By Harry Gold , April 15, 2008
So often people say, "In sales, listening is as important as talking." I couldn't agree more. While media planning isn't selling in the traditional sense, it's very much still sales. We all must actively pitch our services, ideas, and ultimately our plans to clients; we truly need to sell the merits of our recommendations. But more important, we need to make them want to buy.
Even with the best fact-based decision-making methodology, we need to make the client very comfortable with a plan or strategy. To do this, the client must feel like you're providing them with exactly what they need. And to give them what they need, you must get them to tell you what their needs are. You must ask the right questions.
Sometimes you can determine what you'll get from a vendor based on the questions she asks rather than the presentation she eventually gives you. Many times, asking the right questions early in a relationship not only arms you with information to create a successful marketing strategy or media plan but also gets the client thinking along the same lines as you. It helps the client look at success in the same way you do and aligns your priorities. It gets a client thinking about things you think are important early in the process.
It also gives you an opportunity to show the client how deeply you think about their business. Asking the right questions can also make a client wonder why your competition isn't asking those questions. Truly, asking the right questions is often as important as giving the right answers.
So today, I'm listing some of my favorite questions we ask when we pitch or getting a new account or project. Some questions seem obvious, but the reality is many of these questions are never asked; we often assume we already know the answers.
Service/Relationship
- What qualities and behaviors do you want to see in your account and media team? What qualities and behaviors do you not want to see?
- What isn't working about your current vendor relationship or in-house solution?
- What are common mistakes and misconceptions agencies make or have about your business?
- Do you have a wish list of initiatives not part of this program that you'd like to see come to fruition in the future?
- How do you measure the quality of your agency relationships?
- What are things you'd like to see your agency take more responsibility for or go over and above the call of duty on?
- What is the most often you can meet with us for status and planning meetings?
- Do all the people in your company who need to know what we are doing understand what we are doing? Are there any training or informational seminars you'd like us to give to different groups in your company (online media, search marketing, social media marketing, etc.)?
Goals/Metrics:
- What are your metrics for success? Cost per thousand, click, lead, or action? CTR (define) or ROI (define)? Page views, engagement time, or brand recognition?
- What's the most important action on your site? What's least important?
- What will make this campaign successful in your eyes? How about from your boss's perspective or sales team's?
- Do you have any historical or current benchmarks for these metrics we can trend against? (e.g., often a client is at a $50 cost per action and they are hiring you to get it to $25.)
- Can you elaborate on things you've tried in the past? What worked well, and why do you think it succeeded? What didn't work, and why do you think if failed?
- What is your average margin on a sale, or what is your average cost of goods sold? What are the expenses that go into the cost of goods sold?
Tracking and Reporting
- How do you currently measure ROI? What tracking systems are you using now?
- Are you able to trace offline actions and sales (call center, retail, post-lead conversion) to online investments? If so, how?
- Are there any security compliance regulations we should know about know that will make it hard to get our tracking code onto your site? If there are, who should we start talking to now?
- Are there any in-house reports or dashboards you'll want our data integrated into? If so, can we see them so we can deliver data to you in the right format?
- What can we provide you to help express your success within your company and promote the good work you do?
Media
- What media properties do you know you want to be in? Why?
- What properties do you know you do not want to be in? Why?
- What are your geographical constraints?
- Are you asking for online value-added placements with your offline media buys?
- Do you have any proposals from media reps who contacted you directly?
- Do you want to have a media day to meet with the reps of the larger properties we're buying on?
Audience
- Who are your target customers, broken down by product?
- Do the have any seasonal or geographic buying patterns?
- Can you provide us with all the customer analysis data you can?
- Who are your best customers, and what do they have in common?
- Who are your average customers?
- Who are your worst customers?
Messaging/Offers
- What are all the benefits of your products, broken down by product and target audience? How do you help people?
- What are all the offers you can realistically make to your different audiences, broken down by audience and product? What can we give them right now?
- What has worked and not worked in the past from a benefit and offer messaging standpoint?
- Can we see all the creative (banners, search ads, e-mail, and landing pages) you've run in the last couple years? Do you have the results for these various executions?
- Can we talk to your salespeople about what closes a deal? Can we hear a pitch from your top salesperson?
- Do you mind if we secretly shop your competitors and hear their pitch?
- What makes you different from your competitors? Why are you better? Why was your product developed?
Note, you don't need to share this entire list of questions with your client or ask the company to complete a questionnaire before meeting with them. Of course, you don't have to ask them each and every question, either!
This is a list for you to complete gradually over the course of several conversations, e-mail messages, and meetings. However, once it's completed, send your client all the questions you asked accompanied by the answers -- just for "clarification," of course. Your client will love this document, guaranteed!
Also note, I am 100 percent certain I left out many questions. E-mail me any you think I should have listed, and maybe I'll put them in a future column. Of course, I'll make sure to give you credit!