Here’s the problem you face when dealing with an advertising agency. An advertising agency invests a considerable amount of time and effort evaluating and identifying different marketing options to determine what they believe to be the best media to promote their client’s products or services. They then meet with the client and make a detailed presentation that assures the client that they’ve done their due diligence by evaluating all the options before recommending which media should carry the client’s ads.

Despite the fact that your publication may be ideally suited to promote their client’s product/service;

• if the agency decided to use other media, such as direct mail instead of magazine ads, or
• if you meet with the advertising agency after they have made a media presentation to the client

it is highly unlikely that they will consider your book. After all, they would have to go back and tell the client their initial recommendations were incorrect—that they now have a better idea.   

Also keep in mind that advertising agencies rarely select an individual magazine; they create a plan that could easily include five different books plus direct mail and e-mail campaign. So even though your magazine may reach their target market, when viewed as part of their overall marketing plan, your publication may not be that important.

Once a media plan has been created the easiest and—in most cases—only way to get your publication added to the plan is to deal directly with the client.

More often than not, sending a media kit will reduce your chances of landing the account.

Most media kits are extremely informative. Anyone that receives one will believe they now have all the information they need to make an informed buying decision, so they don’t need to talk to you.

Furthermore, a media kit can’t make a strong presentation that shows the prospect all the benefits of advertising in your magazine; the kit can’t address your prospect’s questions and concerns; it can’t justify your CPM. Only you can do this. So stop sending media kits.

With few exceptions, only mail a media kit after all attempts to get an appointment have failed. But if you must send a media kit, then at least stay in control of the sale by not including a rate card. 

Here’s why you must leave out the rate card.

1. When a prospect receives a media kit he always looks at the rate card first. If he feels the posted rate is too high, he’ll immediately discount your magazine from further consideration. In other words, he will not study the media kit and look for benefits that could justify the price.

2. To be successful in ad sales you must meet with the prospect and make a presentation that shows the benefits of advertising in your publication. Including a rate card in your media kit makes it difficult to get an appointment. After all, the prospect now has all the information he needs to make a decision, so why should he waste time meeting with or even talking to a salesperson. When you send a media kit without a rate card the prospect must call you to get this information and that gives you an opportunity to sell. 

It’s 7:00 p.m. and you’re about to sit back in your favourite chair when the phone rings. You pick up the receiver and this is what you hear: “Good evening, I’m with Best Carpet Cleaning. How are you tonight?” If you are like most people, you respond with three simple words: “I’m not interested.”

But why do most of us react in this negative manner when we don't even know what the call is about? In fact, had you listened to the rest of the presentation, this what you would have heard: “As a promotion by a local carpet manufacturer, your house has been selected to receive free wall-to-wall broadloom. This top-of-the-line carpet is available in a choice of ten different colors and includes installation and taxes, so it won’t cost you a cent.”

Getting the appointment would have been easy had this salesperson not been the master of her own demise. She destroyed her chance of landing the appointment by breaking a cardinal prospecting rule; she told the prospect what she was selling before offering a benefit. The moment you heard the words carpet cleaning, you stopped listening to the presentation and began to prejudge the value of the call.

When prospecting for new clients, keep in mind that the person on the other end of the phone is going through this same mental evaluation process. For example, when a receptionist picks up the phone and hears “Good morning, it’s Peter calling from Best Publishing.” or “Good morning, it’s Peter calling from On Target Magazine. Could you please tell me who is handling the advertising for your company?”, he will most likely react to your phone call in the same way that you did when the carpet cleaning company called. He’ll say “Thank you for calling, but we’re not interested right now,” because he’s been listening for and has just heard the key words that allow him to screen the call; the moment that you said “publishing, magazine and advertising,” the sale was over. Since most receptionists have instructions to block salespeople, it is crucial that your initial telephone presentations deny them this screening opportunity.

So here’s the most important prospecting rule of all: when making a cold call, don't tell the receptionist what you are selling. Instead, use one of the following techniques:

1. Don’t mention the company or magazine name. Just ask for the person you want to speak to. “Good morning, could I please get the correct spelling of your marketing manager’s last name?
2. Use an acronym. Instead of saying "It’s Peter from Best Publishing," use the first letters of the company name and say "Good morning. It’s Peter form B&P."
3. Drop the give-away words. Instead of saying, “It’s Peter from Eclipse Media,” say "Good morning. It’s Peter from Eclipse."

Consider the huge difference this small change can make. Since the receptionist doesn’t hear the key words that identify your product and service, he cannot screen your call. Although he may ask some probing questions, if he’s busy, he’s likely to just put your call through. By making this small-but-important change, you will dramatically increase the number of appointments you land while making fewer cold calls.