Sales Loudmouth
Sales Loudmouth
The Challenge of Self-Analysis
Having decided it was time to get better at golf, I contacted a PGA professional at my local driving range and signed up for a series of lessons. On the evening of the first lesson, I eagerly
packed my clubs into the trunk of my dark green Passat and drove the two miles to the range - dreaming of the day when failing to break 80 would elicit howls of pain and protests of "I haven't played
that poorly in years!" As it was, those days were currently reserved for failing to break 100.
...
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How a Consumer Decides
During many of the conversations that I have with business owners, I hear some variation of the following:
"We're getting away from print advertising and focusing more on the internet."
I usually try to understand more by asking:
"How do you mean?"
While the grammar may be a bit suspect, this question serves the purpose of getting a clarified answer much better than the typical, "What do you mean?"
"We are spending money on an SEO and SEM campaign so ...
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Sources of Inspirational Support
On the same day last week, I spoke to two people who've had a tremendous influence on my life for different reasons and in different ways. The first was Allen.
Allen and I worked together at a radio station back in the go-go days of the late 90's/ early 00's. He was an Account Manager and I was the Sales Manager - which made friendship a dicey
situation. But, friends we were and it was as a friend that I sat down with Allen one day and told him it was time for him to ...
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The Truth About Everything
Today a person called me to inquire about buying advertising in the Money Mailer envelope. She asked how much it costs and what she could expect in terms of results. Then she said this,
"And don't lie. I need to know the truth. You want to do business, I want to do business but it has to make sense."
Yes, it does. Otherwise, I will be re-building my business every single month as one unhappy advertiser after another departs for greener pastures. But, the truth can hurt.
And, I didn't want ...
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When Your Best Isn't Good Enough
I went into the relationship with the highest of hopes. To me, all the elements were in place for a very successful partnership that could last ten years:
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1) The business was a perfect match for Money Mailer. Their target consumer - suburban families - is our target consumer.
2) The business was likely to come out of the gates generating $30,000 - $50,000 per month - which would make it easy for the owner to pay his bills and take his time about determining the right
marketing mix. In other words, this ...
A Tale of Two Prospects
The warehouse-style building set sideways to the street housed five or six auto service businesses. Each occupied a large bay with smaller rooms used for administration and it was here that I
entered Gary's auto service company. Having spoken to Gary on the phone, I was expecting a man in his 60's and there he was behind the counter. I smiled and extended my hand as I walked
through the door. Gary did neither.
Gary didn't look well. His long, gray hair was combed back revealing age spots on his scalp. His hands were ...
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Advertising that Works
On our daily quest for new business, you and I have a lot of conversations with prospects about advertising. Mostly, it's them telling us what kind of advertising works and what kind doesn't
work. Sometimes this is amusing and sometimes its aggravating - depending, I suppose, on how successful we've been at finding those business owners who believe our media falls into the latter
category.
I'm sure you have examples of interactions that strain credulity but here's one that happened to me not long ago. This conversation was with the owner of a Little ...
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Help Me to Help You
There is a scene in the movie Jerry Maguire that I was thinking about the other day. You remember this movie, starring Tom Cruise as the independent sports agent whose only client is
Cuba Gooding Jr. Gooding's character, Rod, is a professional football player in the final year of his contract who is struggling to prove that he deserves the type of money reserved for the
upper echelon. Rod doesn't do himself any favors with management with both his performance and his attitude. Finally, Jerry is at his wit's end and he confronts Rod in the locker ...
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"Dad, Your Job Stinks!"
The house was ready and we had the keys but the moving truck had not yet arrived so we couldn't spend the night. The logistics of moving clear across the country had been every bit as
challenging as we had imagined.
I booked a room at the Residence Inn for Silvia, Thomas (9) and me while Matthew (7) and Julia (5) spent the night in Orange County with Grandma and Papa. Silvia and Thomas could have
stayed in Orange County, too, except that Thomas had soccer tryouts later that day (Monday) and the next. ...
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Dumb and Dumber
I shake my head to break up the daydream and find myself back in the Terra Nova Plaza in Chula Vista. The center is huge and I decide I'm going to hit every single store because:
1) Pretty much everyone is "qualified" to buy advertising from Money Mailer. On the low end, you can get in the envelope for about $300 per month. I'm thinking if you can afford rent
in the Terra Nova Plaza you can afford three hundred bucks a month to let people know about it.
2) ...
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Tim J. M. Rohrer
A recognized leader in sales, sales management & sales training. Available for speaking engagements - tim@timrohrer.net 
Honors
