On the *Serious* Side of Sales…

There are 3 main sides of the Sales process to be taken seriously; the more seriously the better. Executing upon all of these on an ongoing basis, consciously or not, puts you in rarefied company. And it’s likely if you are doing so, you are also quite successful, regardless of what it is exactly you sell.

Get these 3 right continuously, and you are one of the very few:

• Getting the Customer Solution right. This is not getting the latest hotshot product your company wants to sell, right. Or what will get you the biggest bonus, right. It is learning the players [& the politics], hearing the issues/problems, and doing the due diligence on what is needed, to get what your customer needs, right.
• Getting the Customer to understand why your solution is right. This still may not get you the deal [as you also now have to get the pricing right], but if you believe it is right, and best for them…and they understand this…their interest in wanting to work with you [including helping you get the pricing right!], increases dramatically.
• Getting your company to understand why your client solution is right. How often have you created & crafted an amazing solution for your clients to consider…only to get glazed looks within your own firm? Yes, it happens I’m afraid.

Last, there is a 4th side in this equation, one I particularly favor. It has brought me my most success over the years…and ironically, the most trouble [which in the end of course, means...I never, ever want to stop my focused obsessiveness on it. I will blaze the lesser trails regardless.] It simply is this:

• Getting the perspective to find those random, disparate elements to be assembled in a new, applied framework part [that will get ultimately me the deal in the end], right. That’s a lot of words, but basically it refers to what I’ve written about so often here; looking at all sides of any situation, piecing together the seemingly unrelated pieces that become the glue…then assembling it in a totally new way, even if never tried before. Obviously on this one, when it applies is something to consider. So if/when a deal is straighforward, take it & don’t mess it up. But when it is not…?

Many of you might think there are other ‘sides’ to consider or account for here. If so, add them to the Comments below!

Awesome or Awful? You Make the Call…

The infographic here, on a site entitled Awesome or Awful?, comes from several ad agency Creatives talking about the quality of creative executions let loose on the world. It is brilliant…and very honest. It also requires YOU to be honest with yourself, if used to analyze your work.

A self-critique tool for young Ad creatives…

What I like about this chart, is that it validates some of the key themes & points we recently also offered at MoM[S], in our post, ‘10 Tips on the Selling Side of Filmmaking.’ Some of the common elements that both advocate: strive to evaluate how your audience, intended or otherwise, sees the work you’ve done, and what light they see it in. [Note: if you swap out 'campaign' for either 'film, or 'Digital series' as used in our '10 Points' piece, these two complement each other pretty closely.]

To do this evaluation with your recipient audience, you need to step outside yourself, and be strong enough to allow whatever feedback, good or bad, may come your way.

The other point they also advocate, is to basically have ‘filters’ for yourself. ‘Self-critiquing’ they call it, which also works. Some might call these people mentors, except that you also need people outside the biz, and your bubble, to give a “cold” analysis or opinion, of your work.

All of these items, when combined, can’t help but make your project a better one!

10 Tips on the ‘Selling’ Side of Filmmaking [WebContent, too!]

While many filmmakers & content creators might not want to think about it in this way, there is a lot of “selling” involved in the ongoing process of filmmaking, whether for Features, Shorts, Webseries/Content, or TV Pilots. There are many senses [& settings] of the word “sell” that can be used if they will allow for it: to an audience [on why they should watch or buy tix to see your show], to investors, studios or networks, to serious talent they may wish to cast, and to sponsors or advertisers if in the Digital space.

Even gaining interest within the film festival selections process can loosely be considered as an indirect form of this pursuit if you distill it down; making your work more welcoming, or more easily accessible to judging, can certainly be a form of what I’m talking about here if it is understood what your goal was in the project to begin with [as very often it is not, I assure you.]

Having now screened hundreds…or even thousands…of scripted content projects of all types in the last few years with my association to ITVfest and the Webseries world at large, I have seen nearly every type of good…and bad…project to be made. But that’s not really very interesting; so have a lot of people in Hollywood.

What IS interesting, is that even while knowing some of the people involved in making a number of these projects; knowing their abilities, skill sets & other works completed; after all that…I STILL see some of the key points among these tips missed, or not executed very well at all. While this should maybe surprise me, I think it really speaks more to the very difficulty of, and the great effort needed in applying towards…creating great content. These 10 Tips running the gamut, are written with that in mind:

Last, while many of these items are not new, we hope this list encourages you to truly look again at the many sides [some less obvious], to creating great Content…and then interest in that Content!

Note: This post is dedicated to the many entrants that submitted exceptional qualities of work to ITVfest 2012, and to those attending the MoM[S] sessions entitled ‘Creating Content, Creating Interest’, at SAG Summer Conservatory – 2012.

Whither the Sales Role – Deconstruction or Decimation?

Recently, I was in a large city that I frequent often for business, and got to witness – yet again – the shocking power of the Web. This time in a very new, very tangible way.

A way that functioned awesomely efficiently. One that was also almost black-market in its effectiveness. And one that had absolutely NO Sales persons involved in the transaction, in any way. Yet I ended by having what I needed…in under 40 minutes…on a Sunday night. Totally incredible.

How this happened, was that I left in a rush for my trip, and forgot the power cords for my laptop [yes, not a tablet, I know...a laptop!] while having several large client projects due. Ones that had to be completed while I was there. How was THAT going to happen now?

In a panic, I thought about Craigslist, the bane of many, but also savior for many. I merely typed in the model of my laptop [a 3+ yr-old machine, I should point out, not brand new at all], and up popped someone, just a neighborhood away, offering the very power cords I needed!

Even better, he returned my voice-mail within 5 minutes AND offered to bring them downtown for me, at no extra charge! On a Sunday night!

40 minutes later, I had brand new cords, and was done. Ready to finish my client work, with no worries.
- – -
Why am I pointing this out? Easy: WHERE was the role of the Sales person in this transaction?

Were there…ads sold to Craigslist, to build awareness…or build ‘Brand’? Was there a Best Buy-type storefront, with smiling faces to help me “if I need anything?” There was nothing of the sort.

So, with that, much has been written lately [especially in Digital Media Sales], about ‘Whither the Sales Role for Sales Professionals’. These stories burgeon even as systems like DSP’s and ATD’s rear their heads into the space.

Will the same apply in Media Sales [of any kind], as with my power cord story?

It’s too easy to say here that “Salespeople will not be used, where they are not needed.” Like with the demise of the Buggy Whip, we can all figure that out.

No, with the lightning-fast creation/destruction/deconstruction tendencies of the Web, we will see it is more angular, even surgical, than that.

Much more we will see key areas that work, requiring Sales talent. And we will see key, defined areas that do not.

Stay tuned for more exploration of this topic by MoM[S] coming soon.

Ad Agency Biz Dev: Going the Sales Route…? Part II

Continuing from Part I, on the differences between Biz Dev and Sales as it now applies in the ad agency world, let us look at some ways to address the new pressures on agencies in acquiring clients. This in part will mean the adaptation more, of Sales skills by those in the BizDev world.

To succeed going forward, there is no doubt that sales skills are going to be required to win new Agency business. Account reviews now occur at the drop of a hat (or the drop of a stock price, loss of a CMO, or almost anything else imaginable.)

More, disruptions in market channels, divisions of companies bought & sold, new Media specialties springing up in the digital age; all of these contribute now to the rapid pace of agency/client turnover. That is the reality in 2012.

What will be required to succeed, if you are on the BizDev side going forward?

Since we established in Part I that Many Relationships/Fewer Transactions is a hallmark of most Sales efforts, right away most BizDev pros (for whom Fewer Relationships/ Many Ongoing Transactions is the norm) will need to take a page, and observe some of the skills championed & taught by greats such as Tom Hopkins, Dale Carnegie, and Tony Robbins. Or, maybe from some of the newer names on the scene; S. Anthony Iannarino, Dave Brock, or Jeffrey Gitomer with his great works.

That includes prospecting. Often. It includes asking for the business. And it includes relentlessly probing any & all clients/prospects for needs, changes in their business, and future products/services.

Much less, it will include the warm, consistent “relationship” you might have, with just a few current clients (and that’s it.)

Then we come to what is likely the most foreign object on the horizon for most BizDev pros: the Procurement Department.

From what we read in the Trades now, it is the bane of existence for agencies far & wide. Yet, for Sales pros, the Procurement Dep’t is just one more step in the process. You either deal with it…them…or you are destined to fail.

So, start by understanding what they do, why do it, and what they are there for. Then see our tips below towards more success.

What then are some overall best practices for BizDev pros, in dealing with this unfamiliar entity?

Understand the two most important things about them: [1] They are there to procure the best possible products/services for their company at the best possible pricing. And that [2]…they are there to do this, by dealing with Sales professionals!.

This means you are not going to ‘get around them.’ So why bother?

With that overview, here are some more specifics for the Agency world:

Given the fact that most agencies deal in “intangibles”, the best strategy is to define what the Client wants/needs to start. Really delve.

Then separately, you need to understand (as much as possible, anyway) the dynamics at play with Procurement: how much influence will they really have, will they bring others in to approve that you won’t get access to, or are they just going to rubber-stamp whatever recommendation they get?

By definition on this last one, if you get even 20% of what you need, consider yourself lucky. It is not info that they really want you to have. (But if you are good…you will get the info anyway, of course. Because that is what you do when you are that good!)

No Procurement Dep’t is likely to buy a ‘great idea’ without some defined context of how it might be executed and/or value might be gained. Frame your approach with this in mind.

So then, you will need to build ways, with your ideas, to make the case that your agency…and only your agency…can provide the successful solution needed to this client.

In the end, the ultimate, most optimal strategy really is to build a ‘moat’ around your entire offering if possible, so that it becomes very difficult for Procurement to find what you offer, for less.

Are we missing any key points? What other ideas will work in landing new Agency business? Let us know.

Sales & The Random Element…

So, what is random? Random is that part of the Sales process that you cannot, and will not, ever be able to control. No one human is perfect, and no one person will ever have full knowledge of any situation in its entirety. You can plan, hope, calculate, conceive…contrive. But never fully control.

Why do I bring this up? Recently I came across a person again whom I had met informally about a year ago at an event, when I had learned they had been chosen for a job I did not get several years prior to our meeting each other. At the time, the hiring manager felt [oddly enough as we'll soon see], that *I* did not have the *right* skills for her job, and so she ended up with this person.

What makes this odd, is that not only did I KNOW that I had the right skills…so did the person they hired, once we met. This person (knowing of my writing for this blog, MoM[S]), started asking me some very specific questions related to Sales, and the Sales cycle; ones that I was quite surprised they did NOT know (and that they came to ME to ask them, too!)

Worse, they also did not know some key practices at one of the very large Agency groups in LA…where this person had a lot of business already! Really? Seriously? Now, I wonder what that hiring manager would say, if they were to have witnessed this.

And yet, while I indeed did have the skill set…that person had the job. And for inexplicable reasons, this hiring manager was obviously OK with a person that had minimum knowledge to use in their job, selling for her.

What do you say to that? Nothing, really. Except that this, too, is part of the Sales cycle. And part of life. Let us know of any experiences you’ve had along these lines!

MindOnMedia[Sales]: Are You Left Brain, or Right?

For more than 2 years, MindOnMedia[Sales] has written about the Media Sales process in general, while taking on a ‘Right-Brain vs. Left’ viewpoint as a framework. Ideally you may have also taken prior note of our tagline, The Right-Brain ‘Art’ of Sales vs. the Left-Brain ‘Analytic’.

But moving the descriptors ‘Art’ and ‘Analytic’ aside for a moment, what are the real attributes of being Right Brain…or Left? And why does it matter? Social Media strategy consulting expert Muhammad Saleem may provide these answers, with this cool new infographic below.

He recently completed this work for OnlineCollege.org.

As we’ve expounded on here so many times, our best work has always come from a combined, sometimes not-quite-methodical, combining of the two. While it may seem like that makes for occasional see-saw reading here, taking a close look at Mr Saleem’s work below, may shed light on why that is.

Are You Left Brain, or Right?