The Fast and the Furious: Sales Edition
Have you heard of Speed Selling?
It’s a great way to launch a company, and I have participated in it several times.
Over the years, it has become more sophisticated, and my old company, NRS Media, (since sold) has fine-tuned it to launch a brand new media company into profit from day one. I’ll delve more into that idea later.
How a small town radio station became the birthplace of Speed Selling.
My first experience with Speed Selling was at a part-time radio station in a small town with a population of 15,000 people.
As FM radio developed in my country, many potential operators were given temporary licenses to run 90-day radio stations, usually in tourist towns.
The potential bidder who was proposing a full-time license used this temporary 90-day station concept to build credibility and see if a format they used would be accepted by the community. If they did, they were granted a full-time FM license.
Each salesperson was given a specific “show to sell,” such as the “Top Ten at Ten,” the “American Top 40 with Rick Dees,” sponsorships, and any generic music program that could be sold off for 90 days.
The trick was that there was no set price on the program, just a guideline.
The sales rep could not go below the number, but they could go above it. The highest price got the sale, and the sales manager was the final judge.
The competition was held for an hour for each show, and each rep had to go out and cold call, sell the product, and get the client to sign an agreement with the time and price they were prepared to pay. If the price was acceptable to the sales manager, the rep got the next sale, and off they went with a 15-minute bonus.
The other reps had to sit around for 15 minutes before they could go out and sell the next program. It proved very successful and loads of fun.
How Bootcamps Helped NRS Media salespeople become confident and Effective.
One to Many is another tool for Speed Sell.
This idea built my previous company NRS Media from zero sales to $350 million annually.
It was a seminar-based model where business owners were invited to a hotel to hear the latest trends and ideas on advertising.
Usually, there were groups of 15-20 advertisers. At the end of the presentation, every attendee was offered an advertising package, usually a 12-month investment. On average, we could generate $600-$1 million in sales using this model over a week!
Taking action and speed in selling is very important.
How Bootcamps Helped NRS Media Salespeople Become Confident and Effective.
Often the one ingredient missing is training, which cannot be ignored.
I wrote all the sales and marketing manuals (playbooks) at NRS Media and perfected the execution, but without our famous Bootcamps, our people would never have had the success they achieved.
(I am going to expand on the power of Bootcamps in a future blog. )
Training is the one neglected tool that gets you the most sales.
Many companies ignore it because it takes time, but as the saying goes, “We could not afford not to do it.”
In conclusion, Speed Selling is an effective way to sell products and launch a company. It can be adapted to any business if you have a product launch that requires speed. There are a few more Speed Selling ideas that I would love to share, so find a way to sell more of your stuff.
As always.
Find a way to sell more of your stuff….
Mike (speed sell ) Brunel
Mike
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. His products and services are now sold in 23 countries and in 11 languages generating $350 million annually in sales for his clients. Mike sold the company in 2015 and now spends his time following his passions which include rugby, travel. His promise: “I can find thousands of dollars in your business within minutes – GUARANTEED” TRY ME