I.G.N.I.T.E. Sales Tip: 15 Ideas To Modernize Your Sales Department

You can change the way advertisers and decision-makers perceive your sales department. Your reward will be a higher level of buyer confidence and that can only mean one thing...more revenue! Here are Gregg Murray’s Top 15 Ideas to Modernize Your Sales Department:

1. Create a dedicated sales/marketing website that will help advertisers learn more about radio, advertising, and your station’s unique selling propositions.
2. Build an eMarketing system so you can share business building etips and sales opportunities to all your clients and prospects.
3. Distribute a monthly (print) newsletter with helpful business tips for advertisers.
   Have sellers distribute when they’re seeing clients/prospects.
4. Contract a graphic designer to help create and maintain the most professional media kits and sales materials in your market.
5. Be certain all your sales collateral materials maintain a consistent look.
6. Use your invoices and statements each month to include a flyer with upcoming sales opportunities.
7. Bring in a PowerPoint/Word sales expert to train your sales staff on how to create sales packages that are designed to sell.
8. Develop creative promos to run on air that stress the benefits of radio and your audience to local advertising decision makers.
9. Promote radio and your sales department through banner ads on websites of interest to the local business community – start with the Chamber of Commerce.
10. Collect audio testimonials whenever and however you can. Then, use them on air to help create interest from new prospects.
11. Utilize professionally printed note cards for thank you’s and special messages to prospects and clients.
12. Make sure all sales materials that go out the door have your station’s contact information.
13. Don't just fax or email media kits/coverage maps to out-of-market prospects. Instead, have them available online so you can build your relationship on the phone while they’re viewing and printing (and you’re discussing) what they need.
14. Watch out for common sales package mistakes: center spacing all the text, overusing exclamation points, or using clip art and decorative/fancy fonts (stick to Arial, Tahoma, or Verdana).
15. Try to stop using the titles “salespeople” and “sales managers” in the public domain. Consider them “advertising executives” and “advertising managers” to the business community.