 Conferences always inspire new thinking and technology to boost sales. Our recent trip to the AABP Winter Conference prompted some new questions for LaunchPad and our clients. Are we investing enough, not only in technology but in the human cost of integrating those tools to better serve our sales team? As an example, if you’ve purchased or are considering purchasing a new CRM platform to help boost sales performance, does your sales team know how to use it effectively?
Are your sales reps aware of how a new CRM benefits them? The CRMA Publishers Retreat sparks great ideas for generating revenue, innovating your business and inspiring your team. Here are my notes from the conference.
It’s time to disrupt your culture. According to HubSpot, high performing sales organizations are twice as likely to provide ongoing training as low performing ones. Many publishers fear that their investment in training their employees will be lost because that person moves on. The real question to consider is: What happens if you don’t train them and they stay? (Is there a good HubSpot link to share? Such as this one?) Work on objection handling with your sales team. Research by Gong.io shows that asking between 11-14 questions during the course of a lead call will translate to 74% greater potential success. Innovate to increase revenue. What revenue sources will you add to your pie in 2019? You cannot rely on digital to replace the print side of your pie if you have expectations of maintaining or growing revenue. Ask us what others are doing? Also, make sure you are talking to your CPA about how to qualify for the R&D Tax credit. Work on applying the platinum rule. “Treat others as they want to be treated.” Change your mindset when working with others and find an authentic and transparent way to communicate. Invest now. Invest in software, people, and innovation now to carry you through a potential recession. What does your banking relationship look like? Consider getting a favorable line of credit while the economy is still strong. Waiting until you need it could be costly. Double down on editorial and content. I read headlines daily on great journalists losing their job. Put the onus on your audience development team to brand your journalists and editors. Put some responsibility on your editorial and journalist team to build their own brand and social following. 
Your audience, the reader, has become more particular about what they’ll consume. The internet and social media are noisy and discerning readers are choosing print and select digital content to read niche topics of interest. Niche publishers are offering subscription and membership models to gather data and learn more about what readers want. Delivering what they want reduces publisher dependence on digital social and search platforms and provides a robust reader-revenue stream. To increase reader revenue, let’s learn how niche publishing attracts a more engaged audience. Share their Passions Readers are passionate fans seeking focused media that suits their personality, desires, hobbies, and interests. Niche publishers appeal to this highly targeted audience by producing on-going content that their audience is eager to consume. The reader is already interested; the publisher just needs to meet them where they are with the most current and readily available content. Pride Media, the publisher of Out Magazine, recently acquired a market research firm to get to know even more about their audiences. Data analytics are also readily available to determine what your reader wants to know - sometimes before they do. |
AuthorKelley Sparkman Archives
February 2019
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