Tips to pull yourself out of the pile of mediocrity

“In the land of the blind… the one-eyed man is king.”

I have always loved that quote, written by 14th Century scholar Desiderius Erasmus. I love the quote because it describes to me one of the biggest secrets of success. You don’t have to do a lot more to stand out, because there are so many of your competitors who are working hard to be average.

A few years ago, I was asked by a local car dealer for some advice on his advertising. While the dealer and I were in discussions – a 5-week process – he must have told everyone that he was talking to me, as I was besieged by media reps.

Quite frankly, most were pretty bad. Perry Kapiloff, one of the JDA Senior Consultants, has an ad agency in his spare time. He is constantly scaring me with stories of terrible selling, even from major market reps in Boston where he lives.

On the one hand this should bother all of us. After all, it makes our entire business look bad, and sometimes we end up getting put in the same pile of mediocrity just because we share a business with the idiots.But it’s also good news for you. It means that all you have to do is a little bit more and you’ll really stand out.

It’s the sales rep who brings donuts for the employees at 5AM for a client promoting the Opening Day of hunting season.

Or the rep who teaches her medical client’s staff a script to answer the phone so that leads are converted to patients.

How about the TV rep we heard about during our November Auto Satellite conference who gets through to the COO of a major auto group because he regularly sends links to TV ads on YouTube that he thinks the COO might like.

Or the sales rep who did 3 one-hour meetings for a client who had some sales staff issues.
Yes, all of those stories, and dozens more I’ve heard, are true. And all of those reps have built big businesses with that level of commitment to their clients.

I believe that each of us has to consciously think about how we separate ourselves from our competitors. And I think this is WAY more than tickets and food. It’s information… extra effort… giving a damn… being focused on our clients’ needs more than our own.

It is specific actions. But it’s probably more than that. It’s an attitude of genuine caring. In my opinion, the superstars have it.

I’m betting most of you have it, as well. I’d encourage you to take a one-hour break this week to do the following exercise:

-Write down your 15 largest clients
-Ask yourself what you can do to show them your concern for their business
-Be sure to pay attention to anyone with whom you haven’t engaged recently
-Take action!!!

Is Your Digital Sales Manager Great?

During Call In Day this week, someone told me that in their market at least 3 TV stations are looking for Digital Sales Managers. The ads in the trades seem to confirm that this is a tough job to fill. It seems there are a lot of people who talk a good game, but don’t have the drive and sense of urgency to turn their knowledge into sales growth. And, with all the pressure from our companies to grow this side of our business, it’s critical.

So how do you know you have the right leader?

In the last 6 weeks I’ve had the chance to be around some absolute digital superstars. I won’t mention their names because you’ll all be like vultures, but these people are great. They work in large markets and smaller ones. Some were Digital AE’s, most were Sales Managers. And all of them possessed 3 things:

#1 – They bring a tremendous amount of ENERGY to their work. They are passionate about these products, totally believe they work, and are positive, upbeat people.
#2 – They have the abilty to ENERGIZE the other people on their teams. These stars have done a great job selling and continuing to sell the other AE’s they work with. And they realize that is job #1.
#3 – They sell (with and without the AE’s) products and grow the business. They are EFFECTIVE.

Energy. Energize. Effectiveness. That’s a great way to rank any manager on your team.

PS: As I wrote this, I wondered if because this job is so critical, we should TEST every finalist on their sales aptitude. My 20-year-old daughter understands digital media and loves it. She’s a great personality. But she’d be the first to tell you that she doesn’t think she can sell.Knowledge and passion for these products isn’t enough.