Billboard Insider is running a series in which Arthur Outdoor’s James Douglas talks about starting, running, and selling an out-of-home company.  In his last column, James talked  about building signs.  Today he talks about selling out of home.

To succeed in sales you need to be able to handle rejection.

I have a background in acting.  Acting is all about rejection.  You go into an audition and you get rejected over and over again in hopes of getting that role but you keep facing the rejection because you believe in the story that you want to tell…And sales is really the same way.  It’s a belief in the business that you’ve created and the story that you are telling to your clients.

What I learned about sales

Sales is 3 things: a problem; a solution; and ears.  The problem in the billboard industry is your clients need to get their word out.  People need to know about their business.  The solution is the billboard that you’ve built.  Being able to tell their story on your sign.  And the last piece, the crucial piece is ears.  You need the right people to hear your story.  If you go out to tell a story and someone doesn’t want to listen to it then you can try but if they aren’t going to listen to you then its time to move on.  Not every client is going to be right for a billboard.

Our ideal out of home client

Rome. GA is interesting.  Lamar dominates the market.  There are a collection of national buys plus you do have a lot of public service announcements, however there is a large opportunity for small business.  As a small business we wanted to focus on small business.  Like serving like.  The bread and butter for us was service companies.  Landscaping companies, car mechanics, pharmacies, plumbers, electricians.  For most of our clients a phone number worked great because small businesses may not have computers and CRM’s and email marketing.  A cell phone is how they conduct their business.  A phone number on a sign is the easiest way to get in touch with them.

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