To Package Or Not?
by Jane Sehr
I’m in the ad sales packaging business, so I spend a lot of time thinking about them. Are packages perfect for every client? No. But they can be perfect for lots of clients.
Look at it this way; if you need a new suit, you can go to a tailor and have one custom made. It will cost you more, but it will be designed precisely for you. Exactly what you want–right down to the color of the buttons. Or, you can go into a store and buy a really nice suit off the rack for a lot less.
Ever remodeled a kitchen? You can have custom cabinets made. Again, they will be made to order just for your kitchen. They will cost a lot more than stock cabinets. What do most people do? They take the stock cabinets. Why? The stock cabinets look good, they have lots of options, they cost a lot less.
And that’s what got me thinking about customized solutions as a sales strategy. Should we be doing customized solutions for every client? Every pizza parlor, restaurant, car dealer, auto-body shop? Shouldn’t we have off-the-shelf solutions at the ready?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t believe in customized solutions. I absolutely do. What I don’t believe is that every client requires one. Should there be a premium on custom solutions? Should there be a discount for off-the-shelf solutions (packages)?
Some More Packaging Ideas for May
by Jane Sehr
Mother’s Day. Doesn’t matter if you call her Mother, Mommy, Mom or Mum, more than $14.1B is spent each year on flowers, jewelry, clothing and spa services for mom each Mothers Day. So, do you have a Mother’s Day Package out there yet?
If not, you’ve still got a little time, but only a little. Here’s some fast ideas. Target spas with a “Spa For Ma” package. Or come up with a “Fun for Mum” package for restaurants, theaters, jewelery stores, florists and beauty salons.
Mother’s Day may be only one day, but if you get a package on the street now, it can mean a whole month’s worth of advertising revenue for you.
May Is Motorcycle Safety Month. There’s a free PSA available from the American Motorcycle Association. Download the PSA and drive traffic to the dealership with a motorcycle safety class. Tag PSA’s with event details and run them in conjunction with a paid buy.
The Masters Tournament is April 8th and it could prove very lucrative for cable ad sales. Or not.
Are you betting Tiger will be there and pricing it accordingly? Or are you playing it safe and keeping rates in line?
Is there a right answer to pricing and pitching this year’s Master’s Tournament?
Somebody Still Has To Sell It
by Jane Sehr
The audience is anywhere they want to be, watching on whatever device they like at whatever time they choose. And the advertising is moving right along with it. It’s delivery can slice, dice, engage and interact.
But it still takes a salesperson and fundamental sales skills to turn all the technology into revenue. The irony here is that with all the changes, all the advances, all the options, it will ultimately come down to two people–the salesperson and the decision-maker–sitting across from each other just as it always has.
We Speak Cable Ad Sales
by Jane Sehr
About a year ago we dipped our toes in the water of cable ad sales by developing and testing a software product that would make cable ad sales packaging faster and easier.
Thanks to some courageous ad sales folks out there who agreed to help our fledgling operation with testing and feedback, we’ve developed packaging software that is truly revolutionary.
PackageBuilder’s designed to work the way you work–with the emphasis on sales. Not Cable Ad Traffic. Not Cable Ad Billing. Cable Ad Sales.
We carefully listened to our cable ad sales “testers”. We added things they wanted, took away stuff they didn’t want. Sometimes all we needed to do was tweak, more often than not, it required a total software rewrite.
And because we are sticklers for doing things the right way, the software isn’t just fast and flawless, it’s fun.
When was the last time you had fun building a package?
