Andy Rebuck recently retired after a 40 year career in out of home. Last week he talked about getting into out of home and how Lamar is different from other out of home companies. Today he gives tips for selling out of home.
You’ve been a sales manager. What lessons have you tried to teach your team?
Own our mistakes. At a recent sales meeting a rep said “when I would I come into your office and tell you about a mistake, you would say, “Thankfully, we are not doctors. When we come up short the client’s going to be OK. We’ll apologize and we’ll make it right.”
At the same time, it is important to remind the team that If it isn’t in writing, it just isn’t so. I would tell the team to take a minute and write on the contract exactly what we’re going to do. Put it in kindergarten terms. Be clear on what we’re promising.
Tell us about a great marketing campaign
This winter we ran a teaser on digital inventory that simply said “Don’t be cold.” While this was running,the sales team went to key clients and explained how we’re building a buzz and interest with this teaser and their message could follow. They would show them a template with the “Don’t be cold” message and then show them the answer like “Don’t be cold, call ABC heating and oil company” or “Don’t be cold call AAA travel and go to the Bahamas.” We had a client jump on this idea and made a great sale during the cold winter months. Sales is about having fun and helping our clients ring their cash register.
Great inventory makes selling easier
Selling billboard space is relatively easy— you know we reach more people more often for less money than any other media available. Of course, we are fortunate to have really awesome inventory. Road-hugging billboards and super distribution are a great formula to make local sales.
Variety in a sales team is a good thing.
In Harrisburg our senior guy is soon celebrating his 35th anniverary, the “rookie” has 13 years and in between we have two guys in the high 20s. There is no secret formula to make a great salesrep—each of them actually have different personalities and approaches to day to day selling. One rep is very buttoned up and structural and tech savvy and another rep is basically the opposite. It is perfectly okay to run with the gift of gab and easy-going jokes that help clients and prospects form instant and long-lasting relationships. We also see great success with the hunters on our team, you know the reps that loves to dig and dig for leads and go to all the meetings and read all the local news – always looking for leads.
Shopping can become recruiting
Fortunately, you can tell that we have not needed to recruit a new salesrep lately, but when we do, I go shopping. It is a great time to shop for a copier for example and say to the salesperson “You’re doing a great job in sales. Are you happy with what you’re doing? Would you conside jumping on board the Billboard train?” A lot of times they say, “I’m really happy. I make a lot of money. I’m not interested.” But other times they might say ” Sure tell me more or maybe, I’m not interested but my co-worker might be a good candidate.” We can teach folks about billboards but it really helps if they have sales experience and enjoy the sales game
What makes a good sales meeting?
Our sales meetings are relatively fast-paced, relatively lighthearted. We go through the numbers and talk about leads and talk about opportunities and production schedules, you know, what’s going up, what’s not going up, who’s going to be mad and who’s going to be happy. We check those boxes but we are big on running a fun sales meeting. My mom said, sometimes work has to feel like work and I responded, not if I am in charge. Our team would make you laugh with all the fun sales incentives over the years–ask them about earning the opportunity to throw darts at balloons.
The other thing I would say about a sales meeting is we always have food. There’s nothing better than breaking bread with one another. So we take turns bringing in a snack. When it’s your turn the only rule is don’t forget. It doesn’t matter if you bring pop tarts or bagels or a healthy fruit cup, just don’t come empty handed. We have a culture of respect and family. We know one another and heck we know each other’s kids. At a sales meeting we take the time to fuel the tank so we can sell and do our best every day.
You can reach Andy at rebuckandy@gmail.com.
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