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Salespeople can overcome cross-selling objections

Below is a question I received from one of my "sales tele-coaching students" regarding cross-selling. As most of you know, Mullins Media Group delivers training and coaching to many different types of businesses from one to hundred plus employee operations. The example below is from one of my clients, a major daily newspaper. Remember, as with all my Business Nugget columns, you can easily translate this example into your own business environment and learn some basic steps in regards to cross-selling products.

This particular newspaper has more than one publishing product and therefore needs to learn how to cross-sell their customers (advertisers) into more than one newspaper product. Why? Because advertisers don't get results to the advertising they pay for if they don't advertise in the right products. It's every businesses responsibility to inform all customers and prospects of every opportunity your business has to help them grow their business. If you don't, you're really doing a disservice to your customers and potential customers.

Dear Chris,

"We publish a niche supplement, a quarterly employment tab along with our major daily newspaper. We promote it along with a job fair we give down town.

We also publish the "Weekender" every Thursday, our weekly pull out tab. This product has display retail ads like movies, restaurants and a classified display recruitment section.

I'm always trying to sell my inbound customers into both special products "in addition" to our regular newspaper. I usually here objections like "it's too expensive to advertise in more than one." One of the things I say is... it's a bigger ad for less." Thanks, Celeste W. Call Center Sales Representative

Dear Celeste,

First and foremost, "If you believe, they'll believe". Before you can sell your customers, you must be able to sell yourself! You must believe in your products 100%, in order to be viewed as the expert. Once you truly believe in each product, your customers will hear that in your voice, you'll choose your words differently and your potential customers will see what you seen. Ask yourself, what makes this product invaluable to the customers?

Here's a "short list" of important steps that must be taken in order to sell advertising to any customer.

1. What's the circulation? How many newspapers are printed?
2. What's the readership? How many potential readers are their to each newspaper?
3. What special feature/editorial theme is being highlighted in each issue?
4. Where are the publications distributed? This also dictates the type of readers that will see the newspaper.
5. What niche events are these products being distributed to? As you mentioned earlier, the job fair your newspaper supports quarterly.
6. KNOW each product. You should be able to speak intelligent like an expert in advertising about EACH product and like a customer.
7. Know what makes each product invaluable to the reader. What are the benefits and features of each one? Then, paint a picture as to why each benefit and feature will work for the customer in terms they can understand.
8. Know who the readers are for each product. Readers are the key to advertisers getting results. Readers are what you're selling to the advertisers.
9. You must be able to tell the customer, WHY exactly, they should advertise in these products.
10. Think like the customer. Being the customer is the only way you can understand their position. Put yourself in their shoes. If they have an opening for an administrative assistant, find out how important that opening is to them. Talk to them and then listen. Ask them if this is a new position or replacement, and then discuss it with them, while you're creating the masterpiece, the advertisement. Listen to the emotional comments, like "It's really important I get this position filled fast". Ask why? "Well, I'm taking over the job in addition to my own job." BINGO! First, asking these questions shows the advertiser that you're an expert, you're interested in them and not just the advertisement, you've suddenly become very knowledgeable about this particular customer fast, now you know why they should advertise in all three of your products. They need exposure and results fast. Theirs an added bonus to all these probing questions, upselling ad copy!

Yup! These are the type of questions you must ask in order to produce the best advertising campaign possible for this advertiser!

Once you understand the customer's wants and needs, then and only then will you be able to give them what they want, RESULTS!

Mullins Media Group™, LLC provides Management Consulting, Training via on-line or on-site Sales/Leadership Boot Camps and Performance Tele-Coaching to Executives, Entrepreneurs and Salespeople. E-mail chris@mullinsmediagroup.com for a free email subscription to: "Chris Mullins Nuggets™" http://www.MullinsMediaGroup.com

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