Meranda Writes' blog caught my eye today. Hassled by her editor to submit some of her stories for national awards, she confesses that awards or "external praise," as she calls it, serve as no motivation for her when it comes to doing her job.
Motivation is actually something that I've given quite a bit of thought to lately, yet it's a topic that doesn't seem to come up much. Motivation just exists. It just "is," like breathing or walking. Everyone is motivated by something, but we don't often take time to think about what it is that continues to push us and drive us to achieve our highest potential.
In an attempt to coax more daily progress out of my newspaper-focused coworkers (aside: remember that I'm the only magazine rep, so I'm on a completely different schedule from them), my ad director initiated the Awesomeness Board. Posted right outside her door, the Awesomeness Board consists of a piece of posterboard with our names written down the left-hand side and plenty of empty space next to them. The idea: every time one of us does something awesome, we get a sticker. The sticker then goes next to our name on the Awesomeness Board for all the world to see.
Apparently, the Awesomeness Board works wonders for my coworkers. They all have so many stickers that we'll need to add another board soon. I think have four stickers total. I was honest with my boss.
"That doesn't motivate me."
"Well, it doesn't motivate me either," she said. "Money motivates me."
Ah, money. I can think of at least two more of my coworkers who are driven by cash. Offer a $150 spiff and they'll work and work and work until they meet their goals. However, at the moment, money doesn't motivate me either. Not that I don't need it. I just don't place as high a value on it as my married coworkers with two or three kids to support.
So what does motivate me?
Expectations. Goals. I want to be the best of the best. I want to surpass everyone's expectations and then some. I want to do better than my predecessor. I want people to be amazed at what I can do at my age. I want challenges, and I want obstacles. And I want to blow it out of the water.
I think my boss has figured it out already. Two weeks ago I met my goal on one of my magazines. While I was happily rejoicing, she looked at me and said, "I want you to get $1,000 more." At first, I looked at her in astonishment. There was no spiff involved, no bonus, no extra anything. There was just the challenge. A week later, it was done. $1,700 over my goal.
So yeah, money's nice. Being awesome is nice. Winning awards is nice. But ultimately, meeting challenges and being above average is what drives me to succeed.
What motivates you?
Showing posts with label sales. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sales. Show all posts
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Lunch Duty Rap - Week 4, Persistence Pays Off
It's amazing what three months of sales experience will do for you.
Through my own experiences as well as watching my coworkers, I've gone from thinking solely like a reporter to understanding the vital importance of the sales team and how the whole process goes down. Of course, I still have much to learn, but I can't even imagine what 15 or 30 plus years of experience would give someone.
One of the most useful things I've learned is the importance of persistence. I know it sounds a little cliché, but without it, you're not going to meet your sales goals.
I've already explained my process as far as how I go about getting in touch with my customers. I do anything from calling to emailing to dropping in for a quick chat. For most of my customers, it works fine on the first visit. However, with some, it might take weeks to track them down.
With each magazine, I end up with a list of people that I can't get on the first try. So I wait a couple days and try again. Still nothing? Wait a week, try again. Repeat. I get frustrated and agitated and want to just throw my hands up in the air in defeat. But it never fails - when I'm down to the wire and I try them that one last time and finally get a yes, it's worth all the trouble I went to to get it.
Persistence is one of the hardest skills to maintain but one of the most rewarding, as long as you:
1. Get over the frustration of not being able to reach a customer.
2. Don't forget about the customer. Write it down and make sure you try them at least one last time before your deadline.
3. Ignore the idea that you're bugging their assistant to death and she's eventually just going to hang up when she hears your voice.
4. Start calling your customers early. The longer you have before your deadline, the more time you have to track people down.
Then, I can guarantee that persistence will ultimately push you over your goal in the end.
Through my own experiences as well as watching my coworkers, I've gone from thinking solely like a reporter to understanding the vital importance of the sales team and how the whole process goes down. Of course, I still have much to learn, but I can't even imagine what 15 or 30 plus years of experience would give someone.
One of the most useful things I've learned is the importance of persistence. I know it sounds a little cliché, but without it, you're not going to meet your sales goals.
I've already explained my process as far as how I go about getting in touch with my customers. I do anything from calling to emailing to dropping in for a quick chat. For most of my customers, it works fine on the first visit. However, with some, it might take weeks to track them down.
With each magazine, I end up with a list of people that I can't get on the first try. So I wait a couple days and try again. Still nothing? Wait a week, try again. Repeat. I get frustrated and agitated and want to just throw my hands up in the air in defeat. But it never fails - when I'm down to the wire and I try them that one last time and finally get a yes, it's worth all the trouble I went to to get it.
Persistence is one of the hardest skills to maintain but one of the most rewarding, as long as you:
1. Get over the frustration of not being able to reach a customer.
2. Don't forget about the customer. Write it down and make sure you try them at least one last time before your deadline.
3. Ignore the idea that you're bugging their assistant to death and she's eventually just going to hang up when she hears your voice.
4. Start calling your customers early. The longer you have before your deadline, the more time you have to track people down.
Then, I can guarantee that persistence will ultimately push you over your goal in the end.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Good news and bad news for newspapers
With real estate taking a nose dive and the automotive industry not far behind, it's no wonder newspaper advertising numbers are down more than ever.
Reflections of a Newsosaur's post on the effects of car dealerships' closings on local advertising rings eerily true with my own newspaper.
When I started at the Gazette about a month ago, there were grumblings from all the reps about being gold against such big numbers from last year's sales. But the one who grumbled the least was actually the one who'd lost the most.
This rep had been in control of all real estate advertising in addition to her local territory. When I looked at the sales sheet, I couldn't believe my eyes. She sold tens of thousands of dollars in real estate each month last year. Now, she's pulling around $1,000, or $2,000 in a good month. That means she won't be making her goals for at least a year and maybe more if real estate keeps falling. And you won't ever hear her complain about it.
Not to mention that that's hundreds of thousands of dollars lost to the newspaper itself. And if automotive dealers go the way of real estate, then we're in big trouble.
But the good news for newspapers, according to Reflections of a Newsosaur, is that broadcast news is set to take a bigger hit in automotive advertising losses than print news.
Think about all of the car dealership ads that you see on TV. Hometown ads with all kinds of graphics and children and little jingles. Most of those could disappear, and without the campaign ads that flooded TVs last year and lined the broadcast industry's pockets, broadcast news is in for a big hit this year.
While that's good news for newspapers, I'm a firm believer that we're all in this together. If it's a hit to broadcast news, it's a hit to the journalism industry itself. And whether we're newspapers, radio, broadcast or online, that means we're all going to have to work a little bit harder to make things work.
Reflections of a Newsosaur's post on the effects of car dealerships' closings on local advertising rings eerily true with my own newspaper.
When I started at the Gazette about a month ago, there were grumblings from all the reps about being gold against such big numbers from last year's sales. But the one who grumbled the least was actually the one who'd lost the most.
This rep had been in control of all real estate advertising in addition to her local territory. When I looked at the sales sheet, I couldn't believe my eyes. She sold tens of thousands of dollars in real estate each month last year. Now, she's pulling around $1,000, or $2,000 in a good month. That means she won't be making her goals for at least a year and maybe more if real estate keeps falling. And you won't ever hear her complain about it.
Not to mention that that's hundreds of thousands of dollars lost to the newspaper itself. And if automotive dealers go the way of real estate, then we're in big trouble.
But the good news for newspapers, according to Reflections of a Newsosaur, is that broadcast news is set to take a bigger hit in automotive advertising losses than print news.
Think about all of the car dealership ads that you see on TV. Hometown ads with all kinds of graphics and children and little jingles. Most of those could disappear, and without the campaign ads that flooded TVs last year and lined the broadcast industry's pockets, broadcast news is in for a big hit this year.
While that's good news for newspapers, I'm a firm believer that we're all in this together. If it's a hit to broadcast news, it's a hit to the journalism industry itself. And whether we're newspapers, radio, broadcast or online, that means we're all going to have to work a little bit harder to make things work.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Lunch Duty Rap - Week 1
Since I'm the newbie, I have "lunch duty" on Fridays. This means that every Friday, I have be in the office covering for the other reps while they're at lunch from 12 to 1. Today, all the reps are eating Mexican food, and I get to sit here for an hour to answer phones and help customers who come in. Except that in Tifton, everyone goes to lunch from 12 to 1, so no one ever calls or comes in.
Well, I've hereby decided that every Friday, I'm going to keep myself busy by posting a Lunch Duty Rap about something I've learned during the week or something I read that day or whatever I deem important at the time.
This week, I'm attacking the effectiveness of different selling tactics.
I've been actively selling advertising for three weeks, and I've officially tackled an entire magazine on my own. A feat in itself! But I've also quickly learned some valuable things about sales and the best ways to get an exuberant "yes" out of people. I've been e-mailing, phoning and visiting my customers like crazy, yet not all of these three strategies get good responses. Here's the scoop.
E-mail
Obviously the easiest option. Just plug in an email address, write out your sales pitch, suck up a little bit, attach a rate card and you're good to go, right?
Wrooong. I detest e-mailing as an option. With e-mail, people can ignore you, delete your e-mails, never e-mail you back, and then you're left with a bunch of holes in your publication that you can't fill because you've been waiting on responses from people for a month. Frustrating.
However, my ad director did introduce me to a wonderful tool to make e-mail response a little more effective. Sometimes e-mail is necessary if the customer lives outside of the immediate area or is too busy during the day to chat or visit. For those unfortunate times, a "read receipt" is your saving grace. When you know that your customer has read your email, and your customer knows that you know, you find yourself in a priceless position of power.
Phone
Also easy, as long as you don't have a phone phobia (which I'm ashamed to say I've had on occasion). So just call up your customers, give them the scoop, get the sale and move on, right?
Sometimes. Actually, the phone is a lot more effective than I thought it'd be. I've made lots of sales just by calling someone up and talking to them for a while.
However, there are times when it's not such a great option. There are two cases in particular: when you're dealing with gate keepers and the absence of face-to-face communication.
Gate Keepers
"Good morning! This is Kelly with the Gazette, how are you?"
"Err, fine..."
"Is Mr. So-and-So available?"
"Ummm no... he's... uh... he's busy right now... Can I take a message?"
Chances are, that message is never going to reach the desk of who you want to talk to. "Gate keepers" are the office managers and administrative assistants who hold the keys to the person you're trying to sweet talk. The trick? Kill them with kindness. Eventually, maybe they'll start to like you and at least give you his voicemail.
Face-to-Face Communication
Never underestimate the importance of communicating with someone in person. Whether it's in your own personal relationships or professional ones, it's always harder for people to turn you down to your face. End of story.
Sales calls
Last but not least, sales calls - the most efficient means of effectively conveying exactly what you want your customer to know and getting good results. Despite the name, a sales call isn't a "call" at all. It's simply paying a visit - in person - to your customer.
Smiling, chatting, showing them examples of products, actively listening to them - these are all things that your customers will appreciate and respect, most of the time. And sales calls are my personal favorite because they get me out of the office and out into the community to talk to people and learn new things.
Well, I've hereby decided that every Friday, I'm going to keep myself busy by posting a Lunch Duty Rap about something I've learned during the week or something I read that day or whatever I deem important at the time.
This week, I'm attacking the effectiveness of different selling tactics.
I've been actively selling advertising for three weeks, and I've officially tackled an entire magazine on my own. A feat in itself! But I've also quickly learned some valuable things about sales and the best ways to get an exuberant "yes" out of people. I've been e-mailing, phoning and visiting my customers like crazy, yet not all of these three strategies get good responses. Here's the scoop.
Obviously the easiest option. Just plug in an email address, write out your sales pitch, suck up a little bit, attach a rate card and you're good to go, right?
Wrooong. I detest e-mailing as an option. With e-mail, people can ignore you, delete your e-mails, never e-mail you back, and then you're left with a bunch of holes in your publication that you can't fill because you've been waiting on responses from people for a month. Frustrating.
However, my ad director did introduce me to a wonderful tool to make e-mail response a little more effective. Sometimes e-mail is necessary if the customer lives outside of the immediate area or is too busy during the day to chat or visit. For those unfortunate times, a "read receipt" is your saving grace. When you know that your customer has read your email, and your customer knows that you know, you find yourself in a priceless position of power.
Phone
Also easy, as long as you don't have a phone phobia (which I'm ashamed to say I've had on occasion). So just call up your customers, give them the scoop, get the sale and move on, right?
Sometimes. Actually, the phone is a lot more effective than I thought it'd be. I've made lots of sales just by calling someone up and talking to them for a while.
However, there are times when it's not such a great option. There are two cases in particular: when you're dealing with gate keepers and the absence of face-to-face communication.
Gate Keepers
"Good morning! This is Kelly with the Gazette, how are you?"
"Err, fine..."
"Is Mr. So-and-So available?"
"Ummm no... he's... uh... he's busy right now... Can I take a message?"
Chances are, that message is never going to reach the desk of who you want to talk to. "Gate keepers" are the office managers and administrative assistants who hold the keys to the person you're trying to sweet talk. The trick? Kill them with kindness. Eventually, maybe they'll start to like you and at least give you his voicemail.
Face-to-Face Communication
Never underestimate the importance of communicating with someone in person. Whether it's in your own personal relationships or professional ones, it's always harder for people to turn you down to your face. End of story.
Sales calls
Last but not least, sales calls - the most efficient means of effectively conveying exactly what you want your customer to know and getting good results. Despite the name, a sales call isn't a "call" at all. It's simply paying a visit - in person - to your customer.
Smiling, chatting, showing them examples of products, actively listening to them - these are all things that your customers will appreciate and respect, most of the time. And sales calls are my personal favorite because they get me out of the office and out into the community to talk to people and learn new things.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Second day update
Just a quick update:
Yesterday, I started my new job as a magazine sales executive for a community newspaper.
I'm sure I've pointed out before that I had no previous sales experience before now. I knew newsrooms like the back of my hand but ad departments were totally foreign to me, and I was worried about whether I'd be able to train my mind to stop thinking like a reporter and start operating like a salesperson.
Well, that transition is underway, and it's happening much faster than I thought it would. While I've only worked two full days on the job so far, I'm learning so much and actually retaining information (something that's usually rare for me).
Today was a blur of sales calls, new faces, business cards, merchandise and shaking hands. Yet another power day for Kelly Ann Frizzell, budding journalist! Let's hope there are plenty more to follow.
Yesterday, I started my new job as a magazine sales executive for a community newspaper.
I'm sure I've pointed out before that I had no previous sales experience before now. I knew newsrooms like the back of my hand but ad departments were totally foreign to me, and I was worried about whether I'd be able to train my mind to stop thinking like a reporter and start operating like a salesperson.
Well, that transition is underway, and it's happening much faster than I thought it would. While I've only worked two full days on the job so far, I'm learning so much and actually retaining information (something that's usually rare for me).
Today was a blur of sales calls, new faces, business cards, merchandise and shaking hands. Yet another power day for Kelly Ann Frizzell, budding journalist! Let's hope there are plenty more to follow.
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