Hearst Media

Differentiating from the Competition

800x800_Hearst

The Situation

Hearst Corporation, one of the nation’s largest diversified media companies, approached SNI about working with an experienced sales team to improve sales performance. The team was frustrated by the challenges of a marketplace where prospects did not see much differentiation between competing media outlets.

Prospects that had been called on for years had started to ‘tune out’ the messages that the salespeople were trying to deliver. Sales had sputtered and there was a need to come up with new approaches to engage prospects in a way that was differentiated from the competition.

The SNI Solution

SNI designed and delivered a highly customized sales training program that provided a fresh, new look at the sales process.

To provide differentiation, SNI agreed to an exclusive arrangement so that the techniques being taught would not be duplicated by the competition.

The Impact

“Our sales team had been on the street for months with various sports sponsorship packages.  Our message had become a bit stale.  SNI’s sales training gave everyone a fresh, new look at the overall sales process. SNI focused on our specific goals and used the Three Ps (Prepare – Probe – Propose) to break down the process down into the basic steps that we need to take to close deals.  Initially, when the packages came out, we were able to just make Proposals to get deals signed.  After closing deals with some of the low hanging fruit, however, returning to a systematic approach to Preparing and Probing before Proposing, helped us get back to some of the same prospects – but with a different approach that was unique and put us head and shoulders above the competition.”

–Bob Cecil – Director of Sales – Hearst Broadcasting

The Result

Within just the first week following the program one participant closed an additional $50,000 in business that they indicated they would not have otherwise. Many other participants provided this type of feedback but Hearst felt it was no longer warranted to track given the obvious and immediate ROI.

Interested In Our Services?

Scroll to Top