Step 3: Brief Explanation of the Newspaper
They almost always say they are familiar with your newspaper, but are also almost always wrong about something about your paper. So at this point you might want to give them a brief explanation of the newspaper just to make sure he knows what kind of paper he's dealing with. Brevity is the key, though. Any more than 30 seconds and the account will begin to feel he's being sold again, and resistance will increase again.

I used to say something like "Well, you probably already know then that we're a group of 5 paid weekly newspapers reaching over 50,000 readers in these three towns. We've been around since 1893 reach some of the most affluent readers in the area". Something like that. Any more and you're in jeopardy of turning the meeting into a sales call that the account will be eager to cut short. Which leads us to the next step.

Step 4: Ask Questions
Bail out of your little speech about your newspaper by saying something like "but I'm not here to talk about how wonderful we are, I really want to find out about you". Follow this up with a general question about his business like "this is a really nice place, do you sell mostly sofas or dining room tables?" If the account says "sofas", then you can reply with "Really? So the people who buy this furniture, are they mostly upper income or midrange or downscale?"

The idea here is to get the account talking. It's hard to teach people how to ask questions so it sounds like you really care and aren't just following a sales step. I'd recommend that you first convince yourself that you're fascinated by the business and just act like you're gathering information for a final recommendation, just like a doctor would interview you before making a recommendations.

As we discussed in the section dealing with spec ads, ask as many questions as you can.

At one point, to keep volunteering information, the prospect might need to know where you're going with all of these questions, although I have to admit that an account is usually thrilled that you're interested in his business and will much rather talk about himself than him buying an ad.

Still, at one point, after you've asked a few questions and the account has started opening up to you, you might want to say, "Look, we have a great art department and I'd be willing to have them make up an ad for you based on what you're telling me about your business. It wouldn't cost you anything and if you like it, maybe you can run it, if you don't, then that's fine with me also. But I have a feeling we could make you up something pretty effective either way." If the account agrees, then you can say, "OK, let's see, I just need a little more information."

Then just keep asking questions until you've got the information you need, and agree that you'll go back to the newspaper, think about all he's told you, and if you think you and your newspapers can help, you'll come back later with your recommendation.

And that's the first sales call. No ad layouts. No calculating rates. No selling. And hopefully, because of this, no stress.

Now go back to the newspaper, create an ad strategy as we talked about earlier and, if you have an artist willing to flesh it out completely, then send it through. Also, collect any information about your newspaper, including information from your readership, market studies, and other promotional pieces, that makes a case that your newspaper reaches the types of people the account is going after in the right places.