Powerful Presentation Techniques that close OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SALES …QUICKLY !!!!!!!!

Written and Presented By Master Outdoor Advertising Salesman and Sales Instructor – Thomas ( The Hitman ) Pilotti

In my 20 years of advertising sales and consulting, it becomes very clear as to why clients do not buy from sales people. In order to get to the root of the “solution” you must first and foremost place yourself in the prospect’s shoes.

Why sales people and their presentations fall short of the order.

Let’s face it, I have been back and forth on both sides of the desk for years and years, and it almost becomes comical to see how some of these advertising sales people even survive.

The first key to a great sales call is to very quickly and precisely tell and show (via word pictures) how your media is going to help him earn more money, make more bank deposits and most importantly - how you, yes YOU the star media consultant - are going to get more people to walk thru his front door and buy, thanks to your efforts.

Think about it, how many times have you yourself been privy to a blundering sales call where all you see and hear is “Wanna buy a watch?” Stuff, including advertising does not sell itself.

Here is a million dollar secret for you – ready?

The main reason a client has not signed on with you is because no one smart enough has come along and shown him WHY doing business with you, and using your advertising media will actually get results in a way that the prospect will understand and grasp instantly!

Your prospect is like a man sitting on the proverbial fence not sure which side to leap off – what is required is an informed media expert that will push him off by a well executed presentation.

What makes up a presentation that will get REAL RESULTS?

If I walk into Bob’s Discount Bathtubs, and do what 99% of the sales people do ………………

“Hello Bob, my name is Thomas Pilotti from Victory Media Services, we are the local billboard company and would like to know if you would like to run with us?

As “Bob” is quickly figuring how to (sometimes) politely get rid of me, I have lost all credibility, and any opportunity to actually explain how I could actually hit a home run and HELP THIS CLIENT!

Prospects are so tired of this that it is no wonder that they are rude to the “uninformed”.

Let’s look at an approach that I have developed and used in my career, and is by far the most productive way to sell advertising and frankly, the way to have the most fun doing it!

First – your people must consider themselves to be “Media/Advertising EXPERTS”. They need to begin to be familiar with all the competitive rate structures and be able to have a consultative conversation with a prospect about how they, not so much your media, can be of service.

Think about it, If I worked for you and I walked into Bob’s Discount bathtubs - here is what the approach should look like:

“Hi Bob, you have got some really good deals going on in here, how’s business been? I see that you don’t do very much local advertising, but in my opinion with what you’ve got to offer - I think I could make a big difference in helping you get new customers. Think about it, if I were to create a VERY sharp and creative ad that would go (insert your company’s media form here), I could really get a bunch of new people in here. I see from your sales floor that your prices are unbelievable. How about if we created a campaign that would appeal to the regular non handy man, LIKE ME! What if we offered a discount bathtub and also offered a FREE INSTALLATION for a limited time as a special promotion - just to “move the needle” for you? If you were advertising with me, I would continue, with your assistance, to bring you creative ideas and campaigns that would bring in business all year round. You would be able to think of me as your own IN HOUSE AD AGENCY- WITH OUT THE FEES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Million dollar sales idea …………… # 2!

The job of your people is to move from selling “space” to the new and improved status of being in the business of selling IDEAS!

Think about it. Wouldn’t you stop what you were doing to talk to someone who consistently brought you ideas on how to make more money and to create more sales? I know I would.

Our sales team must become advertising consultants in the true sense of the word. We must be talking to prospects about big picture advertising. Isn’t it just so ideal that the ideas that we bring out into the marketplace fit PERFECTLY into the advertising vehicle we sell everyday?! This is what I call backing into the sale. -Thinking about the customer instead of thinking about your commission.

How do we begin to make this shift and change the salesperson’s approach ?

The ability to become creative is an ability that develops with practice. Lawyers practice law. We as advertising people must PRACTICE developing creative ideas that sell!!!!

In my on site sales seminars we do role play exercises designed to put sales people on the spot (just like real selling conditions) and train them to develop their creative skills in real time. The simple resources for any sales person who wants to know the secrets of super star success … are literally all around you.

Think about it, every direct mail ad you get, every daily and weekly newspaper, every TV and Radio commercial has been designed to be “creative” and has a core idea to sell product. In order to appeal to the real needs of the prospect, I always talk about RESULTS. In order to get results from advertising, we must look at the incentive or offer.

This is a great rule of thumb to use when developing or recommending a creative execution:

What would it take to get me , or another average person, to get off the couch, drive down here and BUY?! If you are not thinking like this from the get go - you will fail more times than not.

Look at the idea we gave to Bob’s Discount Bathtubs, the average person has no desire or clue how to put in a gosh darn bath tub, and if we offer it free and someone else does not, I would say hands down we would get the call !

The ability to develop this “creative thinking” is a pretty simple process to develop once taught. In fact the most entertaining part of my live, on site seminars, is when we have your reps bring in their problem client files and we create actual campaigns they can go out and close with the very next day!

One time I had a rep that was trying to close a lumber yard for 3 years and was getting no where. We did our brainstorming and came up with a campaign called

“WE’RE LUMBER ONE!”

It was used on billboards, Radio and TV! In fact the rep went so far as to help them acquire the phone number 1-800-lumber1. Needless to say, that rep is now VERY firmly planted with that client.

If your people start selling using creative ideas they will be on there way to doubling their monthly sales in very short order.

If you have any doubts that CREATIVE drives the sale (for the top producers) think about this:

When Taco Bell was doing an ad agency review back in the day, and the agencies all presented their “pitch”… the agency that got to place and get the commission from over 120 million dollars of ad spending, was the group that brought the “Yo quiero Taco Bell” idea with the cute little talking Chihuahua to the party. PEOPLE WILL SPEND MONEY ON GREAT IDEAS!!!!!!!!! It happens every minute of every day!

You can begin to separate your company in your market, and set your reps on fire by installing this new selling mindset. It places the sales rep in an authoritative position to sell and clients begin to respect and make time for your reps.

Think about it, put your self in the client’s shoes - How dare a rep call on me and not be prepared and have something way outside of the box to offer me! We all think that way, and wish that our media reps would present that way.

Brainstorming sessions are the most productive way to start your people working together to solve creative problems and to start thinking along the lines of an ad agency. We teach this in our live sales meetings and it is very easy to replicate on a weekly meeting. The ability to start connecting the dots, and using all kinds of unrelated ideas will always open creative mental doorways that will produce phenomenal RESULTS in your people.

The “polish” your people develop will be from practicing these methods each and every time they step foot into a presentation. It is the only intelligent way to be a top producer and to become an EXPERT in the community.

Ad sales reps need to become sponges, look for and absorb every type of coupon, car dealer special event, & newspaper sale - and then start presenting these ideas back to all different categories of clients. If “Buy 1- Get 1 FREE” works for Subway, why wouldn’t it work for a health club? (Note: One of my clients, Fitness Forum, here in Gainesville Georgia started this campaign with me 2 weeks ago and has doubled their weekly new membership sales. Needless to say they are delighted.)

Back in the day, I sold a glass and mirror company on the idea of offering an 8’x8’ mirrored wall special for $299.00 complete. We ran this in a little shopper type publication. He was getting an average of 8 new calls a week! It worked so well, we placed the sale ad on a billboard and the results were even better! No one had ever thought to present this business owner with an creative way to offer a sales incentive on a product he sells every day!!!!!!!!!!

Special offers are the back bone of the coupon business. If you did nothing else but study coupons, within a week you would have a college education in advertising mechanics. Your reps should be telling every flooring customer in your market to be offering “3 rooms of carpeting $399 Installed”. I promise you, that any client would respect a rep that was willing to challenge a client to push the envelope with a sales offer AND be smart enough to up sell the leads he generated from your ads.

So we can now see that the way that “everyone” including your local competitors is selling advertising is straight from the Stone Age, you are now able to see how you can take your company to new heights by changing the way your reps present your product. I cannot even begin to tell you how appreciative reps are after my training programs because we are able to take YEARS off of their learning curve. This seems especially important during slow market conditions, wouldn’t you agree?

My system works. It is easy to learn. It will make your life much easier once your people have the ammunition they need to start tearing up your market in a whole new way. It’s funny, but one of the services we offer once we train your people is that they each get 1 year of free phone consulting with me to solve creative problems anytime they get stumped, and believe it or not they call A LOT !

I hope this report has shed some new light on the answer to getting your people to make more effective and dynamic presentations that are designed to get orders quickly.

Lastly, if you are serious about raising the level of performance of your sales team, please do not hesitate to give me a call to discuss it. My ¾ days sales training seminar is a real nuts and bolts program that delivers REAL RESULTS. In fact, I am so confident in our program, that we offer a 100% money back guarantee – that if you feel my program did not offer the best set of tools for advertising sales people to double their sales – You Owe Nothing. Not sure if I’ve ever seen another sales trainer with an offer like that.

Our desire is to truly help those who want to excel to the top of the food chain. Investing in your people is a very wise choice.

If you would like to talk about our on site sales meetings or even our exclusive field training programs, please feel free to give me a call directly at 1-877-348-4489, or after hours on my cell 678-989-4133.

Thomas Pilotti Email Me Office: 1-877-348-4489 Toll Free President / CEO The Outdoor Advertising Sales Academy Victory Media Services 3725 River North Drive, Suite 100 Gainesville, GA 30506