Here’s me, when I used to sell newspapers. 🙂
Today, a personal story on the way to uncovering the most powerful, profitable sales transformation you can make…
When I was in college, I spent a good amount of time selling subscriptions for the local newspaper.
Mostly, it was a telemarketing operation. That’s what I expected going in.
But then I had an interesting opportunity come up.
I was given the chance to help build out our “kiosk” operation.
Basically, we had a little portable podium we’d set up in local grocery stores. And from that kiosk, we’d give away today’s newspaper as a way to start the conversation around selling subscriptions.
You might recognize the model. It’s the same thing that happens when someone offers you a free report or recording or video or whatever in exchange for opting in on their website.
We were giving away something for free, so we could start the sales conversation.
The thinking was sound, and the results were okay.
I’m not going to tell you I was a superstar salesperson in that job. I more than earned my keep, but I wasn’t amazing at it. But we had a very basic system that worked…
We’d offer random passersby today’s paper, free.
If they declined, they probably weren’t a fit for reading the paper. Some would say, “No thanks, I already have it at home.” Whatever excuse, we didn’t worry too much about the people who turned down the free paper.
For those who took the free paper though, we’d ask, “Are you currently getting the paper at home?” Simple question — enough to start the conversation.
If the answer was yes, we’d often figure out they were getting the weekend, for example. We’d double-check all was well with the subscription. We may gently offer an upgrade, and some would take it. Either way, they’d soon be on their way.
On to the folks who said no, they weren’t taking the paper. We’d go straight for the pitch. We’d offer up our current special on the 7-day paper. $2.50 per week was usually the best rate.
If they said yes, we’d sign them up on the spot. We’d try to get payment, because of higher commissions and because it reduced the paper’s risk of nonpayment.
If they said no, we’d try to down-sell them to the weekends only.
No matter which way you slice it, most interactions were done in 30 seconds or less… And most did NOT end in a sale.
The alternate approach to selling papers that I never got to try…
I was well out of that newspaper job before I really started to understand sales and marketing.
But if I were selling those papers today, I’d go at it a very different way. And I guarantee I’d far outperform everyone else selling those papers in the stores.
And the difference in these two approaches will highlight the most powerful, profitable sales transformation you can make.
For now, my new and improved approach.
The first thing I’d do is go to the publisher of the paper and ask them to survey the community on their behalf, and provide feedback on folks’ opinions of the paper.
Then, I’d sit down and write out that survey, with a few important goals in mind.
- I’d want to figure out if the person read the paper, even infrequently.
- I’d want to figure out of if they had favorite sections or features of the paper — what their reasons were for reading.
- I’d want to figure out their general impression of the paper, and had specific feedback for the publisher.
- I’d want to figure out if they had ever subscribed to the paper, and on what frequency (daily, weekends, etc.).
- I’d want to figure out if they currently subscribed.
The questions should be relatively short, easy-to-answer, and directed. Also, certain questions like the favorite section or feature of the paper should have cues I could use to let them pick if something didn’t come to mind right away. (And to point out the many things that they actually like in the paper, but don’t think of off the top of their mind.)
Important, I’d also find a way to make the survey naturally transition into an order form. At the end of the survey, IF appropriate, I’d want to be able to naturally transition to the order.
I’d print out a ton of copies of the survey and stick them on a clipboard.
I’d take that, my kiosk, and my pile of free papers to the store.
And instead of asking every passerby, “Free paper?”
I’d say, “Would you care to give your opinion about the Journal Star?”
Here’s a little hint about how that would be received…
100% of people have opinions, and 99% of them are dying to share it.
Everybody recognizes the “Free paper” ploy as the beginning of a sales pitch.
The survey, with the clipboard, feels very different.
And because I’ve made my survey legitimate (going to the publisher, writing pointed questions) it will continue to feel different once they engage.
I’d start by walking them through the survey, ME writing their answers down.
“How often would you say you read the paper? Daily? Weekly? A couple times a month? A couple times a year?”
“Which are your favorite sections of the paper?”
“You mentioned XYZ… Let me run through a short list and will you tell me if you regularly read these sections, too?”
“Do you use the coupons in the paper, or use the ads to help you make shopping decisions?”
“If you were telling a friend your unvarnished opinion of the paper, what would you tell them?”
“What do you wish the publisher of the paper would understand about how folks like you feel about the paper?”
“For this survey, we like to track responses by zip code, to help us understand our different readers throughout the area — what’s your zip code?”
(Important — this tells you if they’re in town or out — very important for newspaper delivery. It also sets them up giving even a tiny bit of personal information for making the sale later.)
“Are you currently a subscriber?”
If yes… “Which days do you get at home?”
If no… “Have you ever subscribed?”
And here’s where a little thinking on the fly has to happen…
You look at all their answers… Their favorite sections of the paper, their general impressions, all the information they’ve given you up until this point…
And you personalize the sales pitch based on what you know about them.
“Oh, you mentioned that you hardly read it in the summer, because you’re out doing other things… But you love the Husker Football coverage? But you’re telling me you haven’t started it again this season? Well, how about we get you started back up just for the football season… You can get it for the next…”
“You mentioned you like to read a lot of the paper, but you only get it delivered on Sunday for the ads and coupons… Did you know we have a Wednesday-Sunday subscription for just a quarter more per week? Heck, one coupon can probably pay for that and then some! Would you like me to upgrade that subscription starting with next Wednesday?”
You get the point, I hope.
And then I’d end EVERY survey with giving out a free paper.
If they subscribed, it’d be my thank you gift for getting their subscription started.
If they didn’t subscribe, it’d be my thank you for sharing their opinion on the paper today.
And then I would legitimately, maybe once per month, compile the answers and share an overview with the publisher of the paper. This keeps my promise to the survey respondents, upholds the legitimacy of the survey, and perhaps helps the newspaper better serve its constituents.
Can you feel how different this entire presentation was?
With the free paper and the pitch, I was completely in it for me. With the survey, I was in it for my customers.
Now let me break down the lesson — the most powerful, profitable sales transformation you can make…
The rookie salesperson has a solution in need of a problem. The pro salesperson finds a problem in need of a solution.
They can both be selling the same product or service — above, a newspaper subscription.
The rookie salesperson has a deal on the newspaper, and use brute force methods to try to find someone who wants the newspaper and is willing to listen to the deal.
The pro salesperson doesn’t put their solution first.
Rather, they focus on the customer and what they want.
First, they seek to understand if there is a problem that needs to be solved.
They look not only at what the problem is, but how their product is uniquely positioned to solve it.
This entire conversation, the customer feels like the pro salesperson isn’t even doing their job. Because the pro salesperson isn’t talking about their product or what they’re trying to sell — they’re talking about the customer.
Eventually, they’ll bring the conversation back around to the product. But the pro salesperson is legitimately interested in finding out what the customer wants, and helping them get it. Sometimes, this means NOT selling their own solution. A pro salesperson is just as happy to find someone is not a fit and move on, as to make the sale. Because they’re looking for problems to solve. And to be able to solve the problem, they have to know their solution is a good fit.
As I finish writing this, I believe this is one of the most important issues of Breakthrough Marketing Secrets I’ve ever written, and probably will ever write…
If you take its lesson to heart, and really try to internalize it and then apply it to your own life, you will substantially increase your sales results.
It’s the practical application behind Zig Ziglar’s famous quote, “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”
Please, let me know what difference it makes in YOUR life.
Yours for bigger breakthroughs,
Roy Furr
Editor, Breakthrough Marketing Secrets
