Module 101 Supplementcumulus.wallywaller.com/Downloads/Week 1 Study... · 2015. 2. 25. · Module 104 Supplement Cumulus Sales Process Stage 1: Finding Prospects Sales always begin

Module 101 Supplement

Introduction to Cumulus Sales

You’re about to experience three weeks of intensive and educational sales training. Our goal is to help every new Cumulus Seller get off the ground and running with a solid understanding of your product, your selling process and the tools available to help you perform at your highest level. New Cumulus Seller training is organized around the following three points:

Learning about the radio business, your team, and how things work will allow you to understand your organization from the ground up. As a new member of the team, it is important for you to get to know all the players so that you understand the how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. With this understand, you will learn how to leverage the resources they offer to maximize your potential as a Cumulus Seller.

Radio-‐specific sales skills that are built on the best practices of high-‐performance selling will be taught. They focus on the preparation, execution and the follow-‐up of our work. All of these will help maximize your commissions as well as company revenue.

The Cumulus sales process is something that we have developed specifically for our sellers. Some companies hand their Sellers sales materials and send them out the door, this is not what we do. We will teach you a structured six stage framework specific to radio and designed CSOS (Cumulus Sales Operating System) to help you maximize long-‐term commission income from your accounts. Don’t take any shortcuts although it may be tempting, we will explain this process in great detail in the following days.


Our Company and Sales Process

Cumulus Media was founded in 1997 by Lew Dickey, our Chairman and CEO, along with a group of radio

veterans who believe in the power of radio to entertain and inform local communities and to help local

companies become known to those communities. We are a public company listed on the NASDAQ under

the symbol CMLS. At the start of 2014, we are the second largest pure-play radio company in the US

with 460 radio stations in 89 cities. In addition to this, we also own the largest consolidated radio

network in the US – Westwood One and Cumulus Media Networks.

Cumulus is recognized for implementing systems and processes common to Fortune 500 companies,

something which is still relatively foreign to most media companies. Our systematized approach to

operations allows our local markets to run as efficiently as possible. Each market or “cluster” is

organized into five main areas: Sales, Programming, Promotions/Marketing, Business Operations, and

Technical/Engineering.

We use a very specific approach to selling local media; we focus on making sure every Cumulus Seller

has the most powerful tools in their hands for any challenge or opportunity that might arise. We call

this process the Cumulus Sales Operating System or CSOS. As a new seller, the single most important

sales activity is new business development. The value proposition we offer to local businesses is simple:

we provide a cost effective way to win a significant share of our audience’s spending for their product or

service. You will be trained and provided high quality presentation materials to help you succeed in this

endeavor. Our approach is more structured than the processes at many other media companies, it frees

up time for you to build profitable business relationships through high levels of sales activity.

Local Organizational Structure

Market Manager

Head of the local market.

Oversees Hiring, Sales Comp,

Advertising, Orders, Coordinates

all of the Departments

Sales Manager/VP of Sales/GSM Operations Manager

Directly manages the sales teams Oversees the operational

team in the local offices

Key Account Manager (KAM) Programming Director

Responsible for cultivating Chief of everything that airs

large recurring accounts on the radio. Selects which songs

play and how often they play

Traffic Manager (TM) Promotions

Schedules and manages ad Events, Remote Broadcasts,

inventory. Final say over what On Air Programming, Loyalty

and when ads air. Programs

Continuity Manager Production

Manages workflow of getting Copyrighting, Mixing/Editing,

correct spots/copies on air Jingle Production, and Talent

at the correct time Production

Business Manager Engineering

Approves Credit, Collections, Keeps the radio station running.

Payroll, HR Functions, Cash Maintains tubes, radio antennae,

Management, and Contracts etc.

Digital Media Manager Information Technology

Manages online websites, Software, hardware, internet,

ads, streams, and can also and all other IT issues.

create sales packages

Sales Representative Sales Assistant

Acquires, develops, and retains A little bit of everything.

clients and relationships.

Ambassador for Cumulus Radio


Cumulus Sales Process

Stage 1: Finding Prospects

Sales always begin with prospecting. Source leads from networking/referrals, corporate leads, research and

observation, and other creative methods. Identify not just the business but also the decision makers. Before we

proceed with a prospect, always touch base with your manager to make sure there are no conflicts within the

team. Send out notes or seed letters from CSOS a week before initial contact to warm the leads.

Stage 2: Setting Appointments

The prospecting stage is about setting appointments and not trying to close business. We are looking to have them

agree to face-to-face time where we come to the table with a Client Needs Analysis (CNA). Vary your approach as

appropriate to the “warmth” of the lead as well as the source of the lead.

Stage 3: The First Meeting

Meeting the client for the first time, your primary objective is to establish your “likability” and trust with the client.

This “1st

Call/CNA” revolves around you understanding client concerns and problems. Fully use resources on CSOS

to customize your pitch. Ask open-ended questions focused on the decision maker’s needs. Focus not on the

product but instead on getting answers that lead to you providing a solution.

Stage 4: The Proposal Meeting

The goal is to have the client agree that 1. You have a solution to their problems, 2. Your product is the correct

channel, 3. The cost was appropriate, and that 4. Timing is urgent. From the previous stage we established rapport

and discovered the key business problems the prospect is facing; now we move forward and present solutions. The

Four Keys to Advertising Results is a pillar of this presentation; prospects should understand all of the Four Keys

are necessary. Utilizing resources from CSOS including presentation templates, sample creative spec spots,

category insights as well as doing rigorous research and preparation will give us the best chance at engaging the

client on a high level. There is no reason to not over-prepare for this stage as it is the most critical stage.

Stage 5: Negotiating/Closing

This can take multiple meetings of overcoming obstacles and negotiation. Find alternatives that fit the client’s

budget by creatively manipulating ad units, times, and frequency of ads is. Searching out and overcoming client

objections while keeping the client engaged comes with experience but can be addressed through rigorous

preparation. At the conclusion of this stage, the client should have nothing holding them back and sign a contract.

Stage 6: Renewing the Client

First time clients often test the effectiveness of radio advertising; reiterate the Four Keys to Advertising Success.

When the situation is tough, the trust and rapport you build throughout the process can be a determining factor in

whether or not the client renews. At this stage, you may have to readdress objections from the client so it is best

practice to re-affirm the four business decisions visited in Stage 4. Re-signing clients is paramount to your success

as a Cumulus Seller as it creates a steady revenue stream and allows you more time to search out new business.


Ten Expectations for Cumulus Sellers

The following are ten key factors that make the difference between an average seller and a Champion

Seller. When you compare the two, you will find a big difference in commissions, job longevity and in job

satisfaction.

1. Honesty with clients, managers, and self is the first expectation. Stretching the truth will always

delay the evitable and it is hard for a relationship to recover from a dishonest experience. Keep

people informed even if the news isn’t good, get it out in the open and take action.

2. Extra Effort separates the good from the great. A little effort consistently applied to your sales

activities can make a huge difference over time. Making an extra call before going home, taking

an extra ten minutes to plan, and having absolute knowledge of where you stand and how to hit

your goals can make all the difference. Take it one step further and be a champion seller.

3. Time Management comes down to doing what must be done first before doing others. Start

early and get the most difficult task done first. Plan ahead and be aware of the sales timeline of

your product through knowing where you are in the month and where you are with the client.

Respect your time, your prospects’ and your clients’ time. You only have a fixed amount of true

“sales hours” every week, these hours are precious and must be used as efficiently as possible.

4. Network and make contact relentlessly to advance sales and build relationships. Relentlessly

finding businesses that can benefit from the power of radio and contacting them to present our

value is what drives revenue and your success.

5. The Money Hours, or the hours you can expect to contact prospects and clients are the most

important hours of your day. Save your paperwork, research and other administrative tasks for

after these hours. Plan your activity around these hours and stick to that plan.

6. Effectively present through rigorous preparation. It takes hard work to even reach the

presenting stage with a prospect; don’t waste all that effort by not having a less than


spectacular performance. Start with a strong argument that outlines a solution to the prospect’s

problems or needs and finish strong by making the prospects want it immediately.

7. Follow the sales process to make closing a natural outcome. The six stage process corresponds

to the way businesses buy media. Focus on the prospect and their needs and help them solve

their problems or reach their goals through a custom solution that is based on creative solutions

and facts.

8. The right attitude can affect how successful you are within this sales position. Positivity sells, be

enthusiastic and put blinders on to anything negative. You need to be both likable and

professional in order to be trusted.

9. Demonstrate value with action, not words. Contribute in every aspect of your professional life,

customers should be eager to refer you to peers and managers should cringe at the thought of

losing you. The desire to deliver and demonstrate value has to come from the heart.

10. View business from the customer’s perspective. Do not focus on your product or yourself but

instead on solving the client’s problems. Spend time thinking about how to engage prospects

with the right questions and deliver presentations with the goal of solving their problems.


Four Keys to Advertising Results

As a seller, your primary objective is to help your client succeed. By helping them succeed, you help

yourself through renewals and referrals from the client. In order for the campaign to succeed,

advertising campaigns must have 4 things – what we call the “4-Keys.” Missing just one of them will

result in failure, failure to earn more from that client.

The “4 Keys” concept is one of the most important things you will use in sales. It’s a very good way to succinctly explain how advertising works, why some media works better than others and how clients should approach their growth opportunity. You will find yourself using this framework in many situations to help you sell, counter objections, and renew clients. Why Brand?

75% of all purchases are made from a business that the consumer knew about before their need for the

purchase was triggered. It should be every business’s objective, therefore, to “Be known before they

are needed.” They need to be “branded” in their target consumers’ minds. How do they do this? By

applying the 4 keys.

Key #1: Advertise Consistently

Businesses should advertise all the time - 52 weeks a year. Other than seasonal peaks, businesses need

new customers all the time and they never know when those needs are triggered, so it makes sense to

have an advertising strategy that is consistent. Start/Stop/Start Again strategies do not save money.

Every time the advertiser stops, mindshare evaporates and must be rebuilt. Consistent advertising

generates higher ROI. Period.

Key #2: Reach them Frequently to Build Mindshare

Frequency refers to how often advertising is heard by the consumer. Consumers need to hear a message

over and over again for it to be retained in their memory. A consumer needs to hear the message

several times per week, and keep hearing it week after week for it to be remembered. One of the most

common reasons why advertising does not succeed is due to low frequency.

Key #3: Reach enough People to Generate Growth

Reach is defined by the number of people the advertising reaches. Generally, the larger a business is,

the larger reach it needs to grow (and vice-versa). But advertising cost scales upward as reach increases.

Most businesses cannot afford to reach everyone consistently with the right frequency. If you have to

adjust a campaign to make consistency and frequency possible, using lower reach is the preferred

strategy.


Key #4: Message and Creative Quality

The final key is to use compelling creative that clearly differentiates the business, is hard to “avoid” and

engages the consumers in a way that will compel them to act. Businesses should also be wary of

messaging that has low production value – when their commercial is heard/seen/read next to a national

advertiser, it should have the same production quality or the consumer will perceive that business as

low-quality.


Category Selling

Sometimes our sellers engage in targeted category selling in order to diversify their accounts as well as

ensure we are covering the entire range of potential prospects.

What is Category Selling?

Category selling refers to sellers specifically targeting a certain type of business. Each one of these

categories will have its own dedicated seller training, industry overviews and marketing trends,

estimated audience values (spending power) for our value statement, along with presentations and

marketing materials. On CSOS, you can find a treasure trove of category specific information that can

help you learn, prepare and execute a complete sales process with a prospect from start to finish.

Why use it?

This style of selling allows sellers to efficiently research and prepare materials for engaging prospects. By

focusing on categories, a seller can do research and prepare for only one type of business. When

conducting competitive research for one prospect, sellers can discover a whole list of new prospects.

While we don’t use category selling all of the time, when we do it can really accelerate our sales

performance. By identifying Relevant Business Reasons to use radio and unique challenges/needs of

certain categories, we can better customize our solutions and create more compelling presentations for

prospects.


Lead Generation

There are four primary sources of leads. These are just four examples, don’t constrain yourself to these

methods, feel free to be creative and use any means necessary. When using our Client Relationship

Management system named Engage, be aware that we classify business that have purchased advertising

in the prior 13 months as accounts and businesses that haven’t as leads.

Observation:

You can find potential leads by being observant during your daily activities. Some examples of ways to

discover leads are through the ones who are already advertising through various media channels,

businesses that you patronize and drive by as well as ones listed on websites and in publications.

Networking:

Generating leads from networking is something a Cumulus seller should be participating in on a regular

basis. The key to networking is to make sure you are giving as well as taking. Don’t be afraid to ask for

recommendations from prospects and always be sure to ask for referrals from clients. Being an active

member of the community through joining business associations and service groups will increase the

number of people you come into contact with and thus increase your network. As always, you can

always count on your friends and family for help.

Your Manager:

Cumulus sources leads from a variety of sources and your manager can provide them at his or her

discretion. As you have noticed from earlier in today’s training, we have a B2B website with

CumulusRadio.com. This site is an important lead generating source so be sure to market it. Corporate

will periodically distribute leads garnered from business databases. When turnover occurs within a sales

team, managers will redistribute their leads. Also, if a sales manager feels certain leads aren’t worked

hard enough, he or she will redistribute based on merit.

Research:

By looking through various business directories, google and google map searches and

healthcare/insurance directories. Should you decide to use google as a resource, don’t forget to add zip

codes or city names to the search parameters. Many practices don’t advertise in medical directories

today, but some still do.


Lead Stage Activities

The lead stage is comprised of three key steps: Preparation, Execution and Following-up. These lead

stage activities are critical, the steps and effort you take here can severely impact your sales pipeline

and thus your sales commissions. Follow these steps to help yourself keep a full sales funnel.

Preparation

Refer to the previous knowledge supplement “Lead Generation” for greater detail. Always be looking for

leads as the greater the number of leads you have, the higher the chance that you are able to proceed

to later stages with prospects. Utilize CSOS training materials and the category specific materials to your

advantage. This is where you will find the Relevant Business Reasons as well as EAVs (spending power)

of your audience. You will use this information later when filling in blanks for your seed letters/emails.

Execution

Make sure you don’t find yourself in a situation where you are in conflict with your coworkers, please

discuss leads with your sales managers. Search for the specific lead in Engage to make sure it isn’t

already in the system and assigned to someone else. Three or four days before making a call to the

prospect, send out a seed email or letter. These category specific seed letters can be found on CSOS and

contain areas for you place customized information. The seed letters are a bit too long to email, we

recommend sending the paper first and if necessary following up with an email later. Depending on your

market’s policies, in general we recommend you enter leads in Engage only after your manager has

approved it or after making contact with the business.

Following Up

Self-explanatory, after sending the seed letter and/or email, reach out to the prospects to make contact.

Keep a list of businesses as leads, you can periodically reach out to them. We will go into detail about

specifics in Module 3.


Prospecting Best Practices

The goal of prospecting is to set an appointment to learn more about the business and stimulate

interest. There are some general principles to follow but there is no magic solution that will help you

convert leads into solid prospects.

Preparation

Before we make the call, do the appropriate research. If you think about this process from the business

owner’s point of view, they probably aren’t actively looking for advertising solutions. You will have no

relationship with them and you’ll have no idea what their goals and/or needs are. Do appropriate

research by using CSOS training materials and knowing the elements of the Value Proposition of the

specific business category. You visited these materials for your seed letter; this is the time to really get

to know the category specific material. This research is extremely important as it will help you counter

and overcome objections as well as allow you to understand what problems or needs they may have.

Create and memorize a call script and until you’re 100% confident, practice and role play with your

manager or your peers. The call should be 5-10 seconds of the most compelling words you can string

into a statement. By sticking to a simple concise and effective script and repeating it over and over

again, you will learn the patterns of objections and therefore be better equipped to overcome them.

Execution

We have found that 90% of first appointments will come from picking up the phone and dialing. After

you’ve done your preparation, get started calling. Once you get a hold of the decision maker, use your

opening script and find their objections and counter them. You can either set the appointment or call

again a month later until the appointment is set or you determine the lead isn’t qualified.

Making dials and spending time on the phone with prospects can be mentally draining as you will

inevitably deal with a lot of rejection. This perfectly natural and there are a lot of ways to combat he

fatigue. You can try working in intervals of 45 minutes on and 15 minutes off. Make it a competition with

other sellers to see who can get the most appointments in an hour.

Following-Up

After the call, send a thank you note to show your appreciation of the time the prospect spent with you.

This letter should be short and shouldn’t be used as a way to sell. Find the template on CSOS for a great

example and customize it as appropriate to the call. Use the note to remind the prospect of the

appointment you set with the date, time, and note any other participants that may be involved.

As you work a lead, keep track of each step from beginning to end on Engage. Enter details about the

business, the call, the contact and your next steps.


The Cumulus Value Proposition

When developing radio clients, you will find that most prospects are very good at what they do but

aren’t savvy media buyers. A simple concise value proposition explains what our product does and what

an investment into radio can be worth to them.

The Value Proposition

The Cumulus Value Proposition is focused around the client. This distinction must remain in the

forefront of your mind as it revolves around what is in it for your prospect. At the end of the day, we are

trying to understand and present a solution to a prospect’s goals or needs. Talking about your product

and why radio is a great media channel to use for advertising is NOT our value proposition and is not

central to how we present to clients.

Each of our stations reach 10s to 100s of thousands of adult listeners ages 18 or older. Every year, these

audiences will spend a predicable amount on specific products or services annually. Our value

proposition will quantify this spending power for the prospect’s specific business category. By using

radio, we offer them a strong “introduction” to our audience and thus an avenue to influencing their

spending preferences. By having stronger awareness among our community of listeners, they can be

positioned to win more relatively more share of them than their competitors.

Preparation

You will find category specific briefs and materials on CSOS which provide great insights into different

types of businesses. We will focus on how much our community of listeners will spend per year on

categories and how everything is calculated. Sometimes, EAV isn’t available as some products are too

specialized or pricing varies too much by region.

Audiences of our stations are measured by audience ratings companies. The measurement tells us how

many unique people listen to the station each week. It is going to be performed by either Nielsen or

Arbitron depending on your market. We focus on 18 year old and older listeners because they are the

spenders within our audiences.

Spending power of our audiences is calculated by (Number of Unique Listeners or “Cume”) Multiplied

by (Estimated Audience Value/EAV). The average amount that a typical US consumer will spend on a

specific product or service is what is known as “Per Capita” spending. These numbers are derived from

Wall Street, business associations, government research and other credible sources. You can find these

numbers on CSOS along with their sources. EAV is an internally used term, when you refer to this with a

prospect use the term “spending power”.


Sample Value Proposition Statement

“Chuck, by advertising on our stations, you can become the most well known and clearly differentiated

car wash among our community of 185,000 listeners. This will help you win a sizeable portion of the

$6.1MM that they’re going to spend at car washes this year.”

Module 301, 304 & 305 Supplement

Cold Calling

Cold calling is essential to developmental radio sales. It is something you have to do a lot of, but

effective cold calling will pay dividends and increase your earnings potential. This module teaches basic

techniques used by Cumulus Sellers and provides a base for you to develop and use your own

techniques that are best suited for you. The ultimate goal of cold calling is to set an appointment where

you get ten minutes of face to face time.

Warming Cold Calls

Reaching out to a lead without knowing who the decision maker is and having to start your process by

asking questions is pretty cold. By calling without knowing who you’re trying to reach and most likely

reaching a gatekeeper, you will set off “sales call” alarm bells or be labelled as a nuisance call. Warm up

that lead by doing pre-call research by searching for the names of owners on business databases,

LinkedIn, Google, or use a creative method such as secret shopping the business. By learning the name

of the decision maker and using a strong opening statement, you will warm the lead.

Gatekeepers

One of the reasons decision makers have gatekeepers is to make their lives easier, this means protecting

their time from distractions. Your job is to convince the gatekeeper that you’re calling to help the

business grow. A strategy to get past a gatekeeper can be to call before 8:30 AM or after 5:30 PM when

most non executives aren’t in the office. However, don’t ignore the value a gatekeeper might bring. If

you get them on your side they can be extremely helpful as they are likely to make recommendations to

their bosses and often have deep insights into the company.

Voicemails

As with your opening statement, you should have a prepared script for this outcome. The ten second

rule for capturing the attention of the listener is carried over but it probably less with voicemail than

direct phone communication. The statement should fit into the 10 second window and shouldn’t be

rushed, but instead use a measured, confident, and conversational delivery.

General Tips

Reference the previous Prospecting Knowledge Supplement for the general framework for this step.

Preparation through knowing the RBRs, spending power, and community sizes along with familiarizing

yourself with the business category through the category briefs on CSOS are critical. Also, have a script

prepared for every situation and keep your tone conversational. Be confident and approach prospects

like equals. Your product has helped many businesses who use it correctly generate great returns. While

you will deal with rejection, treat cold calling like a sport and have fun with it. As always, make sure you

are unfailingly polite and that you respect your prospect as well as their time.


Cold Call Objections

Objections are not Rejections

It takes experience to determine whether or not a prospect doesn’t need your product, doesn’t have the

money or authority to buy, doesn’t like your product/company/you, is too busy to take your call, or just

doesn’t like being sold. Over time you will develop your own strategies to overcome objections. Many

objections are just reflexive ways to get off a cold sales call. If you respond in a friendly helpful way and

overcome their objections, you can get to the next step of the face to face meeting.

“That’s Exactly Why I’m Calling You”

This is a method used by many top Cumulus Sellers and Mark Sullivan, our market manager in Kansas

City. “That’s exactly why I’m calling you” is used when the prospect cuts you off with a reflexive

objection and doesn’t allow you to get your opening statement out.

“We don’t use radio” “That’s exactly why I’m calling you, <opening statement>”

“I’m not advertising right now” “That’s exactly why I’m calling you, <opening statement>”

“I’m using newspaper right now” “That’s exactly why I’m calling you, <opening statement>”

Keep in mind you may have to adapt your opening statement to whatever their objections are, and

always have a script available for every objection you receive. If you encounter a new objection, after

the call create one and have it in your arsenal.

Visit the link below for a video with Mark Sullivan explaining his technique

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2LrW74HyWI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2LrW74HyWI


Referrals and Testimonials

Referrals and testimonials can be some of the strongest ways to accelerate your sales efforts. Word of

Mouth leverages existing relationships and the trust that comes along with it, this kind of trust

translates into an easier path for the seller to introduce a new idea to a potential customer.

How to Strengthen Referrals/Testimonials

People naturally distrust sales pitches; however hearing from word of mouth is six times more

persuasive than information from a marketing piece of a sales pitch. Referrals are strongest when they

are recent ones which include specific facts that provide evidence of performance. Also, when you use

referrals, it is optimal to be from a geographically and business category relevant source. Be sure to

obtain permission or an understanding from the source of the referral/testimonial that we will use them

broadly and aggressively.

Asking for Referrals

In order to harness the power of Word of Mouth, you first must get into the habit of asking. If possible,

try to ask them face to face and try not to ask while presenting or collecting a bill. When you do ask for a

referral, vary your approach based on the relationship with the client. If the results are there to back up

a strong testimonial then ask for one, if not ask for references and leads. When you ask for a

testimonial, don’t expect them to do it immediately, instead leave them with some examples and a

form. Whenever you receive a referral and it leads to new business, call or send a thank you note to the

referrer.

How to Ask

It is never too early to ask for a referral, get what you can immediately and as your relationship with the

referrer grows you can get more. Be proactive and ask for referrals, you can ask even if you are in the

early stages of developing a relationship.

When you are asking for referrals from an existing client, ask them for the names of people who might

be interested in a branding their business with Cumulus Radio. When you are asking for a testimonial

from a satisfied client, ask them for an audio testimonial if they are willing, if not a written one will

work. Be ready to provide examples found on CSOS when you ask. If they say no, it could be for a

multitude of reasons. However, if they are unsatisfied, this is an opportunity for you to have a frank

discussion and potentially strengthen the relationship as unhappy customers generally don’t renew or

continue spending.


Networking

Networking is one of the Ten Expectations of a Cumulus Seller. Great networking is a skill that can be

honed and practiced to an art.

Why Network?

By increasing the number of people you come into contact with, you are increasing the number of

opportunities that are available to us while meeting people who may know and introduce you to

prospects. The trust that comes along with networking relationships can improve the speed and quality

of your sales process. If someone you meet knows of some people who may stand to benefit from you,

they will only do so if they are qualified and might genuinely need it. Be sure to remember that network

relationships are a two-way street, if someone risks their name for you and helps you; don’t forget to do

the same for them.

Networking Preparation

When looking for networking opportunities, spend time online looking for places where important

people gather. You can check Facebook and LinkedIn pages to see what outside interests and

associations a decision maker is a part of. Utilize your existing network to find new events or

opportunities to increase your network.

When you arrive at an event, set objectives and goals you want to accomplish, prepare our attitude to

be completely positive and approachable, and be ready with your key conversational tools. You will

want to have a good introductory statement which will depend on the way you are introduced to

someone. Have conversational starters to break the ice as you will mainly among strangers. Use open

ended questions to learn more about the people you meet. It is good practice to try and meet as many

people as possible, don’t let yourself be cornered into long conversations so have some exit statements

ready to go.

What to do After

After a successful networking event, write down notes and details of conversations you had with new

contacts. Get in the habit of sending LinkedIn invites to those that you’ve met. Develop relationships

with the highest quality people you can find with the objective of securing long-term friendships. The

Four Keys to Advertising Success also apply to maintain and grow networks.


Time Management

Time management is another one of the Ten Expectations of Cumulus Sellers. Good time management

can add up to twenty percent of valuable time to your day. By making your day more efficient, you free

up more time for sales calls, research on businesses and prospects, creating client creative and a host of

many other revenue driving activities.

Organize your Time

As referenced before in previous modules and knowledge supplements, you should organize your day

around the money hours. The money hours are the hours during the day you can speak to customers

and prospects. Within the money hours, you should dedicate a significant amount of time to reaching

prospects. For the follow-up step of developing sales leads, you should queue up and edit your emails

and communications. After sending materials, update and document this activity on Engage so you don’t

forget. When you aren’t in the money hours, you should set aside some time for general professional

development through improving sales skills and industry/product knowledge.

Understand the Value of your Time

Keep track of the number of sales days for each month and quarter. Track your sales activity so you can

see how often you reach each stage of the Cumulus sales framework. With transparency into your stats,

you can create a plan that will allow you to set standards that will help you realize your sales goals.

Understand and Channel your Nature

Most people approach tasks they like first and do the ones they dislike later. Prioritize tasks based on

what needs to be done, and within these critical tasks tackle the ones you like the least first so you can

do the ones you enjoy later as a reward. Learn to be efficient and try to hold yourself accountable to the

tasks that you schedule for a given day.

Time Management Basics

Start early on everything. This applies to your day and on projects and sales appointments. Looking

ahead and being aware of your sales timeline and where you stand on your sales goals will help you

become a more efficient worker. Time is precious for everyone; don’t waste your time or your

prospects’ and clients’ time. Cut out inefficient uses of your time, these will take away from time where

you could be driving revenue.


Sales Activity and Goals

Monitoring your sales activity and comparing it with your metrics can go a long way towards maximizing

your income potential. Part of selling is a numbers game; by tracking sales activity and setting

appropriate goals you can drive your commissions forward.

The Sales Funnel

The amount of prospects in each of the six stages of the Cumulus Seller framework decreases as you go

from stage 1 to stage 6. If the top of the Sales Funnel (composed of the pool of potential leads you are

keeping) becomes dry, soon the bottom of your sales funnel which is composed of closed accounts will

soon suffer. Each stage of the six stages we follow must be taken care of all times, don’t let any one of

the stages fall behind.

Activity Goals

Through using Engage and using your own tracking methods, you should have a reasonable idea of the

number of leads you have in each stage of the Cumulus Seller system. Create activity goals based on

these metrics, doing this will allow you to reach your desired income level. Now that you know exactly

what you have to do to hit your goals, it becomes a matter of executing your sales activity. If you don’t

succeed at first with reaching your goal, keep trying and figure out what worked and what didn’t work.

Keep pushing forward until you do reach your goals.

What the Champions Do

The activity goals you set are based on monthly figures that assume a close only equals one transaction.

For a new seller, this might be true but untrue for Champion Sellers. Top sellers close for longer

contracts as they understand and implement the Four Keys of Advertising Success. Your primary goal is

to help the clients succeed; your activity should be based around getting the right people on the air

while using the correct marketing strategy so that they reach their initial ROI. Happy and successful

clients will renew, this ultimately is what makes a Champion Seller.

Module 407 & 408 Supplement

Sales Marketing

The tools that are provided to you are powerful and will help you open doors. Using them properly at

the right time and to the right prospect is up to the sellers. Utilizing the six stage Cumulus sales process,

the Four Keys to Advertising Success, along with strong sales marketing in concert with one another will

help you maximize your income and potential as a seller.

The Four Keys Apply to You!

The same Four Keys to Advertising Success that we use to execute successful advertising campaigns can

be applied to yourself as a seller. All the concepts of reach, frequency, creating mindshare as well as

building awareness, and staying top of mind apply to your efforts throughout your sales activities.

Best Practices

Keep your marketing materials simple, concise, and valuable to the reader’s time. It is better to have a

short sweet message which details why it is important than to have an overly detailed argument. Keep

the content relevant to the individual and ensure the content itself is in language that the prospect will

understand. Frequency and consistency is vital, just like in the Four Keys. Don’t always send the same

materials over and over again but use different methods of sending a message. Reach out to your

interested prospects every two weeks with consistent messaging on a regular basis. For existing clients

and leads that don’t show immediate interest, reach out to them every month. Use the customized

CSOS materials such as the templates because quality and creativity gets rewarded. Using email with

attached PDFs/links is the quickest and most cost effective method of communicating with someone. Be

sure to always update Engage with prospects’ email information.

Seed Letters

Seed letters should be sent out to leads 5-7 days before you plan on calling a prospect. You can find the

category specific seed letter templates on CSOS where you fill in the blanks as appropriate. Follow-up on

the letters and be specific on when you’ll call them.

One Sheeters

Category specific general or seasonal one sheeters are available on CSOS. These are great one page

resources that can be used as a secondary warming or as additional collateral for top of mind awareness

as well as reinforcement for our value proposition. One sheeters are built around our spending power

and will contain messaging on “being known” as well as category specific imagery. Send them before

and after cold calls. Once you identify the decision maker, don’t be afraid to send repetitively to him or

her as typically they aren’t read the first time. Do not send these out as PowerPoint files, convert them

to PDFs first.


Testimonials

There are customizable PowerPoint testimonials on CSOS that you can use to great effect. If possible use

ones that are specific to your market and specific business category. You want the testimonial to have as

much in common with the prospect as possible. Use these after first or second call presentations when

you are making your case but not getting buy-in from the prospect. When you do send them out,

reinforce the idea that these testimonials are recent or current advertisers. If you get testimonials of

your own (something you should always be asking for when appropriate), share it with us as we always

need more of them.

White Papers

These are longer customizable factually based papers that make the argument for using radio. It is used

most commonly to counter specific types of sales objections. Due to how big they are, stapling your card

or simply writing a short note in your email will be sufficient. Don’t overload your prospect with these as

they contain a lot of information and may even overwhelm them. These White Papers contain a lot of

great content and you should read and understand the content inside-out. Feel free to use them in any

sales stage, but only when they’re addressing a key question or point.

Easy Emails

Customized short well-formatted emails can be found on CSOS. They will contain embedded links with

simple effective subject lines to increase open rates. Articles are carefully selected for content and

accompanied by designed messaging to create desire for the product. These are frequently updated on

CSOS and are meant to be used as appropriate to the prospect business. Whenever you send anything

to a client, read it and fully understand it beforehand.


Client Needs Analysis

Goals

The first step in the CNA is to establish a good rapport with the prospect before you dive into the meat

of the CNA. In order to be trusted, you have to be liked first. Being professional does not mean being

stern and serious. After establishing rapport, switch focus to understanding the prospect’s marketing

problems, what forms of advertising they currently use and buying motives. The goal is to understand

what problems worry the owner, what makes their business unique, how they fit into the competitive

environment and what their core needs and buying triggers are. Ultimately, the end goal of this First Call

meeting should be the securing of a Second Call meeting where you present your proposal.

Best Practices

At this stage in the prospect’s decision making process, they are still evaluating you as a sales rep. The

CNA is about them, not you. Be likeably, friendly, and positive and make the small talk about them, not

you. Let them know you respect their time and that you’re here to understand how you can help their

business grow with strong ROI. Open with general diagnostic questions and probe further to uncover

the real problems the prospect wants solved. Use open ended general questions, this way you avoid

presumptive questions which can get you off track if the question turns out to be irrelevant.

This will not be the first nor only time the prospect has been through a CNA. If you receive skepticism or

restraint, convey to the prospect your sincere desire to genuinely help them solve their problems with

questions crafted to learn about their business. We aren’t here to interview and grill the prospect; we

find the right balance by using a series of thoughtful yet focused questions to engage the prospect in a

conversational and insightful dialogue.

These are best practices to keep in mind when performing a First Call meeting. Be flexible with your

approach, you may not be able to get answers to all of your questions and that is ok. If you’re

professional, friendly, and the prospect believes you are sincere in your desire to help solve problems,

you will be rewarded with more cooperation. If they insist on hearing your idea as soon as you arrive, go

ahead and deliver your first call presentation then focus on securing the appointment for your proposal.


The First Call Meeting

Goals

The goal is to set the table for a successful selling cycle that results in a significant buy. In order to do

this, you first must establish trust, build credibility for yourself and your product, and be liked by the

prospect. Then we need to use a CNA to learn everything we need to put together a solution that will

address the prospect’s core needs. At the end of the meeting, we will want to have engaged the

prospect and get buy-in from them into our core ideas about branding, our value, and why Cumulus

radio is a good fit for them. If we have done those previous three things, it should be easy to secure the

next appointment where we return to present a true proposal.

Preparation

Before stepping foot into the first call meeting, you need to be prepared. Use category briefs,

customized First Call presentation materials, and have a prepared value proposition statement. While

the first call meeting is designed to learn more about the client, be proactive and do some research on

your own to see if you can give yourself extra ammo in the conversation. Try to check out the

competitive situation of their business and see if you can find out what current marketing they use. Be

creative and use google searches to see if you can glean as much information as possible about the

prospect as possible. You’ve expended a significant amount of energy and time to get to this stage, why

not put a little extra into each presentation.

Establishing Credibility

The first sale is yourself as people buy from people they like and trust. Your mindset should revolve

around being there to act as a trusted advisor to the client and trying to help them grow their business.

Prospects will be able to sense if you are sincere. Respect their time, always be on time and be mindful

that they’ve taken time out of their day for you. If the prospect does not immediately engage in the

conversation, you haven’t given them a reason to buy-in or care yet. That is precisely why you’ve

prepared a presentation which demonstrates value.

CNA

Refer to the previous knowledge supplement. The goals in this stage are to know what the client’s

strategy is all about and how you can produce a compelling spec spot to solve their needs. You will want

insight into how the business positions itself to customers and what their customers think, like, and

need from the business. Finally, know the prospect’s current marketing strategy, what their attitude

towards long-term branding and what their budget constraints are. If the budget doesn’t come out

during the course of the natural conversation of your CNA, you can wait until later.


Present our Value

Now that we’ve completed the CNA, we pull out the First Call Presentation that you prepared before the

meeting. It is designed to deliver the great idea to grow the prospect’s business that you promised the

prospect over the phone. These presentations aren’t designed to close a client, instead it is meant to set

up the table for the next stage in the Cumulus selling process, the proposal meeting. Establish the

importance of consistent branding and secure agreement on the Four Keys to Advertising Success:

Reach, Frequency, Consistency and Creative. You want the prospect to come out of this meeting

agreeing that Cumulus Radio along with you have what it takes to present a solution to his growth

problems.

If you don’t get agreement for the 2nd call proposal find out what the objections are and attempt to

counter them. Update Engage with what you learned along with which presentation materials you used.

Always send a note or reminder as soon as you return to the office. If you sensed a lack of buy-in from

the prospect, include additional materials that will help avoid objection when you make your proposal.

Documents

Module 101 Supplementcumulus.wallywaller.com/Downloads/Week 1 Study... · 2015. 2. 25. · Module 104 Supplement Cumulus Sales Process Stage 1: Finding Prospects Sales always begin