Radio GMs Place Training at Top of List for Fueling Digital Sales Success

Does the training you offer keep the same themes from lesson to lesson? You may consider these themes as fundamentals, which can refer to tactics, approaches and unique selling propositions.

Mixed messages sow confusion. Sellers may also discount the training if the content contains inconsistencies.

Training also needs to build on previous learnings. For example, you may be training on geofencing and how it can benefit advertisers. In one lesson, you may focus on how to use it for foot traffic. The next week you can train on a different approach, like geofencing competitors.

Role-play should be part of sales training. They set up a specific scenario of objections or questions faced in the field. It’s a time for sellers to practice their responses and get ideas from the group. Some follow-up homework after the training is useful, as well, helping sellers be prepared.

Certain foundational elements are a part of selling successfully; training should reiterate and address them.

Unique selling proposition (USP)

It’s what makes your offerings distinctive. It’s not the tactics, as they are mostly a commodity. Your team’s first USP is themselves and their local expertise and knowledge. Nobody knows the market like your people do!

Customer needs analysis (CNA) coaching

Sellers can also improve on CNAs. Coaching them on ways to do so can move the needle. Make it clear that a CNA is about understanding the advertiser’s needs and challenges. It’s pushing tactics because they’re popular. When that is the focus, they can best recommend a media plan that includes many channels that will best serve that company.

Recapping CNAs is a great training experience. You can even conduct them with the seller. In reviewing them, be sure to find two things that were strong and at least one area for improvement.

Valid business reason (VBR) exercises

Initial outreach must define why an advertiser would want to meet with them, and that’s the VBR. Those that break through the noise allude to market research and industry trends, refer to what advertisers are doing now and offer specific solutions. These should be tenets in training.

Being a source of ideas for advertisers

Can you train sellers to be ideators? Maybe, but they don’t have to do this alone.

How do you actually train for this? Discuss vertical-specific and personalized campaign recommendations. Use role-play to bring about ideas. Encourage sellers to share successes, and guide them toward resources that can help, like our Aspire blog.

You can provide training and give them a library of options, but it won’t make digital sales successful without accountability and goal setting.

You must hold them to account based on what was presented in training. If you don’t, they won’t take it seriously and will fall back into old patterns.

The best way to do this is to require digital have its own goals. Don’t lump it in with radio or O&O. These should be specific, not just in the amount, but in what they measure. You can set goals with your salespeople around proposal numbers and their values. These are concrete and not ambiguous.

Markets, the economy, consumer behavior and digital tactics are constantly changing. New challenges and opportunities arise. Staying agile in digital sales training is a must to keep up with this volatility.

When shifts occur, seek out trusted resources for guidance, tap into your own expertise and ask for feedback. Doing these things will ensure you can adapt training so it continues to be a driving force behind digital sales success.