Written by Tim Rohrer
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Sales can be a cruel teacher. But, if
you present yourself as a business person who is there to serve and ask
all the right questions you will learn what you need to do in order to
earn the business for next time.
Dear Wounded Warrior,
I am writing this long after you came to me to discuss your most recent loss. The pain on your face and the crack in your voice was too much for me. I could not be as truthful as you needed me to be.
I want you to understand that I agonize when you are in pain. The wounds you suffer on our pseudo-field of battle cause the scarring you see on my face that so many mistake for simply the wrinkles of one who has been around the block. No, you may not know it, but when I see you like this I writhe and twist in a wretched dance of empathy.
That's why I couldn't do it today. That's why I'm writing to you, instead. So, that the pain of the truth that you must endure can be handled in private as the most personal pain always is.
You did good work on the submission. The agency asked you to show them a schedule and to hit the cost parameters and you did that. They came back and asked for some additional consideration in the form of "added value" and you took your case around the station to sign up all those who needed to sign off. Your submission included information about how the listeners of our station use the products and services of the client and their closest competitors.
And, the submission wasn't even a tiny bit of the work you've been doing with this agency and their client over the past several months. We took the client ice cream and you introduced them to one of our celebrity personalities and the management of the station. You did favors for the client and agency and provided tickets to events that they just had to attend. You made sure to include the client in promotions that made sense for them even when there was no business "up".
By all the usual standard measurements of our business you did what you were supposed to do and your reward was zero. You didn't get a single dime of the advertising dollars for next quarter or the quarter thereafter. Six months of zero that will have to be endured before you even get another shot and it hurts. I know it hurts and I know it's heavy. Your burden is heavy and today was not the day to add to it.
But, eventually you must know the truth and the truth is that the reason why we did not get bought is because you did not persuade the buyer. Does that mean you didn't do your job? Let me put it this way: It means you didn't do your job successfully in this instance.
Do you want to be angry with me now that it's out there? Do you want to object? Let's review what the buyer said:
1) She's got no problem with our station
2) Price was not the issue
3) The promotion and added value that we proposed was fine
4) She felt that the other two stations with whom we were competing were the better choices.
The conclusion is unavoidable. The person most responsible for causing the buyer to think more highly of us didn't do it. That's you.
I'm not telling you this to be mean. And, I surely don't want to add to your strife. But, I think if you know this fact and can face it then you won't waste a lot of time trying to improve ancillary portions of your proposal during the next go around. I'm trying to help you get directed on a course of action that is going to make a difference.
Here is what to do: First, wait a week or two and then give the buyer a call. By then she'll know you aren't trying to re-pitch her and emotions will be less raw. Ask a series of questions that will answer this question: What does the buyer believe right now about your stations?
You must determine how much persuasion this person needs. The other critical component you must learn through this questioning is: In what way will this person best be convinced? Some people are convinced by facts. Some become convinced over the course of time after hearing you repeat your story with passion. Others might just need for the truth about your stations to remain the truth for a little while longer.
You might learn that there is another person who needs to be persuaded in addition to or instead of the one with whom you've been working. Regardless, if you present yourself as a business person who is there to serve and ask all the right questions you will learn what you need to do in order to earn the business for next time.
Sales can be a cruel teacher. I'm sorry you lost the business. Now, get back out there and make sure it doesn't happen again.
With great admiration,
Your Sales Manager
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