Overcoming the new objection:
"Print is Dead!"
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You hear it everywhere you go. Turn on the network news, "Another newspaper bites the dust. Print is dead!" Even newspapers seem hell bent on declaring their own demise.
Now, your advertisers are feeding it back to you. "Why should I advertise in your paper? No one is reading papers any longer."
Ouch!
It's demoralizing and it's getting worse. It's hard to be enthusiastic when your best advertisers are questioning the basic value of your publication. It's easy to "not make that call" or "accept 'no'" or simply "get angry!" None of those are working out too well, right?
You're a professional and all professionals hit slumps. Sports figures, entertainers, even celebrities excel and then slump. But the true professionals work through that slump to excel again, at an even higher plateau! Tiger Woods could not be beat for several years, then his performance slid from "unbelievable" to simply "outstanding." Yes, outstanding, but still a slump for him. He fought through it and will forever be known as the greatest golfer to play the game.
So, how can you address this objection? How can you work through your current slump?
You know that the true objection is that "my business is down and I can't afford to advertise." Print is dead is simply an easy excuse.
So, your first goal is to get your advertiser to discuss the real issue. Business is down and I can't afford to advertise. As long as he or she is stuck on "Print is dead," you will never get to the real issue.
So, here's my suggestion. Role play with me.
John is your long-time car dealer who has been running a full page a week for years. It's contract renewal time and he's stuck on cutting his budget to a quarter page and putting the rest of the money elsewhere. You need to get him to keep his contract at a page a week. (You're paid on commission and you have a house payment, car payment, groceries, etc. and you REALLY NEED to keep him at a page a week.)
Dealer: "Look, you know I like you and respect you, but honestly, how can I continue to advertise in your paper when no one is reading papers any longer? Everyone's just running around with some electronic gadget. I've simply got to change with the times."
You: Well, John I know how you feel. Every where you look you see "print is dead." Did you know the metro daily in _________________ laid off 25 people this week? The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has gone to "online only" and the Rocky Mountain News in Denver closed entirely. It is amazing.
"A lot of my advertisers felt that print is dead, but when they look at the newspapers that are having problems, they are all metro dailies. Readership of community papers is skyrocketing.
"According to CVC, who audits free papers, circulation of free papers has decreased less than 2% since last year. ABC, who audits paid papers, just released their stats and they say that dailies have declined by 7% overall and some as much as 15-20%.
(Download this article and provide it to your dealer for backup: http://www.afcp.org/downloads/paidcontent-org_article_419-abc-fas-fax-newspaper-circ-falls-7-percent_.pdf)
"That's a big difference. I think it's because metro dailies don't cover local community news. They cover state, national and international news, but that's covered so well by online sources and television that readers don't see a need to also read the paper. Here in ___________________, people are interested in local news, which they can only get in the _________________________.
"Let me review our CVC audit with you. CVC did a telephone survey right here in _______________________. Their results indicate that we reach ______% of the households in this community. Of those _________ % read my publication. And, did you know that ________% say that my publication influences their buying habits? That's a lot of people in this community.
"When I've shared these facts with my other advertisers, they've found that while metro dailies are having a really rough time, community papers are actually doing quite well. In fact, many are growing.
"Even the national media is starting to understand that there is a big difference between metro dailies and community papers. This article was recently published by the Christian Science Monitor and shows that community papers are doing quite well.
(You can download the article at http://www.afcp.org/downloads/www-csmonitor-com_2009_0506_p09s01-coop-html_wi5bgyur.pdf.)
"So you can see that while the economy is affecting us, just like your business and everyone else's, we are in great shape as an industry."
Yes, it's the tried and true "feel, felt, found" that has been around since I was in diapers. Actually, it's been around since my Dad was in diapers. But it's as effective today as ever. You have to show your advertiser the facts. Then, get them talking about the real issue - their business is down.
You: "I'm sure this economy is really hurting your business, right?"
Dealer: "You don't know the half of it. I'm down by a long shot from last year. And last year was no record setter."
You: "I'm sure that's true. This economy is hurting a lot of my customers. But a down economy always turns around and when it does, advertisers who have continued to get their message out generally come out ahead.
"Let me share some research I was able to uncover..."
(Download this article from allbusiness.com: http://www.afcp.org/downloads/www-allbusiness-com_marketing-advertising_advertising_3876103-1-html_vx.pdf)
Read and study this article until you can explain it in a few short sentences. Basically it shows that history dictates that those business that continued to advertise, continued to communicate with their customers, and continued to improve their market share during down economies fared extremely well when the economy turned around.
Those companies that stopped or curtailed their advertising during the slump were left playing "catch-up" when the economy rebounded.
Show your advertisers how to maximize their effectiveness during this down stretch and they will keep advertising and respect you as their marketing professional.
Post-script: I'm no playwright, so please forgive my cheesy lines. Put it in your own words and close that sale!
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Cheers,
Craig McMullin
Executive Director
AFCP
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