SELLING TOO SOON

One of the problems which many ad sales people suffer from is that they try to close an ad space sale TOO SOON.

What do we mean by that?

We mean that buying ad space (or anything) is a JOURNEY.

The buyer goes from Noticing that they have a problem .... to getting Concerned about that problem .... to Doing Something about it.

Each prospective client travels that road at their own pace, for their own reasons.

When looking for a new prospect, we somehow 'find them' at the moment when they are beginning to become aware that they have a problem -- they notice that sales are slow -- and then tag along with them as they find that the problem is becoming more painful ... until they decide to deal with the problem -- by investing in some ad space.

Of course, we try to help them along that road as fast as we can get them to move.

But if you find someone who has just noticed that they 'may' have a problem -- and blast them with your turbo-charged sales pitch .... you lose.

They're not yet ready.

There's a PROCESS to be followed.

The process might only take a couple of days, or it might take a month. But your prospect has to go through the stages of mild concern to terrified panic attack before they WANT to advertise with you.

Your job is to panic them -- and then ride to their rescue with your ad space.

This is the first step in the DIPADA sales model which we use -- Define the problem.

Once they REALLY UNDERSTAND that they have a problem and it HURTS .... then you Identify your Solution.

And at this stage, you DON'T tell them HOW you'll solve their problem, you tell them the RESULTS which they will receive when they invest in your ad space.

In identifying your solution, you name it and then make a string of claims about the results which will miraculously happen, plus a number of testimonials from happy people who've already experienced your magic.

Once people know about the problems you solve and the solutions and benefits you provide -- they'll be interested in hearing of actual examples where you've done this.

You provide information about results in short stories, and in the form of "case studies".

This doesn't 'FEEL' like selling, it feels like sharing some information about OTHER PEOPLE who were in a jam -- just like this prospect is in a jam. And the other people got out of their jam .... look at their results!

Oh, and by the way, these other people ALSO found that they received this benefit, and this benefit and this benefit.

BUT YOU STILL DON'T TELL THEM ABOUT THE PROCESS OF ADVERTISING WITH YOU .... OR CLOSE FOR A SALE.

Yet.

You do that later -- once this prospect has shown interest in what they get ....  the results and the benefits.

Benefits are the next aspect of your Message. And all benefits are additional solutions, additional advantages to the client. Benefits are not what you do.

Benefits are what the client gets.

The MISTAKE which a lot of ad sales people make is this: once they've answered 'the problem' and identified their solution, they then proceed to tell the prospect HOW they do what they do.

Don't go there! Tell them more about what's in it for them. You've made a connection with your message; now lock in the interest with more benefits.

Offer no 'process' here. It's all benefits and advantages.

If you tell people TOO SOON what your process is -- how the ad works, the size of the readership, audience profiles, reach and frequency -- you'll often actually help people find reasons NOT to use you.

"Oh, I did that before and it didn't work."
or
"That sounds like what we're already doing."

The thing is, YOU know what you're doing is unique, special, valuable and worthy of their time. But they don't give you the time of day because they think they understand what you're about.

You fell into the feature/process trap. Don't do that.

YOU DON'T GET INTO FEATURES AND PROCESSES UNTIL THEY'VE BOUGHT THE RESULT.

Until they've bought the concept. Until they've seen your commitment to solving their problem.

Results, solutions, benefits and advantages are emotional.

Processes and features are logical. Once they have bought emotionally then they will use the processes and features as rational arguments to justify the emotional decision they have already made.

But never start with processes and features, and don't get to them too soon. Start with the problem, move to the results that other people have enjoyed when they tackled the problem, and travel over the other benefits that accrue.

Only when the prospect has said: "Yes! I want that result too." do you move further down the road and show them HOW to get those results. And ask them to commit to that process -- advertising with you.