Weekly Ad Sales Training

I was asked last week about weekly ad sales training. One of my clients has a veteran sales team and felt that training was no longer needed. Like everything else, sales requires practice. As professional sales people we get so busy with everything else that we forget about the basics. Chet Homes, in his bestselling book the Ultimate Sales Machines, considers weekly sales training fundamental to your success as a business. So, what can you do each week that will keep the sales team strong and not offend the sensitive nature of the veteran sales rep?

Statistics Or Bust

Let's talk a little bit about statistics. From an ad sales training perspective, I am always asked for great stat that my students can share with their clients.  I normally ask…why?

The thing about statistics is that ad sales reps love stats and very often when they hear or receive statistics they quite honestly go crazy and start emailing customers left and right. The problem with this is that very often advertisers don't want statistics, don't need statistics, and quite honestly statistics will just boggle their mind.  I think it's important for all ad sales reps to ask this question, “Will this statistic help me better explain why advertising is beneficial to their business.”  If you find that you are sharing a statistic because it helps you feel better about the case that you're making to an advertiser STOP!  Some of you might think that this is the same thing.  It is not.  If an advertiser has a question, a stat might help better explain.  But, if you are using a stat to better justify your position, you may just be adding confusion to the conversation.