Perhaps the most difficult aspect of selling online advertising is mastering your pitch. You may think everything is going smoothly with a prospect but when money is thrown into the equation, their true interests are revealed.
There’s a variety of variables involved with making a sale but the most important are the ones you have full control over.
In sales, you control the content of your pitch (the script) and the way you present information (mostly indicated in tonality and body language).
The first variable you’ll want to control is the script. Many sales people pride themselves on improvising conversations… There are virtually no scenarios where having a prepared script won’t improve conversions. Further, improve sales is not something you can systemize and delegate so I’d recommend staying clear of this mindset.
The second way to improve your advertising pitch is through tonality and phrasing. We wrote an article on phrases that sell clients so we won’t go into that here but I’d recommend paying close attention to the words you’re using during conversations and what your tonality is conveying in terms of emotions.
In this article, we put together an example of an advertising sales pitch script. Take whatever makes the most sense for you and shape this to your own style of selling.
Example Script for Pitching SEO Services
We’ve already created an article detailing the different stages of a sales pitch so we recommend checking that out if you’re new to selling.
Otherwise, here’s a quick breakdown of the process we’ll be scripting for…
- Your Hook
- Qualify
- The Pitch
- Handle Objections
- Closing the Deal
Note: I’ve italicized all speaking portions of this example script. Any text that isn’t italicized are notes and comments explaining my reasoning. Lastly, some sections are replaced with placeholders (indicated by brackets) since these will change depending on who is speaking, the industry you’re in, your pricing models, experience, etc.
Hooking the Conversation
Sales Rep: Hey, this is [name] from [your_company], how are you doing today [prospect’s_name]?
Prospect: I’m good, how you doing?
Sales Rep: I’m doing great! Thanks for scheduling a call today – is now still a good time for you?
Prospect: yup, this time works good for me.
Sales Rep: Sweet, so I’m not sure if this is for you but figured we could dig into each other’s businesses a little to see if there’s a fit, how’s that sound [prospect’s_name]?
Get verbal and internal ‘yesses’ from your prospects throughout the sale conversation to build the habit of agreeing.
Prospect: Yeah, sounds good, let’s do it.
Sales Rep: Okay, let’s start then with a little background info about you and your company, what got you started in this business in the first place?
This is where you’d begin qualifying the business owner to see if they are a good fit for your advertising services…
The Sales Pitch (Post Qualification)
Transition into your pitch now assuming that the prospect does in fact qualify. Otherwise, end the conversation gracefully and thank the person for their time.
Sales Rep (Transitional Phrase): Okay [prospect’s_name], based on everything you just told me this service will be a PERFECT fit for you!
Place emphasis on certain words (bold) to convey certain emotions at particular times during the conversation. In this scenario, you want the business owner to feel confident in your statement so make sure you convey this in your tonality and phrasing.
Sales Rep (Elevator Pitch – 2/3 minutes): From the sounds of it, you’re a lot like me and are super open minded about testing new things in your business. Over the past [years_in_business] years in business I’ve helped business, just like yours, grow their revenues on average by [percent] just by implementing simple internet marketing strategies.
My company specializes in [service] because it’s proven time and again to be… [reason why advertising is great for clients] – EXAMPLE: the best return on investment for the vast majority of our local business clients.
What we do is simple… [give a high-level and simple explanation of what advertising is and the process involved]
Based on what you’ve told me about your current situation, each time I’ve worked with someone at a similar point in their business to you we’ve gotten amazing results!
That being said, I’m confident I’m confident we can get another [number] visitors to your website, which would likely result in [number] additional leads per month. From what I’ve noticed, [percent] of those tend to convert into paying customers; all in all that’s what… around [amount] additional monthly revenue for you? That, by the way, isn’t even accounting for repeat customers. How’s that sound?
Prospect: That would be amazing!
Sales Rep: Right! In order to do this we’ll need to… [detailed explanation of your process]
And, the good news is, we’ll do all of this for you for just [pricing tiers]
Believe me [prospect’s_name], if we’re HALF as successful as my last three clients… you’ll be very very happy. What do you say?
Prospect: Well umm, I’m just not sure I’m ready to commit yet. I’ll have to think this over for a little.
Handling Objections
There’s an old saying that goes, “keep your powder dry.” What this means is that you want to save your best pitch for last. This is why I suggest pitching early on as little information as possible. You’ll continually raise the perceived value of your services when you pitch early and resell after the first objection
For this reason, expect the objection on your first attempt to close so that it doesn’t catch you off guard.
Since you expect the objection, you can plan for it and handle their concerns appropriately.
Here’s a general structure for handling objections…
- Agree and empathize
- Redirect the focus
- Resell your services centered around the specific objection
Below, is what your response would look like to the objection example above…
Sales Rep: Of course, there’s no need to jump into anything too fast but let me ask you this… do you like the idea? It makes sense for you, right?
Prospect: Yeah, of course it does! It’s just a really substantial commitment to make with someone who I barely know… you know what I mean?”
In this scenario, the underlying objection of not truly knowing you has surfaced.
Sales Rep: Hey no worries [prospect’s_name], I get that! Hell, by now, you’ve probably even forgotten my name haha (jokingly) – Let’s step back and I’ll re-introduce myself…
As odd as it sounds you can give someone the perception of knowing you simply by revealing a little more about yourself. At this point, I’d start telling the client about you and your companies values (honest, hard work, results, passion) then go for the close once more.
Repeat the Loop
Some clients will purchase off your first close, some on your second, some on the third, and some… never.
No matter how good you are as a sales person you aren’t going to win every client. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t win them over in the future.
It turns out, some people just are truly not ready yet to take action. Your challenge is to spot these types and end the conversation on good terms.
There is no reason to burn relationships because one day that client will need help (or someone they know) and who do you think they’ll remember?
Check out our advertising agency self promotion guide we wrote to increase the amount of conversations your sales reps have on a daily basis.