It’s a great way to launch a company, and I have participated in it several times.
Over the years, it has become more sophisticated, and my old company, NRS Media, (since sold) has fine-tuned it to launch a brand new media company into profit from day one. I’ll delve more into that idea later.
How a small town radio station became the birthplace of Speed Selling.
My first experience with Speed Selling was at a part-time radio station in a small town with a population of 15,000 people.
As FM radio developed in my country, many potential operators were given temporary licenses to run 90-day radio stations, usually in tourist towns.
The potential bidder who was proposing a full-time license used this temporary 90-day station concept to build credibility and see if a format they used would be accepted by the community. If they did, they were granted a full-time FM license.
Each salesperson was given a specific “show to sell,” such as the “Top Ten at Ten,” the “American Top 40 with Rick Dees,” sponsorships, and any generic music program that could be sold off for 90 days.
The trick was that there was no set price on the program, just a guideline.
The sales rep could not go below the number, but they could go above it. The highest price got the sale, and the sales manager was the final judge.
The competition was held for an hour for each show, and each rep had to go out and cold call, sell the product, and get the client to sign an agreement with the time and price they were prepared to pay. If the price was acceptable to the sales manager, the rep got the next sale, and off they went with a 15-minute bonus.
The other reps had to sit around for 15 minutes before they could go out and sell the next program. It proved very successful and loads of fun.
How Bootcamps Helped NRS Media salespeople become confident and Effective.
One to Many is another tool for Speed Sell.
This idea built my previous company NRS Media from zero sales to $350 million annually.
It was a seminar-based model where business owners were invited to a hotel to hear the latest trends and ideas on advertising.
Usually, there were groups of 15-20 advertisers. At the end of the presentation, every attendee was offered an advertising package, usually a 12-month investment. On average, we could generate $600-$1 million in sales using this model over a week!
Taking action and speed in selling is very important.
How Bootcamps Helped NRS Media Salespeople Become Confident and Effective.
Often the one ingredient missing is training, which cannot be ignored.
I wrote all the sales and marketing manuals (playbooks) at NRS Media and perfected the execution, but without our famous Bootcamps, our people would never have had the success they achieved.
(I am going to expand on the power of Bootcamps in a future blog. )
Training is the one neglected tool that gets you the most sales.
Many companies ignore it because it takes time, but as the saying goes, “We could not afford not to do it.”
In conclusion, Speed Selling is an effective way to sell products and launch a company. It can be adapted to any business if you have a product launch that requires speed. There are a few more Speed Selling ideas that I would love to share, so find a way to sell more of your stuff.
As always.
Find a way to sell more of your stuff….
Mike (speed sell ) Brunel
PLUS, whenever you are ready…here are four ways I can help you grow YOUR business.
My favourite thing to do is show you what’s working right now. It’s not as good as being a client, but it’s close.
2. Take advantage of a FREE 45-minute consultation
Need some sales support? Make an appointment, and let me take you through the past, present, and future templates.
3. Work with me one-on-one
If you are wanting to take your product or service from face-to-face to virtual selling, then I have a product that may be able to help you. You can get started for as little as $250 a month. If you’re interested then email mike@mikebrunel.com and put ‘Virtual Selling’ in the subject line…tell me a little about your business and I’ll get you all the details.
Mike
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. His products and services are now sold in 23 countries and in 11 languages generating $350 million annually in sales for his clients. Mike sold the company in 2015 and now spends his time following his passions which include rugby, travel. His promise: “I can find thousands of dollars in your business within minutes – GUARANTEED” TRY ME
I learned many valuable lessons throughout my 30 years of selling advertising to companies of all sizes. I began as a door-to-door stationary salesperson in Sydney, selling everything from pencils to exercise books.
I then started selling carpet services in London, utilizing promotional brochures to generate leads. It was during this time that I realized the importance of face-to-face sales.
Direct media selling was my next endeavour, where I discovered the challenge of selling something invisible – a service rather than a physical product.
Selling the Invisible
Advertising is intangible, existing as airtime or a gap in a TV program. Building trust became critical to my success, and I quickly learned the value of meeting clients in person to establish a relationship.
As my career progressed, I discovered the power of selling to many.
When I started NRS Media, my partner Doug Gold introduced me to the concept of a “membership program.” Advertisers could purchase advertising time at a discounted rate, but only if they committed to a 12-month automatic debit payment plan.
This approach generated over $1 million in advertising commitment before the media company launched.
I developed a sales system around this model, generating over $1 billion in revenue for our media partners worldwide.
Using a “one-to-many” presentation model, our seminars boasted attendance rates of 70-80%, with closing rates as high as 50%.
The key to success lies in developing a process for your product, which can be easily accomplished digitally. Many companies are already excellently utilizing the one-to-many approach to distributing their information.
In conclusion, while face-to-face sales remain essential, selling to many through a free seminar or digital process has become increasingly crucial.
I encourage you to have fun selling your products this week, utilizing the power of technology and personal relationships to build lasting connections with your clients.
Mike
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, and expanded it into a global media sales and training powerhouse. He was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. His products and services are now sold in 23 countries and 11 languages, generating $350 million annually in sales for his clients. Mike sold the company in 2015 and now spends his time following his passions, including rugby and travel. His promise: “I can find thousands of dollars in your business within minutes – GUARANTEED” TRY ME
Seeking Motivation: How a Visit to the Library Can Change Your Life
We all need a little motivation from time to time, and sometimes it can come from the most unexpected places. One person who knows this better than anyone is Og Manadio, the famous author of the book “The Greatest Salesman in the World.”
Many years ago, I attended one of his keynote speeches in Austin, Texas, and was completely spellbound by his words. It was as if he knew all my secrets and was talking directly to me. He had the ability to touch everyone in the audience with his words, and for the first time in my life, I understood the meaning of purpose.
Visiting the library I am always reminded of the power of reading and seeking motivation in unexpected places. Og Manadio’s speech all those years ago still resonates with me, especially his message about the importance of reading and how it can change your life.
For most of us, the one thing we learned in school was how to read. And yet, we often forget the power of reading when it comes to personal and professional growth.
As Charles Tremendous Jones famously said, “You are the same person in 5 years except for two things, the people you meet, and the books you read.”
Og Manadio also emphasized the importance of seeking out the masters of success and the secrets to achieving it. And where can you find them? In the library, of course! From W. Clement Stone to Napoleon Hill to modern authors like Anthony Robbins, Chet Holmes, and Tom Hopkins, the masters are all waiting for you on the shelf, and they’re free with a library card.
In our fast-paced, digitally-driven world, it’s easy to forget the value of seeking out motivation and inspiration in unexpected places.
But as Og Manadio’s story shows us, a visit to the library and a good book can change your life. So, the next time you’re feeling stuck or in need of some motivation, head to your local library and see what treasures you can find.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
Be confident when you are talking to your customers.
In addition, don’t be the first to talk about the market, the bad news.
Why? Because you are confident that things will get better.
Letting your customers bring up their concerns is the door for you to discuss what you can do for them.
Because to you, it’s not about bad news, post covid; it’s what will happen when this is over.
Some of my best years in sales were after 9/11.
I had 65 staff in our Atlanta office, hoping they were okay and helping them through that nightmare.
We are not like our grandparents, who saved every penny after The Great Depression in case it happened again.
Now we can’t wait to spend money after a crisis.
Because spending money makes us feel better.
This time will be no different. Our job in sales is to relay this to our customers.
They need to be ready because this will end.
They need to be prepared.
Yes, what is happening now is real.
I get that, I have three other businesses other than my coaching business.
But the word for crisis and opportunity are the same in Chinese.
Even though I am worried about the days ahead, I am looking at the future. It’s no different for your customers. They need to look at the future and be ready too.
It’s our job to make sure they are looking for opportunities.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, getting some help is always good.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
You are only ever Selling Yourself! “You want a course on selling? I’ll give you a course on selling. Do you know what you sell? Only one thing. You, you only sell you.*
You don’t sell products, you don’t sell services. You don’t sell products or services.
You sell the value of the seller.
The decision of the buyer is based on the value of the seller.
Let me repeat that.
The decision of the buyer is based on the value of the seller.
They make up their mind about you in the first three minutes. 180 seconds:
Is this person trustworthy?
Are they valuable?
Are they projecting the service that I want to buy?
Are they worth the money I’m going to invest in this?
In other words, they’re not buying products.
Your service may be on every corner
They don’t buy the Product or Service.
They buy the sales executive’s trustworthy value.
All sales are based on referral and renewal.
And you never close a sale, you open a lifetime relationship based on mutual trust and mutual value.
Once lost, trust is never regained.”
*Adapted from D Waitley.
Whatever career you decide to take in sales, it’s always good to get some help.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!
If you’ve read my last few posts. You’ll see that I’ve been discussing the mistakes business owners make ( I have made every one of them- no kidding!) when it comes to getting the right salesperson on your team.
I want to give you as much value as possible, so here are three essential hoops (as I call them) that you might want to consider when it comes to employing new salespeople.
Structure Not Gut
Hoop 1- Company Culture Fit
Company Culture– While we believe that fitting in with the company culture is essential, as demonstrated in the graph on our FREE report, it makes up only 10%.
Don’t get too caught up in ensuring this is a significant part of recruiting.
Create a good job description.
This is a critical factor in hiring good salespeople. When you advertise for a salesperson, what do you ask?
How do you define the role? What are you looking for? What is the remuneration?
*Chet Holmes, one of my early mentors, always did this exercise when advertising for super salespeople.
Write down three initiatives that you would love to hire someone to do in your business.
Three only. Next to each one, do this:
What would it mean to your business?
How would it change your business?
Now list what you could afford to pay such people if they performed.
Do the exercise. This forms the foundation of a good job description.
Hoop 2- Structuring an interview – History of Success.
Once you get the CV’s for the position, look for a history of success. Somewhere, you can see a challenge, a life experience they overcame.
Structuring an interview- A structured interview process makes up 30% or a third of the process (FREE report). That’s a lot. In your structured interview, you should have some questions to ask after reading the CV. Here are a few to start with.
How do you function as a team?
How do you feel about operating in a team environment?
Do you like working on your outside of that team?
Can you tell me when you were asked to do a project independently? What was it?
These questions might get the process moving.
Challenge the candidate– You are hiring salespeople to do a specific job. Human beings inherently will do anything to avoid pain. However, in the business of selling, rejection is part of what selling is, and it can be painful.
If everyone got 100% of the business every time they presented a product, the salesperson would be out of business.
If you are hiring a salesperson to sell your product and prospecting is part of that, would you not at least ask them, “What happens when you get a ‘ No!’ – How do you react?”
Ask them this, and see what happens: “ You know what, I’m not convinced you are the right person for this job.” Observe their reaction. Do they sit there? Or do they do something that indicates they might do the same with a client?
Hoop 3- Assessment Tools
This also makes up 30% of the job evaluation- We take a lot of guidance from these types of assessments and go into more detail here: Download my FREE report. We used to call these the B.S. detector.
We carried these assessments out in my company specifically for the roles we were looking for, in salary and performance-based positions.
Our salespeople had to work alone. We had salespeople sprinkled worldwide, usually unmanaged, working in an unstructured environment.
We had to be clear on what we were looking for. That’s where traits/ behaviours come into play. We knew we had to hire for the task, not just the attitude.
In my next post, I explain what I look for in a salesperson and how I came to that.
Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, and expanded it into a global media sales and training powerhouse. He was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. His products and services are now sold in 23 countries and 11 languages, generating $350 million annually in sales for his clients. Mike sold the company in 2015 and now spends his time following his passions, including rugby and travel. His promise: “I can find thousands of dollars in your business within minutes – GUARANTEED” TRY ME!
