Thought I'd heard 'em all:-)
 

Spoke to a prospect yesterday. I sell advertising. His reason for not advertising:

"What's the point of advertising if no-one's heard of you?"

My previous best one was a prospect who said "We have the money we need in our advertising budget, for advertising. It's in the bank waiting to be spent, but we're not allowed to touch it until business improves".

Hmmmmm . . . Dontcha love 'em?

Philip

The most common one I've run into is....
 

"We DON'T need to advertise...we've been here so long....MOST people already KNOW who we are!"

Invariably...the business owners who have laid that line on me and who REALLY BELIEVED IT (and not just saying that to "get rid of me")....
were OUT OF BIZ WITHIN A YEAR or two!

Don Alm

> Spoke to a prospect yesterday. I sell
> advertising. His reason for not advertising:

> "What's the point of advertising if
> no-one's heard of you?"

> My previous best one was a prospect who said
> "We have the money we need in our
> advertising budget, for advertising. It's in
> the bank waiting to be spent, but we're not
> allowed to touch it until business
> improves".

> Hmmmmm . . . Dontcha love 'em?

> Philip




Restaurant Daily Special Boards

Re: Scratching my head...
 

"Business is really bad now, so we have cut back on advertising." ????
Ben

Friend sent me this:-)
 

A man wakes up in an advertised bed
under advertised sheets
in his advertised pyjamas
washes with advertised soap
shaves with his advertised razor
eats his advertised cereal for breakfast
puts on his advertised suit & shoes
gets into his advertised car and goes to his office.

He sits by the phone all day waiting for calls...but nothing happens. He discusses this with his business collegues

they suggest he advertises....he suggests it's no point advertising because no one knows them so it wouldn't work

eventually the business has to close...so what does he do

He advertises it for sale

then starts to look at the cheaper advertised homes for sale...because now he has to advertise his home
because he can no longer afford the mortgage
once this has all been done he now has one final task

to look in the advertised Positions Vacant for a job with a company that won't go broke..that way he will feel secure
so he looks for a company that he recognises....one that has ADVERTISED to ensure everyone knows who thay are and what they do

Funny thing is he had that comany and security right from the start...his own all he had to do was ADVERTISE

Come off it guys... lets get real!
 

This long in the tooth, more experienced sales guy than he wants to really admit, wants to put that cat amongst the other 'no spring pigeons' in this thread:o)

Whilst its fun to look at these answers from your perspective... what they are really saying to you is they dont trust your sales proposition.

When selling to business owners... they have heard it *all*.

And at the end of the day you are still asking them to spend their hard earned money UP FRONT with NO GUARANTEE of any success.

Although they have agreed to talk to you, the fact is this is still the basis of which you are selling to them (You take all the money ... with no guarantee of success for them)

We also happen to be in an economic slump... not least contributed to by offline businesses throughout the world spending millions (if not billions) collectively on web sites that have provided diddly squat in terms of profits

(Another example of an upfront cash take from business owners with no guarantee of success)

This is on top of every business owner being bombarded with every type of sales proposition imaginable as a result of times getting tougher... oh and dont forget the impact of the information age which means slaes propositions of every type now hit them faster and from more angles than ever thought imaginable just a short while ago.

Is it any wonder it is getting harder to sell *anything*? Let alone something that has a model that keeps insisting the business owner has to put his hard earned cash at risk as a *prerequisite* to doing business.

There's a New reality of selling brewing. Times have changed forever. It's certainly going to become increasingly harder than ever to make the old rules work.

I look forward to the replies my fellow 'no spring pigeons'

Regards
Andy




The New Reality of Selling in the Information Age

Re: Come off it guys... lets get real!
 

Perception is everything - it's all in the MindSet.

> This long in the tooth, more experienced
> sales guy than he wants to really admit,
> wants to put that cat amongst the other 'no
> spring pigeons' in this thread:o)

> Whilst its fun to look at these answers from
> your perspective... what they are really
> saying to you is they dont trust your sales
> proposition.

> When selling to business owners... they have
> heard it *all*.

> And at the end of the day you are still
> asking them to spend their hard earned money
> UP FRONT with NO GUARANTEE of any success.

> Although they have agreed to talk to you,
> the fact is this is still the basis of which
> you are selling to them (You take all the
> money ... with no guarantee of success for
> them)

> We also happen to be in an economic slump...
> not least contributed to by offline
> businesses throughout the world spending
> millions (if not billions) collectively on
> web sites that have provided diddly squat in
> terms of profits

> (Another example of an upfront cash take
> from business owners with no guarantee of
> success)

> This is on top of every business owner being
> bombarded with every type of sales
> proposition imaginable as a result of times
> getting tougher... oh and dont forget the
> impact of the information age which means
> slaes propositions of every type now hit
> them faster and from more angles than ever
> thought imaginable just a short while ago.

> Is it any wonder it is getting harder to
> sell *anything*? Let alone something that
> has a model that keeps insisting the
> business owner has to put his hard earned
> cash at risk as a *prerequisite* to doing
> business.

> There's a New reality of selling brewing.
> Times have changed forever. It's certainly
> going to become increasingly harder than
> ever to make the old rules work.

> I look forward to the replies my fellow 'no
> spring pigeons'

> Regards
> Andy

Re: Come off it guys... lets get real!
 

> Whilst its fun to look at these answers from
> your perspective... what they are really
> saying to you is they don't trust your sales
> proposition.

This nails it (and I'll come back to it in the end). But ...

> And at the end of the day you are still
> asking them to spend their hard earned money
> UP FRONT with NO GUARANTEE of any success.

But that's how they got into business! They launched themselves away from the security of the corporate world, with no guarantee of success.

They bought their inventory, their business license(s), their office/retail space/webspace/whatever, all with no guarantee of success.

They pay their development costs, their tax advisor, their utility bills, their employees, all their ordinary business expenses, with no guarantee of success.

There is, in business as in life, no guarantee of success. Hard work helps. Luck helps. A track record of success helps. Intelligent management of available resources helps. (Getting good advertising and marketing counsel helps.) All these things stack the odds in favor of one enterprise over another. But they are, as you point out, no guarantees.

> There's a New reality of selling brewing.
> Times have changed forever. It's certainly
> going to become increasingly harder than
> ever to make the old rules work.

I believe the old rules still largely apply; it was the go-go 1990s that were the abberation. In order to sell something, you have to connect with each individual buyer and offer him or her real value in his or her eyes. What has become harder, is the task of cutting through the noise.

What's missing, in the above posts, is that connection to the buyer. Off-the-job, we can laugh about their little quirks as we'd laugh about our own. But on-the-job, one must connect with the person to whom one is trying to sell. And that's how to build trust in your sales proposition.




John Kuraoka, freelance advertising copywriter

Re: Come off it guys... lets get real!
 

I still enjoy sparking controversy and a good thread like this.

Thaks for your comments John

I'd like to make a major observation

You stated:
> But that's how they got into business! They
> launched themselves away from the security
> of the corporate world, with no guarantee of
> success.

Of course that is true

But one could just as effectively argue the enterprises that manage and reduce their risk are more likely to succeed.

As I say to advertisers who approach me...
"If you are so sure this will earn me as much revenue why dont we profit sahe...you'll get more bu I wont have to pay up front"...very few even *consider* it.... yet most would recognise this logicallt as a true win/win proposition

You also state:

> I believe the old rules still largely apply;
> it was the go-go 1990s that were the
> abberation. In order to sell something, you
> have to connect with each individual buyer
> and offer him or her real value in his or
> her eyes. What has become harder, is the
> task of cutting through the noise.

Too true about the noise and aout a connection. But there are new rules through cutting through the white noise and selling to lambasted prospects thereafter

As Albert Einstein said, "A problem cannot be solved by those who created it"

And the 'white noise', the skepticsm, the massive increases in sales approaches from all angles is ineviatbly creating a massive tisal wave of sales resitance that has not *existed before*

New territory requires a new map and new metods for getting over it

The old rules only apply for those that know no other way of dealing with the New Reality. Being as thats the vast majority it takes a while for the landslide to occur

I'm enjoying this

Regards
Andy


New Reality Selling

Correction... Einstein actually said...
 

"A problem cannot be solved from the same level of thinking that created it"

Apologies to any Eistein experts:o)
Andy

Re: Come off it guys... lets get real!
 

Hi Andy!

-------
> But one could just as effectively argue the
> enterprises that manage and reduce their
> risk are more likely to succeed.
-------

I agree 100%.

In fact, in a thread above (the one about "entrepreneurials:" click here for the message) I go so far as to propose that I am an independent contractor in part because I prefer to limit my risk!

-------
> As I say to advertisers who approach me...
> "If you are so sure this will earn me
> as much revenue why don't we profit
> share...you'll get more but I won't have to pay
> up front"...very few even *consider*
> it.... yet most would recognise this
> logically as a true win/win proposition
-------

It is win/win. Most media contracts won't allow it, in part because it may be difficult to track or audit impartially.

Also, most advertising is cumulative. In a multi-media campaign, one could track the end-point that ultimately produced action, but it's very hard to assign credit to one factor in the campaign or another.

That's not an excuse, by the way.
But it is a reason why, here in the real world, such agreements don't happen as often as they perhaps should.

------
> Too true about the noise and about a
> connection. But there are new rules through
> cutting through the white noise and selling
> to lambasted prospects thereafter ...

> And the 'white noise', the skepticism, the
> massive increases in sales approaches from
> all angles is inevitably creating a massive
> tidal wave of sales resistance that has not
> *existed before*
------

There is a new cynicism, especially regarding advertising and media messages. I will also add that it is starting younger. And the skepticism runs deeper.

However, I think this is also a case where our tools (media) have gone further than our development as creatures.

Once you penetrate the noise and overcome the skepticism, we are still motivated as our great-grandparents were in 1905: health, wealth, social success, etc. Our individual capacity to embrace or resist new ideas (products/services/vendors) has not changed. Those who are stick-in-the-muds today would have been stick-in-the-muds in 1805 or 1905 ("these darnfool [percussion caps/horseless carriages/internet/whatever] will never take the place of a real [flintlock/horse/distribution channel/whatever]"). And those who were early adopters then, would be early adopters today. The difference, is that today, there are more of each ... and more access to each.

-----
> New territory requires a new map and new
> methods for getting over it
-----

A new map, to be sure, or an up-to-date overlay on an old one, either of which would be essential for navigation. But a map and compass works just as well as a GPS if you know what you're doing. And both will end up giving the the same answer.

The technology has changed. Our tools have changed. Our information has changed. The environment has changed. These things not only have changed, but will continue to change.

But, so far, I've not seen a sea change in either people or the methodology by which to build a successful appeal to them.

There are new techniques of breaking through the noise and overcoming skepticism, in response to what is happening. But, having done that, at the end of the day you are still face-to-face with a human being.




John Kuraoka, freelance advertising copywriter