The First Appointment
Have a conversation, not an interrogation (Part I)
Greg Murray for Radio Ink Magazine 

Asking the right questions to a prospect in your initial meeting solidifies your credibility as a marketing professional.  A relaxed conversation instead of an uncomfortable needs analysis is step one for achieving rapport and a long-term business relationship.  

Let your prospect know what is to come in this meeting.  It will relieve tension that you are going to make a pitch.  Tell them you appreciate their time, how long the meeting will take, and what you hope to accomplish in your conversation, including matching up the right audience with their business, getting an appropriate budget, and what style commercial would best deliver customers.

In pre-appointment research you should already know their phone number, location, web address, hours of operation, and how long they have been in business.  The remaining questions you can modify into your own words to create a conversational interview that is natural for you.

This opening question will allow you to connect future recommendations to benefits they can already envision. 

Q: “There are many reasons our clients advertise with us, from name awareness to promoting specific products to counter attacking competitors, or utilizing co-op dollars.  Help give me some ideas how you could see advertising on radio helping you? ”

Gain a detailed description of their target customer.  Knowing whom they want to talk to allows you to match up the appropriate format or dayparts to their desired target audience.  It will also give you an idea of what style would work best for a demo commercial.  Find out how the answers to these questions match up with their current customers.  Let them give you all the information to each of these questions one at a time.

Q:  “Give me an idea of who we want to talk to…are they male or female?”  “What would be their age?”  “What would be their household income?”  “Would they have a college degree?”  “What would their hobbies be?”  “What kind of car would they drive?”

The line of questions surrounding competition and unique selling positions often gets a prospect emotionally charged into the conversation.  Getting detailed answers will allow you develop the right presentation idea and a winning demo commercial.

Q:  “Who do you see as your primary competitors?” “What do you offer that they don’t?”  “Why would I want to do business here rather than your competitors?”  “Are there any misconceptions potential customers might have of your business?”   “What would you say are your unique selling position(s)? 

Get deep with the USP.  Don’t allow them to cop out on the typical “we have great service” or “we’ve been in business for twenty-five years.  Think niche marketing!  Finding even the smallest extras they do for a customer is a great hook that can sound terrific in a demo commercial.   

Know some geography surrounding their business to help reinforce your coverage area with the areas they want to reach. 

Q:  “How far away do people come to business with you?”  “Is there a specific area that we would want to focus on in a commercial?” 

Find out the prospects best and worst times in which they do business.  This will allow you to arrange your presentations to the times in which they want or need to be advertising. 

Q:  “What are your best months for doing business?”  What days of the week are best?”  What are your slower days of the week or months of the year?”  “Do you think focusing a campaign or a commercial on improving your slower times could drive new traffic?”  

By this point in your conversation you should have achieved some rapport.  It is time to ask some touchier questions.  Just keep it conversational and don’t let their answers or lack of answers phase you. 

Q:  “What types of advertising have worked best for you in the past?”  “What would you say has worked least?” “What did dislike most about (what hasn’t worked well)?”

Knowing their problems with other advertising mediums gives you terrific leverage when you are presenting radio against their choices in the past.

In Part II we will discover the prospects budget, the style of commercial that would sell, their expectations, and a smooth wrap up that will prepare us to deliver a well-constructed presentation and demo commercial.

Commit all your questions to memory.  Having a conversation instead of an interrogation on your first appointment will solidify your reputation as a professional, and give you the cleanest opportunity to gain a new client and business partner.

The First Appointment
Have a conversation, not an interrogation (Part II)
Greg Murray for Radio Ink Magazine 

In Part I of “The First Appointment” we discovered asking the right questions in your initial meeting would help solidify your credibility as marketing professional.  A relaxed conversation interview is your first step for achieving a long-term business relationship. 

Our first appointment began with relieving prospect tension by telling them what you hoped to accomplish, including matching up the right audience with their business, getting an appropriate budget, and what style commercial would best deliver customers.

In pre-appointment research we found out phone numbers, locations, web address, hours, and how long they had been in business.  Then in our meeting we discovered how they could see advertising on radio helping, details of their target customer, an overview of competition and unique selling positions, peak and slow business times, as well as previous advertising ventures.

It’s now time to talk budget.  Discovering what a prospect can spend is essential.  If you can not establish a budget by finding out average sale, closing ratio, weekly sales, and desired growth percentage, you may need to play high-low! 

Q: “We have heavy clients that invest up to (high-end average) each month on a station and demand strong results.  We also have clients on a tight budget who just want some name recognition and spend as little as (low-end average).  That is a big difference, but considering the results you want to achieve, what investment range would work best for your situation.” 

Now be quiet and let them give you an estimate they would like to invest.  If it is too broad for a three-option presentation, lead them in narrowing down their figures.

Now your prospect can begin thinking about how they envision their potential commercial sounding on the air.  Knowing what style radio commercial they want gives you the best opportunity to write and produce one that will sell.

Q:  “What style of commercial do you think could be most effective for generating business?”  How would it sound and feel?  Perhaps fun, or a hard sell, a straight read, slice of life, testimonial, or something highly creative with all the bells and whistles?”

Q:  “Some under the radar boasting can sound good in a commercial.  Are there awards, recognition, certifications or customer accolades you could tell me about?”

Q:  “Besides sales, are there other sources of your revenue we should focus on (such as repeat customers, referrals, financing, service, delivery fees, etc….)?”

Q:  “Is there anything else you can tell me that would help us put together an effective campaign?  The more details I know, the better the ideas I can provide you.”

Find out the prospects expectations for results.  Knowing what they expect can give you a wider view of what you are going to need to ask for in terms of budget and time commitment to their campaign.  Meeting client’s expectations is the only way you will achieve their business for the long haul.

Q:  “Tell me your expectations of a successful run on radio?”  “What would you really like to achieve?”

Here is an easy way to wind up your conversation while finding out if there is more than one decision maker.

Q: “Thanks for your time and all this helpful information.  Your openness sure makes it easier to put together ideas that will work.  I’ll get with the creative people back at the station and put together some ideas for you to consider.  Is there anyone else I should make copies for that are part of your decision making?”

Get your follow-up appointment set before you leave.

Q:  “Would this time next week work for you so I could bring back some ideas?”  If not, “When would work for you.”

End:  “I hope you won’t mind if I need to give you a quick call for some follow up information as we go to work.  Thanks again for seeing me.  I appreciate it and hope we can help you __________ (think back to what they wanted to achieve by advertising on radio).” 

With the detailed questions from above and Part I, you should have enough information to move ahead with a marketing-plan or what you should present in your next visit.  Remember to reintroduce what your prospect told you in your initial meeting.  Your recycling of what they have told you during your pitch will give you amazing credibility.

Commit your questions to memory.  Having a conversation instead of an interrogation on your first appointment will give you the cleanest opportunity to gain a new client and business partner.

Sales Imaging's, Greg Murray is a Radio Ink Columnist, RAB Speaker, CRMC Diamond, and Microsoft Certified Specialist.