I’ve recently been spending time out in the field watching our Business Development Team sign up new clients – it’s truly fascinating, and I’m sure psychologists would have a field day in such an environment.

Watching how they interact, how they exchange information, and how our potential clients respond to their presentations, will never get boring. So with this post I’m sharing my personal observations, and questioning the notion: can a product really sell itself? Or indeed, are F2F meetings intrinsic to the sale and the building of successful supplier-client relationships?

In the meeting

I sit quietly and explain that I’m simply there to listen. That way I get a better chance to appraise and assess the situation.

Last week I watched Midlands-based Mandeep. The week before, Londoner Rob – both very different types of Audio Branding Sales Consultants with completely different styles. And, both hugely talented at what they do (helping potential clients realise how they’ll benefit from the PH experience).

PH’s customer service style is evident from the outset. Way before the potential client decides to partner with us, they get a taste of what it’s like to be our customer, and they’re given the chance to hear how their business could sound.

The appointments sometimes start off a little frosty – arms crossed, uncertainty, a touch of nervousness, sweat on the brow and a certain lack of awareness to what happens next. Nevertheless, our customers always seem to be good at calming our representatives down!  In all seriousness though, our meetings don’t take long to get into their stride, purely down to the consultants and how experienced they are in adapting to different situations.

The ability to instantaneously judge how to act, what to say and how to say it, is an innate skill that only the very best branding consultants possess. Our guys are fantastic at avoiding those fatal errors that can ruin a company’s reputation and always try to find the perfect solution for each individual business.

Customer profiling

The audio consultants have an incredible passion for finding out everything they need to know about the businesses they go to visit. Establishing an in-depth customer profile is key to the success of any audio branding campaign, so they begin with questions that instantly engage and arouse intrigue: How does your business sound? What generates your call traffic? How many calls per hour do you receive? If your business was a song, what would it be?

This is a great way to really get them to stop and think and realise just how powerful sound can be as an additional tool in a wider marketing strategy.

How we do it

Building value in the product isn’t difficult. ROI is key in the current climate, and with audio branding being a really cost effective marketing tool, the guys have very little difficulty in getting that across.  Audio branding benefits different industries and businesses in different ways, so we discuss marketing benefits and tangible ways the service has helped similar companies.

Without fail, every presentation I’ve seen has left the client impressed. It shows in their body language – facial expressions, the tapping of the toe as their bespoke audio sample is played, and the general head nodding as they realise how this marketing medium will benefit their business. As I said earlier – it’s fascinating.

To answer the question, can a product really sell itself? If it’s beneficial, original, captivating – sure. But what’s essential to the sale of our audio product, are the consultants who build trust and value in our business and services from the start.

Off up to Scotland this week to watch Jim, our man in the highlands. The Scots are always very receptive to our services, so it will certainly be an interesting trip.

Grant Reed