By Kevin Gephart

Last week I discussed the top out of home sales objection – it costs too much.  Today I’ll discuss 5 more out of home sales objections and how to handle them.

I need more time to tell my story

“Your 7 to 10 words on billboards doesn’t allow me to do that”. The best advertising minds know if the consumer retains 7 to 10 words of a 30 second radio/ TV ad, the advertiser has gotten your money’s worth.  Advertisers cannot afford to “tell their story “in advertising. They must hook consumers who will then go to a website/call center/retail location where their sales channels/representatives will tell the story. Short frequency is the secret weapon in advertising and it is what out of home delivers like no other medium.

 I need a board near all of my locations

While that’s a very strategic way to use out of home we can work harder for you”. “We can expand your sales message to many other parts of your trade area.” Consumer’s area of dominant influence is a 15-mile radius covering where they work and live. You can deliver the ad message in either of those areas.

I’ve tried billboards before, and they didn’t work.

Another very ambiguous statement designed to brush you off. Find out what did not work and why.  Most of the time it is because in their radio, direct mail, and newspaper they do price/item/specific offer/direct response ads, then in their OOH they will only do branding.  While branding is the time-honored use for OOH, it won’t necessarily drive sales over a finite period. I had an intelligent advertiser exclaim the results of their direct mail, yet they refused to put a direct offer on their billboard. Our mission is to change where they advertise not how they advertise.

You don’t cover my entire trade area

Given the power of OOH an advertiser shouldn’t deny themselves our audience. Our power warrants their purchase even if we can’t cover some areas.

I assembled a network of OOH companies/reps that served the adjoining region to ours. We shared prospects, but also delivered regional plans for advertisers who needed a bigger footprint.

I would quarterback a turnkey regional program.  It’s more work but it leads to a sale that you wouldn’t have otherwise had.

Not all ZIP Codes/counties/towns are created equal.  Some areas are more important than others in producing sales for the advertiser. We worked with a regional advertiser that was concerned because our billboard plant only covered a small fraction of their ZIP Codes. We proved while it was just a small fraction, they were the most important ZIP Codes.  It led to a big sale and an ongoing relationship that might have been missed if we fell into the trap of assuming that our lack of ZIP codes couldn’t still produce superior results.

I don’t want to commit for that long

When prospects say, “I don’t want to buy for that many weeks”, have some fun with them; ask how many weeks do they want to increase sales?

By committing to a longer term, the advertiser is in control. Some huge advantages: they earn better rates for a bigger spend, they have rate protection, they secure their locations, and (in the case of permanent locations) they have the right to renew. Offer the advertiser a 60-day cancel clause on an annual contract, it is proven, advertisers will sign for longer and stay longer than selling monthly/quarterly etc. 

Please email me your toughest objections and let us tackle them in future columns: KevinJGephart@gmail.com

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