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in the digital era, that of selling as educating.

      Media Selling, 4th Edition recommended a systematic approach to selling that broke down the sales process into six steps: (1) prospecting, (2) identifying problems, (3) generating solutions, (4) presenting, (5) negotiating and closing, and (6) servicing. These steps have changed because of the disruptions caused by the Internet. You have learned from reading about The Challenger Sale research above that the identifying problems and generating solutions steps are no longer viable in the digital‐era selling process because they put too much burden on prospects who do not have time for answering questions about their problems to which salespeople can offer ready‐made solutions. Prospects want customized solutions, but only after they understand more about the complexities and possibilities of advertising in the digital age.

      Virtually all media selling today includes some element of cross‐platform selling, for example selling both the print and digital editions of The New York Times. Therefore, the old presenting step of selling has been replaced by an educating step because the presenting step was based on an assumption that prospects were familiar with the medium being presented and were able to evaluate one‐size‐fits‐all solutions.

      An educating step makes no such assumption and focuses on teaching prospects about the complexities and opportunities of digital or cross‐platform advertising. Also, prospects and buyers want to be kept up to date on the rapidly changing media ecosystem and technology. In a 2018 column in Radio Inc, Beasley Broadcasting’s VP/Sales, Bob McCurdy writes:

      Therefore, educating and re‐educating prospects, customers, planners, and buyers not only meets the needs of those selling media but also meets the needs of those buying media.

      New approach 4: Algorithms and AI are the competition

      In later chapters you will learn how to understand people and their personal needs, and how to connect with them emotionally.

      The transition to an Internet‐dominated, digital economy created a shifting emphasis for media salespeople from that of selling and getting an order toward one of building relationships, solving problems, and educating customers based on insights coming from analyzing data. Meanwhile, there was less time available for preparation, planning, and purchasing as advertising campaigns ran for shorter and shorter periods of time, and buyers often wait until the last minute to place schedules or buy programmatically.

      The new approaches explained above also require an understanding of a hierarchical set of concepts: a sales organization’s mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics. As in any military or business organization, in a sales organization the salespeople must understand these four concepts and follow their precepts in order to have consistent and meaningful selling‐as‐serving, focus‐on‐customer‐success, selling‐as‐educating, and connecting‐emotionally approaches.

      However, before a sales organization (division or department) can articulate sales‐specific mission, objectives, strategies, and tactics, it must answer the purpose question about the company or organization it is a part of. The purpose question is, “What is our reason for existence?”

      But in the early 2000s the Enron and Worldcom scandals put a spotlight on corporate greed and deception as a new generation of employees entered the workforce. This new generation wanted more from their employers than just a paycheck. Many of them wanted meaning in their work at the same time as the Internet was changing the world. Internet companies, in order to attract talented young people, began to adapt purpose or mission statements that gave meaning to the work the young people did.

      Google adopted a motto of “don’t be evil” and articulated a purpose or mission to express the reason for its existence: “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google has since dropped the slogan “don’t be evil,” but still is driven by its meaningful and inspiring mission, which is one of the many reasons in 2017 Google topped the list of Fortune magazine’s list of the best companies to work for in America for the eighth time in 11 years.

      Facebook is also considered by many young people to be one of most desirable companies to work for in America. In LinkedIn’s 2018 list of top companies at which people wanted to work, Facebook ranked number three, behind Amazon and Alphabet (Google’s parent company). One of the reasons for Facebook’s popularity

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