Agency calls are not simple things. They’re seldom one kind of conversation, or the same kind of dialogue, one example to the next.
Sometimes the agency call is about the empirical details, sales team to agency. That is, what’s the cost-per-thousand or what’s the cost-per-point? Sometimes, they’re about the identity of a client, their brand and the message that client wants to send. Whatever the recipe, in every case a constant thread connects successful agency calls — preparation.
“Doing client homework is what separates the novice from the veteran salesperson,” said Helen Berman, sales consultant and author, in Publishing Executive. “It’s what enables salespeople to enter a conversation with the client from a learned and sophisticated point of view. It’s what engages the client in critical, probing dialogue, and it’s what keeps salespeople from stumbling when they’re pursuing someone unfamiliar or new.”
With that in mind, here are five key strategies for generating just that kind of dialogue during your next agency call.
- Learn the prospect’s business, understand their past. Study the agency’s advertising history and have examples from their past efforts at hand. “Ask for client KPIs up front and bring metrics on how your product can exceed their goals,” said Lauren Farber, director of Sales Strategy and Operations at AOL, who has been certified under the IAB Digital Media Sales program since 2012. “Seek out competitive information in advance. Where are their clients running? What media do they buy: display, video, mobile? How much are they spending?” Sales people seldom (perhaps never) want to tell the client that they’ve done something wrong, but the conversation needs to have an underlying framework built upon their own analysis of how and where the client has succeeded — and where they have not.
- Set a sales pre-call meeting. “If there are multiple people on your team involved in the upcoming call, make sure you’ve agreed upon a unified voice before speaking to the agency,” said Shmuli Rosenberg, chief executive officer at fwdNYC, a boutique digital agency. “There is nothing worse or more confusing than conflicting instructions, ideas and expectations.”
- Weave your qualifications into the script. It’s not enough to support your call strategy on research and solid team coordination. It is also critical to plan for a series of organic moments that allow you to introduce your sales qualifications. Are you certified by an industry-standard setting organization, like IAB, for example? Farber has seen IAB Digital Media Sales Certification work at AOL, and it’s precisely the kind of process that fosters the learned and sophisticated point of view that experts such as Berman emphasize. Convey them during the call. If you’re not certified, consider the undertaking for two reasons: it reinforces and updates your knowledge base and it adds validity to your pitch, in the prospect’s eyes.
- Assess what you don’t know; have questions about these points. Itemize the gray areas in your research. Questions to the client about those areas are ones that show you’re interested in digging deeper for ways to make a new relationship succeed. With that in mind, according to Leonardo Maia, writing for Function Point, “you can be assured you have a real opportunity instead of continuing with a sales process that won’t bring in new business.”
- Double-check call structure and timing. “Don’t have too few or too many people on the call,” Rosenberg said. “Too few, and decisions may be held up. Too many, and nothing gets done. Learn the right balance for your company and stick with it.” Also, he said, “timing is everything. Make sure you are ready to start on time so that you have the entire time allotted to the call to be productive.”
Here’s a sobering stat that suggests an important takeaway when it comes to preparation: recent research shows that some 82% of sellers are out of sync with the buyer. In many cases, “out of synch” simply means that the seller is focusing too heavily on offering solutions — presumably ones their product provides — before they’ve fully defined the size and shape of the potential client’s challenges.
“Often times the key to unlocking what the prospect seeks from their agency partner is discovered by simply knowing what and how best to ask them,” said Sean Smith, president of the Third Street agency, in an e-mail interview. “So many rush in with preconceived answers, and, worse yet, questions that aren’t even aligned with the client’s needs and wants.”
At AOL, Farber echoed that sentiment.
“Know your products,” she said. “Be ready to discuss which of your products fit their goals and media habits. The best information often wins the negotiation.”
Learn more at iab.com/topics/certification/
