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Selling Political Candidates on OOH

“All politics are local” is an axiom that proves OOH is the most powerful media to drive political campaigns. Now is the time to pursue political candidates for the mid-term primary elections…
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A Shocking Simple Idea to Sell More Faster

A reader asked me for some strategies to grow sales in 2022. I appreciate their understanding of 2022 sales not hinging on external forces, but rather on developing and executing their own plan…
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Gephart on Relevance in Selling Out of Home

Last week I wrote that persistence is the key to selling out of home. But relevance is important as well, because persistence without relevance is annoyance…
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Gephart’s 3 Tips for Out of Home Prospecting

Kevin Gephart spent 35+ years selling advertising including 12 years at Clear Channel Outdoor in Minneapolis. Last week he discussed the importance of being relevant to customers. Today he discusses prospecting…
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Gephart on Using Social Media to Sell OOH

Kevin Gephart spent 35+ years selling advertising including 12 years at Clear Channel Outdoor in Minneapolis. Last week he gave 3 tips for effective out of home prospecting. Today he’ll discuss how social media fits into out of home prospecting…
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Alternative Channels for Out of Home Prospecting

In previous posts I’ve talked about prospecting via social media. Today I’ll talk about generating prospects via associations, Dun and Bradstreet and client referrals. Associations: Pros: They can lift your profile and add credibility especially as a new sales rep…
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Overlooked Out of Home Prospecting Techniques (Part One)

Kevin Gephart spent 35+ years selling advertising including 12 years at Clear Channel Outdoor in Minneapolis. Last week he discussed how to use social media to sell out of home. Today he discusses overlooked prospecting techniques…
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Overlooked Out of Home Prospecting Techniques (Part Two)

Kevin Gephart spent 35+ years selling advertising including 12 years at Clear Channel Outdoor in Minneapolis. Last week he discussed 5 overlooked out of home prospecting techniques. Today he discusses 4 more overlooked prospecting techniques…
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Kevin’s Gephart’s 6 Ways to be Relevant When Selling Out of Home

I’ve written before about the importance of relevance in selling out of home. Several reps have asked me “how can I be relevant?”. Here are 6 ways to be relevant when selling out of home. Get in your prospect’s customer stream…
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Gephart on Prospecting During Tough Times

Thanks to Clayton Stark of Porlier Outdoor for asking about the best sources of prospects during the pandemic. These strategies work for any challenging economic time. For the Dot-com bubble/recession, the mortgage crisis/recession, the formula was the same…
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Gephart On the Importance of Sales Call Preparation

Experience is a great teacher but the tuition is too high. Sales managers expect you to get out and “sell something!”. I don’t know any sales manager who challenged someone to “get out and solve some problems…
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Kevin Gephart’s 35 High Gain Sales Questions

Last week I discussed the importance of sales call preparation.  Today I identify 35 high gain sales questions you can use in your first meeting with a prospect. As you prepare questions for your initial call organize your note pad into three sections…
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Killer OOH Sales Proposals (Part 1)

Selling is the changing of minds; a sales proposal is the playbook for that change. After the data gathering meeting return with a proposal for the client within 2 to 4 business days. Get the client’s agreement about timing…
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Killer Sales Proposals (Part 2)

Last week I reviewed the first 4 parts of a killer OOH sales proposal: Needs and Objectives Rationale. Why Out of Home Why Your Company Today I’ll cover the last four parts of a killer sales proposal…
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The Top OOH Sales Objection and How to Handle It

If you’re batting 1,000 you’re playing in the little leagues. Objections are minimized with thorough data gathering and an effective proposal, but there will always be some unforeseen hurdles…
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5 More Sales Objections and How to Handle Them

Last week I discussed the top out of home sales objection – it costs too much.  Today I’ll discuss 5 more out of home sales objections and how to handle them. I need more time to tell my story…
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6 Sales Objections and How to Handle Them

In my last column 5 more sales objections and how to handle them I asked readers to identify sales objections.  Thanks for all the comments.  I’ll address the objections which readers raised today…
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Kevin Gephart on Dealing with Agencies

My thoughts about dealing with ad agencies are confined to local agencies. Ad agencies are not clients; they are spokespeople for clients. They are due all the respect, ideas, follow-through, and accountability afforded any spokespeople…
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Out of Home Delivers 3 Recruiting Audiences for the Price of 1

With all of the pandemic gyrations businesses need OOH now more than ever. Virtually every business is being stymied by the labor shortage. OOH can help in a way that no other medium can…
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Gephart on Selling Out of Home Versus Local TV

This review of media choices is for your own edification. Use leading questions in the data gathering stage to determine dissatisfaction with any of their current media choices…
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Gephart On Selling Against Local Cable TV

Last week I discussed how to sell out of home versus local TV.  Today I’ll talk about selling out of home versus local cable TV. Remember: Use leading questions in the data gathering stage to determine dissatisfaction with any of their current media choices…
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Gephart on Selling Out of Home Against Local Radio

Last week I discussed how to to sell out of home versus local cable TV. Today I’ll talk about how to sell out of home versus local radio. To sell against various media, begin with the data-gathering stage…
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Gephart on Selling OOH Against Print Advertising

Last week I discussed how to sell out of home versus local radio. Today I’ll talk about selling out of home versus print advertising. Consumer print advertising encompasses many forms, including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, journals…
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Gephart On Selling OOH Versus Direct Mail

Direct mail has two distinct categories: An advertisers’ current customer base/list “Prospecting” direct mail; targeting people that don’t have a nexus with the advertiser. This column will cover selling against…
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Fueling An Ad Revolution With Digital OOH

Roadside digital billboards are as old as US commercial TV was in 1971. Its mind boggling to imagine the growth ahead of us!! Sadly, little has changed with advertiser’s creative use of DOOH ad space…
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15 Rules For A Persuasive OOH Sales Presentation

If the thought of delivering a presentation makes you nervous, you’re in very good company.  Beyoncé, Barbara Streisand, Prince Harry, Tiger Woods, and Adele all have stage fright…
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Making a Market Ride the Ultimate Sales Call

(For this column I surveyed some buyers of OOH about their “likes” / “dislikes” about market rides. A giant “thank you” for your contributions!) A big OOH sales competitive advantage is the market ride…
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What Are We Really Selling?

These thoughts are adapted from a breakthrough book “A Technique for Producing Ideas” by James Webb Young. To paraphrase, we aren’t selling OOH space, we are selling ideas…
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21 rules for winning the OOH negotiating game.

Be sure you’re talking to the “true” decision maker. Some “decision makers” can decide an ad size but don’t have the authority to move print dollars to OOH. Help prospects buy. Advertisers only negotiate for what they want…
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Closing the Out of Home Advertising Sale

Closing a sale isn’t a magical recipe of words/phrases; it is a strategic conclusion to a specific process. Identify the decision-maker, ask good questions, design an intelligent solution, use spec creative, include a service contract, display a concise summary page and the close should be natural…
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13 Steps For Executing An OOH Sale

Your renewal window starts now! How you execute your new OOH sale will competition-proof, and either secure or hinder, your renewal. Every client, in the back of their mind, wonders if the program will go off as planned…
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Getting Your Renewal And The Rate Increase

Begin the renewal no later than 100 days before the end of the contract. It allows time for the process and, if need be, puts the unit(s) back in inventory no later than 60 days before the end of the contract…
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The Best Way to Compensate Sales Reps

(I hope any sales rep readers will forgive me if I put on my management hat. I spent over a third of my career in management.) Any compensation plan that disadvantages either party will eventually disadvantage both parties…
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Strategies for Assigning Accounts

Assuming you have diversity of personality-types within your sales department, make a formal determination of which rep fits into which of the four basic personality types: drivers, expressives, amiables, or analyticals…
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Handling Collections During a Recession or Disrupted Market

Here are my thoughts for maximizing collections during a recession or a disrupted market (e.g. covid). If, as a sales rep, you are subject to a commission/compensation charge-back for uncollectible accounts, take full responsibility for the process/outcome…
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Gephart on Handling a Renewal on a Past Due Account

My post on Handling Handling Collections During a Disrupted Market generated this question from a reader. I have a client that has had a perm’d billboard for a while…
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Leveraging Management to Help You Sell

High performing out of home sales reps use all the sales tools at their disposal. One under-utilized tool is management involvement in the sales process…
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Four Reasons To Recruit Specialized Sales Reps

Most of your sales staff should be composed of generalists but having a couple of key specialists in advertiser categories can be very profitable. Newspapers have practiced this for years…
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11 Rules for Sales Driven Team Meetings

Highly effective sales meetings require critical management self-examination: a.) would you attend your sales meetings if it wasn’t required? b.) consultants determine everything they need to know about a sales team by attending a sales meeting…
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Collecting Delinquent Out of Home Accounts

Part of being a good out of home sales rep is knowing when and how to turn up the heat on an account.  Here’s a sequence of collection letters which does that in a thorough and direct way…
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Using a Service Guarantee as a Sales Tool

While you are proposing the ideas and elements of an advertisers’ OOH campaign, particularly to a new prospect, in the back of their mind their biggest concern is, “will I be satisfied?” You can alleviate fears…
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