the prospect from
taking you seriously



If you haven‟t had any objections, you are not getting
where you need to go
You are not calling on a decision maker…only an
information gatherer
They are hiding their objections because they don‟t want
to get in a debate, and they think the already know what
they want – and it isn‟t your property
The prospect isn‟t thinking critically – or seriously – about
your opportunity…just wants to get the meeting over and
on to the next one with out offending you
When they nod and smile and even say “yes,” they are
saying “I know what you mean” not “I agree with you”



What can you “close on?”
Advancing the sale requires a commitment of time or
effort or “political capital” from your prospect
 They help you get an appointment with their boss or subordinate
or client; or set up a group presentation
 They tell you what it will take to win the business (in a detailed
way beyond “give me your best price.”
 They tell you about the hot-buttons that will make your proposal
stand out
 They agree to review a draft proposal and give you feedback in
advance
Agreement to send you an RFP is not enough
 Requires no time or political capital from your prospect



National ad decisions are mostly group decisions
“Close” on getting to make a
group presentation because
 They can see their boss agreeing
your property is good (you can‟t
call on their boss and tell them
afterward “she liked it.”)
 The boss has to show comfort; but
you can catalyze that in a group
meeting
 You can present your special ideas
to the group giving credit for them
to your internal champion



Sign up for Masters of Media Selling; October 1st and 2nd
For a 10% discount for
5 Secrets Attendees
use one of these
codes:

MMPF67 - Day 1
MKAB22 - Day 2
MPMG83 - Both Days

(There's a "CODE" box at the
bottom of the registration form
- that's where these codes
should be entered.)

https://www.mediapost.com/mastersofmediaselling/register/



Thank you

Visit ambro.com Web site and sign up for email newsletter

Daniel Ambrose
ambro.com, corp.
Media Management Consulting & Strategic Sales Training
3810 Vine Maple
Eugene, OR 97405
541-431-4500
Dan.Ambrose@ambro.com



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