Anyone have sales experience?

[Buster]

I just started a new job in advertising sales. I suck at it reeeeeeally bad so far. Does anyone have a good tips they could give me? I dont want to make Ray look bad by doing a bad job here. The reason I ask is because I have no idea what Im doing.

Its hard too because i'm not just working in one paper, its actually 15 of them with 175 special sections. Plus its got other little special productions that I dont have enough time to learn about. Im trying to keep up but Im slowly seeing I may have bit off more than I can chew.

Oh yeah, and Ive got for one section a $10,000 quota to meet and the month is nearly over and ive only gotten $1,268 of it done because the old rep abandoned it.

And another thing i've forgotten, they have added internet advertising to it and the managers dont really understand it all that well but want us to sell that also.

[bastid]

I've been in sales for 4 years, but I have no idea when it comes to advertisement selling. I would try to look for online resources first, then head to Borders/B&N to see if they have any books.

[Snoozie]

What happened to the book that Ray told you to pick up? We were at Borders the other day and what do I see him reading? A Transformers book!

[Buster]

Originally Posted by BluMeanie

What happened to the book that Ray told you to pick up? We were at Borders the other day and what do I see him reading? A Transformers book!

Thanks Sue, Ray never told me and I forgot about it. My boss was supposed to give me a CD too and that didnt happen.

[Buster]

Where is scapegoat, he used to work here. I need his input lol.

[Broken5hift]

wait what? im confused by the question. are you asking where to look for business or how to go about making a sale?

[wrx_snobordr]

I think is sort of what our sales people do where I work. You need to find out who the person is targeting, what market, and then tell them how a certain section of your paper is geared to target that market. You need to show them that it is a smart business decision to choose your paper over the competition with some facts and figures. I have learned that if you show clients the potential for a large return on investment they will give you a chance. If you pull through for them, they are yours for a long time.

[Buster]

I think my biggest problem is that I dont totally understand what to sell them ( where to put there ad, or section) there is sooo many different things to do and its so hard for me to figure out what one is best for them.

When I took the job it just sounded like I sell the ad to someone, they say yes or no and then file the appropriate papers but theres like 10 million things to do between that point

[Broken5hift]

offer them nude pics of women if they take the ad space

[bastid]

Originally Posted by Buster

I think my biggest problem is that I dont totally understand what to sell them ( where to put there ad, or section) there is sooo many different things to do and its so hard for me to figure out what one is best for them.

When I took the job it just sounded like I sell the ad to someone, they say yes or no and then file the appropriate papers but theres like 10 million things to do between that point

How does it work as far as leads? Do you have a mix of both incoming leads and cold calling to do? If you still don't have much direction in a few days, I would suggest calling people who you KNOW won't buy ad space just to "get your nose bloody" on the phones. You know that they won't buy, but you can get comfortable with making your pitch without worrying about losing a potential client.

[SexyDSM95]

I worked retail sales for over 6 years. The biggest hint of advice I can give is to try and relate to a customer. If you can form a bond or have anything in common (which you would...upgrading cars so you are golden) then that customer will remember the experience and you.

[Snoozie]

http://www.salesvantage.com/article/...n_you_re_down/

http://www.salesvantage.com/article/...t_What_it_Is_/

[RayArroyo]

beeatch i did tell you to pick up a book one night at my house its old but good zig ziggler.

ill take you out on the road tommorow so you can see how it is done. its not something you learn from 1 day to the other, you will slowly learn from your mistakes on what works and what dosent

[Snoozie]

But thats not the point. He needs help and it seems that no one wants to help him.

[wrx_snobordr]

Originally Posted by BluMeanie

But thats not the point. He needs help and it seems that no one wants to help him.

Its not really something you can help him with. It comes with experience, knowing your products inside and out, knowing what the customers want, being able to read them and knowing what their normal objections will be and answers to alleviate those concerns.

He obviously has determination, the rest is just time and experience, learning your style and what works for you, it is different for everyone and for every industry.

The best advice is what was already said. build a relationship with your customers, relate to them, find out what they want, don't just call and go directly into "hey, ya wanna buy some **** from me?".

Also, try and talk to others who have done what you are now doing. Your boss, fellow employees and even people who just know the industry. Find out strengths and weaknesses of your company. Find out who the big players are and how you stack up against them, things you do that they don't, places you reach that they don't.

[Buster]

Originally Posted by bastid

How does it work as far as leads? Do you have a mix of both incoming leads and cold calling to do? If you still don't have much direction in a few days, I would suggest calling people who you KNOW won't buy ad space just to "get your nose bloody" on the phones. You know that they won't buy, but you can get comfortable with making your pitch without worrying about losing a potential client.

Every once and a while we get newspaper ads from other papers, or someone gets a call from someone looking to place an ad but in the wrong territory so they direct it back to me. I have a list of people who are my accounts to call but thats been leadong back to people saying they arent interested because the ads didnt do much for them last time. I call at least 15 people a day and ive made probably 2 sales. And they were sold before I even talked to them.

[Buster]

i have over 600 clients, its going to be hard to relate to them since ive never met them prior. My bosses hand me over to co workers who hand me back to bosses. no one wants to help except a few people.

[IntegrasAreBest]

get into a real estate office, i know of a number of real estate agents that worked in ad sales at the side and they hated it. build your skills in a real estate office as an office administrator and make commission off of selling home warranties to your agents clients.

[Broken5hift]

tell them you have a disease and if you dont meet your quota your going to die.

other than that i honestly dont know what to tell you. one thing that always stood out to me was someone my teacher told me about putting a spin on things. back in the early 80's when coke and pepsi were really fighting for supremacy pepsi released a commercial saying that in a national taste test pepsi cola came in second place while there competitors (coke) came in second to last. the same pitch obviously makes it sound like pepsi beat out coke, but what they neglected to mention was that the survey was only between coke and pepsi, and coke came in first, or creatively spun, second to last.

if people are telling you that the ad isnt doing much for them try and throw some numbers at them like how good some of the ads are working for other people or how many return ads you get from others because their business is getting a lot back from the ads. just lie your ass on man, your a ****ing salesman.

[grimm]

no offense but from what i've read this doesn't seem to be a good fit for you.
Oh and that does suck no one in your office is willing to help, kind of sounds like they fear teaching you is going to impact their job security?

We just got a new guy here, he has no clue what our company does, and we knew that from day one, but everyone here including myself have taken our time to explain it to him and answer every question we can.