What To Do After The Talent Says No!

There can be an awkward moment when an artist says no after you’ve asked them to use our digital music distribution services.  

I can just imagine the the digital distribution education process has been sailing along smoothly with you asking good questions and the artists giving good answers. Based on their answers, you’ve guided them to just the right product for their needs. Suddenly their no feels like you’ve just run into a stop sign that was planted in the middle of the road.

Several things may have just happened:

• You may feel a bit blindsided by their no (Hopefully not if you’re well-trained).
• You just asked them for their money, which represents security for most people. In their minds you may have just switched from being helpful to becoming a determined opponent trying to win their money right out of their pockets.
•  Or, you could have been ever-so-nice, but they weren’t ready (for whatever reason) to go ahead and they feel bad about saying no.

You need to alter the negatively-charged mood created by their no as quickly as possible. Their resistance is raised in expectation of you becoming more stereotypical–more aggressive as a music industry insider.

Average A&R’s will hang their heads, thank the talent for their time and ask if they can stay in touch (even though they know they won’t). Well-trained pros assure artist that their no didn’t make the A&R stop wanting to help them. They re-establish rapport.

It’s as important to re-establish rapport after hearing a no as it was to establish it early in the presentation process. And, it only takes a fraction of the time it did in the beginning. You can simply say, “I see. By the way...” “That’s a great point. By the way...” or “I understand why you’re hesitant. By the way...” or you can say, “I see. But here's the best part...” “That’s a great point. But here's the best part...” or “I understand why you’re hesitant. But here's the best part...” By acknowledging their no, you communicate that it’s all right that your buyer didn’t say yes right away. The buyer will relax and you can keep the sale moving forward by moving on to the next step of reviewing their needs to determine what might have been missed on the first go-around.

PMG offers innovative marketing strategies to successful Artists, Managers, and independent labels who count on us to provide responsive, personal service and strategic brand management. Ultimately, our goal is to establish long-lasting relationships built on integrity and mutual trust as we help guide our clients along the path toward commercial well-being.

After buyers say no

February 11, 2014 By Tom Hopkins Leave a Comment

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There can be an awkward moment when buyers say no after you’ve asked your closing question. The sales process has been sailing along smoothly with you asking good questions and the buyers giving good answers. Based on their answers, you’ve guided them to just the right product for their needs. Their no feels like you’ve just run into a stop sign that was planted in the middle of the road.
Several things may have just happened:

• You may feel a bit blindsided by their no (Hopefully not if you’re well-trained).
• You just asked them for their money, which represents security for most people. In their minds you may have just switched from being helpful to becoming a determined opponent trying to win their money right out of their pockets.
• Or, you could have been ever-so-nice, but they weren’t ready (for whatever reason) to go ahead and they feel bad about saying no.

You need to alter the negatively-charged mood created by their no as quickly as possible. Their resistance is raised in expectation of you becoming more stereotypical–more aggressive as a salesperson.
Average salespeople will hang their heads, thank the buyers for their time and ask if they can stay in touch (even though they know they won’t). Well-trained pros assure buyers that their no didn’t make the salesperson stop wanting to help them. They re-establish rapport.
It’s as important to re-establish rapport after hearing a no as it was to establish it early in the sales process. And, it only takes a fraction of the time it did in the beginning. You can simply say, “I see.” “That’s a great point.” or “I understand that you’re hesitant.” By acknowledging their no, you communicate that it’s all right that your buyer didn’t say yes right away. The buyer will relax and you can keep the sale moving forward by moving on to the next step of reviewing their needs to determine what might have been missed on the first go-around.

- See more at: http://www.tomhopkins.com/blog/sellingskills/buyers-say#sthash.ExXe51Jv.dpuf

Completing Distribution transactions

As you begin reading this post, please look at the title once again. Completing Distribution transactions. What you are seeing there is a word you should never use in any business or negotiation situation. It’s the word deal. Take this advice to heart and never, ever use that word when talking with the people you hope to do business with.

What does the word deal bring to mind? For most people, it brings to mind something that we’ve always wanted, but never really gotten—a good deal. Rather than risk turning off a potential client with a word that could raise their defense barriers, I strongly suggest you use the word opportunity. Opportunity is a much more positive word. It brings to mind thoughts of getting ahead, getting a break, or taking a chance on something with a positive potential outcome.

Another alternative for the word deal is the word transaction. In B-B situations, you are transacting business. So call it what it is – a transaction. Using the term deal just might start your buyer down the road to second-guessing the decision. It might also turn the sale into a negotiation that might have been avoided if you hadn’t raised a red flag with your words.

Few business professionals put much thought into the words they use when speaking with clients. They don’t seem to understand that words have the power to make or break a sale at any stage. You could have clients excited about your product or service and ready to go ahead and say one wrong word. The sale comes to a screeching halt and you aren’t even sure why. The clients stall. They back-pedal. They want to think it over. What happened?

You said something that created negative emotions. You created doubt either in the benefits they will receive from the product or about the value they’re getting for their investment. They got scared and created a quick defense barrier to keep the sale from going any further.

You see, words create pictures in our minds. Those pictures then cause us to have certain emotions—either negative or positive.

The goal of anyone in presenting distribution opportunities or in a position where they need to persuade others is to create only positive emotions with positive mental pictures. Negative mental pictures create fear or cause people to raise defense barriers against whatever you’re proposing. They can cause people to lose interest in you, our brand or the product itself.

The key to closing every opportunity or transaction is to eliminate fear in the minds of our potential clients. It works like this: Words create pictures that create emotions. And, people make buying decisions emotionally. Then, they defend their decisions with logic. So, it’s critical to closing that you understand how to eliminate negative emotions and create positive ones.

I have a list of 17 words that I recommend you eliminate from your vocabulary. Here are just a few:

1. Cost or Price. What comes to mind when you hear those words? For most people, they envision their money leaving their wallets. Or, their debt increasing. Neither of those are positive images, are they? Rather than using the words cost or price, use the phrases total amount or total investment. Do you feel the difference? The term amount isn’t as strong a negative as cost. And, the term investment has a positive connotation. When you make a wise investment, you get something of value for it, don’t you?

    Don’t say: This product costs $500.

    Say: The total investment for radio distribution is only $499.

2. Contract. What happens when we get involved with a contract? First of all, it’s a legal document. Mom and Dad have always told us never to sign one and to read the fine print. To get out of one often involves a lawyer. So, how are you feeling about this word now? Eliminate it from your vocabulary if you want to increase your sales volume. Instead, use the terms agreement, paperwork, or form. We all know they mean the same thing as contract. They just don’t create the negative mental image of one.

    Don’t say: Let’s fill out all the details on our contract so you can get started.

    Say: Let’s put everything in writing on the agreement to see if getting started even makes sense.

3. Sign. This word needs to go the way of the word contract. That’s because they create hesitation in the mind of the buyer. Use the words approve, authorize, endorse or okay. Say something like this when it’s time to close: John, if you’ll just approve the paperwork right here, we’ll welcome you to our family of satisfied clients.

    Don’t say: John, if you’ll just sign right here, we’ll get your release date set up.

    Say: John, with your approval right here, we’ll arrange for distribution of your music at your convenience.

4. Cheaper. Do you really want to have your clients think your product or service is cheaper? Look it up in a thesaurus. The other similar words aren’t conducive to good thoughts on the part of your buyer. Replace cheaper with more economical.

    Don’t say: Our product is cheaper than the competition.

    Say: Our music services/distribution products are more economical than that of the competition.

Please also keep in mind that every closed sale equates to the opening of a new relationship. Every relationship you develop in a positive manner with the people you serve, will bring you closer to achieving the goals you have set for yourself personally and with your loved ones. Every satisfied client has the potential of introducing you to many more people you can serve with your product or service. The more professionally you handle their needs, the more likely you will receive a steady stream of leads and referrals. Referred leads are the best kind because those folks will already have a positive impression about you and your product from their friends or relatives, which makes closing transactions easier and easier every time!

- PMG offers innovative marketing strategies to successful Artists, Managers, and independent labels who count on us to provide responsive, personal service and strategic brand management. Ultimately, our goal is to establish long-lasting relationships built on integrity and mutual trust as we help guide our clients along the path toward commercial well-being.

Work Smarter Online: Four Social Media Tips

We don’t profess to be experts in social media. But I do profess to be an expert on the subject of marketing. With that being said, let me give you four social media tips for A&Rs pros.

Tip #1 – Complete Your Profile

Complete your profile before trying to connect with people. I see this most often on LinkedIn. I receive literally hundreds of requests to connect with people on LinkedIn every month. I view LinkedIn as a tool…not a race to see how many connections I can make. I want to know who these people are.

•  If you haven’t yet uploaded a photo of yourself or your product, you’re not ready to use LinkedIn as the valuable tool it is. If you don’t like any of your photos, have a professional take one. It’s 100% worth it.
• If you have not included at the very least your job title, your industry and your company name, you’re only toying with this incredible resource.
• If I cannot determine from your profile whether or not we have something in common that’s related to business, I will not accept the connection. And you should treat LinkedIn the same way.

Tip #2 – Be prepared to work.

Somewhere along the line a lot of people got the idea that because postings appear instantaneously, that it’s a shortcut to success. There are no shortcuts to success. Marketing always has been and always will be a process of building relationships.

Social media is an excellent tool for building relationships but the basic principles of marketing still apply. You must prospect, connect, establish rapport, and qualify before you can earn the right to present any type of offer.

Tip #3 – Schedule social media time wisely.

In reading a comment in one of your groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, you read a great comment by Bob Smith. You let Bob know how much you appreciate what he said. Someone else comments on your comment. Another person chimes in with a link that takes you away from the conversation and off onto another topic. Eventually, you come back to trying to connect with Bob outside of this conversation. When you view his profile, you note that he’s connected with someone else you might want to connect with…and it goes on and on. Next thing you know, it’s 11AM and you have not yet invested any part of your day in your real job–interacting directly with people who are in a position to own your product or service.

How much time is reasonable for you to commit to social media? What time of day is best for you to do it? Not at your best-prospecting time. Figure that out. Schedule it. Set a timer if you must, but STOP when it’s time to move on to another productive activity.

Tip #4 – Offer assistance before attempting to sell.

You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger and say, “Read my book!” “Subscribe to my blog!” or “Buy my product!” (Well, some people might act that way, but not sales pros, right Champions?) So don’t do it in social media. Engage people first. Offer to be of assistance. Ask questions about their challenges, their needs. Then, only after a comfortable dialog has been established have you earned the right to even mention the possibility of providing service.

Social media is today’s hot tool for communication. And, it can be quite fun and productive–when you use it like a tool. The frenzy around it is not very different from new innovations in selling in the past–the f ax machine, overnight delivery, computers, mobile phones, laptops, e-mail, tablets and so on. Those are all tools of the trade that have moved business communications forward. They have accelerated the speed with which we can gain new knowledge and communicate with others. They have not replaced the communication process that is essential to the marketing process.

As with any new tool, there are best practices for maximizing the effectiveness of social media. Invest the time to understand it. Use it wisely. And, you’ll gain the incredible benefits it can bring to your career.

PMG offers innovative marketing strategies to successful Artists, Managers, and independent labels who count on us to provide responsive, personal service and strategic brand management. Ultimately, our goal is to establish long-lasting relationships built on integrity and mutual trust as we help guide our clients along the path toward commercial well-being.

6 Reasons People Don’t Buy from You

May 20, 2014 By Tom Hopkins Leave a Comment

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Seasoned sales pros will have a longer list of reasons people don’t buy, but here are the six most common reasons I know.

1. Insecurity. The positive feeling your presentation creates must outweigh the negative feeling they have about giving you their money. For most people money equates to security. For some there may have been a period of lack in their pasts. So, they don’t part with their money easily. Your job is to help them rationalize that they’ll be better off with the benefits of your product than they will be if they hold on to the money.
2. Indecision. Some people are never master good decision-making skills. They’re so afraid that they just freeze, like deer do in oncoming headlights. Your job is to make them comfortable with the concept that any decision is better than no decision. Keeping themselves in limbo by not making a decision is really a time waster for them (and you).
3. Procrastination. My definition of procrastination is this:  Living yesterday. Avoiding today, and thus ruining tomorrow. When the benefits of your product are truly good for your buyers, it’s your obligation as a sales professional to help them overcome procrastination and get on with enjoying the benefits.
4. Money. Either they have it or they don’t. If they don’t, and you can’t help them discover a way to get some, the sale is dead. Top sales pros, though, are experts at helping people get creative about coming up with the money when the product is truly beneficial for them.
5. They were never asked. Say what? Yep. When surveyed after non-sales situations, a very high percentage of buyers ratted you out. They said they were never asked to buy. Hence, my lesson about asking, clearly, concisely and directly for the order, their money, the business — whatever phraseology you use in your field. You must ask!
6. Fear. The first  five reasons above could all fall into this reason. When people are afraid they are uncomfortable. When they are uncomfortable, they can become confused as to why they’re even talking with you. And, as we cover in great depth in my new book When Buyers Say No, “a confused mind says no.”

Copyright Tom Hopkins International, Inc.

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Filed Under: Building Relationships, Selling Skills Tagged With: fear in selling, Tom Hopkins, tom hopkins real estate training, tom hopkins sales training, tommy hopkins, why people dont buy

Four Social Media Tips

December 4, 2013 By Tom Hopkins 1 Comment

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I don’t profess to  be an expert in social media. I do profess to be an expert on the subject of selling. That being said, let me give you four social media tips for sales pros.
Tip #1 – Complete Your Profile
Complete your profile before trying to connect with people. I see this most often on LinkedIn. I receive literally hundreds of requests to connect with people on LinkedIn every month. I view LinkedIn as a tool…not a race to see how many connections I can make. I want to know who these people are.

• If you haven’t yet uploaded a photo of yourself or your product, you’re not ready to use LinkedIn as the valuable tool it is. If you don’t like any of your photos, have a professional take one. It’s 100% worth it.
• If you have not included at the very least your job title, your industry and your company name, you’re only toying with this incredible resource.

If I cannot determine from your profile whether or not we have something in common that’s related to business, I will not accept the connection. And you should treat LinkedIn the same way.
Tip #2 – Be prepared to work.
Somewhere along the line a lot of people got the idea that because postings appear instantaneously, that it’s a shortcut to success. There are no shortcuts to success. Selling always has been and always will be a process of building relationships.
Social media is an excellent tool for building relationships but the basic principles of selling still apply. You must prospect, connect, establish rapport, and qualify before you can earn the right to present any type of offer.
Tip #3 – Schedule social media time wisely.
In reading a comment in one of your groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, you read a great comment by Bob Smith. You let Bob know how much you appreciate what he said. Someone else comments on your comment. Another chimes in with a link that takes you away from the conversation and off onto another topic. Eventually, you come back to trying to connect with Bob outside of this conversation. When you view his profile, you note that he’s connected with someone else you might want to connect with…and it goes on and on. Next thing you know, it’s 11AM and you have not yet invested any part of your day in your real job–interacting directly with people who are in a position to own your product or service.
How much time is reasonable for you to commit to social media? What time of day is best for you to do it? Not your best selling time. Figure that out. Schedule it. Set a timer if you must, but STOP when it’s time to move on to another productive activity.
Tip #4 – Offer assistance before attempting to sell.
You wouldn’t walk up to a stranger and say, “Read my book!” “Subscribe to my blog!” or “Buy my product!” (Well, some people might act that way, but not sales pros, right Champions?) So don’t do it in social media. Engage people first. Offer to be of assistance. Ask questions about their challenges, their needs. Then, only after a comfortable dialog has been established have you earned the right to even mention the possibility of providing service.
Social media is today’s hot tool  for communication. And, it can be quite fun and productive–when you use it like a tool. The frenzy around it is not very different from new innovations in selling in the past–the f ax machine, overnight delivery, computers, mobile phones, laptops, e-mail, tablets and so on. Those are all tools of the trade that have moved business communications forward. They have accelerated the speed with which we can gain new knowledge and communicate with others. They have not replaced the communication process that is essential to the sales process.
As with any new tool, there are best practices for maximizing the effectiveness of social media. Invest the time to understand it. Use it wisely. And, you’ll gain the incredible benefits it can bring to your career.

- See more at: http://www.tomhopkins.com/blog/category/building-relationships#sthash.QwuqRgZU.dpuf

Using Your Smart Phone and Email for Artist Music Service Sales Conversions

According to Leads360′s latest report, The Ultimate Contact Strategy – How to Best Use Phone and Email for Contact and Conversion Success, “Lead response persistence is critical to maximize conversion. Making more than one call and sending even just one email can have a positive impact on lead conversion, yet 50% of leads are never called a second time and 59% of leads never receive an email.”

When leaving a voice message for a new lead keep it simple. Leave your name and number twice – once at the beginning of the message; again at the end. Refer to the fact that you’re calling about the information they requested. Then, state a benefit of your offering to pique their curiosity to learn more (thus increasing the chances they’ll either return your call or accept your next follow up call.)

Examples:

"I’m calling with the information you requested regarding digital distribution and exposure of your music. You requested information about how to enhance your musical portfolio to radio so you can enjoy greater peace of mind about your future royalties. Be certain to let them know when you are able to be reached and how."

 "I can be reached this evening until 7:00 PM at 800-555-1111, extension 222."

Assure them of your desire to serve and tell them that you will call again and when.

  “We are happy to answer any questions you might have regarding music distribution. Please know that we do not believe in high-pressure tactics of any kind. Providing you with the information you requested is our only desire on this call. If we do not hear back from you, we will reach out to you again to ensure your needs are met.”

By using non-threatening language, expressing a desire to serve, and hitting their hot buttons for the benefits they wish to gain from your offering, you will greatly increase the possibility that your leads will call you back.

Immediately follow up the phone call with an email expressing similar information:

    "Good evening, Ms. Johnson. Per your request, I am reaching out to you to provide information regarding digital distribution and exposure of your music. At PMG, we pride ourselves on helping our artists fulfill their distribution needs as effectively and economically as possible. I would be happy to share additional information and answer any questions you have. I can be reached via return email or by phone at 800-555-1111, extension 222. If there is a best time of day to reach you, please let me know. I will follow up with you by phone tomorrow. Thank you for your interest in what Palace Music Group can do for you."

The follow up phone call should begin with a question about whether or not they received your email. If they did not, you may need to update their email contact information.

The real key to the success of any follow up system is in scheduling the additional follow ups and then following through. Average A&R have a tendency to talk themselves out of making follow up calls if an initial call does not result in something positive. When working leads is viewed as a game, the fear of rejection or failure is lessened and results improve. Set a limit to the minimum number of calls to be made in a day. When you leave a message, be happy that you reached the right person and move onto the next one rather than getting down over not making a sale.

PMG offers innovative marketing strategies to successful Artists, Managers, and independent labels who count on us to provide responsive, personal service and strategic brand management. Ultimately, our goal is to establish long-lasting relationships built on integrity and mutual trust as we help guide our clients along the path toward commercial well-being.