A virtual Ellis Island: Selling online services to digital immigrants—and to new arrivals on the docks

By Bob Davis

Recently, the publisher and vice-president of advertising of a major newspaper sat down with me to listen to the recorded sales presentation by a 20-something online telephone sales rep in the newspaper’s multimedia sales center. It was an eye-opening experience. The prospect, a tire store owner, replied, “Can you send me something that spells all that out? I am having trouble following what you are saying.” In this case and countless others like it, the rep was a digital native speaking in a new lexicon—and the prospect was a digital immigrant yet to learn and understand the language. How can the prospect make a purchase decision when he can’t decipher the pitch?

My consulting organization has been helping clients deal with this challenging issue. The question is, how do you communicate your online value proposition to someone who did not grow up digital—an immigrant to the new world of online advertising—or to a business owner still on the docks of this virtual Ellis Island?

It is so easy for digital natives to fall into their own language when talking to a prospective advertisers. They use terms such as organic search results, pixels, RON, CPM, SEO and skyscrapers. These terms mean little or nothing to digital immigrants, and a prospect who is confused does not buy. If online advertising sales people are going to be effective, they need to communicate in a way that makes sense to their prospects.

So, what is the best way to communicate with digital immigrants? It is critical to remember that they tend to be smart business people who know how to make a profit and will be interested in the value proposition of online advertising—if we can just explain it in the language they understand.

Here are some tips:

Tell success stories. Nothing sells like success stories. Ask your online advertising sales people to share them. If they don’t have many on hand, insist that they go out and collect more. If your online offerings are helping other businesses, and you share the specifics with prospects, they’ll see how online advertising will drive desired results for them, too.

Talk in terms of the prospect’s interests. The discovery step of the sales process is critically important. It is the key to what I call the Quality Conversation. And, if handled correctly, discovery gives sales reps all the information they need to talk in terms of the prospect’s interests. Reps should ask discovery questions such as:

• Do you have a website?

• What did you hope your website would do for you when you set it up?

• How has your website lived up to your expectations?

• When the last time that you polled your new customers to find out how they came to do business with you?

When reps know what their prospects have tried, what works, and what hasn’t worked, they’ll be in a better position to relate online advertising offerings in terms of each prospect’s interests.

Make your sales presentation easy to understand. There are many market realities associated with online advertising that will resonate with advertising prospects and drive the sale. For example:

• Eighty-seven percent of all consumers research online before they buy, making a strong online presence essential to businesses. If businesses are not where their potential customers can find them, they will be out of the game.

• Online advertising prices are at low introductory rates. Their return on investment will be better now than at any other time.

• Online offerings are limited, so now is the time to get the best placement.

Prospects understand these kinds of value propositions for online advertising very quickly, and they respond positively.

We work in an industry that continues to adapt to the evolving world of online advertising, and innovative thinking reaps high rewards. So let’s keep the conversation going. I encourage you to share your experiences and ideas by leaving your comment below or sending me an email at bob@robertcdavis.net.

Bob Davis is the president of Robert C. Davis and Associates (www.robertcdavis.net), a consulting firm in Alpharetta, Georgia, specializing in improving sales, customer service and retention results in customer contact centers across North America. Bob is also co-founder of Surpass (www.surpasscalls.com), a highly specialized outsource customer contact center serving the needs of business clients across the country.