Where Have All The Sales Skills Gone?

I wrote earlier about the importance of innovation in the agency business and of how we as an industry have to innovate and evolve in order to remain competitive and profitable in today’s economy.  Since doing so, I have reflected on the writings of the prominent PR bloggers and have arrived at the conclusion that perhaps we are sometime blinded by the glare of innovation and therefore miss some of the basics that underpin the very fabric of what we do as agency leaders.

I’m not contradicting my previous post – far from it. Innovation remains central to my value set as an agency principal. But I am sometimes shocked that we let ourselves down in the basics to the extent that we undermine the impact of the great thinking that exists across the industry. And one area where we let ourselves down is in sales technique and more specifically, in the way we present our credentials to prospective clients.

Over the years I have been involved in dozens of credential presentations. Of course I would say that the vast majority led to full blown pitches and that we did an excellent job in all of them. But if I look at how we present our services and then compare this to professional sales organisations, then I don’t think we stack up. Why?

Because I don’t believe PR types are sufficiently trained in sales skills. This is weird when you consider a major part of job is ‘selling’ or more correctly, convincing third parties as to a particular point of view. So what can be done about it?

Good credential presentations are not difficult. I am sure many will already claim to have them nailed in terms of length, content, design and delivery.  My experience on both sides of the fence suggests otherwise. I think agencies are often self-centred and self-opinionated. We love to talk about what we do and how great we are. We bang on about what great clients we have and how we deliver amazing services.  How often do we stop and think about what the prospect really wants to hear from us?

I believe PR is a classic benefit sell. Yes, prospects want to know that you can do the job but nine times out of ten, the fact that you have been invited to present credentials means you have been ‘pre-qualified’ for inclusion.  So why spend 45 minutes and 25 slides on telling them about the agency? Focus on what benefits you bring to the particular prospect; give them insight into your thinking and understanding of their business today and provide some examples of how you have approached similar assignments for others. Keep the presentation short and make a point of preparing good quality questions that are the basis for any consultancy based solution.

I don’t think the credentials stage is difficult but given that first impressions count, it is possibly the most important part of the pitch process. Cookie cutter presentations given by poorly trained PR people only serve to undermine the credibility of our industry. Therefore I’d like to see more emphasis given to sales skills throughout our industry from graduate right up to board level. We are fortunate to be in a growth sector, a fact that perhaps means we don’t need to be too worried by this but as we all want to expand our businesses, I’d suggest that a little attention in this area would go a long way.