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August 2003
From the Heart
Through the years in newspaper sales and research, I’ve added to the list of the characteristics that make up the very best sales people –
#1. Of this I’m certain. The single most important quality is ENTHUSIASM. Or, call it emotion, passion, desire or attitude. It is the undeniable winner.
The industry has long been criticized for “just picking up orders” or “sending out the rookie” with a rate card and no training, but we’ve all seen an excited, fresh-faced, raw salesperson sell rings around grizzled veterans. I’d submit the principle difference is that salesperson’s attitude. Wouldn’t it be nice to figure out how to bottle that quality?
#2. Product Knowledge ranks second. And, by that I mean understanding each of the multiple products newspapers offer and how they match up with the distinct needs of advertising customers. Which certainly implies having at least a rudimentary product knowledge about the service or product our customer is selling.
As newspapers have diversified and offered more and more advertiser options, this has become increasingly difficult. Different niches, verticals, even media platforms make it very hard for any sales person to know everything. Yet, our customer doesn’t want to see a different specialist for each offering, either.
As difficult as it is to train and keep training, that has to be a mandate for each newspaper organization. For years, our sales staffs have fared poorly against the perceived skills of other media, and with the huge opportunity the internet offers, this MUST change.
Combine unbridled enthusiasm with superior product knowledge and you’ll have a winning salesperson.
#3. Lastly, if you add a dash of persistence, you’ll have a super star!
This hasn’t always been on the list. However, I’ve been increasingly convinced of its importance. We’ve all heard the research cited (though the source remains a mystery) that says it takes something like 5 or more calls before a prospect becomes a client. If that doesn’t speak to the power of persistence, nothing else does.
It just makes sense that if an advertiser already has a successful relationship with another medium or even if a newspaper has an existing good relationship with a top flight research partner, that a change will not happen overnight. The long view – a trait our industry is NOT renowned for, is critical if you want to be considered when the situation for the prospect changes or when you have a new idea or product that will advance his or her cause.
All this leads to a recent quote I heard and some observations which apply to “new” anything…
…I couldn’t believe my ears when Brad Davis, Senior Vice President of Marketing for Washington Mutual Bank remarked, “Twenty-seven percent of our new business comes from people who have NOT had a banking relationship before!” (Read that again – 27%!!)
Isn’t that an astounding figure? When queried, Davis shared the bulk of this is from Hispanic and Asian customers who are new to this country and arrived with a cultural bias against banking institutions that WaMu is working very hard (apparently, successfully!!) to overcome.
Can anyone name a recent new product, service or company introduction that has really WOWED them? Take your time….there aren’t very many. Just about everything is a line or product extension of something that is already a success for the service provider or manufacturer.
For every Jet Blue or Whole Foods (rapidly growing companies bucking their respective industry trends in a very big way!) there are hundreds of failures and innumerable bland products which only confuse the consumer and dilute marketing initiatives of the company selling them.
The distinction, it seems, goes back to the #1 sales trait – EMOTION. Whole Foods and Jet Blue are different in that they create a more memorable customer experience. People actually like flying or fighting the Saturday mob scene to get the free samples of the latest fat free sausage. How many do you know who claim to enjoy flying today? It’s a short list.
It seems like all of a sudden newspapers noticed the Hispanic population upon the release of the 2000 Census. Guess what? This has been a long term, very visible trend. There’s no question we should be exploring, understanding, asking, researching and creating unique products that fulfill all sorts of ethnic marketing opportunities and the Hispanic market is merely the most obvious.
WARNING!!! This does not mean simply translating an English language TMC in to Spanish and distributing in the predominantly Spanish speaking zip codes. New means NEW – from the customer point of view.
Whether it be a new language, niche product, or a brand new look to the mainstream newspaper we must strive – with everything we have – to create products and relationships that create an emotional connection with readers. Instead of hearing people say, “We get our news and information from the paper or from TV or from a web site”, our goal (and let’s be very clear about this) should be to create a relationship with our reading audience (both print and online!) that delights customers (reading and advertising) so much, you can hear the pride when they say, “I GET MY NEWS AND INFORMATION IN MY PAPER!"
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