SPRING 1995
Objections: Eliminate them before they arise
If you have done all your advance work with the account, by the time the final presentation is made, many, if not all of the objections, can be eliminated. The final presentation then becomes more of a recommendation and less like a sell.
The trick is in setting the account up properly in the first sales call. Remember to do these things:
Give the account an epiphany
On the first sales call, it's absolutely critical that your account is not only exposed to the response techniques, but understands and appreciates why the techniques are so powerful. Use the Socratic method of teaching, asking
questions that leads the account to the final advertising response model. The more the account understands the reasoning behind effective ad design, the more heÕll buy into the final ad. It will be his idea, not yours.
Use the before and after ads
Spend a large percentage of your first sales call showing before and after ads and sharing success stories. People will easily generalize the success of one particular case and make that leap to their own success (see the back page for more details on getting a collection of before and after ads from throughout the country). Go through a newspaper and illustrate how people actually read it. Do anything you have to so that the Òlight bulbÓ in their head switches on and they see how well they could do if they used the right techniques. TheyÕll also realize that youÕre one of the few salespeople who can not only provide them with a good-looking ad, but an effective ad as well.
Average sale
Remember to find out the amount of the average sale. Not the average price of the products, but the amount of money an average customer spends in the store. This will help you later when justifying cost of the ad.
How popular are the products/services?
By securing this answer on the first sales call, youÕll have more ammunition if the size objection rears its ugly head at the final presentation. Remember, if there aren't many people out there about to buy the product or service at any given time (a thin market), then the account needs to make sure that everybody sees the ad. A larger ad will ensure this.
WhoÕs the accountÕs competition?
If the account doesnÕt have a thin market, then most likely there are plenty of competitors out there, and the primary ones are probably the bigger advertisers. On the first sales call, get the account to tell you who his competitors are. On the second sales call, you can suggest that if these competitors ads are working, perhaps they should be advertising similarly.
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