NewsBeat

March 2019 NewsBeat 11 By EBONY REED The big question then becomes, "What makes an experience with you rich and compelling?" Sharing information about your product or service contributes virtually nothing to the value equation. It's assumed that you will say only good things about your offering. Additionally, buyers perceive that what you sell is nearly identical to your competitors – whether you think it is or not. As far as they're concerned, everything is a commodity or soon will be. Rich and compelling experiences are created by sellers who recognize the shift that's taken place in the market. They study their prospect's business problems and goals. They constantly search for information that their prospects would find valuable. When they talk with their prospects, they bring along ideas and insights into what's happening in the marketplace, with their prospect's customers or with their competitors. They challenge their customer's paradigm of what it takes to be successful and get them thinking. These "experiences" don't just happen serendipitously. You have to immerse yourself in your prospect's business, market segment, industry and more. You need to continually be asking, "How can I help my customers achieve their goals or solve their problems?" As a person who sells, your job is to orchestrate this rich and compelling experience. You can't leave it up to happenstance. Authors Pine and Ginsmore further advocate that customers should pay for this "experience." With that in mind, I'll leave you with one final thought: Would your prospects willingly pay $500 for an hour of your time? Think about that each time you meet with a potential buyer and make it happen. Your competitors won't stand a chance. Jill Konrath is a frequent speaker at sales conferences and kick-off meetings. Sharing her fresh sales strategies, she helps salespeople speed up new customer acquisition and win bigger contracts. Her clients include IBM, GE, Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Staples and numerous mid-market firms. — Reprinted from SalesFuel 1 Sales, product and news teams should regularly brainstorm and work together to develop ideas around various platforms for real estate information and news to improve current products and generate new ideas. 2 Survey audiences (and non-customers) to learn how they consume real estate news and information. What kind of real estate information do they want from their local news organization? 3 Contact the local real estate board and explore what partnerships might be possible, even if it's just around one product or a seasonal one. 4 Don't give up and just cede this space to competition. Sometimes there is an opportunity to craft a limited partnership with a competitor around one product. Partnering with competitors is not always a death wish. 5 Get comfortable with technology and don't be afraid to test it out. — Reprinted from Editor & Publisher Ebony Reed is the director of innovation and Futures Lab at Reynolds Journalism Institute and an associate professor at Missouri School of Journalism. In her role, Reed collaborates with RJI staff and the Missouri School of Journalism to research and test new platforms for journalism. 5 tips on how newspapers can stay on the cutting edge of real estate advertising

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