After we published this newsletter the first time, several readers wrote in and commented at how offensive the headline was, I had to simply say to them, “It worked to get your attention, right? We’re in the business of helping you learn how to get more revenues from your marketing, advertising and sales — so if we got your attention with this headline, you can see a perfect example of how the interrupt works. We’re truly sorry if the story or the reference to ‘Fred’ offended you, but the marketing point is valid and salient.” I also want to say that we’re not implying this story necessarily applies to your advertising salesman – there are a lot of good ones out there. Now, on to the point of the story…
How would you react if an ugly, stinky, obnoxious advertising salesman came into your office and tried to pitch you? I’m talking about a guy in his mid 40s with long, stringy, dirty hair – with yellow armpit stains and odor to match. I’m talking about someone who talks so loud that everyone else in your office has to shut their office doors just to hear themselves think. Would you buy advertising space from this man?
If you said yes, you’re in the minority. I honestly don’t know how he even kept his job – besides the fact that he’s a pretty nice guy. But, geez…it was hard for anyone to even want to see the guy to get to know him. You know the old line about first impressions, right? This is an absolutely true story, but for the sake of the stinky guy, we’ll change his name and call him Fred.
The company Fred works for publishes a business magazine, and like most advertising mediums, it relies heavily on salespeople to sell the ad space. But there’s a big problem with the out-dated sales rep way of selling: The marketplace is bombarded with so many advertising opportunities that it’s difficult to even get in the door to make a prospect even consider buying ad space. Even if you’re good looking, fresh smelling, and even tempered.
So when we got together with Bob, the publisher, we immediately suggested that they trash their old way of selling ad space and do things a little differently. The first place to start was finding a marketing message that would stand out in the clutter of ad space. We asked Bob if his advertisers had received good results from the ads they ran in the magazine. Bob assured us that most of the clients they did have were repeat buyers and they were receiving excellent response to their ads. So here’s the 64 million dollar question: “Would you be willing to guarantee the results?”
Bob and his partner agreed that they were interested only in the long-term growth of the magazine – a goal that could only be achieved if the ad space worked for the clients anyway. So Bob consented. We promoted the magazine as the only advertising medium that gives you a “Results Guarantee.” That was the easy part.
The next thing we did was identify a very specific target market. What kind of business would even want to be in this magazine? Why? How can we identify them and market to them in a cost-effective way? So they picked 500 potential advertisers and made a mailing list of those companies. But instead of mailing them anything, they instead hired someone to call every one of the 500 businesses and capture one critical piece of information: the fax number.
Once all the fax numbers were captured, they sent out a nice little 3-page fax that explained who they were and why their magazine was a wise place to spend precious advertising dollars. The results? Over 100 calls within one week asking for more information about the possibility of advertising in the magazine. Some people would call those HOT LEADS. Bob called them a godsend.
So here’s how the ugly, stinky, obnoxious salesman did so well. Bob handed Fred a stack of 25 leads. Fred sent the 25 leads the information they requested and then followed up 2 days later and simply asked what they thought. This, by the way, was the first time they had talked to Fred personally. Eight people bought on the spot the first time Fred called them.
Fred’s sales jumped from a previous high month of $4,000 in sales to over $12,000 in sales in less than 2 weeks! But remember, Fred was a worst-case scenario. Other salesmen at the magazine were having similar successes. Sales went through the roof and extra pages had to be added to the magazine to accommodate.
Bob summed up the experience like this: “With your system in place, our whole business has changed. Little things. Big things. Everything has changed. My salesmen never have to ask for sales now. Prospects always come to them. Therefore, there’s no rejection. We never make cold calls anymore. Everyone returns our phone calls now – we used to never get calls returned from potential clients. My salesmen see twice as many prospects now…and when they see them, they’re picking up checks and signing the paperwork only. The quality of prospects has risen dramatically. We even save gas money. In the last 90 days we have doubled our sales volume and I’ve made an extra $40,000.”
The crowning moment came when a national bank called up and placed a $4,000 ad without ever talking to a salesman. They just said come over and pick up the check. Now that’s work that even an ugly, stinky, obnoxious salesman can do…. and do well!
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