In this time, no matter what you do, you need to make sure that you are making offers, or spending on advertising, or promoting what you do.
Don’t get paralysed
What offers have you made this week? This month?
How do they compare to last month’s activity?
If you’re like most of my clients, chances are your marketing costs are lower now than before.
Let me tell you from having spent 30 odd years in consultancy and media; times – they are a changing!
Media companies are burning, they are in a situation that has never occurred before.
I believe that you never look at a problem in a straight line. Look up, across, any way other than what you have always done. Do something that you might not have done before. Many – but not all – media do what they have always done because of demand – CUT RATES.
We all know that the pandemic is real, but we do have that event to help us get better bang for our marketing dollar.
It’s challenging make no mistake. Many of the world’s businesses are taking it on the chin, me too.
However, what’s the opportunity?
Yes, we can blame the pandemic for a great number of things. But it’s also opened up opportunities that you can take advantage of.
One of them happens to be marketing. Think sales…making offers.
I am a big supporter of investing in yourself, I want my clients to do the same.
Promote.
We used to have a training programme that talked about the ‘Hot Air Balloon Theory’.
Promotion and making consistent offers are very much like how a hot air balloon works.
It takes a lot of energy to get the balloon up in the air, but once it’s up there it only takes small tweaks to keep it there.
Same with advertising and promotion, and making offers.
If you are consistently there in their minds, when the time comes they will invest, in you, your product, or something.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are four ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
My favourite thing to do is show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future template.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
4. Finally, grab my new digital book on ‘How to get a predictable sales system into your business without coming across as salesy’
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
When I work with clients, I want to know what makes them special. What is it that they do, that is so special that it would make me want to buy off them?
Why do people buy from you?
Here is a quick-fire questionnaire you can answer in a couple of minutes that might help you sell more of your product:
What makes your business so special?
What makes your product so special?
What are the philosophies that make your company so special?
Are you the logical choice for your customers?
Go to the top ten clients and ask them why they buy off you.
What are the best compliments that you would like to get from your customers?
Most business owners right now have an opportunity to do things that they have wanted to do in the past, but did not, because things were going well.
Maybe now is the time to get crystal clear on your identity. Do not expect your clients to be clear if you are not.
What is your ultimate strategic position? Your ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ (USP)?
Here are three tips that might help you think about your USP:
A slogan that describes your product or service.
A slogan should contain a major benefit that your company delivers.
Set up an inference on the result you deliver.
My USP
I help business owners create a predictable sales system in their business (without coming across as ‘salesy’).
If you are open to exploring your own USP, I have an exercise that comes with the purchase of my book. Details at the bottom of this.
For those clients that already have my book, or just want to jump in and explore the USP, I have included it in my Pitch Perfect product. It comes with templates and how-to tools that are easy and straightforward to implement.
My favourite thing to do is show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future template.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
4. Finally, grab my new digital book on ‘How to get a predictable sales system into your business without coming across as salesy’
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
In my post last week, I told the story of how MORE FM launched the GOLD KEYPROGRAMME, to launch their radio station back in the early ‘90s
A simple 15-20-minute selling seminar was created to invite small groups of advertisers to take part in THE GOLD KEY PROGRAMME.
That product went on to generate $1 billion in sales globally.
Please check out part 1 because part 2 is even crazier!
PART TWO.
My epiphany
Here I was, just joining my new business partner’s consultancy company when I had an epiphany!
Just the week before, I had attended a Robert Kiyosaki course and we had played a game about leverage. A game so simple, that a PHD has been written about it.
There, in front of me that week, was that game in motion.
THE GOLD KEY PROGRAMME
I had to know more, excuse the pun.
Over that week of the launch, I sat in the back of the room and watched every seminar, 15-20 minutes at a time, 12 a day, for 5 days.
Starting at 8am, finishing at 7pm; 12 sessions with a break in between to arrange the chairs and greet the clients.
Doug, as the leader presented every one. That is what leaders do.
I was down the back taking notes.
I popped a recorder on the lectern that Doug was presenting from and recorded his speech word for word.
In between the breaks, I dropped it around to my typist.
Within a day I had the speech, then it was the slide show, duplicated and ready to go.
Then the seminar process, how the seats were placed, how the sales team greeted the clients, how they sat beside them etc.
Everything I could see I wrote about.
I watched as the presentation finished, how the sales team handed out the flyers, and then went about selling the product.
I watched what the best of them did to sell it, how they overcame the concerns, how they sold.
I watched, listened, observed, and created.
Within a week I had a template, a system, a formula – all I needed next was a client.
Opportunity down under
Sitting in Australia was my business partner Brian. I rang him and told him “I think I may have a product; do you have a client we could convince to try it?”
“Yes” said Brian – “HOFM Hobart Tasmania.”
I was on a plane the next week. In those days you could fly direct to Hobart from Christchurch, New Zealand.
Here we both were, sitting in a boardroom – the CEO and Sales Director were being pitched by Brian and I.
The formula presented just like a product.
They did not know me from a bar of soap, but they knew Brian, and Brian trusted me and they trusted Brian.
Within 6 weeks we were ready to launch THE GOLD KEY PROGRAMME – INTERNATIONAL.
A couple of Kiwi boys, sitting in the Hilton Hotel in Hobart thinking, “Jeez I hope this works”!
Monday morning and the first session…CEO on the lectern reading Doug’s presentation that I recorded word for word.
On the screen behind the CEO, we had the original slides duplicated and tailormade to their own offers and packages.
The sales training programme had been written for the reps on what to say, how to greet the clients, how to sit beside them in the presentation, how to open the conversation, how to ask for the business.
All mastered and ready to go, the system was alive and ready to work its magic. Or so we hoped.
The first session was 8am. 15 clients all seated theatre style. Boom, 30 seats sold in the room.
The second session we sold 20 seats.
We had an allocation of 150 seats for the whole week.
In two sessions we had sold 50 seats. Over 30% and we still had 8 sessions to go on just that day!
Brian comes over to me after the second session and says, “I think we are onto something here”.
No kidding Sherlock!
We sold out in 3 days. $1 million in sales. 40% of their budget.
We kept that client for 10 years.
It took Australia by storm. One market – $1 million – in one day!
Then we had the opportunity to take it to the USA. That was my gig.
We launched it on a small media company in Sth Carolina and sold out in 3 days.
The station was second to last in the market ratings, it was a dog. We had proved it, selling in the so-called best media market in the world. Good ole USA.
Over the next few years we sold it all over the world. Canada, UK, South Africa, Europe, and even South America.
We took the product into TV and newspaper.
Then we sold it to a company in the US.
We were an overnight success after 20 years.
Staff that left adapted it, media companies plagiarized it, and over time like all great products, it lost its uniqueness. It ain’t what it used to be that’s for sure!
The folk that did it after us never kept to the business principles that shaped great success.
But hey, they knew better and that’s okay.
Hey but what a ride, lots of business lessons to learn here.
Create a formula for selling your product. No matter what it is
Control your selling environment
Be unique
Create scarcity
Make one promise
Create a guarantee
Have a single-minded selling approach
Be relentless
Never say “It’s different here in Bogota”- cause it ain’t
Success comes over time, that is what I think I have learnt most of all, and most principles and formula, if done right, can be done anywhere.
Have a great week, and hoped you enjoyed the story.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are four ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
My favourite thing to do is show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future template.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
4. Finally, grab my new digital book on ‘How to get a predictable sales system into your business without coming across as salesy’
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
This photo of a radio advertising product generated over $1 billion in advertising revenue.
In 1991 More FM was launched under the leadership of Doug Gold.
To launch a brand-new radio station takes courage and guts and rather big dreams.
There was a problem.
But Doug had a problem, the new radio station had no listeners, no advertisers, just a name – MORE FM.
What they did have was inventory, or we may call it stock/product.
But this product was different, it was commercial time, advertising airtime.
Every radio station has to have a balance of keeping its listeners loving the programme it plays, (music in this case) and not switching them off with too many commercials.
(We know that too well with other media don’t we, and we have a tool to switch off too many ads, a remote)
What they didnot have were advertisers.
He made a plan.
So, what he did was create a plan. He realised that over the course of a day, a week, a month, some of his inventory would not sell, it would remain unsold.
How do radio stations and all media make money? They sell advertising with that airtime.
What did he do?
He figured out that a typical radio station would only sell out of 70% of its commercial time over a year. How did he know this?
Doug had been in broadcasting for 20 years before launching his own radio stations – the MORE FM group.
His plan then was to take the 30% he did not sell and make it available to advertisers at a discounted rate; once a year, packaged into a 12-month membership programme.
A club, a programme, a membership.
This was called the FOUNDATION ADVERTISER PLAN (Year 1) / GOLD KEY PROGRAMME (Year 2)
Media companies – Radio, TV and to some extent newspaper – are like airlines, once the plane is up in the air, that seat beside you that is vacant (middle) cannot be sold.
That is why Grabaseat came along. They are pre-selling their seats. It’s just sound inventory management, simple as that.
Are we not better off to get something for that seat beside us? Yes, but make no mistake, yield and inventory management is a science. Doug knew yield management before it was called yield management.
He applied the same principle to media inventory.
Face-to-face selling.
Doug attracted a team of the best salespeople to sell that unsold time (30%) to advertisers.
Some of those salespeople joined Doug for FREE just to be part of his exciting new radio station.
His first product was called THE FOUNDATION ADVERTISER PLAN.
It was sold face-to-face by the sales team to advertisers.
The result was $1.2 million dollars in revenue sold by his sales team prior to MORE FM launching.
$4.5 million in today’s terms. Small advertisers, over 100 of them, invested in a 12-month advertising programme and agreed to pay a weekly direct debit.
Doug generated that money before one song was played on his radio station!
Think about that – imagine you are in retail, you are about to launch your retail store, and you generate $1.2 million in sales before you open the doors. Amazing.
What could have gone wrong?
Non-acceptance by advertisers. Why would any advertiser invest in a radio station that had not even launched? Would it work? The sales team and Doug’s reputation held them in good stead. It was a roaring success.
The $1 billion dollar product comes to life.
Year 2 – MORE FM launched the GOLD KEYProgramme, (see photo above) and seminar selling comes to media.
Coming out of a successful first year both with the success of MORE FM and advertising support, Doug believed he could sell more of his product if he could control the environment.
A simple 15-20-minute selling seminar was created to invite small groups of advertisers to take part in year 2 of the FOUNDATION ADVERTISER PLAN, but with a name change – THE GOLD KEY PROGRAMME. Same concept with a few tweaks.
Surprise the client.
Every advertiser that was invited and purchased went into the draw to win a brand-new BMW Series 3 sedan.
Result – $2.5 million in one week! Over 150 advertisers buying into an advertising programme.
My epiphany.
That was the week I was invited to sit in on that programme. I had just been asked to join Doug’s consultancy company with his partner Brian Duffy.
I had an epiphany!
Just the week before, I had attended a Robert Kiyosaki course and we had played a game about leverage and the power of it.
There, in front of me that week, was that game in motion.
I had to know more, excuse the pun.
If you would like to hear part two of the story, please let me know either in the comments or message me.
I think you would enjoy the next part of the journey.
Let me know what you think.
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are four ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
My favourite thing to do is show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future template.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
4. Finally, grab my new digital book on ‘How to get a predictable sales system into your business without coming across as salesy’
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
Understanding what your customers value is one of the key things you need to understand.
If you don’t understand what your client values, then you’re in trouble.
One of the mistakes that many salespeople make is they present the price early, without actually discovering what the client may value.
The flaw with presenting the price is that the person gets to choose the price before the person in front of them.
What is the sauce?
I think it’s the ability to differentiate your key benefits and positioning the change from where they are now, to where they want to be in the future. The value you add is in the middle. It’s often the ‘bridge’ – to use an analogy – to get to the desired result.
Does your product or service solve the problem better than what they currently have, but better, simpler?
These differences do matter to your client, you must try and present the difference before you ever get to the price.
Sit alongside your client
The new sell is trust. The clients in this new normal are more cautious, not as committal, unsure and afraid.
Never forget though, that you are both in the business to produce profits, for you, your company and your customer.
What drives your customers’ trust in you?
They want you to provide a service, product, a better life, or something they need to happen to them.
They have to believe in their heart and head that they are making as much as you or more out of the deal than you.
Are you different enough for them to change to you?
These days customers want to feel as if you are on their side, and what you are selling is more valuable than the price. If you get them to that point then the price is not a factor, I promise.
Mike
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are four ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
My favourite thing to do is show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future template.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
4. Finally, grab my new digital book on ‘How to get a predictable sales system into your business without coming across as salesy’
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
