Selling Radio Direct with Pat Bryson

I bet you have and I bet you didn’t like her!

I have a pesky aunt that shows up when I wish she wouldn’t. Well, in all honesty, I DON’T have a real Aunt Edna. She’s sort of like Harvey the big rabbit. But she DOES cause trouble.

Here’s her back story. I grew up in a house that had been my grandparents. It had a large attic that had accumulated 3 generations of Bryson treasures (most people would call them “junk” but then, they just wouldn’t understand!) When my parents died, I got the “pleasure” of cleaning it all out. I read newspaper stories from 1942 that had been wrapped around breakables when my relatives went to California during the war. Nothing had been disturbed for decades. Among the boxes was a large trunk. When I opened it, the lady’s picture above was in it. It’s a LARGE picture in a big gold frame. I had NO IDEA who she was! I’d never seen the picture. It was a neat picture, so I hung it on the wall and I tell everyone that’s my Great Aunt Edna.

Now, why are we talking about this imaginary person? Here’s what happens:

You call on a new prospect and ask, “Are you the person who handles the advertising?”

They say, “Yes”.

You schedule a client needs analysis. You prepare a truly great campaign. You present. And then you hear the dreaded words, “This looks great but I need to run it by my (fill in the blank) husband, wife, brother, partner, accountant.” All of a sudden my Aunt Edna shows up. You have no idea who she is and what part she plays, but she just stopped your sale!

I bet you remember the last time you met her!

How do we stop Aunt Edna from preventing our sale?

During the CNA, you are going to ask these three questions:

1. Are you the person who makes the advertising decisions?

Go back to asking CNA questions and a bit later ask:

2. Is there anyone else who weighs into the marketing decisions here?

Go back to asking CNA questions. For a third time ask:

3. Is there anyone else that we should include in our meeting when I come ack? Maybe someone who advises you?

If the answer is “It’s me”, “Just me”, “Nobody else”, then schedule your presentation meeting. But today, it is rare to find only one decision-maker. Usually when you ask the second question, you will find an Aunt Edna. But you will KNOW who she is and you can arrange to get all the decision-makers in the same room when you present. I’ve found that much of the time, when we don’t close, it’s because we don’t have all the pertinent people together. We aren’t talking to “Mr. Big”.

I get calls occasionally and hear, “Well, I got Aunt Edna’d today.”

Let’s keep her in her trunk. Use the three questions above to close more sales!

Happy Selling!

Pat Bryson is an internationally known speaker and trainer specializing in training salespeople and managers. She is a regular contributor to radioinfo.

Pat has consulted stations in the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe and Central Asia. Her career has included on air, salesperson, sales manager and general manager. Since opening BBI, she has travelled extensively and has spoken at most major radio conventions on three continents.

Pat is the author of two books, “A Roadmap to Success in High Dollar Broadcast Sales” and “Successful Broadcast Sales: Thriving in Change”.

Pat has five times been named one of Radio Ink’s Most Influential Women in Radio.