Foster Continual Education
Bringing sales reps up to speed and continually educating them on digital tools, technologies and tactics is a critical success factor for any station making a digital transformation. Here are the most important messages to convey to sales teams:
• As skilled professionals, radio reps need to know and be able to offer the most up-to-date tactics available. Professionals in many other fields require quarterly, semi-annual, or annual training. Can you imagine going to a dentist that was last trained in 1988? How about trusting your life to an airline pilot that was last trained 10 years ago? We trust those practitioners to be up to speed on the most current technology, safety issues and other factors that define their fields. Likewise, radio clients want their sales pros to be up to speed on how to help them achieve the best ROI on their advertising investment.
• Constant and ongoing training isn’t a waste of time that will take sales reps away from selling. Rather, it is a tool that will keep them consistently at the top of their game. Expanded knowledge will help them sell more and get a better ROI for their advertisers. They’ll be able to offer a thought-out campaign product mix and creative strategy that will deliver maximum success.
• Our landscape is changing daily, making continuous training critical. Even existing digital products are constantly being updated with new features or functionality. Staying up to speed on these products will help sales reps make informed recommendations and deliver maximum advertising performance, which in turn will foster greater trust between reps and clients.
• The increased confidence reps gain through education will lead to increased sales and stronger relationships with clients. As reps become local advertising experts, their clients will trust them with more of their advertising dollars.
Source: Todd Kalman, SVP of Sales, Marketron
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