Here are my thoughts for maximizing collections during a recession or a disrupted market (e.g. covid). If, as a sales rep, you are subject to a commission/compensation charge-back for uncollectible accounts, take full responsibility for the process/outcome. Companies provide business office support for collections but when your compensation at stake […]
By Kevin Gephart Assuming you have diversity of personality-types within your sales department, make a formal determination of which rep fits into which of the four basic personality types: drivers, expressives, amiables, or analyticals. (If you’d like more info on these personality types, send me an email). Understand which category […]
By Kevin Gephart (I hope any sales rep readers will forgive me if I put on my management hat. I spent over a third of my career in management.) Any compensation plan that disadvantages either party will eventually disadvantage both parties. I’ve resigned from a number of rep positions because […]
By Kevin Gephart When you get the feared cancellation call, don’t overreact! Most OOH company’s contracts don’t allow for cancellation. The reality–it is very tough to hold a client to a contract, especially if you want to get paid. Be focused on winning the war not the battle. Take a […]
By Kevin Gephart A lot has been written about the making of a great OOH media sales pro…. Mark Natzke (known around the Green Bay/Milwaukee area as Mipps??!), who passed unexpectedly on Aug 25 at the age of 53 in his home in Wauwatosa, WI., embodied that and much more. […]
By Kevin Gephart Begin the renewal no later than 100 days before the end of the contract. It allows time for the process and, if need be, puts the unit(s) back in inventory no later than 60 days before the end of the contract. Always service as though the client […]
By Kevin Gephart Your renewal window starts now! How you execute your new OOH sale will competition-proof, and either secure or hinder, your renewal. Every client, in the back of their mind, wonders if the program will go off as planned. Build confidence by providing them a critical path which […]
Closing a sale isn’t a magical recipe of words/phrases; it is a strategic conclusion to a specific process. Identify the decision-maker, ask good questions, design an intelligent solution, use spec creative, include a service contract, display a concise summary page and the close should be natural. State in your proposal […]
Be sure you’re talking to the “true” decision maker. Some “decision makers” can decide an ad size but don’t have the authority to move print dollars to OOH. Help prospects buy. Advertisers only negotiate for what they want. They don’t want billboards; they want what billboards do. Assure them, based […]
These thoughts are adapted from a breakthrough book “A Technique for Producing Ideas” by James Webb Young. To paraphrase, we aren’t selling OOH space, we are selling ideas. Producing ideas is a very specific process based in some very deep, proven psychology. It is as specific as the production of […]
