Teaching Your AE’s How Much to Ask For

We’re often asked, “How do you determine how much you should ask a client for?”  We were asked that by one of our clients recently, and I wrote him this email: 

There are a lot of ways we try to get to the "ask" number.  Let me outline a few:

1.     Analyze what the client tells us is not working during the Diagnosis

2.     Call.  Clients are quick to cancel things they don't believe in if they have

3.     A compelling idea supported by success stories. (During this step we’re also looking at where money is being spent that IS working.)

4.     What is the cost of doing nothing?  For example, an eye doctor had just built a $4M surgery center.  Almost as soon as it opened, he learned of changes in Medicare reimbursement for his #1 procedure, which REQUIRED his volume level to go up.  His total budget the previous year was $40K.  We asked for $125K since if he did nothing he was in big trouble.

5.     Is there an economic equation?  Alcohol rehab has 35 beds.  The average fee is $8000 for a month.  Occupancy rates are 65%.  10 unsold beds per month = $80,000 in lost revenue opportunity.  They'd spend a ton to get that.

6.     Are they in a lot of glasses?  Are we one of them?  It's all working or it’s all not working.  They're not sure.  We would consolidate to 2-4 glasses and see what the $$ might be.

7.     Do they have a big dream or a big problem on the horizon?  What’s it worth to deal with that?

8.     And then there are two biggies:

a.     Our personal comfort zone.  I'll bet you and I regularly ask for more than our newer reps will!!

b.    Our personal level of belief.  Do we believe in the power of our product to make a difference in their business?

Hope this answers your question!

I'm done with Lance and others who dont take responsibility for their actions!

Okay, I’m headed to the soapbox. Sorry.

I want nothing to do with Lance Armstrong. Not only did he lie for 15 years, but he vehemently trashed anybody who suggested that he might not be clean from drugs. Trashed them. The wife of a teammate was called a “harridan with a vendetta.” Former teammate Floyd Landis was accused of harassment.

His denials were so intense that Nike even used them in ads. “This is my body and I can do whatever I want to it,” he says in the commercial—inspirational at the time but hollowly ironic now. “I can push it, and study it, tweak it, listen to it,” he continues. “Everybody wants to know what I’m on? I’m on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?”

And in his interview with Oprah this week, all he could do was talk about how the system made him do it. I’ll bet when he was in third grade he said, “The dog ate my homework.”

So what really bothers me about Lance? It’s his failure to accept personal responsibility for his actions. Lance Armstrong took every drug. You and I didn’t have any vote in that. It wasn’t the system, it was his own lack of integrity. And it negates every single thing he did, even what seemed to be his heroic comeback from testicular cancer.

I have a pet peeve about this. I’ve watched AE’s over the years who never believe anything is their fault. It’s the company they work for… the account list they have… the buyers they call on… the economy we’re in… the birth sign they were born under. They fail to take personal responsibility. It seems to be an epidemic in our country.

I believe in the old motto, “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” So, I salute people who take personal responsibility for their lives.

In Jack Canfield’s amazing book, The Success Principles, he says the number one principle is to take 100% responsibility for your life.

So, am I sad that Lance is going to lose millions? Absolutely not. He did it to himself.

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.

John Hannon joins the JDA team!

Jim Doyle and Associates is excited to announce that John Hannon, Executive Vice President of ACME Communications, Inc., has joined Jim Doyle and Associates as Senior Vice President.

While at ACME, John most recently oversaw operations of their station, WBXX, in Knoxville, TN, and syndicated distribution of The Daily Buzz a national morning news program originating from Orlando, FL, as well as assisting with ACME’s sale of assets. Prior to that, John managed ACME’s CW station in Dayton, OH. During his leadership, WBDT was the #1 rated CW affiliate in the nation for four consecutive years. Ironically, it lost that position this year to WBXX while John was running the Knoxville station on an interim basis.

Prior to ACME, John spent time as an AE, LSM, and GSM in Dayton and oversaw the Quorum Broadcasting, ABC and FOX stations in Billings, MT.

“I’ve been a fan of John’s for years,” said Jim Doyle, President of Jim Doyle and Associates. “His station experience and passion for local sales and for TV will make him a critical part of our future.” In addition to working with JDA clients and consultants, John’s number one priority is to bring a brand new Basic Selling program to market in 2012. “I’ve been to Jim’s Sales Manager Boot Camps, watched his national satellite conferences, and participated in his training sessions,” Hannon said. “I am a huge believer in the value JDA provides to broadcasting companies and am thrilled at the opportunity to join the team and launch Basic Selling, a product specifically designed to satisfy an ongoing broadcasting industry need.”

Jim Doyle and Associates is a Sarasota, FL, based Sales Training firm. Hannon joins Jim, Tom Ray, and nine Senior Consultants in providing revenue development and training to TV stations and Cable systems across America.

Characteristics I look for in a new hire

This article originally appeared in The Leaders Edge, Jim's coaching program for managers. For more details, on The Leaders Edge, go to: jimdoyle.com/MediaSalesManager/The-Leaders-Edge

From Tom Ray, Executive Vice President of Jim Doyle and Associates

Here are some of the things I think you should hire for since you can't teach them easily:

-Positive Personality. I want upbeat, energetic, glass-is-half-full people on my team, not Debbie and Donnie Downers.

-Strong understanding of how business works. I want team members who "get" business and are able to determine the win for a client and work towards it.

-Competitive and like to win. I like former athletes and individuals who have excelled in competitions because they are driven to win.

-Naturally curious. Hire people who want to know how things work, how a client's business operates, and who enjoy learning from others.

-Learners. Readers. Self-Improvers. The best AE's I encounter always want to know more.

-Ideal AE's have a firm grasp on technology. They use the tools available to them, they don't fear the computer or smart phone, but embrace it and end up teaching everyone else the tips and tricks they learn.

-Finally, closers. When the work is done and done well, they aren't afraid to ask for the business. Not "closers" who start with the close, but professionals who expect to be rewarded for their efforts, and who know the only way they will be is when the client says, "Let's do it."

Jim weighs in on what he looks for when hiring an AE:

-Are they driven? What Caliper calls Ego drive, which is the deep desire to win. In selling, winning is defined as closing the sale. Ego drive causes sellers to work harder, come in earlier, come back one more time, make cold calls even when they aren't comfortable, work hard to overcome objections.

-Do they have great EMPATHY? That's the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. Empathy without drive can become sympathy. With drive, empathy is powerful. "I'm so sorry that business is bad, what do you think we could do about it?"

-Resiliency. Especially for new-to-the-business AE's. Do they have the ability to bounce back from rejection and not take it personally? New AE's face more rejection than I've faced since my 7th grade dance. (Trust me, it was ugly!)

-Are they smart? This is becoming more and more important. AE's today need to analyze both the client situations and the AE's arsenal of products to determine what is the RIGHT solution for a client. We need smarter, more analytical people. I'm told that IQ testing is okay for applicants as long as it's gender/race neutral. I think it's time to do that.

-Are they students and learners? I agree with Tom here. The desire to learn is critical to continuing to be relevant. It also suggest whether they're a curious person. I think curious, interested people do well in sales (if they have strong Ego drive!).

-Are they likeable? I am more and more focused on this. A good AE has to get the client engaged quickly. Do I want to hang out with them?

-What about follow through? We require more attention to detail than ever.

-Do they love the business?

Are we losing clients because of weak production?

Are we losing customers after we’ve made the sale?

The folks at our company look at hundreds… maybe thousands of TV ads every year. That’s what we do!

We just viewed a bunch more at our most recent Senior Consultant meeting. And want to hear something REALLY scary?

Most of the commercials that we see look great. They’re well-edited and have a professional look. But, most of the commercials we see probably won’t work for the client. At least they won’t work with all the potential of a truly effective message.

My friend and colleague, Don Fitzgibbons, a.k.a. the Guru of Ads, does a fun and powerful seminar. During the seminar, he shows a horrid-looking ad and asks the audience, “Good ad or bad ad?” The audience responds to their emotional sense and says, “Bad ad.” Don, however, goes on to report that this ad was responsible for a huge growth in sales for the advertiser and asks again, “Good ad or bad ad?”

There’s just one thing that makes an ad good. Good ads produce good, measurable good results for our clients. Bad ads don’t. No matter how creative or how well-produced the ad is, if it doesn’t produce results for the customer, it’s a bad ad.

We spend hours and hours of our time working on new business. We make new business a major priority of our sales effort—and then create commercials that don’t work for our advertisers.

What an incredible tragedy!

Leaders know that today we MUST succeed with new business development. Our new business efforts have to be more effective than they have ever been.

But there’s a dirty little secret about new business development: it's profitable for the company, and for the AE, only when we get repeat business. The amount of time it takes to generate one new business sale makes it a very unprofitable deal. Renew the 2nd or 3rd time and and ROI grows dramatically. And, if the client keeps going for a couple of years? Wow.

Unfortunately, a massive percentage of the time we never get that 2nd order because our client doesn’t get results during their first schedule. And yes, that’s often caused by under-selling. But far more often, the problem is a nice-looking ad that isn’t effective and doesn’t get results.

If we’re going to develop local business, our AE’s and producers must become better at marketing. That’s true for our core TV business and digital products alike.

Here’s a real-life example. Ask yourself if your AE’s and Producers could help a client in this way.

An assisted living center was advertising on a station’s dot.com. The banner ad:

Southwood Assisted Living, click here

We suggested they apply the marketing principle of focus, a basic marketing concept. The ad was changed to:

Assisted Living Programs for Veterans, click here

The click-through rates quadrupled overnight. (The same idea would have dramatically improved the results for the core TV product, as well.)

Before that change, the client probably would have cancelled. But not now!!

This is a big deal. If our new business efforts get better and better, but we lose clients as fast as we bring them in because of poor production, we’re cooked. We’ll have clients who now believe TV doesn’t work and won’t come back anytime soon. And, we’ll have AE’s who don’t believe in the power our products.

I can think of few industry issues that are as critical to our long-term success as this one. Too bad it’s one we don’t talk about very often.

It’s a problem we need to fix!

Could Your AE's Do This?

Could your AE’s do this?


An article about the future of our business from Jim Doyle.

Ask yourself honestly. Could my AE’s do this?

The client: A furniture retailer in a Top 30 market.

Situation: Business “ok…but not great” Ad dollars split between multiple media and multiple stations. Print, radio cable, and 4 TV stations all being used..

The TV Station: The LSM and AE conducted a full 90 minute diagnosis of the clients issues directly with client. No selling was involved on this call. The ad agency was present but the meeting was with the client. That day the station learned that the chain’s total ad spend was over $1.5 m but that the client was not happy with results.

Proposed solution: Station suggested the client significantly reduce number of places they advertised. Provide multiple success stories of other businesses that had done this and seen results. Stations annual commitment went from $100,000 to over $600,000 by moving unproductive radio and some print money.

Client results: The chain experienced a 10% growth in sales in a market where overall furniture sales were down. Owner has already renewed commitment to station for Year 2.

Revenue impact to station: $1,000,000 already. Likely will continue to renew as results stay strong.

Could your AE’s sell this way?

Look at what was required…

- The station had a Local Sales manager who could actually sell and was out on calls instead of being office bound. Sadly, this doesn’t happen anywhere near enough.
- Both the AE and Sales Manager didn’t walk in to the client pitching the cheap spot package of the week. They were smart enough to spend a lot of time in diagnosis. And they knew what questions to ask. “Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice”
- They didn’t just focus on the share of the TV money they were getting but looked at all the money the client was spending. This seems simple but it’s a radical departure for most AE’s.
- They were smart enough to know that this client wanted impact not advertising. So they brought the client multiple success stories that reduced the risk of the client making the decision.
- The selling approach was totally customer and results focused.

This station created a huge win/win. A big revenue win for them. A growth win for their client. And a customer who will likely have some loyalty to them. Not a quick hit sale that doesn’t renew.

So let me be blunt. If your AE’s can’t do this kind of selling you’ve got big problems. I hate to tell you this. Most AE’s don’t have a clue how to do this. They are hanging on to a business that no longer exists.

We need a revolution in the way we approach TV sales. We’ve got huge local opportunities. But we need to change the way we sell locally.

Would you like to have a training program that is actually a profit center? We teach your AE’s our UPGRADE Selling process. And then our 7 Senior Consultants makes advertiser calls side by side with your team that makes your station money. A lot of money.. We’ll work in 63 markets this year and our typical year one ROI is 7-10x investment. To learn more or check availability in your market call Jim Doyle personally at 941-926-SELL.

GM’s Payback Ads are Sleazy


I am rooting for the new GM to be successful. I think that will be good for America and good for a whole lot of friends of mine who own GM dealerships.

But I think the ad campaign from GM’s CEO Edward Whitacre is sleazy. This is the ad where he’s bragging about the company paying back the ALL the money the government loaned them…in full……and with interest.

One of my father’s favorite sayings was “figures don’t lie but liars can figure.”

So here’s the deal about this so called payout according to a great post on Bloomberg Business Week.

“The gripe is that GM paid the debt portion of the government’s investment with cash the company got from the government’s equity investment. Here’s how it works. When GM emerged from bankruptcy, it got $49.5 billion in cash. The U.S. Treasury and governments of Ontario and Canada gave GM $8.4 billion in loans. The rest of the money was given to GM in exchange for stock. The U.S. government owns 61% of the company and Canada owns 11.7%. Back in July, the feds decided to give GM enough cash to get through a longer, deeper recession, according to a former member of President Obama’s Auto Task Force, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. As the economy started to recover and auto sales have climbed, GM found it had more cash on hand than it needed. Repaying the government loans wasn’t such a hard thing to do. So when Whitacre goes on television saying “we have repaid our government loans, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule,” his comments raised a few hackles. “They were repaying Uncle Sam with money they already got from the government,” snapped Maryann Keller, an independent consultant in Stamford, Conn. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) weighed in during his weekly web cast calling Whitacre’s television appearance, “a little bit disingenuous.” He also said, “They’re paying it back with bailout money that they have from the federal government in the first place.”

Yes you read that correctly:

- The government LOANED GM a little over $6B.

- GM paid that back with additional bailout money!!

- The US Government also made a $49.5 BILLION equity investment in GM. The Canadian government also made a big equity involvement.

So what GM’s Whiteacre said in his ad may be great PR….his attempt to remove the “bailout monkey” from his back because GM has seen how not taking money has benefited Ford. But it’s a long way from the whole story.

And frankly it offends me.

What do you think?

Who has it worse Tiger or Toyota?

Sometime in the next month Tiger will probably go on Oprah. Or maybe there will be a Diane Sawyer interview. Elin will likely play some part.

Tiger will talk about his problems….share how he’s trying to make things right for his wife and family. Do a genuine mea culpa. And then give a gazillion dollars to Haiti earthquake victims.

A few weeks later he’ll be competitive at the Masters. And the world will start to offer its forgiveness.

Within a year……if he stays straight…….he’ll be back.

But it won’t be that easy for Toyota.

With almost every day the news seems to get worse for Toyota. When did they know? Did they ignore evidence before this fall? And now there’s problems with Prius. 8 million + cars now recalled. That’s 8 million customers who previously were known for their loyalty now with nagging questions. Will they lose all of them? Of course not. But they’ll lose a bunch. And like any business those last customers contribute a whole lot of the profit to any company. So the implications for Toyota and for their dealers are pretty significant.

And don’t think this ends anytime soon. The lawsuits from the victim of these few crashes will go on forever. And quite possibly they’ll lead to even more disclosures about the companies mistakes. This will be in the news for years.

Toyota has had almost icon status among car companies for quality. So this issue goes straight at the strength of their brand. And that makes it a huge deal. Maybe one of the most critical fights to save a brand since the legendary Tylenol fight. But Tylenol got off to a way better start then Toyota. Tylenol offered full disclosure and responded instantly. I’m not sure Toyota met that standard.

Once again my Toyota dealer friends are in a tough spot which proves, once again, that dealers are so much at the mercy of things they can’t control, like mistakes made by their manufacturer. And Toyota forced so many dealers to build new (high overhead) facilities in the last few years. And dealers did so because the brand had been so strong.

In December I wondered if there could ever be a brand that destructed faster than Tiger Woods.

We may be seeing that now.

Jack Canfield words of wisdom

As if! Talk to a teenager these days and you’re sure to hear a favorite saying, “As if,” meaning “As if that’s really going to happen.” The sarcasm just drips off their words.

Jack Canfield describes “as if” in a different way. In The Success Principles, Canfield says, “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail. Think like, act like, talk like, dress like you have already achieved your goal.”


I thought of a couple of “as if” moments that I’ve experienced in my life. I will never forget my junior year in college when I was involved with the college radio station. One sunny, fall afternoon I was at the “Old Rockpile,” War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, NY, with Steve Brown. We were there to call the Canisius College Golden Griffins football game for our school radio station. Both Steve and I dressed in navy blazers and khakis so we would fit in with the other local “real” media that were there to cover the game.

A few minutes before kickoff, Steve and I were frantically trying to set up our broadcast equipment. Unfortunately, as the lowly college radio station, we were placed at the far end of the broadcaster’s area and we needed an extension cord, which we conveniently forgot to pack. Then, right at kickoff, with our gear unplugged, Steve put on his headphones and proceeded to welcome our listening audience! We were talking to an audience of two – Steve and me. But it didn’t matter. Steve acted as if he were the lead broadcaster for a major network. We did the entire game unplugged, talking to no one but ourselves. That didn’t matter at all to Steve, who used the opportunity to hone his broadcasting skills.

Today, you can see Steve Brown’s skills as a reporter for Fox News. Every once in a while I’ll catch a report of his and just smile and remember our afternoon in the “Old Rockpile” in Buffalo.

Canfield says, “You can begin right now to act as if you have already achieved any goal you desire, and that outer experience of acting as if will create the inner experience that will take you to the manifestation of that experience.”

If you were in Rochester, NY in the late 80’s and happened to take in a Rochester Red Wings Triple A baseball game, you’d wonder about the young man who would set up a card table in the stands and bring his tape recorder and do play-by-play of the game. Josh Lewin knew he wanted to be a sports broadcaster his whole life, so he pretended as if he was. He became a fixture at the Red Wings games, doing entire broadcasts into his tape recorder. A few years later, when the real Red Wings announcer retired, management came to Josh and gave him the job. He was 21 years old. Josh went on to be the voice of Major League Baseball’s Baltimore Orioles and Texas Rangers. Josh does sideline reporting for the NFL on Fox and does play-by-play for the San Diego Chargers. As a teenager, Josh Lewin acted “as if” in a far different way than today’s teenagers use the phrase.

Decide what you want in your career – top biller status, management, or whatever it is, and act as if you are already there.

I can't wait to participate in our tele-seminar this month with Jack Canfield. I always seem to pick up some new tidbit every time I hear or read something by him.

Leave a comment if you have any words of wisdom you've learned from Jack's teachings.

Tom Ray
Executive Vice President
Jim Doyle and Associates

Holiday Reflection

This article first appeared in the December 20, 2004 weekly email to my Leaders Edge and Achievers Circle groups. It has since been circulated to Hertz employees all around the Southeast.

I was trying to decide if I should write a normal message this week. During the Holidays I love to take time for reflection. I also know that everyone is so busy these next two weeks and many of you take time off, that I wasn’t sure how much anyone would be in the mood for work. Or reading a long email about selling or some hot category.

But I got my answer about what to write this week when I had my most recent experience with James.

James works as a bus driver for Hertz in New Orleans. He ferries people between the airport terminal and the Hertz facilities a few minutes away. I fly into New Orleans a lot and I always rent from Hertz. So I’ve seen James a few times this year.

If Hertz has a more positive employee anywhere in America than James, I haven’t met them. (And I’ve met a lot!) Coming onto his bus is not a routine experience. He greets every customer in such a warm way. The very first time I rode with James he carried my suitcase out of the bus telling me, “Hey, you look like you need a break.” When I handed him a tip he said, “No thank you, sir. This is my job.”

Saturday I got into James's bus again. “Happy Holidays, sir. How are you today.” He greeted me like he had known me for years; even shook my hand when I got off the bus four minutes later and wished me a great Christmas.

James was back on duty when I returned my car on Sunday. “Hello again, Mr Doyle,” he said. How did he remember my name?) Before the bus departed for the terminal, he spotted a couple who had just returned their car and had a lot of luggage and Holiday packages. I watched as he jumped off the bus and went all the way across the parking lot to help them with their stuff. In all my years of renting cars I have NEVER seen a driver do that. The folks he helped offered him a tip. I watched as he turned it down.

He asked me if this was my last trip before the Holidays. When I told him I would be flying back into New Orleans on Christmas morning he said, “You’ll probably see me. I’m working a 12-hour shift that day.” When I started to commiserate with him for having to work he wouldn’t hear it. “It’s all good. My family is grown. Besides work is sorta like my vitamins, it keeps me going.”

Work is like my vitamins. It keeps me going.

I spent the flight home to Tampa thinking about James. And about Fred, the mailman who is the central character in Mark Sanborn’s best selling book about customer service and attitude, The Fred Factor. (Fred was Mark’s postman. And delivered extraordinary service to his customers!)

Here is my lesson from James. I love and frequently use a meditation/affirmation that says everything I give is given to me in return. I think that means that if I send love into the world, love is returned back to me. If I give service, I get service back. (I also think that if I send anger or resentment into the world I get that back!!!) While watching James two things became apparent to me. First, he gives abundantly. But here’s the cool thing. He gets back. James probably gets more genuine compliments and positive strokes than most of us will ever get. How? By serving in such a totally unselfish way. So in a wonderful way his service to others provides him with the fuel to keep going and keep serving. Positive energy CREATES positive energy.

How would it be if we saw our roles like James? Serving abundantly. Loving life. Giving to others with no expectations. But getting back abundantly as well.

That’s my goal for the New Year and for all years.

I send all of you Holiday greetings and much gratitude for your friendship and your business.

Dodge and Chrysler’s New AD Campaign…the WORST ever

“My name is Ram and my tank is full.”

Have you ever seen an ad campaign this bad in your life? This is the kind of ad that was likely written by a bunch of people who have never, ever even been in a truck; people who must think Texas is a foreign country. It’s that bad!!

And by the way, the new ad efforts for Chrysler and Jeep aren’t a whole lot better. If this is what we can expect from the new Chrysler, then sell your stock immediately. Oh, I forgot, they don’t have stock anymore. They went bankrupt and you and I, the American taxpayer, bailed them out.

Saying an ad campaign is the worst ever is a risky call. That means the Dodge campaign has to have defeated some of the biggest losers of all time. Ones like the Nissan campaign that promoted Mr. K (or was he Dr. K) and a car they had stopped making years before. That wasn’t too smart. Or the classic Infiniti launch where some smart ad agency decided that they shouldn’t offend customers by actually showing the car. So instead, let’s show leaves and streams and hope that customers accidentally discover that our cars look good. Well, the customer apparently didn’t. And 20+ years later Lexus still creams Infiniti in sales.

But the Chrysler ads may even be worse than you think. My opinion? They're making the “It’s Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile” mistake. Don’t change the product. Change the ads. Oldsmobile told me it was no longer my father’s car, but they didn’t bother to change the car. So customers would go into showrooms and say, “Gosh, it sure looks like my father’s Oldsmobile.” And we all know what happened to Oldsmobile.

It’s a pretty fundamental rule of marketing that the customer is actually rather smart. And when they see a sexy ad for a not-so-sexy car, they get it. Or a truck ad written by people who have never driven a truck.

Want to see a great ad campaign? How about Howie Long’s TV spots for Chevrolet? Watch those and you’ll think about switching from Honda or Toyota to Chevrolet. They clearly understand their #1 marketing challenge. They’ve built cars that are competitive and look good (note to Chrysler - you might try that!!). And the ads stake out a clear difference and benefit for the customer.

The Fiat takeover of Chrysler was supposed to bring some new thinking to a stodgy company. But if this is what’s going to happen, my Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep dealer friends are in even bigger trouble than I thought.

“My name is RAM. And my tank is full” What crap!!

Thoughts on Black Friday by Executive Vice President, Tom Ray

This Friday is Black Friday, the official start to the holiday shopping season. The media is all prepared with their stories and advice on what to watch for and what to watch out for. This morning the "expert" on the Today Show suggested that consumers get to the stores early for the best deals and that supplies may be limited...really? I needed an expert to tell me that!

I don't set my alarm for 3am for much of anything in my life except maybe to catch an early flight or catch a trout. But hey, if crowds of people want to gather at WalMart at 4am, I'm not gonna stop you!

I like what the new electronics retailer did in my neck of the woods. I walked in yesterday and the greeter told me that all the Black Friday deals were already on the sales floor, no need to bust the doors down on Friday morning. Now that's convenient.

And doesn't it seem as if the holiday shopping season starts earlier each year. Black Friday used to really signal the official kick off of holiday shopping, but if your house is anything like mine, you already have a closet holding a cache of Christmas gifts.

I really hope Black Friday is huge for retailers, they need it. I hope shoppers sense the many signs of recovery and take a positive attitude into the holiday season. I also hope consumers take a responsible attitude into the holiday shopping season.

For those of you who set your alarm for 3am Friday morning, good luck, be safe and have fun. I'll be hitting the snooze button around 6:30am.

T. Ray
EVP, Jim Doyle and Assoc

Thanksgiving Quotes by EVP Tom Ray

Here are some great Thanksgiving quotes...

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer


If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart


Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell

Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin


Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.
~Alexander Pope


What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? ~Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving," 26 November 1981


Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. ~W.J. Cameron


He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
~J.A. Shedd


Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. ~Robert Caspar Lintner


For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck

Sleazy…or just stupid

The things our AE’s do sometimes really make me fear for our future.

So the questions is, could either of these have come from one of you AE’s?

Sometimes you think your sales team is pretty good, only to find out that one of them has done something really stupid. Last week I saw two powerful examples of stupid.

Stupid Example #1 – An AE from a TV station trashed the coverage of cable using a statistic. The buyer asked him for documentation of where he got the number. Here’s part of his written answer:

It comes from the marketing firm, Jim Doyle and Associates, who have done extensive research on TV, radio, and newspapers. It’s based on Nielsan research over the last 10 years. The networks ALWAYS dominate TV viewing. The 23% watching hundreds of cable channels makes it virtually impossible to attain reach in cable. That's why it's so cheap! You can buy it for $5 a pop, but you only reach the 9 people watching the History Channel.

There were only a few problems with that answer.

Problem #1 – Jim Doyle and Associates hasn’t done any research on that topic. And never will.
Problem #2 – The agency buyer was a friend of mine and a former member of our Achievers Circle, so she called me (bad news for the AE).
Problem #3 – The buyer used to sell cable. Can you see this AE slipping deeper into a hole?
Problem #4 – Oh yeah, he spelled Nielsen incorrectly.

We need to remind our AE’s of three things:
– Liars get caught and when you’re caught you’re toast.
– You should assume that anything you put in writing is seen by a competitor.
– You never, ever win by trashing a competitor, especially when the buyer loves that competitor.

In case you thought the above was an exception, here’s an actual email exchange between a large market AE and an agency. Tell me if you think this AE has any chance of getting this order?

Email from Rep:
Subject: On air schedule
Bob, looking for an update. Thanks, Joe AE

Agency response:
Subject: Re: On air schedule
Almost, Don. Will know which way I go next week...you're delivering good reach but you're
short on frequency when I compare what your competitor has sent me.

2nd Response from REP
Subject: Re: On air schedule
Thanks, as you know TV is a reach medium and the idea is to let the MOST people know about you and if they are hunters or thinking of going hunting then they are paying more attention to the ad, plus radio will help bring that frequency up cause (as you know) radio is a frequency medium.......Thanks and I hope we are able to do something. Joe AE

And the agency replies:
Subject: Re: On air schedule
Respectfully, I disagree. TV must do both or it does neither. In fact it should be able to outdeliver radio in both cases.

Final AE response…for today and maybe forever with this buyer:
Subject: Re: On air schedule
We agree to disagree..........or maybe we don't!! Have a nice day.

The AE got a simple price objection and totally ignored it. In fact, the rep basically tells the agency that he was stupid to even bring it up. I’m sure that went over well. This is a rep who is clearly more interested in winning than making a sale. And that is not smart. What frightens me is that I think this kind of thing goes on much more often than we managers think. Scary.