New Independent Marketing Executive Program for Videographers

[Mark Suszko]

I’m leery of script-based sales presentations. They are generally too generic and transparently cynical, and I feel that sales has to be an individualized one-on-one transaction, a ral conversation with give-and-take, and everyjob is a custom job. Every prospect a unique individual you have to get to know in some way, before you can effectively sell them on something they didn’t know they wanted.

Video (if done right) is not a commodity business, IMO. You don’t sell bulk video production services like you do office supplies.

It’s a “bespoke” service, hand-wrought and crafted to each customer’s unique needs and specifications.

Making a potential customer aware of the existence of the service is one thing. Getting them to the next step of seeing how a video might solve their communications problem is another level, a level above the “sale”. It’s at heart as much a consulting service as a product.

[Todd Terry]

[Jonathan Gould] “Does this sound like something you would be willing to try?”

It might work super well for some, but I’m not sure it’s anything we would try in our shop.

I’m not really much a fan of commission-based anything. If I were going to hire someone to do sales, I’d personally much rather be a stand-up employer and actually put someone on staff (with salary and benefits), rather than basically hiring a “freelance” sales person and pay them an exorbitant commission.

I don’t know about anyone else in here, but here we certainly don’t have enough of a profit margin to give anyone a 20% cut of anything… unless we were to seriously jack up our rates. And then our clients wouldn’t buy that… we’re already the most expensive game in town and it’s hard enough to get clients to pony up the dough for what we do charge. Actually, we don’t have so much trouble with getting clients, agreeing to our rates, or landing jobs… we’re pretty blessed to keep a full production schedule. The only kink is sometimes getting them to find their checkbooks after a job is done… we have a few clients that need a nudge in that direction now and then.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Jonathan Gould]

Hi Mark,
I agree with you. I too am leery of script-based sales presentations. However, I’d rather be loosely scripted making sure I get across my point with clarity and purpose as opposed to presenting a mish-mosh of information. After all, these people are representing your business. The program is more about the right “approach” and less about memorizing scripts.

I also agree with what you said about it being another level to show your clients how you will help them with their marketing needs. Right now, these potential clients probably don’t know you and almost certainly don’t know what you can do for them. So, first step has to be awareness. Then, show them what you can do. The Independent Marketing Executive should make them aware of you and also give them some idea of how you will help them. Then, it is up to you to sell them further on a video.

Thanks for your feedback.

[Richard Herd]

[Jonathan Gould] “The only thing you would have to pay is 20% of the total production price for any referral you receive from your Independent Marketing Executive.”

This part is tongue in cheek: If you want 20% from me, then it would require more than a referral. In fact, I will promote you to producer! You can keep the whole contract value and as much mark up as you can negotiate and simply hire me to do some stuff. Now that’s a sweet deal!

This part is actual: Mark Suszko lays it out pretty well. Corporations are big bureaucracies, so the relationship between the corporate contact and myself is very valuable.

In other words, if you have these relationships established, then you should consider “promoting” yourself to Producer. You can find some detail budgets by googling “aicp bid form” which stands for Association of Independent Commercial Producers.

[Ron Lindeboom]

Long ago in a desert far far away near Tim Wilson’s house in the sand, I got to spend the day with the retired former VP of Sales for Frigidaire Corporation.

He was a great guy and he taught me a lot of great things in a day.

One of the things that he told me was this: “Ron, if I had someone like you on my team, I gave them a script. If in a week they could not recite the script verbatim, they were gone. But if in two weeks time if they were still using it, they were gone.”

Translation?

He said that the point was that if you are going to sell something, you need to “mentally be in contact” with what you are trying to sell. It needs to be so much a part of your nature that you can reel off the pitch verbatim if you had to. But the magic comes in when you are so skilled at that, that you can shift gears and tweak and modify the presentation to play to the rapidly changing circumstances.

Tim Wilson and I use this approach all the time. We script and rehearse the pitch we are going to make. We practice it back and forth until we get so good at it that it rolls off the two of us. Then when we go in to make our presentations, we can quickly drop and add and modify things based on how things are developing.

I have always thought that “if you can’t do the script in a week, you are gone — but if you are still using it in two weeks, you are gone” is a pretty good mental starting point when making sales pitches.

Works for us.

Best regards,

Ronald Lindeboom
CEO, Creative COW LLC
Publisher, Creative COW Magazine
A 2011 FOLIO: 40 honoree as one of the 40 most influential publishers in America
http://www.creativecow.net

Creativity is a process wherein the student and the teacher are located in the same individual.

“Incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm.” – Woody Allen

Activity

[Richard Herd]

Reminds me of the scene in Reservoir Dogs. “It’s an amusing anecdote. Make it your own.”

[Jonathan Gould]

Thanks for the feedback Todd.

[Jonathan Gould]

Thanks for the feedback.

I’m curious…If I refer you to a local business owner (basically a warm lead that i cultivated) and that lands you lets say a $6000 job, you wouldn’t be OK with paying me $1200?

I know you have other costs, but this is $4800 you never would have seen. Isn’t it? Plus, the chance for future business through referrals or other videos.

Please help me understand.

[Mark Suszko]

If he’s following his rate card and budgeting right, the $6k is what it costs plus his markup and profit, and not much more. His choice is then to add on your commission to his 6k price, making his cost higher, or take a 1200-dollar hit on the 6k job *somewhere* in his budget. Now I suppose that’s “possible”. But. Where does he take that money from? The margins are pretty tight already. He’s got sunk costs to cover, and opportunity cost for the time the job will take. Does he hire a cheaper, less capble assistant, to save that cost? Or does he get lesser lighting gear rental? Maybe he budgets less time on he compositing work and goes with common templates rather than more customized effects? Needle-drop music, instead of custom? Suddenly, he’s charging more than he usually does, but delivering “less” product. In a subjective sense, that is.

You seem to be suggesting that he only pays your commission once for the initial contact, then he’s got a new client and he can spread that acquisition cost over several jobs? Maybe.

The most expensive “free” gift I got was this classic antique RC model sailplane a friend spotted at an estate sale and gave to me, gratis. To get it in flyable condition, I had to buy double it’s value in new radio system components, plus spend quite a bit of time sanding down the fiberglass and re-finishing it, installing the new gear, plus additional money for a new launching system because this thing has a 13-foot wingspan and is too heavy for my existing launch mechanism. So the “free” plane, while awesome, so far has got me sucked in for $400 and it’s yet to fly.

You can also go with a “restore this FREE 66 Mustang” analogy, in that yes, you now have a free Mustang but before you enjoy using it you’re going to drop about 20 grand restoring it. How many trips do I drive the Mustang, to spread out that investment?

[Jonathan Gould]

OK, I hear what you’re saying. But if the margins are that tight, how do you do any marketing or employ any business growth strategies at all?

If I was sending you one client per month or more, could you figure out how to make it work?

And, if you knew it was a referral from me, couldn’t you charge $7200 instead of $6000?

As far as the client goes after the first job…If I promote another video and send in a referral sheet, I get 20%. If you promote to him and book another job, no 20%.