Evolve Your Sales Strategy to Meet Digital Needs
by Jennifer Shone
Old habits are hard to break, but athletes adjust, and that’s what we are in the media industry. The athletes, the work horses, never afraid to work hard and always up for a challenge…it’s what we thrive on. So why would we shy away from adjusting and adapting our sales strategy to the needs of our clients?
Understand All Your Options
Long gone are the days when business owners only had four major choices to make (Print, TV, Radio, Billboard). With all of the options now available to our advertisers and the “view” of traditional media as dated, understanding and selling the difference of digital marketing vs advertising is key!
Before we are able to embrace this new way of life, we must first understand it. We need to view the expansion of our digital offerings to our current and future clients as a completely separate sale from traditional media. This is the moment that I have seen hesitation and nerves take over a Publisher/Ad Director’s decision to move forward.
Train to Keep up with Ever-Changing Digital World
The biggest concern I hear is the lack of readiness of some sales teams to hit the streets with these online marketing solutions. This is a valid concern, and there is a simple solution…training. Not one-time training, but on going. These products are not necessarily new to our clients, but selling them and building business with them are new to our sales teams. The online marketing world is ever changing, and as a result so is the training that we offer to them. The more training a sales rep receives, in a group, one on one, through needs analysis gathering, and request for proposals, the more they begin to grasp the products they are offering and the more they begin to see the impact these long term solutions can have on the success of a local business. In turn, the deep relationship the rep has with that customer gets even stronger.
I’ve been there, I know….It’s the world I come from, and not that long ago. Managing a small print sales team in Worcester, Mass. and expanding our digital offerings through a Start Up Digital Agency…offering new products, new strategy, new customer base, investing and growing our sales team and our company…it’s all VERY EXCITING, and very doable. YOU’VE GOT THIS! We can help.
To learn more about Dream Local Digital’s Media Partner & Digital Agency programs, contact us today.
